What We Saw: Week 1

Cardinals @ Bills

Final Score: Bills 34, Cardinals 28

Writer: Adam Sloate (@MrAdster99 on Twitter)

There were a couple of brutal referee miscues to open this game, which had the Bills’ faithful up in arms — and somewhat rightfully so.  It seemed like the referees were figuring out what “Roughing the Passer” meant on the fly, allowing the Cardinals to extend their opening drive and cutting short a Bills’ drive early in the game. Besides that, though, a couple of Bills coverage miscues, Josh Allen fumbles, and strong running from James Conner had the Cardinals up by two TDs early. Eventually, the Bills settled down and scored a TD, thanks to some of that classic Josh Allen tough running, and went into the half down 17-10. It was almost all Bills the rest of the way, as Buffalo dropped 24 on the Cardinals in the second half. Buffalo’s defense started packing the box and taking away the run and middle of the field for Arizona, forcing Kyler Murray to sit behind the line of scrimmage and beat the Bills’ through the air. The Bills’ pass rush started to get home and Murray didn’t look comfortable behind his line, which iced out the Cardinals’ offense. Their only points of the second half were a field goal and a 97-yard kick return TD (with a 2-point conversion). The Bills staved off a late surge from the Cardinals, and Buffalo went home victorious.

Four Up

• Josh Allen – It took a quarter to get synced up and warm, but Allen was every bit the Superman the Bills needed after that. He bullied his way for two TDs on the ground and then picked apart the Cardinals through the air, too.
• Greg Dortch – Well, who had this one on their bingo card? Dortch saw tons of targets in the first half, as the Cardinals pounded the middle of the field and leaned on their quick game to beat Buffalo through the air.
• James Cook – Some folks love Allen’s tough, smash-mouth running. I preferred Cook’s style today, where he took apart the Cardinals’ defense with agility and awesome acceleration. He was a blast to watch.
• James Conner – It was a big day for the James running backs, as Conner used his own brand of tough running to bulldoze Bills defenders and churn up yardage on the ground. Conner was the focal point of the Cardinals’ offense today, so it went as he went.

Three Down

• Roughing the Passer Penalties – Even the commentators couldn’t figure out where RTP began and regular contact ended. A couple of RTP calls extended drives, both for Arizona and Buffalo.
• Dalton Kincaid/Marvin Harrison Jr. – Today’s big fantasy losers were two of the hyped-up targets of the draft season, who combined for 2 catches and 15 yards. It wasn’t even like they got unlucky in key moments, as they combined for just 5 total targets–meaning they were hardly involved in the offensive gameplan at all.
• Kyler Murray – Murray didn’t have much going through the air today, totaling just 162 passing yards. He gave up on the passing game quickly, looking like he was afraid to get hit in the pocket and missing a couple of wide-open pass-catchers down the field in key moments. He salvaged his fantasy day with some of that trademark scrambling ability.

Arizona Cardinals

Quarterback

Kyler Murray: 21/31, 162 yards, 1 TD | 5 carries, 57 yards

Murray and the Cardinals’ offensive brain trust played it safe this week and handed the ball off to the running backs an awful lot this week. When the ball was in Murray’s hands, though, he didn’t find much downfield and had to either look short or tuck it and run. He dropped his eyes often, missing wide-open guys beyond the sticks or deep downfield, even when the Cardinals’ offensive line was getting good “push” against the Bills’ defensive line.

Notes

• He didn’t look particularly settled in the pocket, bailed quickly, and bailed often. Murray was on record as having only 5 carries, though he gave up on the passing game more often, as he was sacked four times for just 16 yards — illustrating that he was moving forward toward the defense when he was sacked.
• That said, he was lethal as a runner when he bailed, including a terrific run at the tail end of the third quarter that went for 20+ yards and kept a drive alive. Much of his passing yardage came in the first half, some of it due to blown Bills’ coverage assignments. When the bill came due for Murray as a passer, with the game on the line, he didn’t trust his receivers to get open or his line to hold, and looked for the short options.

Missed Opportunities

• I’m not sure Murray was looking to throw the football more than seven yards downfield in that first quarter… or much at all.
• He did not protect the football well in the second half, between the fumble that led to another Bills TD and a few near-miss turnovers (the throw to Greg Dortch on the previous play looked like it had been tipped at the line as well).
• On the drive at the end of the third and continuing into the fourth quarter, the Cardinals had a 3rd-and-4 in Bills territory down by 7. They opted to run the football, which I thought was odd. Then, on 3rd and 10 with 30-ish seconds remaining, the Cardinals went back to Conner on a draw play instead of trying to attack downfield.

Running Back

James Conner: 16 carries, 50 yards, 1 TD | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 33 yards

Conner looked to be the focal point of the offense today, as the Cardinals ran early and ran often. They ran a little more than they should have, handing the ball off to Conner in clear passing situations, as described above, trying to “galaxy brain” their way into more manageable yardage situations. Despite the confusing Cardinals game-planning, Conner managed to have a strong fantasy day overall.

Notes

• Conner grounded, pounded, and even shifted like we’re accustomed to, especially in the first quarter. He got practically every touch in the first quarter and broke plenty of tackles along the way. He’s not the fastest guy you’ll ever see, so he had some runs that could’ve gone further, even though the line had his blocks well set in that first quarter.
• The Bills’ line started to shed blocks in the third quarter and readjusted their pressure packages to fluster the Arizona offensive line, hence the low yards-per-carry mark overall. He continued to break tackles, but the Bills were keyed in on the run in that second half and were able to bring more bodies up front to stop the big chunk plays.

Missed Opportunities

• Not much for Conner here. As you probably know, he won’t be much of a receiver moving forward, but he made the most of his targets here.

Trey Benson: 3 carries, 13 yards | 1 target, 1 carry, 5 yards

RB1 looks to be Conner’s position to lose, as the Cardinals were more than happy to keep him on the field for all but a few plays. Benson merely spelled Conner for a bit in the middle of the game.

Notes

• He ran with virtually the same style as Conner when he finally got in the game, in that he didn’t blow anyone away with speed, but he was tough to bring down and surprisingly agile for his frame.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Greg Dortch: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 47 yards | 1 carry, 4 yards

As the only WR who wasn’t running cardio for Arizona, Dortch was a good weapon in the short game. Similar to last year, he ran primarily out of the slot and hovered around the line of scrimmage. He primarily took advantage of those blown Bills coverages in the first half, with the majority of his yardage coming then. He saw a couple of looks in the second half, but none quite as juicy as in the first, as Buffalo tried to disrupt the middle of the field and force Murray to beat them via mid- or long-range throws to the outside.

Missed Opportunities

• Dortch got the final look of the game for the Cardinals on 4th-and-7. He was the deep man on a throw down the sideline and made a pretty convincing case for defensive pass interference, but the referees didn’t call it, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Trey McBride: 9 targets, 5 receptions, 30 yards

Like MHJ, McBride was silent for most of the game, as the Bills did a nice job of erasing his mid-range threat for most of the game. He got the ball more once the Cardinals fell behind; Arizona was forced to do more than hand the ball off to James Conner and McBride started seeing his targets in the middle of the field. There’s not much to say about McBride’s targets today, they weren’t needle-movers for me mostly, though it was nice to see some of his looks from Murray go deep downfield.

Missed Opportunities

• McBride did see a red zone target today, with Arizona looking to cash in late in the second quarter. He was three yards short of the end zone, and the TD ultimately went down as a handoff to Conner.

Marvin Harrison Jr.: 3 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards

Cardinals’ pass-catchers were mostly silenced in this game, but none more so than MHJ. He was out there for every snap, and Murray didn’t find him when he was open.

Missed Opportunities

• The two targets that didn’t turn into catches were certainly missed opportunities for MHJ. Here’s how they went:
  • (1) Miscommunication between Harrison and Murray. Harrison ran a different route than Murray expected and his back was turned to the ball when it reached him.
  • (2) Brutal drop for the first pass for which he was ready, and lost an easy 10+ yard completion. Lucky for us, they went right back to him on the next play for his only catch of the day.
• Late in the fourth quarter, on the final drive of the game, Harrison was wide open downfield and Murray just didn’t see him despite plenty of waving.

Buffalo Bills

Quarterback

Josh Allen: 18/23, 232 yards, 2 TDs | 9 carries, 39 yards, 2 TDs

Allen got off to a slow start statistically, fumbling on his first possession and then having a rushing TD stripped by a facemask penalty. It didn’t seem like there were issues with his performance visually at that point, as the Bills’ offensive line was bullying the Cardinals’ defensive line up front and Allen had plenty of time to make things happen. After Buffalo started to cut down on the mistakes — and got a makeup call once or twice — Allen started to get comfortable and do his thing.

Notes

• He got the rushing TD he was looking for at the end of the first half, doing some classic Josh Allen tough running to get the Bills 6 points.
• Not much downfield action for Allen today, as the Bills were content to ground and pound with Cook and then supplement with some shorter passes around the line of scrimmage.
• It looked like he might’ve dinged up his left hand/wrist by diving into the end zone for that second TD and had his hand bandaged shortly thereafter. Afterward, the Bills went primarily out of shotgun to protect Allen, though he seemed okay to keep throwing.

Missed Opportunities

• He didn’t feel the pressure once the pocket collapsed on his fumble. That’s an Allen error, plain and simple because he had all day to throw. He had Keon Coleman open on that play and Allen missed him.
• A nice 5-yard rushing TD midway through the second quarter was taken from him by a brutal facemask penalty. OL O’Cyrus Torrence took away what would’ve been 6 easy points.

Running Back

James Cook: 19 carries, 71 yards | 3 targets, 3 carries, 32 yards

Not only did Cook benefit from some strong blocking up front, but he also ran with superb agility and burst. Cook benefitted tremendously from Buffalo’s run-first mentality early, and it seemed like there was a concerted effort to get Cook the ball. There wasn’t much action for him through the air in terms of designed plays, but when he got the ball in check-down situations, he looked strong there too. The YPC mark might not bear it out, but Cook looked the part of an above-average RB.

Notes

• He was certainly looking shifty! He got plenty of holes from the offensive line — which had a terrific push against the Cardinals’ line — and then exploded through them nicely. He certainly looked like an RB1 this week.

Missed Opportunities

• Cook got some carries in the red zone on a drive that ultimately ended with a field goal, but couldn’t sneak it in then.
• He was a victim of game script late on Buffalo’s scoring drive at the end of the first half and wasn’t on the field at all for the 2-minute drill.

Ray Davis: 1 Carry, 2 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 10 yards

Davis spelled Cook a few times in the third quarter and looked pretty darn good doing it, thanks to that offensive line. The Bills even got him involved in a pass situation, hitting him on a check-down that went for 10+ yards. That said, his first action was in the third quarter, so it doesn’t look like we’re headed for a Davis/Cook timeshare.

Missed Opportunities

• Didn’t have many to miss.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Dalton Kincaid: 2 targets, 1 reception, 11 yards

Kincaid was quiet today, showing up for just a single catch midway through the fourth quarter. I didn’t see him out there much as a blocker, either. That said, Allen spread the wealth quite a bit around the Bills’ receiving corps, so I wouldn’t worry about it long-term. How many more times will Mack Hollins get red zone targets, really?

Keon Coleman: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 51 yards

Coleman had the better rookie debut today, reeling in a couple of nice passes along the sideline. I was most impressed by his efforts after the catch, as he moved smoothly around some Cardinals tackles and looked difficult to bring down, en route to a nice handful of YAC. His most notable play of the game was essentially a go-route down the sideline, with Allen hitting him as he turned around. Coleman did an excellent job of establishing position, and Allen underthrew him (correctly) just a touch to put him in line to make a huge catch.

If I had to pick a WR to trust in this offense, it would be Coleman by a bit, as Allen and Coleman had a nice rapport as the game went on, connecting for a couple of important plays. Remember, though, that this is Week 1 of 18!

Khalil Shakir: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 42 yards, 1 TD

He earned every one of those 42 yards today, absorbing some especially tough hits along the way. If there was an “A” for effort award, it would far and away have gone to Shakir for two excellent catch-and-runs that fueled the Bills’ comeback.

First, Shakir made a terrific play late in the first half–Allen rolled out of the pocket and hit Shakir for the first down. Shakir then absorbed a hit from a defender and kept running for another 10-15 yards. Second, Shakir gave every inch of his arms to score late in the third after Josh Allen hit him with a pass about 3 yards from the goal line.

Mack Hollins: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 25 yards, 1 TD

Dawson Knox: 2 targets, 1 reception, 23 yards

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 2 targets, 1 reception, 19 yards

Now this is a collection of guys. MVS, like in his previous stops, was used only as a deep threat, and not a heavily used deep threat at that. The other two probably aren’t going to be setting fantasy scoreboards on fire in future Bills games.