What We Saw: Week 9

James Conner can still be relied upon as an RB1 when needed

Bills @ Jaguars

Final Score: Jaguars 9, Bills 6

Writer: Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)

 

This game was a complete mess from start to finish and was somehow more difficult to watch than the 9-6 score would indicate. Buffalo couldn’t get out of their own way, turning the ball over three times and committing 12 penalties. The Jaguars’ defense came out of nowhere to create all kinds of havoc in the Bills’ backfield, consistently pressuring Josh Allen and blowing up any attempt to run the ball. The Jaguars’ version of Josh Allen, their best pass rusher, dominated today. The announcers, and social media as a whole, could barely contain themselves when Allen intercepted Allen, sacked Allen, and recovered an Allen fumble. The Josh Allen interactions were, unfortunately, the highlight of the game, as neither team could do anything on offense. At one point the Jaguars kicker missed the same field goal three times, getting do-overs thanks to penalties, and he still scored the only Jacksonville points in a game they won. The game fittingly ended on a punt that the Bills failed to return after selling out for the block, and time expired as the Jaguars coverage team downed the ball. Jacksonville won 9-6.

 

 

Buffalo Bills

 

Quarterback

 

Josh Allen: 31/47, 264 yards, 2 INT, 4 Sacks, 1 Fumble | 5 carries, 50 yards

 

Josh Allen wasn’t to blame for all of the Bills’ struggles today but he did have a tough game. Allen was under pressure for most of the game and typically did a good job of using his legs to extend the play or pick up yards himself. But Allen also made several mistakes that led to his three turnovers and at least one of the sacks. His first interception was an awful throw to a receiver who was double-covered, and it wasn’t at all clear what Allen thought he saw.

 

 

Allen’s second interception came on an ill-advised desperation throw as he was getting hit by a defender, leading to a weak pass that was easily intercepted by the linebacker.

 

 

Allen’s fumble came on a designed quarterback run where he had the ball just taken away from him by the defensive lineman.

 

 

It wasn’t all Allen’s fault though, as his offensive line struggled to provide him a pocket to throw in. Allen made several nice throws while on the run, including strikes to Emmanuel Sanders and Stefon Diggs in the fourth quarter. Allen was also hurt by some key drops that should have resulted in easy catches for first downs, and he received no support from his running game. And even with his struggles Allen still accounted for over 300 yards of offense. It was a tough week that he’ll want to forget, but probably nothing more than a mid-season anomaly.

 

Running Backs

 

Devin Singletary: 6 carries, 16 yards | 8 targets, 7 receptions, 43 yards

Zach Moss: 3 carries, 6 yards | 4 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards

 

Zach Moss got the start today and was heavily involved on the first drive, including a red zone carry and a dropped target at the 1-yard line. Unfortunately, Moss was injured on the dropped target and missed the rest of the game.

 

 

Devin Singletary took over an every-down role after Moss went down. He was active in the passing game, especially when the Bills were trying to come back in the 4th quarter. Singeltary wasn’t able to find any lanes to run through as his offensive line was outplayed, by when it got the ball in space he did look elusive. If Moss should miss any extended time the Bills looked very comfortable using Singeltary in all situations, but in a close game they only handed the ball off nine times.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Stefon Diggs: 8 targets, 6 receptions, 85 yards

Emmanuel Sanders: 8 targets, 4 receptions, 65 yards

Cole Beasley: 11 targets, 8 receptions, 33 yards

Isaiah McKenzie: 2 targets, 2 receptions 10 yards

Tommy Sweeney: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 10 yards

Gabriel Davis: 2 targets, 0 receptions

 

Today was not a good showing for the Buffalo receivers. Stefon Diggs didn’t register his third catch until the fourth quarter. He was limited partially by the offensive line’s inability to protect long enough for Diggs to get open downfield and the Bills chose not to utilize him on shorter throws until they were trailing in the fourth. When they did look Diggs’ way he seemed to have no issue getting open on slants and very nearly broke two long plays with the ball in his hands before just barely being tackled by the last defender he needed to beat. Emmanuel Sanders was also hurt by the Bills’ inability to call deep passing plays. Cole Beasley had a brutal drop on what would have been an easy first down conversion, and despite getting several wide receiver screens called for him he was unable to do any damage after the catch. Gabriel Davis also had an awful drop that killed a drive, failing to hang on to a ball that hit him in the hands after Allen did a nice job of avoiding the pass rush.

 

Jacksonville Jaguars

 

Quarterback

 

Trevor Lawrence: 15/26, 118 yards, 2 Sacks | 3 carries, 4 yards

C.J. Beathard: 2/2, 33 yards

 

Trevor Lawrence briefly left this game after getting his ankle stepped on, but returned after missing just a few plays and looked perfectly fine running around. He really struggled to move the ball at all today and was fortunate to not turn the ball over despite hitting several defenders in the hands with the ball. Lawrence was inaccurate and threw late a few times, missing throwing windows and failing to throw with any anticipation. Luckily for Lawrence, the Jaguars just needed him to not throw the game away and he was able to do enough to let the defense carry the team to a win.

 

Running Backs

 

Carlos Hyde: 21 carries, 67 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, 6 yards

Dare Ogunbowale: 1 carry, 1 yard | 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards

 

James Robinson ended up being unable to give it a go today so Carlos Hyde got the start. Hyde looked a little slow and lacked any noticeable burst on his carries, but he ran hard and was usually able to fight through enough contact to fall forward even if he was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage. Hyde’s ability to avoid negative carries allowed the offense to do just enough to move the ball and to keep up with Buffalo in time of possession, despite totaling almost 100 fewer total yards of offense. He did very nearly cost the Jaguars the game by fumbling the ball while he tried to fight for extra yards but the defense was able to bail him out.

 

 

Dare Ogunbawale played on a few third downs but failed to make an impact as anything more than a blocker.

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Jamal Agnew: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 27 yards

Laviska Shenault: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 24 yards | 1 carry, -4 yards

Marvin Jones: 5 targets, 3 receptions, 21 yards

Dan Arnold: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 60 yards

 

Marvin Jones should have had a long touchdown reception but Lawrence overthrew him wide open down the sideline. Jones also saw an end-zone target that was broken up by the defender. He made probably the best offensive play of the game with a toe-tapping catch to pick up a key first down, but it was frustrating to see him so close to a huge game but being ultimately unable to breakthrough. Jamal Agnew converted a fourth down with a quick flat route that he was able to turn upfield for a solid game but was otherwise held in check. Laviska Shenault was exclusively used on throws either at or behind the line of scrimmage. Dan Arnold was the team’s leading receiver, an admittedly low bar to clear, and has quickly emerged as a key piece of this passing attack.

 

 — Dan Adams (@dadams0323 on Twitter)

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