Bills overcome an obstacle but create a new one in win over Dolphins
The Buffalo Bills did what you need to do in the NFL postseason. They pulled out a gritty win against an opponent who they expected to beat. It wasn't the prettiest, but they are advancing while the Miami Dolphins head home. For the Bills, one glaring issue stood out against Miami. The offensive line struggled […]
The Buffalo Bills did what you need to do in the NFL postseason.
They pulled out a gritty win against an opponent who they expected to beat. It wasn't the prettiest, but they are advancing while the Miami Dolphins head home.
For the Bills, one glaring issue stood out against Miami. The offensive line struggled mightily, and the play-calling on offense did them no favors.
Accordingly, Josh Allen faced a career high pressure rate in Sunday's game. He was pressured 47.8% of the time.
Clearly, that didn't hurt the Bills too much, but Allen did take plenty of tough hits.
The offensive line has to be better, but they also need help from the staff. Far too often on Sunday, there were not enough short to intermediate routes available for Allen.
Therefore, he was sitting in the pocket longer or forced to move and further a risk of injury. They have to nip that in the bud going forward.
In the next round, it is possible that they face an even better rushing front than Miami's. Allen needs to have more options to dump the ball down or throw it away close to a target.
All that being said, Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL against the blitz. The Dolphins chose to ignore that and send heat consistently.
The Bills are absolutely going to prepare as if another team may choose to do that again to force massive mistakes/turnovers.
Expect Buffalo to use their running back to chip rushers or bring in an extra blocker more often in the coming weeks to slow down the pass rush. The offensive line has been inconsistent this season, but even Sunday's performance was somewhat of an anomaly.
Miami took a lot of chances versus Buffalo, but ultimately, the Bills' star QB stood tall when it mattered most.
Featured Image via USA TODAY-Sports
