It certainly wasn’t the prettiest statistical output from Allen in his career, and there weren’t many highlight reel-style plays that included hurdles or laterals from his wideouts. However, Allen turned in a tremendously efficient night, completing 22-of-28 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns.
One of those touchdowns was a dot to tight end Dalton Kincaid on a wheel route (we’ll talk more about him later). Another was a gorgeous flip to rookie Jackson Hawes, whose first NFL touchdown came on a circus play while Allen was evading pressure. The final one was a favorite of mine, as Allen found Khalil Shakir off an orbit motion look that saw the Dolphins defense entirely outflanked.
It was good enough to give Allen 200 career touchdown passes, leaving him just 37 shy of Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s franchise record. Allen also had 25 yards rushing on four carries in a game where it seemed like the coaching staff may have told him to go easy on the rushing attempts after injuring his nose the week prior. Calling that kind of effort routine feels spoiled, but it really is just what we’ve come to expect from the reigning NFL MVP.
I said we’d “insert a pass-catcher here,” and I even went so far as to speculate that the tight ends would have a good night. However, it was Kincaid who was the big target on Thursday, so he receives the spotlight treatment.
We already mentioned his touchdown catch on a wheel route, but Kincaid was Buffalo’s top receiver on the evening overall, as well, catching five of his six targets for 66 yards and a score. He’s now seen six targets in consecutive games, totaling 16 on the season. He has a touchdown grab in two of the Bills’ three games this year, and he leads the squad with two receiving touchdowns overall.
Kincaid is second on the team to Keon Coleman in targets (16), receptions (13), and receiving yards (151), usurping even Shakir as that second option so far in the early going. His ability to stretch the field both in the middle and on the perimeter has been essential so far, and it’s nice to see him back to full health after struggling so mightily with knee injuries last year.
Buffalo’s top corner struggled again this week, and again, I point to the shift in philosophy we’re seeing this season. Buffalo is playing much more man than they have in the past. Benford thrives in zone concepts. He’s a good man-cover corner, but shiftier, speedier players can give him some trouble. That’s exactly what he’s run into so far this season.
Buffalo is caught between a rock and a hard place defensively. They know that they need to play more man in order to compete with some of the elite teams in the league, but their personnel remains best suited for zone concepts. Add in the struggles at safety, which are definitely limiting the pre-snap disguises they can run right now, another staple of this defense, and you have some more situations where the Bills are just lining their guys up across from the other team and trying to win man-on-man.
And, while I can sit here and nit-pick that it hasn’t been perfect, the fact remains that their record is. I anticipate that the Bills will improve defensively as the season progresses. They’ll receive help on the defensive line when Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht return from suspension, and they’ll receive help in the secondary when first-round pick Maxwell Hairston comes off of Injured Reserve.
Against Miami, Benford had four tackles and no pass breakups, and he allowed another touchdown, this time to Tyreek Hill in the second half to tie the game at 21. Benford is leading the Bills in tackles right now with 15. That shows his willingness to mix it up in the run game, but it also shows that he’s been beaten more than normal in the passing game, as well. We’ll see if he can notch his first pass breakup of the season this weekend against the New Orleans Saints.