Giants at Bills: Buffalo Grades, Notes and Quotes

The roller coaster continues for the Buffalo Bills. 

Eli Manning threw for 211 yards and three touchdowns, Rashad Jennings added a touchdown and 92 yards from scrimmage and the New York Giants earned their second consecutive victory, winning 24-10 in Buffalo. 

For the second time this season, Buffalo failed to build on an encouraging victory, posting their lowest-scoring total of the year after exploding for 41 points last week in Miami. It was a disappointing showing for the injury-depleted Bills (2-2), who had hoped to keep pace with AFC East rivals New England and the New York Jets. 

It was an odd day for the Buffalo offense. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor finished with a not-too-terrible stat line—28-of-42 for 258 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception—and tight end Charles Clay was superb, finishing with nine catches and 111 yards. 

But Karlos Williams, despite a touchdown and 30 receiving yards, managed only 40 yards rushing on 18 carries. Apart from Williams and Taylor, not a single Bills player rushed for positive yardage. The team's top available wideouts, Robert Woods and Percy Harvin, combined for just 69 yards on six catches. And the team had mustered only three points when Williams scored with 10 minutes to go. 

Buffalo was clearly not the same without running back LeSean McCoy and receiver Sammy Watkins, both of whom missed Sunday’s game with injuries. 

The real problems, however, came on the other side of the ball. While Manning was not especially prolific, the Giants offense appeared entirely comfortable taking on a highly regarded Bills defensive group. Buffalo seemed incapable of producing meaningful quarterback pressure, Jennings averaged over nine yards per touch, and wideouts Dwayne Harris and Larry Donnell made up for a below-average showing from star Odell Beckham Jr.

The loss, along with the New York Jets’ victory over Miami, dropped Buffalo to third place in the AFC East. The Bills travel to Tennessee next week in what could be a must-win game, as Buffalo hosts the currently undefeated Cincinnati Bengals the following week and cannot afford to enter Week 7 sitting at 2-4.

Positional Grades

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Buffalo TE Charles Clay

Position	Grade
QB	B-
RB	C+
WR	B-
TE	A
OL	B-
DL	C+
Secondary	B
Special Teams	B
Coaching	C+

Two groups to highlight here

First, on a positive note, Charles Clay was excellent for the second straight week. After recording 82 yards and a touchdown on five catches in Miami, the fifth-year tight end erupted in what was his best performance since Week 15 of last year. 

Clay was targeted 13 times on Sunday, five more than any other Bills player, and routinely kept Buffalo’s ineffectual offense alive. Buffalo managed just four drives of over 40 yards; Clay had at least one catch on all of those possessions, and for most of the game he appeared Buffalo’s only player of any dynamism. 

Buffalo is heading for a critical six-game stretch of the season. Matchups with the Titans, Bengals and Jaguars precede three consecutive games against AFC East foes, including away contests against New England and the Jets. Hopefully, McCoy and Watkins will return quickly to full health, and Buffalo’s offense will regain its Week 3 form. But even if that happens, the team should focus in coming weeks on maintaining Clay’s prominent role in the offense.

Second, on a much less positive note, Buffalo’s defensive line had perhaps its least impressive showing of the season. Granted, they held the Giants to 92 yards and zero touchdowns on the ground. But Jennings, Andre Williams and Shane Vereen averaged over 3.7 yards per carry, and Buffalo had entered the game allowing just 74 yards rushing on the ground. That the New York rushing attack, one of the NFL’s 10 worst, managed 92 yards on nearly four yards per carry is not a good sign. 

Either way, the bigger issue was the utter lack of pressure on Eli Manning.

Last week, Buffalo’s defensive line sacked Miami’s quarterback Ryan Tannehill twice and hit him 10 times. The previous week, the Bills hit Tom Brady five times and sacked him twice, too. This week? Zero sacks and a staggering one quarterback hit. Buffalo may have ended Manning’s lengthy interception-free streak, but it failed to pressure him at all. The defensive line was anemic in this one.

Game Notes

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Last week, it appeared the Bills had addressed their penalty problem. After surrendering a collective 253 penalty yards in Weeks 1 and 2, Buffalo was flagged just five times against Miami for an acceptable 40 yards. 

This week marked a big step backward. 

The Bills were penalized 17 times for 135 yards. That’s incredible. Granted, the team handed New England 140 free yards in Week 2, so this isn’t exactly uncharted territory, but seriously—17 penalties. There is no getting around it: in the NFL, you cannot give the other team free yards at this rate and expect to win games. Rex Ryan’s trademark aggressiveness is well and great—more on that in a minute—but it appears to be costing his team. 

Even worse, 135 yards doesn’t come close to capturing what Buffalo lost to penalties on Sunday. 

Of team’s 17 violations, seven gave first downs to New York, and three cost Buffalo points on the scoreboard. In the second quarter, an illegal-formation call on Kyle Williams kept a second-quarter Giants drive alive; that drive resulted in a New York touchdown. Then, in the same quarter, a holding call on Buffalo guard Kraig Urbik nullified a Taylor rushing touchdown. And in the fourth quarter, with less than a minute to go, a Richie Incognito chop block nullified a 32-yard touchdown pass to Clay. 

Given the final score in this one, it should be clear that Buffalo shot itself in the foot. Penalties cost the team 135 yards and at least 18 points. The Bills need to clean it up. 

On a related note, Buffalo’s offensive start to this game was laughable. The penalties didn’t help, of course, but it wasn’t as if Taylor had the team marching downfield.

Buffalo’s first nine possessions were preposterously inept: 14 minutes and 29 seconds of game time, 30 plays, 61 yards, three points, six three-and-outs and one interception. The Bills were missing two of their three or four most important offensive players, but even so, it was an astoundingly poor first half of offense.

Quote of the Day: Rex Ryan

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Buffalo HC Rex Ryan

Buffalo coach Rex Ryan has a passionate reputation, and his fire was on full display after Sunday’s loss. 

Ryan said, speaking to reporters after the game:

"

I’m proud of the way this team played. Can we play a lot smarter? Absolutely. But I’ll take a team that’ll fight over a team that will sit back and take it every day of the week and bring on the next team. Give me a team that’s got some fight and will compete to the very end right, wrong or indifferent no matter how good the officiating is or whatever.

"

As ESPN’s Mike Rodak reported, Ryan agreed that the penalty problem “took wind out of our sails” but said it “wasn’t the reason why we lost.” Frankly, I disagree: The Bills gave up 135 yards, seven first downs and at least 18 points, in a game decided by 16 points. Penalties were a huge reason for Buffalo’s loss. 

Give Ryan credit for defending his players. Give him credit for coaxing enthusiasm and fight out of his players. But do not discount the importance of penalties to Buffalo’s 2-2 record, and do not discount the relevance of coaching to those penalties. Fight, heart and effort are great. But the Bills need to play way, way smarter.