What Do the Bills Need to Do to Get Back on Track in Week Six?
The Buffalo Bills had the chance to remain the only undefeated team in the NFL with a win over the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football. However, that didn’t come to fruition as the Bills lost 23-20, leaving the back door open for the Patriots to take the AFC East divisional lead. After looking vulnerable for the first time all year, the Bills need to bounce back in a big way to stay at the top of the AFC. Here’s what they need to do to get back in the win column for Week Six.
Get Back to Basics
The Buffalo Bills played an uncharacteristically sloppy game on Sunday night. The Bills went 26 games without losing the turnover battle—an NFL record—until they turned over the ball three times against the Patriots. Josh Allen turned over the ball multiple times for the first time since November 10th, 2024. Though he had a great game throwing the ball, putting up a 103.3 passer rating, he had his worst quarterback rating of the season at 50.4. As the captain of this team, he has to do better, and so does Keon Coleman, who was benched for the first offensive drive. Coach Sean McDermott said that the decision was for disciplinary reasons, but didn’t delve into specifics. Also, Coleman fumbled the ball at Buffalo’s 11-yard line in his second drive with the team, putting in doubt his reliability as one of the team’s top receivers.
Keep Everyone Eating
The positive side of this loss was seeing a bunch of different pass-catchers step up for the offense, just as offensive coordinator Joe Brady intended. Dalton Kincaid had his first game of 100-plus receiving yards in his career, finally proving why the Bills drafted him 25th overall in 2023. Not only did Kincaid put on a great performance, but Khalil Shakir continued his consistency as the team’s slot receiver. With Shakir’s six receptions for 45 receiving yards, he’s gone all but one game this season with at least four receptions and 45 yards. While Kincaid leads in yards and Shakir leads in receptions, Coleman, despite his blunders in primetime, has still improved his game in his sophomore season. He only needs eight more receptions, seven first downs, and two receiving touchdowns to match his output from his injury-shortened rookie season, and has drastically increased his catching percentage by catching 50.9% of his targets in 2024 to 72.4% this season. Those three young players are the biggest playmakers on the team, but the offense keeps spreading the ball around because there are five different players with at least 12 receptions, five players with a receiving touchdown, and four players with at least 170 receiving yards.
Keep Feeding James Cook
After a very underwhelming outing running the ball, the Bills need to ensure that doesn’t become a trend. With a game coming up against the Atlanta Falcons, who have a league-average rushing defense but a top-ranked passing defense, they must get back to running the ball with James Cook. On his 15 carries against the Pats, Cook put up a season-low 3.3 yards per attempt, contributing to the fact that the team ran the ball with Cook only six times in the second half and nine times with other players. According to rbsdm.com, going into Week Five, the Bills had the highest rushing EPA in the league at 0.091, and significantly dropped their ranking by putting up a -0.358 EPA against New England. The team will have to run it more next week to make sure that they can get Cook going, and the rest of the offense should figure itself out.
