The Buffalo Bills' loss to the Atlanta Falcons will be a tough one to swallow for Joe Brady and the offense, having only put up 14 points and having James Cook as a bystander in the fourth quarter.
We know how much of the Bills' offensive game plan is geared towards Cook establishing the run, and against the Falcons, 17 carries for 87 yards, averaging 5.1 yards per carry, things felt like they were going Buffalo's way...until it wasn't.
In the fourth quarter, Cook barely saw the football, with back-to-back three-and-outs before Buffalo, with time winding down, was in need of chunk plays down two scores.
For coordinator Joe Brady, he knows that getting Cook more involved is the key to getting the offense rolling.
“We had way too many three-and-outs, and when you're living off schedule, it's hard to get back into a rhythm and continue to keep guys out on the field and kind of roll with it,” Brady said. “Obviously, the last drive of the game we're living in two minutes, and the drive before that we get a Ty [Johnson] a carry, you go three and out, and boom, you're not able to get the touches.
"Jim was one of our best football players, and when Jimbo's on the field and we're giving him the ball, good things are happening. Obviously have a lot to improve on, and we got to take advantage of this bye week.”
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Bills offense off the boil
Prior to the New England Patriots' loss, the Bills' offense was scoring points for fun, having at least 30 in every game, but in the previous two weeks, just 20 and then 14 have been scored by Brady's unit.
Also, the offense has five turnovers in those two games, having had just one in the previous four, so something is definitely off with Buffalo, as it doesn't seem like the free-wheeling offense we saw in the opening month.
Part of that could be defenses adjusting due to getting more film on Brady's unit, and the other part could simply be that the Bills just aren't playing well right now. Four three-and-outs against the Falcons isn't good enough for an offense with the weapons that Josh Allen has.
Perhaps the bye week has come at the right time, and at 4-2, it isn't the end of the world, but the offense definitely needs a little tinkering.
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