CINCINNATI — An answer to the Buffalo Bills’ problem on offense seems to be clear. When Josh Allen is given the freedom to run the show without huddling, defenses usually can’t keep up.
From Week 5 to 8, the Bills ran no-huddle on four drives and finished all of them with touchdowns. Last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bills experimented with no-huddle in the first half and scored another touchdown.
With the offense floundering after an electric first drive that went 85 yards on just seven plays, the Bills refused to implement their no-huddle offense on Sunday night in a 24-18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Buffalo had seven possessions that resulted in just three points sandwiched in between an opening-drive touchdown and a touchdown drive on their final possession. Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the game that he didn’t have a good answer for why the Bills didn’t go up-tempo sooner in the game.
“I’ve got to look into that,” he said. “But I know what you mean, I saw that at the end as well.”
Allen said that the Bills didn’t employ the no-huddle because of the game plan the offense took into the game. It wasn’t even an option in the first half as the offense suffocated, running 14 plays over the course of four drives that yielded just 37 total yards.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid led the Bills in targets and caught 10 of them for 81 yards. A critical fumble late in the fourth quarter pulled a slight shadow over an otherwise promising effort by the rookie. He’s still getting his feet wet in an offense that’s transformed from a heavy two-tight-end usage unit into an 11-personnel heavy passing attack (one tight end and one running back).
One of the buzzwords the Bills keep coming back to when asked about their inconsistent offense is rhythm. Buffalo lacks it on offense and hasn’t been able to solve the riddle. Kincaid thinks going up-tempo could be one of the keys to unlocking that consistency.
“I feel like when we were going a…
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