I noted<\/a> could cause issues with his mechanics and accuracy leading into the week. Throw in some bad weather and a very good Philadelphia defense, and it\u2019s not necessarily a surprise that he wasn\u2019t perfect. He also made some phenomenal throws (The ball to Tyrell Shavers? A work of art. A third-down pass that hit Joshua Palmer in the hands that he dropped, leading to a punt? Also perfect.).<\/p>\nWith all of that said, I am exactly 0% worried about Allen moving forward. There isn\u2019t a quarterback I\u2019d rather have leading this team than him. He just has to realize that, sometimes, the best play is a layup.<\/p>\n
The Eagles did a great job on the NFL\u2019s leading rusher, holding him below his season average for yards per game and yards per carry. Cook rushed 20 times for 74 yards, good for just 3.7 yards per tote. On the season overall, Cook is averaging 100 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry. Buffalo is used to gaining chunks of yardage on the ground, as Cook and the Bills average 156 yards rushing per game. They also have 21 runs of at least 20 yards on the season.<\/p>\n
In this one, Cook\u2019s longest carry went for just 10 yards. That\u2019s the third-lowest \u201clong\u201d total he\u2019s had this season, so the Eagles did a good job limiting those explosives on the ground. Cook saw four targets in the passing game, but he only caught one for a total of three yards.<\/p>\n
Allen thought he had Cook on a mesh-rail toss on the play that immediately preceded the 19-yard sack early in the fourth quarter. While Allen dropped the ball perfectly in the bucket, it would have been a tough catch, as Cook was surrounded by defenders, one of whom was able to knock his left arm down before he could secure the ball. It was an example of the kind of game that went down yesterday, as the Bills did everything right on the play, but Philly\u2019s defense was one step ahead.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think I\u2019d usually celebrate predicting that a veteran castoff who was acquired after he was waived midway through the season had a big game, but watching Cooks and Allen display a legitimate connection was promising. It started when Allen hit Cooks on a beautiful 50-yard strike in the first quarter, and while it set Buffalo up in prime field position, it was immediately squandered by the Keystone Cops-style fumble one play later.<\/p>\n
Cooks made another long catch, as well, channeling David Tyree and using his helmet to gain 36 yards with less than two minutes remaining in the game, setting the Bills up with a first-and-goal chance that they\u2019d cash in on fourth down. Cooks had two more grabs, as well, and both came in the fourth quarter. One was a nine-yard gain on first down, and the other was a six-yard grab on third down to move the sticks.<\/p>\n
Cooks was the second-most targeted receiver with six, trailing only Khalil Shakir (seven) in that area. Cooks caught those four passes for 101 yards. He\u2019s the Bills\u2019 first 100-yard receiver since Shakir went for 110 yards against the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n
If Cooks can provide a legitimate downfield threat when tight end Dalton Kincaid is healthy, it adds an entirely different element to this offense. It\u2019s exactly what the Bills need moving forward. Given that they were able to do this even with Philadelphia\u2019s excellent secondary in Kincaid\u2019s absence with terrible weather, I am cautiously optimistic that it\u2019s something to build on as the postseason begins.<\/p>\n
Walker was a menace in the middle once again, totaling three tackles, one for a loss, and plenty of disruption where he used his massive frame and incredible athleticism to impact the run game. The Bills held the Eagles to just 82 yards rushing, and Saquon Barkley had 19 carries for 68 yards. Tank Bigsby, who had rushed for 98 yards and a score over his past three games, carried just twice for seven yards. Buffalo was able to clamp down on the Eagles\u2019 rushing attack, especially in the second half, where the Eagles gained just 16 yards total on their 18 plays.<\/p>\n
You know what was almost cooler than watching Walker play great on 57% of the team\u2019s defensive snaps, though? Watching some of the team\u2019s other defensive linemen start to put it together as a unit. T.J. Sanders, another rookie, led the team in defensive line snaps, playing on 65% of them. He had just one tackle, but he looked good filling gaps and in pass-rush games. Andre Jones Jr. was active against the run yet again, notching a tackle on his 30% snap share. Phidarian Mathis had two tackles while playing 33% of the snaps. Larry Ogunjobi, who was a healthy scratch last week, also had two tackles while handling 31% of the snaps.<\/p>\n
Quietly, Buffalo\u2019s defense has improved as the year has progressed. They did their job on Sunday. If they continue to play at this level, the Bills can go a long way this postseason.<\/p>\n
Buffalo\u2019s defensive captain had three tackles on the day. He played half the team\u2019s defensive snaps, and all of his snaps came in the first half. Bernard left the game late in the second quarter with a calf injury and did not return.<\/p>\n
As has become a pattern this year, however, the defense improved when Bernard was replaced in the lineup by veteran Shaq Thompson. Thompson appeared on 59% of Buffalo\u2019s snaps, and he also posted three tackles in the game. One of his tackles went for a loss, as well. Thompson is a far more physical player than Bernard is, and at this point, he\u2019s also the better player.<\/p>\n
It might be a difficult conversation to have, but the team has to realize that its best chance is with No. 45 on the field at middle linebacker, not No. 8. It\u2019s possible that Thompson isn\u2019t the sole reason why the defense looks better when he\u2019s on the field, just like it\u2019s possible that Bernard isn\u2019t solely responsible for defensive breakdowns when he\u2019s out there. However, we\u2019ve had enough time this season with Thompson playing in Bernard\u2019s place to see the obvious. The Bills may be best suited by making a lineup change for the Wild Card Round of the playoffs \u2014 and hopefully beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Buffalo Bills outgained the Philadelphia Eagles by 140 yards. They possessed the ball for 11 more minutes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[27904,37375,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-73530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-buffalo-bills-analysis","tag-buffalo-bills-opinion","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}