It’s been a rough start for the Buffalo Bills in the second quarter of the NFL season. They went from blowing out opponents, scoring 30+ points in the first three games, to now dropping their last two games against AFC playoff contenders in the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans. Going from 3-0 and arguably the best team in the NFL to losing two consecutive is not a great look for them.
Whether you want to blame the players, the referees, or the coaching staff, all of them have a case to receive some of the blame for this loss to the Texans. Atleast when the Bills lost to the Ravens, we knew right from the start that the Bills were out of it and had no fighting chance. With the loss to Houston, they gave Bills fans hope only to break at the end of the game.
We can sit here and talk about what should have been different, which tackle should have been made or what catch should have been made. At the end of the day, the Bills will have to watch the film and see what mistakes need to be corrected.
As we go into a new week fresh off of this loss, there are four players that should receive some blame for Buffalo’s loss against the Texans in Week 5
That’s right, you read it correctly. Rookie wideout Keon Coleman made it to the list despite his 4th down 49-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter that brought the Bills within three points of the Texans.
Coleman finished as the team’s leading receiver with 49 yards off of that one catch. However, he was targeted five times throughout the game. He had a handful of drops, got called for offensive pass interference on a throw to him, and there was even a play where Allen threw the ball to Coleman but with the lack of his attention, the ball hit Coleman in the back of the helmet.
There were plenty of times that Coleman should have moved the chains for the Bills but it ended up in disappointment instead.
WR Curtis Samuel
Notice a theme happening here? Sticking with the wide receivers, it is the same sad story for Curtis Samuel. Through five games, Samuel’s contract he signed with the Bills keeps looking like a horrible investment. There is an argument to be made that the Bills don’t know how to utilize Samuel correctly and when they do target him, the play gets shut down real quickly.
Samuel was targeted four times but only had one reception for no gain. He would then have one rushing attempt that would end with -1 yards. Bills fans are waiting for the day that Samuel has his breakout game. However, they should be looking forward to him just getting the ball in his hands more than once.
S Cole Bishop
The rookie safety got to see some playing time in this game with Taylor Rapp being ruled out with a concussion. The Bills drafted Bishop to help start a new regime of their secondary with Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer out of Buffalo. Bishop has had a little bit of a rough start to his career.
He suffered an injury in training camp and had not seen much playing time early on in the season. As a second round pick, he is expected to provide some sort of immediate impact. In this game against the Texans, he had an impact but for the worse.
Late in the first quarter, it took the Texans one play to put up their second touchdown of the game. Quarterback C.J. Stroud connected with wide receiver Nico Collins on a 67-yard touchdown throw to put the Texans up 14-3. On that pass, Collins gets past Rasul Douglas but Bishop should have provided coverage over the top and he didn’t. Instead, Collins beat the double coverage and put the Texans up on the board again.
That play alone was a deciding factor in this game. If that touchdown never happened, the Bills may have come out of this game winners.
QB Josh Allen
There is no way that Josh Allen’s doesn’t end up on this kind of list this week. Completing 9 passes out of 30 attempts is rookie numbers. Allen looked like a bad rookie against this Texans defense. His performance was horrific and he played a major role in this loss for the Bills.
Allen finished the game completing 30% of his throws for 131 yards and one touchdown. The only good news about his play was that he didn’t turn the ball over. When the Bills lose, Allen usually isn’t the problem. However, Allen should take a lot of the blame for this loss.
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