Atlanta Falcons 15-29 Buffalo Bills: Bills eliminate Falcons from playoff contention
The Game
The Falcons took a rare 2-0 lead, thanks to a safety. A forced fumble by Avery Williams on a Buffalo punt return, resulted in the ball ending up in the Bills endzone. The ball was recovered by Bills wideout Jake Kumerow. A quick Falcons three and out, gave Buffalo the ball at their own 31 yard line. The Bills moved the ball down the field with ease utilising their impressive set of wide receivers. Completions to Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis got the Bills to the Falcons redzone. A pass interference on AJ Terrell on 4th and goal gave Buffalo a new set of downs from the Atlanta 1. Josh Allen scored on a designed quarterback run to the left giving Buffalo a 7-2 lead.
This would become one of the storylines of the game. Atlanta's inability to slow Buffalo's rushing attack. Allen scored a second rushing touchdown on the Bills next drive; it was nearly identical to the first, except Allen rushed to the right this time. Buffalo had gotten the ball after a Gregory Rousseau strip sack of Matt Ryan. The lack of effort from Deion Jones on the touchdown was inexcusable. He couldn't even fight off the block of Bills 5'8" wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. This made the score, 14-2 Bills.
An 11 play drive ending in a field goal cut the deficit to 14-5. The Falcons done a good job of avoiding third downs. Converting on first and second down. The Bills defence hadn't shown much resistance, but they managed to stiffen Matt Ryan and Co in the redzone on third and 5 from their 10 yard line. Youngkoe Koo made no mistake with his 28 yard kick.
Dean Pees defence forced their first of three interceptions on the following Buffalo drive. Josh Allen and Devin Singletary accounted for 60 rushing yards between them to get Buffalo into the redzone. Josh Allen done well to avoid Dante Fowlers pressure to extend the play, but his resulting pass was tipped. Falcons safety Duron Harmon caught the tipped ball in the endzone. This extended the Falcons streak of consecutive games with a takeaway to twelve. The longest active streak in the NFL.
The next play from Scrimmage saw Kyle Pitts gain 61 yards. Over 40 yards of this was YAC. It showcased why Atlanta took Pitts 4th overall. On this pass, Pitts past Julio Jones for most receiving yards by a rookie in Atlanta Falcons history. The Falcons would later lose Pitts to a hamstring injury.
Four consecutive Mike Davis rushes saw Atlanta find the endzone. It was Davis 3rd rushing touchdown of the season making the score 14-12 Bills. AJ Terrell picked off Josh Allen just before half time, to give Atlanta possession again. Allen overthrew his intended receiver Cole Beasley.
A wide receiver screen pass to Russell Gage nearly had the Falcons in the endzone again but a lack of time on the clock, meant we had to settle for a short Koo field goal. Thanks to the Bills egregious turnovers, Arthur Smiths men led 15-14 at the half.
The opening Bills drive of the second half saw Allen throw an interception for the third consecutive possession. It was the first time since 2011, that Buffalo had turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions. Foye Oloukun was the man to profit off another Allen tipped pass. The Falcons couldn't capitalise on the good field possession. Matt Ryan being sacked by Ed Oliver was the crucial play that stopped the Falcons.
Arthur Smith passed up the opportunity to kick a 49 yard field goal given the weather conditions. He punted which resulted in a touchback, meaning we only gained about a net 15 yards. It was a decision I was against at the time. Going for it on 4th down or kicking the field goal should have been the call.
Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll made some key adjustments, after seeing Allen struggle in the passing game. He went to a run heavy approach for the remainder of the game. From this moment onwards, Buffalo mauled Atlanta in the trenches. Ryan was sacked five times and Singletary rushed for two second half touchdowns. Singletary's first touchdown came on an 11 play 80 yard drive. 71 of these yards came from rushing the football. Allen would connect with Cole Beasley for a two point conversion to make the score 22-15. A 65 yard drive that took over seven minutes off the clock, was capped off by a Devin Singletary four yard scamper to give the Bills a two score lead at 29-15.
The scoreline would remain this way, despite Matt Ryan seemingly breaking the plane on a rushing play. He was deemed to have given himself up. If that was the case, then Jordan Poyer should have been flagged for a late hit. Instead, Ryan got flagged for taunting after he thought he had scored. After the review, Ryan was called short at the one. Once the 15 yard penalty was added the Falcons were at the Bills 16 facing 3rd and goal. Ryan threw two straight passes that failed to connect with his moribund wideouts, meaning Atlanta turned the ball over on downs.
Buffalo finished the game with 233 rushing yards. 110 of which came from Singletary. Josh Allen became the first quarterback with 6 rushing touchdowns in four consecutive seasons. Allen also became only the second man to have 4000+ passing yards and 600+ rushing yards in a season, joining Cam Newton who managed this in 2011. Ultimately the Falcons done well to hang around with Buffalo but couldn't capitalise on the four turnovers they forced, because of a lack of talent in the trenches and at receiver.
Falcons MVP
AJ Terrell: Terrell showed his quality again on Sunday. He lined up against all pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs 15 times. In those plays, Diggs had just 2 catches for 19 yards. Terrell allowed just 4 receptions for 37 yards total. He managed to get an interception and he had two pass deflections.
Falcons Positives
Pass Defence: The Falcons done an exceptional job of forcing Josh Allen into three interceptions. Despite having the leagues worst pass rush, Atlanta only allowed 120 passing yards.
Chris Lindstrom: Lindstrom hasn't allowed a sack all season despite playing beside some absolute spoofers. He was PFF's highest graded Falcon vs. Buffalo. He earned a 86.8 overall grade.
Falcons Negatives
Pass Protection: Matt Ryan was under duress in obvious passing situations. Ryan was sacked 5 times and pressured on 13 of his 30 dropbacks. Left guard is the Falcons second biggest need in the offseason, after pass rusher. Our current left guard Jalen Mayfield has been responsible for allowing 11 sacks this season. The most of any guard in the NFL. Look at how bad he was on this sack. A turnstile wouldn't do much worse.
Wide Receivers: The Atlanta Falcons have the least amount of receiving yards from wide receivers in the NFL. Russell Gage aside, this position group has been woeful. The absence of Calvin Ridley has been gargantuan for Arthur Smiths side.
Dante Fowler and Deion Jones: Next Sunday against the Saints should be both these guys last games as Atlanta Falcons. Fowler hasn't been a quality pass rusher at the NFL level, apart from the season he played with Aaron Donald. The lack of effort from Deion Jones in recent weeks is embarrassing. I'd be amazed if he is brought back by this coaching staff and front office.
Run defence: The Falcons got destroyed on the ground. An inability to stop the run saw Buffalo run away with the game in the second half. 233 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdown allowed. Schoolboy stuff.
What Arthur Smith had to say
When asked about the defeat, Smith said"Our guys battled. Ended the half well. We had our chances but credit to Buffalo, they grinded out some drives. We came up short". Commenting on the run defence, Smith had this to say "They did a nice job at times, running the football. Josh Allen is a terrific player, he was able to extend some plays."
Box Score
Atlanta Falcons
Passing: Matt Ryan 13/23 for 197 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, 84.9 passer rating.
Rushing: Mike Davis 8 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Receiving: Kyle Pitts 2 receptions for 69 yards.
Buffalo Bills
Passing: Josh Allen 11/26 for 120 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions, 17.0 passer rating.
Rushing: Devin Singletary 23 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Receiving: Stefon Diggs 5 receptions for 52 yards.
Highlights
The highlights of the game are available on youtube here
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