How have Bills clawed back into playoff contention? By changing their identity

Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

Josh Allen threw for 94 yards against the Dallas Cowboys.

And the Buffalo Bills scored 31 points.

That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, does it?

“I felt like the kid that didn’t do anything in the class project and got an A,” Allen said postgame.

Allen’s passing yards equate to points — and wins — from what we’ve seen from Buffalo this year (and last year and basically every dang year). And yet the Bills beat the Cowboys 31-10 in Buffalo on Sunday. They did it by centering their offense around running backs James Cook and Ty Johnson.

The shift is due, in large part, to the transition from offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, fired in November, to interim OC Joe Brady. Dorsey focused his offense around Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs, and if those two weren’t clicking, the whole thing crumbled. Under Brady, Diggs has not eclipsed 75 receiving yards. Diggs led the team in receiving yards (48) against Dallas, but as mentioned, the Bills didn’t need to throw the ball a whole lot.

Cook, instead, had 25 carries for 179 yards and a touchdown. Johnson added nine carries for 55 yards. Even Allen got in on the fun, with eight carries for 24 yards and a rushing touchdown. The quarterback did throw a passing touchdown. But you can guess who it went to.

Yup. James Cook.

“Once his energy gets on, Cook really becomes chef,” offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said.

James Cook has 221 total yards with two TDs as Bills thrash Cowboys

The Bills were in such rare form that they looked like they were playing beach volleyball at the line of scrimmage. They were dead set on running the ball. It was just a question of which direction they wanted to go. So in the second half, Allen pointed behind his back to indicate to Johnson in which direction he’d be getting his chunk gain.

But, hey, I respect it. Keep it simple. 

That’s one thing that exasperated Bills fans about Dorsey. He’d overthink playcalling in…

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Publish date : 2023-12-18 01:17:25

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