Buffalo Bills: 4 pleasant surprises from the first four games of 2020
By Jason Mattis
These are the four biggest positives for the Buffalo Bills after the first quarter of the 2020 season.
Every NFL team hopes to get off to a fast start and some teams have done a better job than others through the first four games. The Buffalo Bills are one of those teams as they have gone 4-0 coming out of the gate.
At times it has looked easy for the Bills as well. Because of that type of success, there are many positives that can be taken from the first four games. Here is a look at four of the biggest.
Fast starts by the Buffalo Bills
A theme throughout the 2019 season was slow starts by the offense. The team had trouble consistently scoring early and often. After four games that issue hasn’t surfaced in the 2020 season.
In 2019, the team averaged 9.3 points in the first half. The 2020 version has more than doubled that to 19 points. This season the team has also scored at least two touchdowns in each game in the first half. That only occurred four times in 16 games last season and on pace to go well above that this season.
In the four games, this season the Buffalo Bills didn’t punt in the first half twice. That happened twice all of last season. If we project the same consistency throughout the rest of this season that means this offense will shatter last seasons by having eight games in which they don’t punt in the first half.
Putting up big numbers in the first half has been a theme this year as twice they have gone over the 20 point mark while in 16 games last season that only happened twice.
Josh Allen‘s smart decision making in the passing game has aided the first half success. Zero interceptions have kept the team driving towards the end zone while they build big leads. The team has carried two 21-3 leads into the half against the New York Jets and Los Angeles Rams while also leading against the Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders by seven and four points respectively.
Having these fast starts and leads has enabled the team to weather the storm and momentum second half surge by their opponents netting a 4-0 record. If the offense can maintain this level of success it will continue to increase their win probability going forward.