Buffalo Bills: 3 Horrible stats that defined the Week 1 loss

Pass Attempts

With 51 pass attempts on the day, Daboll’s decision to heavily lean on the pass instead of establishing any ground threat costed the Bills in the end.

Last season, the Bills were known as one of the most “pass-happy” teams in the NFL. Recording 240 attempts on first down in 2020 was a signifier of just how much Allen and Diggs were relied on throughout the season. While this was a formula that saw them reach the AFC Championship game, their lack of a run game proved costly against the Chiefs as they were held to 234 yards and an interception in the 38-24 loss at Arrowhead Stadium.

Leading up to the draft, there was speculation on the direction the Bills would go when they would be on the clock. With the subpar run game, the team had the year prior, it was a point of contention whether the Bills should select Clemson’s Travis Etienne or add to their defensive line.

While they ultimately chose to stay with the Singletary-Zack Moss tandem while adding Bredia, Daboll hesitantly called run plays against Pittsburgh.

With only  25 rushing plays called for 117 yards, 44 coming from Allen alone, the lack of a run game allowed Pittsburgh’s defense to focus on locking up the Bills receivers. This in turn showed to have an effect on Allen’s game as he was not able to find his receivers on routes and concepts that he normally would have been able to last year.

Whether Daboll will decide to call a more balanced game against Miami is unlikely to be it that the team had tremendous success against them in their Week 17 56-26 win last season, though a more balanced approach is a must going forward.