With the team reeling after a frustrating loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills should probably be hitting the panic button. Their offense has been sluggish and a handful of injuries have had a significant impact on the team's defense.
But they've still got talent and multiple players need to either improve their game, find some consistency, or find an extra gear. In all honesty, it was difficult to only select five players after the Patriots game in Week 7, but here are five Bills players who fall under the 'got to get going' category.
5 players who need to step up for the Buffalo Bills in Week 8
Gabe Davis
Unfortunately for Davis, our expectations for him have been unfair since his four-touchdown playoff performance in 2021.
In reality, Davis is an athletic receiver that can make plays downfield. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened often enough to make up for his underwhelming route running skills. The former fourth-round pick doesn't consistently win routes against opposing defensive backs.
But sympathy won't leave him off this list.
After being named one of the team's captains this offseason, Davis has dropped a couple of passes and even lost a fumble. If he's going to be one of the team's leaders, he needs to limit his mistakes, while making the plays he's being counted on to make.
According to fantasypros, Davis has only accounted for 14.8% of Josh Allen's target share this season. Considering, he's listed as the team's undisputed number-two wide receiver, he needs to start proving himself as worthy of that title down the stretch.
Dalton Kincaid
When you consider that Kincaid is a rookie tight end who's part of an offense that has used two tight-end sets for the majority of its plays, he's been pretty darn good. Kincaid caught eight passes for 75 yards against the Patriots and has hauled in 25 of his 27 targets this season — the highest catch-per-target rate of any Bills player.
With tight end Dawson Knox scheduled to undergo wrist surgery, Kincaid is going to see his role increase and he'll need to be ready for the opportunity. Couple Davis' struggles with the injury to Knox and Kincaid could quickly become the second receiving option the Bills envisioned him being when they traded up to select him in the first round of this year's draft.
It's now time for Ken Dorsey and Allen to find Kincaid past the sticks for some big plays while continuing to use him as a safety valve and zone-beater when Allen is under some pressure. Kincaid has been good, but the Bills need to find ways to turn his role up a notch.
Ed Oliver
This pick probably seems odd considering Oliver has dominated opposing offenses this season — and he didn't play against the Patriots — but when Oliver returns from injury, he'll be responsible for singlehandedly anchoring the interior of the defensive line.
With Oliver and DaQuan Jones both missing with injuries against the Patriots, the Bills defense couldn't gain any push against the Patriots interior offensive line. Not only did the rotation of Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, and Kendal Vickers fail to amount any pass-rush from the inside, but the Patriots were opportunistic on runs up the middle, scoring a 2-yard touchdown run with Ezekiel Elliot in the first quarter.
With Jones missing significant time due to a torn pectoral muscle, choosing to include Oliver was more of a 'please come back from injury' decision, than it was a slight to his game. If the Bills defensive front is keen on closing down the middle of the field, it will have to start with Oliver because outside of himself, the Bills appear thin at the defensive tackle position.
Linebackers
For this next pick, I've decided to go with an entire position group — and it could be labelled Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott, instead.
After losing Tremaine Edmunds in free agency this offseason, the Bills didn't add to the linebacker room outside of drafting Dorian Williams in the third round. While Terrel Bernard played fantastic in the first few games, losing his all-pro partner Matt Milano has brought forth some serious repercussions — and the Bills weren't prepared for the event of his injury.
In replace of Milano, the Bills have trotted out Williams and Tyrel Dodson who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2019. The three linebackers, including Bernard, allowed Patriots quarterback Mac Jones to complete 17 of his 20 passes over the middle of the field on Sunday. Williams in particular, was a disaster, playing the first 21 snaps before being benched for Dodson. Across those 21 snaps, Williams allowed 3 catches for 60 yards and missed two tackles.
In the linebacking unit's defense, the Bills pass rush may have been non-existent against the Patriots, but their inexperience was still on full display. It will be interesting to see whether the Bills add an experienced linebacker across from Bernard as the trade deadline approaches because even Jordan Poyer was playing linebacker in the fourth quarter against the Patriots.
Josh Allen
I understand it's not all his fault, but he also deserves some blame.
When Allen scores three touchdowns against one turnover and the defense allows 29 points to a stale offense, you'd think the loss probably wasn't his fault — and it wasn't entirely on Allen — but right from the opening play of the game, he wasn't making the proper reads or adjustments.
While the Bills offensive line wasn't stellar, especially rookie right guard O'Cyrus Torrence, Allen failed to call the correct pre-snap protection changes. In many cases, the Patriots were designing 5 and 6-man blitzes that Allen wasn't picking up on.
And even if he did, he was holding onto the ball instead of throwing underneath to open receivers. In this case, it appeared that while Ken Dorsey was far from calling a perfect game, he anticipated this strategy from New England and he schemed open some shorter targets for Allen to use when trying to combat the pressure — and missing those reads is on Allen.
In a video that was posted to his X account this afternoon, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovskydescribed these struggles.
In reality, there is plenty of blame to go around when it comes to breaking down the Bills inconsistencies — and that includes some blame for Ken Dorsey, Sean McDermott, and Josh Allen. The team might have to add players at the trade deadline or consider some bigger changes, but for now, their focus should be on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who travel to Buffalo on Thursday night before the Bills start a mini-bye week in advance of their clash with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9.
As for Bills Mafia, the season isn't over just yet.