The Buffalo Bills came up short in an overtime thriller to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 33-27. The Bucs would get the scoring started with a 47 yard Leonard Fournette touchdown run, and later would add to their lead with a 23 yard Ryan Succop field goal to go up 10-0. Josh Allen and the Bills would get a drive going but would have to settle for a 21 yard Tyler Bass field goal. Tampa Bay would strike again with a 13 yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Mike Evans to go up 17-3, and the Buccaneers would close out their scoring in the first half with a one yard Tom Brady touchdown run, taking a 24-3 lead into the half.
We would only see an 18 yard Josh Allen touchdown run during the third quarter, a quarter that would show signs of life for the Bills. Early in the fourth quarter, Ryan Succop would kick another field goal to give the Bucs a 27-10 lead. Josh Allen would connect with tight end Dawson Knox on a 15 yard touchdown pass to pull the Bills closer at 27-17. Shortly after, Josh Allen would find Gabriel Davis on a four yard touchdown pass and the Bills were as close as they had been all day. After another defensive stand, Buffalo would get the ball back before the end of regulation and move the ball back down the field and had a chance to win the game in regulation, but would have to settle for tying 25 yard Tyler Bass field goal. Unfortunately, the game would end in a 58 yard Breshad Perriman game winning touchdown to win the game for the Buccaneers 33-27. Here are my takeaways:
Despite the slow start, Josh Allen was excellent: On the day, Josh Allen was 36/54, for 308 yards, 3 total TD’s (2 pass, 1 rush), and 1 interception. He also led the Bills in rushing with 109 yards.
Gabriel Davis needs to be more involved: Davis had five receptions for 43 yards and one touchdown. He has been coming on strong lately, as he also had the Bills only touchdown in the Monday night loss to the Patriots.
The Bills need a running game: Josh Allen can’t be the only person to depend on in the running game. If they continue to do so, he will leave more stadiums in a walking boot, just like he did last night. As of now, it looks like the Devin Singletary and Matt Breida experiment will not cut it with the lack of physical play up front.
Is Sean McDermott’s seat getting warm: I don’t think just yet because so far he has done nothing but good things since he has been in Buffalo, with only one losing “rebuilding” season. If the Bills are thinking about making a change, it should start with Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll before anyone.
The refs won the game for the Buccaneers: Before the end of regulation, a pass from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs that should have been pass interference was not called. The non-call which made the Bills settle for overtime instead. Numerous penalties should have been called on the Buccaneers throughout the night, but they either went against Buffalo, or they were offsetting penalties.
The Bills fell to 7-6 and will return home against the Carolina Panthers for a 1 pm kickoff. Carolina will also be coming off of a loss to their NFC South rival, the Atlanta Falcons, and come in with a 5-8 record. The Bills will be the favorite at home, and hopefully, they will get back on track and get back on the winning side because who would have thought with the expectations this season that the Bills would be on a two game losing streak.
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