NFL Week 12 is kicking off tonight with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns set to do battle on Thursday Night Football. WUFO is looking at the Buffalo Bills organization from top to bottom and grading it this week. Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Coaching, and the Front Office are all under the scope. All “subjects” will be given a letter grade along with a comment or observation; much like an elementary report card.
Offense
Grade: A-
The Bills offense continues to make strides as the season goes on and is coming off of a 30-point performance against the Kansas City Chiefs, handing them their first loss of the season. The Bills are middle of the pack in total offense (13), passing offense (12), and rushing offense (15). These aren’t rankings that jump off the page at you but the Bills shine when it matters; ranking third in scoring offense and sixth in red zone offense. The run game struggled last week against the dominating run defense of the Chiefs which is where they lose a couple of points. The leader of the offense, QB Josh Allen has shot back to the top of the MVP ladder after the win last week. The Bills offense looks great, but there is slight room for improvement, I expect them to be back to an A+ standard by the time playoffs roll around.
Defense
Grade: B+
The Bills defense has remained a troubling force despite what many expected coming into the season. The Bills sustained many injuries on the defense including Pro-Bowler Matt Milano as well as Nickel corner Taron Johnson and MLB Terrel Bernard. Von Miller was also required to serve a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s Player conduct policy. Despite an abundance of absences the Bills have a record of 9-2 and lead the AFC East. They have also managed to be 13th in rushing defense, 14th in passing defense, 12th in red zone defense, and an impressive ninth in scoring defense. To be able to achieve this while being down personnel earns them respectable marks.
Special Teams
Grade: C
Tyler Bass has nearly 20% of the league’s missed field goals and the Bills were the first team to give up a kickoff return TD this season. If something is sticking out like a sore thumb, it’s the special teams and this average grade.
Coaching
Grade: A-
The head coaching job of Sean McDermott is rarely called into question. There was a glimpse of questionable time and field management back in the Bills’ loss to the Texans in week five, other than that McDermott has been great. OC Joe Brady’s “everybody eats” playstyle continues to work for the Bills, especially after finally establishing a reliable number-one option in Amari Cooper for when a situation requires his finesse. Brady was insistent on constantly running the ball on first down against the Chiefs for little or no gain, creating too many third and fourth downs. The Bills still managed to steal the victory so I won’t penalize too much.
Front Office
Grade: A+
I can’t give this front office enough praise. From moving on from Diggs in the offseason and then inexpensively replacing him with Amari Cooper when the opportunity presented itself. When Davante Adams requested a trade, The Bills were a team thrown around in conversations about the star WR but the cap complications made a deal almost impossible to complete and Adams landed with the Jets, a divisional rival. The Bills instead rescued Amari Cooper from Cleveland in the 24-hour window as a direct counter to the Jets, and to address the issues that stemmed from not having a bonafide WR1. The Bills are undefeated since their loss to the Texans, and I believe it’s because of the front office’s ability to address issues instead of letting them snowball.
Written by Raven Ullah, WUFO Intern
