Bills All-22: The running game is still strong, receiver separation is a concern

In their third straight primetime game, the Bills couldn’t keep up their breakneck pace on offense, and their defensive injuries finally caught up to them. The Ravens owned the night, blowing out the Bills 35-10

The Bills will head back on the road for another big test against the Texans in Week 5. However, before the Ravens game totally gets flushed from their system, what can we learn from the film?

After studying the All-22, here is a full breakdown of how the Bills unraveled on offense while at the same time showing little signs of hope baked in.

Why there was more to the offense than met the eye in scoring only 10 points

After the game, quarterback Josh Allen spoke with reporters, and despite their point total, he did not come across as a person who was out of answers. We’ve seen that version of Allen before, where his stare across a room seemingly went from where he was seated over to Western Canada. Allen seemed down due to the result but with a hint of remaining upbeat.

But why?

Before we get started, let’s state the obvious. It was not the Bills’ finest day on offense. Coming away with 10 points is rarely going to get the job done, especially not against a Super Bowl-contending Ravens team that boasts an explosive offense of their own. What the Bills did on Sunday night was not good enough on offense by any stretch of the imagination. But even while acknowledging all of that, reviewing the film brought along something unexpected. While the Bills had some problem areas against the Ravens and didn’t put points on the board, what the offense showed was not nearly as bad as you might think. And there were some signs of optimism, which is likely what kept Allen upbeat despite him taking a physical beating for the first time in 2024.

The first thing that stood out was that the Bills were far more effective running the ball between the tackles than expected. The Ravens entered the game with one of the best run-defending units in the league, and it was expected that the Bills would have to pick and choose their spots to keep the Ravens honest. Instead, right from the beginning of the game, the push the Bills got up front from their offensive linemen and subsequent rushing by James Cook showed a strength that the Bills likely should have tapped into more than they did on Sunday.

If you’re wondering why the offensive linemen wound up with slightly above-average to good marks for the game, their role as run blockers played a big part. Four of Cook’s five carries in the first half all went for at least four yards. Two of them went for eight yards. And the success continued into the second half as the Bills were driving only down 11 points. But once the trick play happened, any hopes of using the run vanished with the Bills running out of time and down three scores.

That does not take away from the fact that the Bills ran well against a high-end Ravens run defense. Entering the game, the Ravens had a defensive rush success rate of 75 percent. That was only 50 percent against the Bills, and only 42.9 percent through the first three quarters when the Bills were still in the game. The Ravens had only been allowing 0.91 yards before contact per play in Weeks 1 to 3. Against the Bills in the first three quarters, that number more than doubled to 2.24 yards before contact. I would expect the Bills to lean into this for a more balanced approach because their offensive line did a great job in a tough matchup.

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Another reason for optimism was, at least early in the game, Allen didn’t panic at the sign of a unique blitz and instead tried to use the vacated zone area against the defense. That was more reminiscent of the quarterback we saw over the first three games than what Allen turned into by the end of the game. Because the Bills were down by such a large margin, Allen’s accuracy was waning. He took more chances with turnover-worthy plays and was very lucky to have not been picked off down the stretch. He was more uncomfortable than we had seen over the first few games, and there was a reason for that which we’ll get to, but when Allen and the offensive line were on the same page — even against a blitz — he put some good plays together.

Now, those signs of optimism were just that, because the Bills overwhelmingly didn’t execute. One of the most significant reasons the Bills were so ineffective in finishing drives was that, too often, they could not interpret the pressure points coming at them ahead of the snap. To the offensive line’s credit, there were only a few one-on-one pass-blocking gaffes.

A lot of the Ravens’ success was in confusing both Allen and the offensive line pre-snap and even, at times, getting a free rusher at the quarterback. This was a major cause of Allen’s time to throw going from 2.83 seconds in the first three weeks to ballooning to 3.28 seconds against the Ravens. While it undoubtedly cost them dearly in Week 4, this is a diagnosable problem that the Bills can get cleaned up — especially with a long-time quarterback and a veteran-heavy offensive line playing well in front of him. The Ravens had a good plan, and they made the Bills pay for not being as prepared as they should have been.

Curtis Samuel is one of the receivers who has to get better separation to help the offense. (Patrick Smith / Getty Images)

The bigger problem on offense may be the lack of separation by their receivers, which could be another reason for the Bills to lean into their ground game a bit more. Slot receiver Khalil Shakir has easily been their best in this department, whether it’s on structured routes or out of structure when Allen drifts from the pocket. Keon Coleman isn’t the best separator, but he’s making it work as someone who can come down with contested catches pushing past the 10-yard marker. That’s essential for someone for someone with his skill set. As for Mack Hollins, Curtis Samuel and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, they all have left a bit to be desired in this area. And because the Bills have been eagerly spreading out their wide receiver snaps through the season, this is an issue.

Hollins has played 65.2 percent of the snaps in 2024, followed by Coleman (64.8 percent), Shakir (58.3), Valdes-Scantling (39.8 percent) and Samuel (29.6 percent). The same goes for the tight end group with Dalton Kincaid (61.7 percent) and Dawson Knox (52.2 percent). Kincaid is easily the better separator of the two, but the Bills have insisted on making Knox a 50 percent snap or more piece of their offense.

The Bills could solve some of these issues if they condense their snaps to their three best — Shakir, Kincaid and Coleman — while dispersing the remaining snaps between the Hollins, Samuel, Valdes-Scantling and Knox (on 12 personnel) group. It doesn’t mean the top trio needs to play every snap, but Shakir getting no more than 69 percent in a single game this year, given his impact, is not necessarily ideal. There is room to grow here, but the Bills need to commit to their three best young receivers in a big way.

Quick thoughts on the Bottom 5

*Without any big individual performances due to the blowout, we’ll focus solely on the Bottom 5 this week.

DL Dawuane Smoot (C-minus) — The Ravens took advantage of Smoot as an edge defender on runs a couple of times. He had some trouble holding his ground when he slid inside to defensive tackle, and then he had the personal foul call on top of it. Overall, an evening to forget for Smoot.

LB Baylon Spector (D-plus) — Spector’s day was defined by not being able to escape blocks well enough. The Ravens challenged him and the rest of the second-level defenders, and they did not stand up well enough to the challenge. Spector played better later in the game when they varied up some pressure and play calls, but it was too late by that point.

NCB Cam Lewis (D-plus) — Missed tackles and getting taken out by blocks due to some size issues defined his evening. There was one play where Lewis read the play beautifully, met the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage and just bounced off the runner, ruining what would have been a great play. It just wasn’t Lewis’ night.

LB Nicholas Morrow (D-plus) — The Bills brought Morrow in the game for Lewis when the Ravens went to heavy personnel packages, but it did not go well. Whether it was being a step too slow in coverage, or in getting to the spot to help defend the run, Morrow was mostly a liability when on the field. The Bills desperately need a linebacker to get healthy, but if that doesn’t happen in Week 5, they should consider Joe Andreessen for this specific third linebacker role.

LB Dorian Williams (D) — One week after Williams looked like he took some strides in dealing with play action and holding his ground, the Ravens challenged the linebacker’s eye discipline and made it a long night for him. Unfortunately for Williams, this is the scouting report on him from opposing teams and only he can prove to teams that it’s not something they can try to isolate moving forward. But right now, it remains an issue, and as a starter for Matt Milano for the foreseeable future, the Bills will need to try to build Williams up, scheme around it, or a bit of both.

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Underrated standouts

CB Rasul Douglas (B-plus) — Douglas took one false step out wide on Henry’s 87-yard touchdown run, but he wasn’t alone for being a guilty party on that play. He also got slightly handsy on a pass attempt in the end zone. Outside of those two moments, Douglas had a really strong showing. His presence in run defending, coverage and forcing wide runs back inside was all good.

CB Christian Benford (B-plus) — Another week, and another strong game from Benford. He broke up what looked to be a sure longer catch along the sideline, and the Ravens really didn’t try to test him the rest of the game. Benford also provided good tackle support when the play reached him.

Players with fewer than 15 snaps:

RB Ty Johnson (11), RB Ray Davis (10), DE Von Miller (9), TE Quintin Morris (8), LT Ryan Van Demark (8), C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (8), QB Mitchell Trubisky (8), DT Austin Johnson (7), CB Ja’Marcus Ingram (7), FB Reggie Gilliam (5), DE Javon Solomon (3), LB Joe Andreessen (3), CB Kaiir Elam (3), CB Brandon Codrington (0)

**Minimum 60 snaps

How the standards work

When the All-22 film becomes available, we’ll go through and watch every player on every play as many times as necessary to assess letter grades. It is a subjective analysis, and it’s important to note we do not know the play calls and full responsibilities. The grades stem from technique, effort and presumed liability.

The study accounts only for players who take a snap on offense or defense. Players with fewer than 15 snaps — unless they significantly impact the game — will not factor into weekly rankings. The grades range from an ‘A’ (a perfect 4.00 GPA) to ‘F’ (0.00 GPA). There is no such thing as an ‘A+’ on this grading system. Season-long grades will be tallied and documented, with a single game’s grade weighted based on how much the player was on the field in a given week.