EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On the Buffalo Bills' roller-coaster ride of a season, last week's 9-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars was about as low as it can get.
The Bills went from scoring two field goals against the struggling Jaguars to scoring 45 points a week later in a blowout win against the New York Jets, who entered the game as the 32nd-ranked defense (408.1 yards per game). Buffalo finished with season highs in points and total net yards (489).
The team’s issues are not magically solved, however, thanks to a win against the worst team in the division and a historically bad defense. That’s not how it works. But one positive sign was the Bills' adaptability when things were not working in the two games after the bye -- a 26-11 win over Miami and the Jaguars loss -- including not scoring any first-half touchdowns.
“[Offensive coordinator] Brian Daboll called a great game,” coach Sean McDermott said. “Changed the look enough and changed the profile of the offense, and I thought that was well executed and good to get stuff going there and he gives us a ton of energy.”
How did they do it and what can be taken from it?
Play-action, adapting and the run game: Josh Allen was 14-of-17 for 305 yards and an interception on play-action passes against the Jets, the second-most yards by any quarterback since ESPN Stats & Information began tracking play-action in 2006. No quarterback had thrown for even 200 yards on play-action passes this season entering Sunday.
That was one of the adjustments the Bills made after talking last week about fixing the running game. McDermott acknowledged the running back group wasn't where it needed to be.
Did the running game improve? Somewhat. Ten of 26 first downs came on the ground. The return of right tackle Spencer Brown helped.
Devin Singletary had a good game with seven carries for 43 yards, and he, Matt Breida and Zack Moss all had rushing scores. Buffalo’s running backs had four touchdowns total coming into the game. Meanwhile, Allen, who was the Bills' leading rusher in three of the four games before the Jets game, finished with two carries for 3 yards.
The Bills won't likely become a run-first team, but getting production from multiple backs is ideal to take pressure off Allen.
"In terms of, let's run it 40 times and run two-back power ... that's just not how our philosophy works here,” Daboll said.
What about Breida, who scored two touchdowns? He played eight snaps, though it might have felt like more.
Going forward, Breida might get more opportunities, but his usage will be situation-based, and at this point he is still unlikely to see consistent snaps.
Getting the best receiver involved: Obvious? Maybe, but Stefon Diggs hadn’t put together a real splash performance this season. Two of Allen’s four biggest throws on play-action went to Diggs, who had his most receiving yards as a Bill, finishing with 162 yards on eight receptions including a touchdown.
“I know throughout the year, he’s had a few games where he’s eclipsed 100,” Allen said. “But the point of emphasis this week was let’s get him the ball as early and often as possible.”
That worked pretty well, especially against the Jets’ struggling secondary. The Bills’ No. 1 receiver had one 100-plus-yard receiving game coming in and three touchdowns but was able to find favorable matchups.
“The more opportunities that we give him to have here, we’re probably gonna need,” Allen said. “Cause he just continues to make play after play.”
More from receiver Gabriel Davis: The second-year wideout made a case for increased playing time, catching all three of his targets for 105 yards and a score. It was by far his best game of the season, and he played a season-high 50.8% of the snaps.
The Bills' offense needs someone to draw defenses away from Diggs. Giving Davis more opportunities wouldn't be a bad idea.
What’s next for this offense? The part of the Bills' offense that isn’t sustainable going forward is the 9.1 yards per play averaged against the Jets. No team has averaged that many yards per play this season, and the Bills had not done so since a game in 2000 against the Seahawks.
And this scheme and game plan will carry over only so much since Daboll likes to adapt his offense to the opponent.
“Figure out the strengths of the team you're playing against, the matchups you're playing against, sometimes it's the conditions you're going against,” Daboll said of his approach. “Maybe one player suits your team a little bit better than the other player, you want to use him more. It's just so week-to-week.”
Integrating the run game the way the Bills did against the Jets going forward, however, would be a step in the right direction. Going 6-for-7 in the red zone, which has been an issue, is a positive sign. Keeping Diggs and Davis involved isn’t a bad idea, and all of this offensive success came with receiver Cole Beasley limited due to a lingering rib injury. There’s no perfect formula as the Buffalo offense will mix things up from week to week, but not relying too heavily on Allen is a trend that should continue.
“That’s just one thing that we’re not gonna do as a team is ride this roller coaster of ‘We’re the worst team to ever play; now we’re the best team to ever play,’” Allen said. “We’re gonna stay consistent, steady and come into work each and every day and again try to put our best foot forward every Sunday, Monday or Thursday that we play."