Our first close look at Bills’ positional battles roster-wide
Buffalo Bills football is finally back and the 2024-25 season began with a victory! However, in usual Bills fashion, Week 1’s matchup against the Arizona Cardinals wasn’t necessarily stress-free for the fan base. Buffalo found itself down 17-3 at one point in the first half but quarterback Josh Allen put on his Superman cape and never looked back, securing the 34-28 win for Buffalo in a thriller.
Allen was lights out — completing 78% of his passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns on top of finding the end zone twice himself with his legs. The first half was certainly strange because the Bills simply didn’t possess the ball and with just two minutes left in the second quarter, Allen had only attempted two passes. The halftime adjustments proved to be crucial as both sides of the ball stepped it up, scoring 24 and allowing just 11 second-half points.
As for Week 1 inactives, the full list is here, with the most notable names being rookie safety Cole Bishop, tackle Ryan Van Demark and linebacker Joe Andreessen aka “Buffalo Joe.” Four of Buffalo’s 2024 draft picks were inactive.
Bills offensive snap counts (62 snaps)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25611739/Screenshot_2024_09_09_at_10.41.11_AM.png)
Aside from the strip sack on the first offensive possession of the season, the offense was surprisingly very efficient. I wasn’t expecting Allen to look so composed and complete such a high percentage of his passes with a new-look wide receiver room. It’s worth keeping an eye on Allen’s left hand injury as we await the X-ray results.
It’s always a good feeling when the entire offensive line comes out of the game unscathed while logging every offensive snap, but there’s certainly some work to be done still. Left tackle Dion Dawkins (100%) was flagged for two penalties himself and while running back James Cook (61%) broke off nice some runs through big holes, Buffalo likely could have been better and taken more advantage of Arizona’s perceived weakness on defense. Nonetheless, 34 points is a lot of scoreboard cheddar. Rookie running back Ray Davis (10%) logged just six snaps and was out-snapped by Ty Johnson (23%) but totaled four touches for 27 scrimmage yards.
The tight end splits were what was expected all offseason with Dalton Kincaid (84%) out-snapping Dawson Knox (58%) and even all pass catchers. However, Kincaid caught just 1-of-2 targets for 11 yards despite running 21 routes — the second-most only behind rookie wideout Keon Coleman (73%), who ran 22 routes and hauled in 4-of-5 targets for 51 yards. The rookie fan favorite was exactly what Bills Mafia wanted him to be — a contested-catch monster. He even drew two penalties.
Wide receiver Mack Hollins (58%) out-snapped Khalil Shakir (53%), suggesting both he and Coleman will operate strictly as the X receivers. Both Hollins and Shakir produced in a big way, though, each finding the end zone in the third quarter. Newly-signed wideout Curtis Samuel (27%) logged just 17 snaps but has been dealing with turf toe for an extended time now, so it isn’t surprising to see Buffalo play it safe with him.
Bills defensive snap counts (61 snaps)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25611743/Screenshot_2024_09_09_at_10.41.36_AM.png)
Nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (11%) logged just seven snaps because he injured his forearm on the Bills’ first defensive drive of the game. That’s going to hurt badly if he’s forced to miss extended time.
As a result of Johnson’s absence, quarterback Kyler Murray sliced up the defense on Arizona’s first three drives. Nonetheless, adjustments were made throughout the rest of the game and safety Cam Lewis (90%) stepped up in his absence. With safeties Cole Bishop and Mike Edwards both dealing with injuries throughout training camp, Buffalo’s safety tandem consisted of Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin, who each logged every defensive snap. Hamlin even broke up a big play on the final possession of the game, too.
The CB1 and CB2 spots are seemingly locked up with both Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford each logging every defensive snap. Douglas essentially erased rookie sensation Marvin Harrison Jr. off the field, although, Murray did miss Harrison Jr. on a wide-open would-be touchdown late in the game.
Second-year linebacker Dorian Williams (85%) looked noticeably stronger and more decisive but will still need to improve as the season progresses to take the defense to the next level again. But, that’s an achievable task when you play alongside Terrell Bernard (100%), who led the team with 11 total tackles. If edge rusher Greg Rousseau (79%) can even do half of what he just did every single week, the Bills’ pass rush could look very scary by the end of the season. Rousseau feasted on Murray, totaling three sacks and a forced fumble that led directly to seven points for Buffalo on the following possession. Even Von Miller (48%) picked up his first sack since November 2022. The interior line didn’t provide much of anything outside of some occasional pressure from both DaQuan Jones (74%) and Ed Oliver (82%). Arizona didn’t attack the inside much, however, as both Murray and running back James Conner kept taking advantage of the edges.
Bills special teams snap counts (27 snaps)
- 23 snaps (85%): Reggie Gilliam and Quintin Morris
- 21 snaps (78%): Ja’Marcus Ingram and Baylon Spector
- 17 snaps (63%): Nicholas Morrow and Kameron Cline
- 13 snaps (48%): Casey Toohill and Tyler Bass
- 12 snaps (44%): Alec Anderson
- 10 snaps (37%): Sam Martin, Cam Lewis and Mack Hollins
- 9 snaps (33%): Mike Edwards and Kaiir Elam
- 8 snaps (30%): Ty Johnson, Brandon Codrington and Reid Ferguson
- 6 snaps (22%): David Edwards, Spencer Brown, O’Cyrus Torrence, Dion Dawkins and Tylan Grable
- 5 snaps (19%): Ray Davis
- 4 snaps (15%): Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Terrell Bernard, Dorian Williams, Greg Rousseau, Austin Johnson and DeWayne Carter
Of course, the Bills managed to be the team to let up the first-ever kickoff return touchdown under the new kickoff rule. Once this happened and put Arizona within three points, flashbacks of the Hail Murray game in 2020 began to formulate. But luckily, there wasn’t any other history made in this game. Newly acquired return specialist Brandon Codrington nearly made a house call early in the game with an impressive 50-plus-yard return.
Kicker Tyler Bass drilled all four of his extra point attempts and two field goal attempts. He continues to struggle with the new kickoff rule, too, as he has botched multiple kickoff attempts in both the preseason and in Week 1. Bass kicked the ball out of bounds late in the game and had Arizona turned that opportunity into points, much of the Bills Mafia would be banging the gavel for him to be cut yesterday.