Not a bad day at the office for our spotlight group
The Buffalo Bills held on for a 34-28 victory against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. While it wasn’t a pretty win, an ugly victory is always preferable to a pretty loss. In the first half, the Bills had no answers for Arizona’s offense, and the Cardinals moved the ball at will. In the second half, however, Buffalo clamped down and roared back thanks to a 21-0 run that stretched over the end of the second quarter through the end of the third quarter.
Our five players to watch all impacted the game in different ways. Here’s how our spotlight group fared this week.
WR Keon Coleman
Perhaps some will look at his final line (four catches, five targets, 51 receiving yards) and think that Coleman had little impact on the outcome of the game. Perhaps they’ll see the box score and assume that Josh Allen had to wear his Superman cape again in scoring four touchdowns (two passing, two rushing) to secure the victory. However, in a passing attack that seems poised to practice the parity that it’s preached throughout the offseason, Coleman led the Bills in all major receiving categories except for touchdowns.
While the scoring strikes went to Mack Hollins and Khalil Shakir, it was Coleman who saw the most targets, and it was Coleman who had the most receptions and receiving yards. Coleman also made the catch of the day, hauling in a 28-yard strike midway through the fourth quarter to set up Allen’s gravity-defying second rushing touchdown of the day.
Coleman did exactly what he was advertised to be great at doing on the catch, fighting through tight man coverage to win a contested catch along the sideline. I have no idea how Arizona’s corner, Starling Thomas V, wasn’t called for holding, pass interference, or a Class B misdemeanor while he was assaulting Coleman prior to the catch, but Coleman made that point moot when he made the catch.
It was a nice debut for the second-round pick, especially with Arizona’s Marvin Harrison Jr. being held to just one catch for four yards on three targets.
C Connor McGovern
There were no issues up front for the Bills in terms of quarterback-center exchange, nor were there communication issues in terms of the blocking assignments. That’s a good thing given that Buffalo has a new man at the pivot for the first time since Mitch Morse arrived in 2019. The line had some success opening holes for running back James Cook, as he carried 19 times for 71 yards. His efficiency could have been better, but offensive coordinator Joe Brady spammed the same run plays and concepts out of similar formations a bit too much as the game wore on, allowing Cardinals linebackers to adjust. McGovern passed his first major test of the year.
DE Von Miller
Hey, we had a Von Miller sighting on Sunday! The veteran logged his first sack in nearly two years when he touched Murray down in the fourth quarter on a third-down play. Miller was consistently around the passer, and he did a good job both in contain and in pursuit, as well. He totaled two tackles, that one third-down sack, and plenty of attention from Arizona’s offensive line over the course of his 29 defensive snaps. That number was 48% of the team’s defensive total, and if you’re like me, you may have felt like Miller played a lot more than that based on how frequently he made a difference in the play. That’s a great sign for the Bills. How Miller rebounds on a short week will be interesting, but it seems as if he’s poised to bounce back in a big way in 2024.
LB Dorian Williams
The second-year man struggled mightily in the first half, as the Bills seemed content to use Williams as a spy on quarterback Kyler Murray. That didn’t work, as Murray frequently broke contain and beat Williams to the edge. It didn’t help that Williams often was much too close to the offensive line while spying, which prevented him from gaining the necessary edge in angles to keep Murray from scooting downfield. In the second half, the Bills changed tactics, using Williams to blitz right up the “A” gap. That worked better, as Buffalo’s defensive ends did their job in forcing the diminutive Murray to step up in the pocket, where he was met by a slew of bodies. Williams improved as the game progressed, and he totaled eight tackles overall. He also was the man who covered Murray’s third-quarter fumble, forced by defensive end Greg Rousseau, which put Buffalo in position for the go-ahead touchdown.
S Damar Hamlin
Hamlin slid into the free-safety role vacated by all-Pro Micah Hyde, and he performed adequately on the afternoon. His responsibility was ensuring that Marvin Harrison Jr. stayed contained on deep routes, and given that the much-hyped rookie caught just one pass for four yards, I’d say that strategy was successful. Hamlin may have only totaled four tackles, but that’s mostly a product of his role. Granted, there was at least one time where he came up to tackle running back James Conner where the Cardinals’ rusher dragged Hamlin for a few yards, but that was one of the only blemishes on Hamlin’s day — and against a stout running back. Overall, the fourth-year man acquitted himself well while playing all 61 snaps on defense.