ORCHARD PARK — Joe Brady’s motto is “everybody eats.” Josh Allen carved up the Jacksonville Jaguars and served everyone around the table.
There was no hyperbole in Brady’s game plan nor has there been for the first three weeks of the season. The Buffalo Bills have been exactly what Brady said they would be throughout the offseason.
Entering the Buffalo’s Monday night matchup with the Jaguars, 10 players caught a pass over the first two games. They won a game with Allen putting on his superhero tights and scoring four touchdowns and then won another by throwing fewer than 20 passes.
Still, there were questions about what the Bills’ passing game was going to look like this season, and, frankly, if it was going to be any good. They called fewer than 50 passes over the first two games, after all.
Questions about whether the Bills receivers could handle Jacksonville’s man-to-man coverage were answered on the opening drive, when Allen completed three passes of 10-plus yards, starting what would be a perfect half.
The Bills scored five touchdowns on five drives in the first half, Allen threw four touchdown passes, 10 different players caught a pass and six players found the end zone in a 47-10 romp of the Jaguars.
So what is the offense going to look like this season? Whatever the game plan dictates.
“You never know when it’s gonna happen and that’s the beauty of it,” Allen said. “When guys get to buy into this and really understand I may not get the ball four or five times thrown to me a game, but the one or two times I do, I’m going to have opportunities being the end zone and it’s a fun and wonderful thing when you got a bunch of guys that don’t care about the stats.”
There are stats the Bills do care about and that’s the NFL-best 37.3 points per game they are averaging through their 3-0 start. They also have to be quite pleased with leading the NFL with six players catching a touchdown pass this season.
The Bills have gone from a predictable passing team to perhaps the most unpredictable team in the league. Nobody seems to be wondering how the Bills are going to replace Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis anymore.
Diggs has 20 catches in three games, but he’s averaging a career-low 8.2 yards per catch. And Davis, who stood on the opposite sideline and watched his old team roll on without him Monday, made two catches for 18 yards.
Instead of force-feeding a handful of players or trying to throw the ball through a brick wall to make a play, Allen has simply thrown to the open receiver, even if it’s just a checkdown. Running backs have accounted for more than 27% of Buffalo’s receptions and yards receiving, but Allen has gone interception-free for the third consecutive game after not going more than one game without a pick last year.
“We just got some smart players that are unselfish and they’re always in the right place,” Bills tight end Dawson Knox said. “Josh trusts them. So I think it’s just a trust thing, and then just having smart, dependable players.”
The trust Allen has in receivers is obvious and now there’s no questioning about their ability separate from defensive backs. Rookie Keon Coleman was benched for the first quarter due to what coach Sean McDermott said was related to “being on time” during the week, came into the game and beat cornerback Montaric Brown all the way across the field for a 24-yard touchdown, the first of his career.
And the narrative surrounding who was going to be the top receiving option this year still isn’t clear-cut, but Khalil Shakir is the frontrunner considering he’s the only player on the team with double-digit receptions after posting six catches for 72 yards and a touchdown. Shakir has now caught all 14 passes sent in his direction, with five coming on third or fourth down, including a 27-yard touchdown catch and run on third and 9 from the Jacksonville 27-yard line.
“It was more just a mindset to all the wideouts and tight ends and everybody who was getting man coverage, ‘It’s time to show out,’” Shakir said. “Man coverage is the best opportunity to make plays and obviously we got to get open and Josh trusting us to get open and making plays from there.”
And then when receivers aren’t getting open, Allen can run the ball himself or use his legs to extend plays until someone does get open. In addition to his 263 passing yards, Allen ran for a team-high 44, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to complete 75% of his passes, throw for at least four touchdowns, have no turnovers, no sacks and lead his team in rushing, according to StatsPerform.
Allen used his feet to extend the play on his first touchdown pass. He thought about running and then changed his mind, then rolled to his right and threw an off-balance rocket to tight end Dalton Kincaid in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard strike.
At one point during the play, Kincaid was thinking, “There’s no way I’m getting this ball.” He was bracketed by two defenders — something he’s dealt with often the first three weeks — but when Allen broke the pocket, the coverage broke down.
“The defense had a great defense for that play,” Kincaid said. “There’s no chance of me getting the ball on that called route. Josh scrambles and it’s a great opportunity for us to go win and make a play and he gave me a great opportunity and we got to celebrate.”
And then there is reserve offensive lineman Alec Anderson, who has been an eligible receiver in the team’s jumbo package. Anderson was in the game on four called passing plays against the Jaguars, but didn’t run a route.
Guard David Edwards didn’t actually go out for a pass in 119 snaps in that role last season, but Anderson still wants in on the action and for Brady to know that he’s ready, too.
“Ask Brady about it,” Anderson joked outside the locker room after the game. “Tell him I’m (expletive) ready.”