The Buffalo Bills Most Underrated Stats Through Week 11
Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
With the Bills enjoying some much-deserved time off, it feels like the perfect moment to look at some of the underrated stats that tell the story of Buffalo’s season thus far.
- The Bills have held tight ends Trey McBride, Mark Andrews, and Travis Kielce to a combined total of 7 catches for 38 yards and 0 TD’s.
- Among 67 NFL WRs with at least 25 catches in 2024, Kahlil Shakir is No. 1 in: YAC/reception- 8.46 Yards after contact/reception- 3.25 Drops- 0 (Tied with AJ Brown & DeAndre Hopkins)
- Josh Allen has only attempted 52 passes for 412 yards out of play action this year. Both are on track to the be the lowest of his career. His next lowest total was in 2019 when he 93 pass attempts for 787 yards.
- Speaking of Allen, eight percent of his dropbacks end in a scramble which is 5th highest in the league behind only the Commanders, Patriots, Ravens, and 49ers. When he’s under pressure that number rises to 16 percent.
- On the deep passes, Allen continues to look near the sidelines, but he hasn’t had as much success down the middle of the field. Allen has only hit on two of his seven passes for 48 yards compared to deep left where he has completed 9 of his 22 passes for 252 yards. He also has zero touchdowns on those deep passes. Last season on deep passes he had seven touchdowns.
- Drops have been a problem for Dalton Kincaid and he currently leads the NFL in drops by a tight end with six. Compare that to Khalil Shakir who has caught 56 passes and has zero.
- The new kickoff rules have had a big impact on the number of Tyler Bass kicks that have been returned. An average of one kick per game has been returned this season, compared to last season when 1.63 kicks were returned per season.
- James Cook running direction has completely changed from last season. In 2023, 25.6 percent of his running yards came along the left side of the line. This year only 7.8 percent of his yards have come along the left side of the line.
- Ed Olivier has been disappointing at times, and missed tackles have been an issue. Olivier’s missed tackle rate is 26.3 percent, the worst of his career. He also has a PFF tackle grade of 27.7, the lowest of his career.
- 2022 sixth round draft pick Christian Benford has been their best coverage corner, according to PFF coming in with a grade of 79.4. He has given up only 180 yards to receivers this year, but 109 of those have come after the catch.
- When they have been passing in the red zone to a running back, they have preferred to go to Ty Johnson. Johnson has been targeted 12 times with five of those coming in the red zone. Compared to Cook who has been targeted 31 times with only two of those coming in the end zone.
- The Bills have three of the top 20 tacklers for defensive backs that have played at 50 percent of their teams defensive snaps. Christian Benford has a 2.3% missed tackle rate, Taylor Rapp checks in at 3.6%, and Rasul Douglas rounds out the list at 4.2%.
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