Capaccio: Arrow Up/ Arrow Down: Bills at Raiders

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Las Vegas, Nevada (WGR) - The Buffalo Bills improved to 5-1 with a 33-30 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are my Arrows Up and down, starting Up after another win:

ARROW UP

Allen played like an MVP, and had an MVP signature play (see below). He played smart, didn’t put the ball in harm's way, and finished 23-of-33 (69.7%) for 255 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Allen did it again. Facing a 3rd down and 8 from the Raiders 12 yard line, Allen avoided pressure, started to run, eluded a defender, and somehow saw and flicked a ball to Keon Coleman standing in the end zone for a touchdown. That put the Bills up 23-13. It was a signature, MVP-type of play.

Allen threw the ball to Dalton Kincaid on the very first play. Later that drive, they handed the ball to Ty Johnson. Two players who needed to get more involved were very early. Kincaid finished as the Bills’ top receiver as far as catches, grabbing 7 balls for 38 yards.

Cook ran for 95 yards, and caught 3 passes for 58 yards, totaling 153 total yards on the day. Just as, if not more importantly, he didn’t put the ball on the ground, often making sure to cover it wth two arms/hands when running through traffic.

Coleman was reliable and important to the Bills offense, catching four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.

Walker made his presence known with four total tackles, including one for a loss, and a QB hit.

Bishop was flying around, made some big hits, and finished with 7 total tackles and 2 pass breakups.

IGB led all players in the game with three pass breakups, including a couple on key third downs.

To start the fourth quarter, the Raiders had a first and goal at the Bills 2-yard line. They ran for one yard, then Greg Gaines had a stop for minus-3 yards. Then an incomplete pass. The Bills held Las Vegas to a field goal, keeping the score 23-16.

Bills special teams were really good. Ray Davis returned the opening kickoff 40 yards. Tommy Doman placed one of his two punts inside the Raiders 20 yard line. Tyler Bass made all seven of his kick attempts, and the coverage units did an excellent job.

Bass made all four of his field goal attempts and all three extra points. He was 7-for-7.

The Bills held the Raiders to just 65 yards rushing all game. Ashton Jeanty ran for only 22 yards, and averaged just 2.2 yards per carry.

The Raiders were inside the Bills 20 yard line five times. They scored just two touchdowns.

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ARROW DOWN

With :19 left in the first half and the Raiders facing a 3rd down, the Bills were called for a holding penalty which gave them a first down. But on top of that, Gardner-Johnson was ejected for spitting in the direction of a Raiders play. It was selfish and inexcusable. He hurt himself and his team. The Raiders eventually kicked a field goal to tie it at halftime.

Palmer had a huge drop of a pass that would have given the Bills a first down on their last drive before halftime. Instead, it created third down and eventually a punt. Then the Raiders scored.

The crowd wasn’t the issue. The Bills were just not set or comfortable enough two different times on the very first drive of the game, including before the second snap, and had to use up two of their three timeouts before the Raiders even touched the ball.

Once again the Bills pass defense allowed far too much. Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins was 23-for-41 for 313 yards. Buffalo also did not collect a sack.

On the Bills first two drives, they moved the ball 9 plays for 30 yards and 10 plays for 63 yards. But both drives resulted in field goals and not touchdowns, despite having a 2nd and goal from the Raiders 5 yard line on one of them, but a penalty pushed them back.

For the second week in a row, rookie Skyler Bell did not factor into the passing game. He’s now played two NFL games but does not yet have a catch.

The Bills were just 4-for-11 (36.4%) on third down. The Raiders converted 7-of-12 third down chances (58.3%).

With 2:32 remaining in regulation and the Raiders having no timeouts left, the Bills faced a 2nd down and 9. If they run the ball they get it to the 2-minute warning before 3rd down. But Joe Brady called a pass play, which was incomplete. That led to a 3rd down pass and then 4th down at the 2-minute mark before Bass kicked a field goal.

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