CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
Tyrod Taylor needs some help, and it’s becoming obvious.
The Bills struggled mightily on Sunday, losing a competitive game in Cincinnati to the Bengals by a final score of 20-16.
The most obvious storyline for each team throughout the game on Sunday afternoon was the play of receivers. For Cincinnati, the story is one centered around the magnificent talent of their star player, AJ Green. Green accounted for 189 receiving yards on seven catches and tacked on a score. He ran circles around Bills’ rookie corner Tre’Davious White all afternoon.
On the other side, it was Buffalo’s dearth of receiving options that became apparent. Jordan Matthews was inactive on Sunday while dealing with an injured hand, and Charles Clay left in the first quarter with a knee injury. What ensued was a miserable afternoon offensively, as Taylor tallied a mere 166 yards on 37 pass attempts.
As the game wore on it became all too apparent that the Bills’ receiving corps was outmatched by the Bengals’ secondary. Receivers not getting open became too much of a routine, and it was obvious that Buffalo was missing its top two targets in Matthews and Clay.
“We didn’t make enough plays on offense, and I take full responsibility for that,” said Taylor when talking to the media after the game.
While this is exactly what is desired and expected to hear from a quarterback and team leader, the offense’s inefficiencies on Sunday don’t fall entirely on Taylor’s shoulders. Tackle Cordy Glenn was active but did not play, and guard John Miller was a healthy scratch in lieu of the team starting veteran guard Vlad Ducasse.
The performance from the offensive line was nothing short of nonsensical on Sunday, with Taylor being sacked on six occasions and being hit eight times total. Of course, the offensive line was not helped by the receivers inability to get open down the field, and the cycle of offensive line incompetencies and receiver incompetencies fueled Taylor’s lackluster performance on Sunday.
The good news for Buffalo is that Week 6 brings about a bye in Orchard Park, one that the Bills desperately need. The team can use the week off to get healthy. After winning three of their first five, the Bills are in a much better position than anticipated after the first quarter-plus of the season. The schedule to this point has been brutal and littered with perennial playoff contenders such as Carolina, Atlanta, Denver and Cincinnati.
Thus, the 3-2 landmark through five games is highly tolerable for the team and fans alike. Only two teams in the entire AFC currently boast a record better than Buffalo: Kansas City and Denver. However, Buffalo owns the tiebreaker with Denver based on their Week 3 victory over the Broncos.
Other two-loss teams like Jacksonville, Miami and New York Jets are all expected to fall off at some point this season, meaning that this is likely a season in which a 9-7 team will clinch the sixth and final seed in the playoffs.
The next five games on Buffalo’s schedule are all incredibly winnable, which could position the team for a stretch run to finally end the playoff drought. After the bye, the Bills will see the softest portion of their 2017 schedule with meetings against Tampa Bay, Oakland, New York, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Chargers. Playoff teams win the games they are supposed to, and Buffalo failed to do that in Week 5.
Whether or not the Bills are a legitimate playoff contender has yet to be seen, but these next five weeks will be sure to show the team’s true identity.