These are always the most annoying types of games to analyze because, quite frankly, what the hell are you supposed to take away from them? The Bills spent most of the game facing the Ravens’ third-string quarterback, some Italian named Joe Fagnano who I’ve never heard of. So whenever you want to get excited about something the Bills defense did, you almost have to remind yourself who they were playing against. It’s hard to get too worked up about defensive stats when you’re facing a rookie third-stringer.
And yes, I’m sure we’re going to hear plenty of the usual “a win is a win” stuff. And you know what? I agree with them. A win is a win. You want to stack victories, especially when you’re trying to make a Super Bowl run. But that doesn’t mean we have to sit here and pretend there weren’t some legitimate concerns coming out of this game.
For me, the biggest concern was the offense. And I know someone is going to look at the scoreboard and say, “Joe, what the fuck are you complaining about? Look how many points they scored!” And that’s fair. But you also have to look at the circumstances. You’re playing a team that’s down to its third-string quarterback, giving you opportunities and favorable field position, and yet the offense still looked out of sync for some pretty long stretches. They had a beautiful opening touchdown drive and then the rest of the game a roller coaster.
That’s why I don’t think you can just look at the final score and declare everything is wonderful. Context matters, especially when you’re trying to figure out whether this team is actually good enough to win a Super Bowl.
So yes, take the win. Stack the wins. Move on. But don’t get too excited about this one because I’m not sure how much we really learned.
Next week is Minnesota, and that’s going to be a much more interesting test. The Vikings have a really good defense, and after watching Buffalo’s offense today, even with all those points on the board, I can’t say I was particularly enamored with what I saw.
And that’s where we’ll start.
The Good
DJ Moore’s Second Half
DJ Moore had one hell of a weird game. He didn’t do much in the first half, then had that fumble, and at that point I was wondering what the hell we were getting out of him. But then he comes out in the second half, makes a huge 49-yard catch, deals with an injury, and still manages to catch the touchdown that puts Josh Allen past Jim Kelly for the Bills’ all-time passing touchdown record, including the playoffs.
Moore finished with four catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. You have to give the guy credit. He’s tough, and he showed that today. My only concern is his health. I really hope he can stay healthy because the last thing the Bills need is another receiver who’s constantly playing hurt.
And we’ve heard from people who watched him in Chicago that Moore was the type of guy who would play through injuries. Now, that’s admirable, but I also wonder how much of that had to do with the situation he was in. Let’s remember, the Bears weren’t exactly lighting the world on fire for much of his time there. I could picture the coaching staff saying, “Sure, go out there and play. We need to stack some wins and save our coach’s ass.”
But Buffalo is a different situation. The Bills aren’t trying to save a coach’s job by scraping together seven or eight wins. They’re trying to win a Super Bowl. And that means there are going to be times when you need to protect a guy like Moore from himself. Just because he’s tough enough to play hurt doesn’t mean he should.
I’d much rather have DJ Moore healthy for meaningful games in January than watch him aggravate something in November when the Bills are beating a team playing its third-string quarterback by three touchdowns.
Greg Rousseau and the Defensive Front
I know the Ravens were down to their third-string quarterback, but Greg Rousseau still deserves credit for how he’s playing this season. He’s been disruptive, he’s getting to quarterbacks, and he’s one of the few guys on this defense who’s consistently giving us reasons to be excited. The Bills also showed some creativity bringing pressure, including a Cole Bishop safety blitz that produced a sack and forced fumble on Tyler Huntley. That’s the sort of thing I want to see more often. Especially against a backup quarterback, why not get aggressive and make his life miserable?
D-Walker
I want to give some flowers to Deone Walker. He finished with just two assisted tackles today, but I thought he did a nice job in the middle of that defensive line. There were a couple of plays where he helped keep Derrick Henry from getting going, and that’s something worth recognizing. Baltimore finished with just 76 rushing yards, and Henry never really got a chance to take over the game. He’s becoming one of those guys where you don’t necessarily see a bunch of flashy stats, but you notice the work he’s doing up front.
Khalil Shakir and the Opening Drive
Shakir finished with five catches for 64 yards, and 49 of those yards came in the first quarter. He was a huge part of Buffalo’s opening touchdown drive, and I liked seeing the offense move the ball efficiently and get him involved. The problem, of course, was that we didn’t see nearly enough of that same consistency for the next two quarters.
Tyler Bass
Bass made field goals from 56, 22 and 51 yards. The 56-yarder was especially ridiculous because that thing looked like it was having an argument with the wind before bouncing in off the upright. But he made it. Three field goals, three makes. I had a lot of doubts about Bass entering this season and I was completely wrong. Maybe it was the jersey change?
Running the Football and James Cook
For all my complaining about the Bills offense today, one thing they did well was run the damn football. Buffalo finished with 146 rushing yards on 40 attempts, and James Cook was once again the backbone of the running game.Cook finished with 80 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, while also adding two catches for 21 yards. It wasn’t one of those games where he was ripping off 40-yard runs, but he was doing the dirty work and helping keep the offense moving when Josh Allen suddenly couldn’t complete a pass to save his life.
And here’s an interesting stat:
Since the start of the 2023 season, the Bills are 22–4 in regular-season games when they rush for more than 140 yards. That’s an 84.6% winning percentage.
Now, obviously, that doesn’t mean you automatically win if you run for 141 yards. Sometimes teams pile up rushing yards because they’re already winning. But it does show how important a balanced offense can be for Buffalo.
And I’ve said it before: Josh Allen and James Cook are the backbone of this team. Everybody gets excited about Allen throwing the football all over the place, and understandably so, but when this offense can run the football, it gives Allen another way to win, especially on days when his passing game goes through one of those bizarre stretches like we saw against Baltimore.
The Bad
The Bills’ Overrated Tight End Room
I’m not going to say this lightly, but I still think the Buffalo Bills’ tight end room is vastly overrated. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good players in it. I just think we hear an awful lot about how talented this group is, and the actual production doesn’t always match the hype. And to be fair, today wasn’t that bad. Dalton Kincaid finished with four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown, including a 40-yard catch in the second half. When Kincaid is healthy and involved, you can see how good he can be. But that’s also what makes him so frustrating. One week he’s making big plays, the next week he’s either hurt, barely involved or completely invisible.
Dawson Knox finished with one catch for six yards. I’m sure some film bro is going to tell me how great he is at sealing the edge, how important his blocking is, and how he probably helped write a song for The Killers. That’s wonderful. But I’d also like to see some more production catching the football. Then there’s Jackson Hawes, who finally recorded his first catch of the season today, going for seven yards, but also helping the Ravens defense for getting an INT.
And here’s really my point. The Bills already have Josh Allen and James Cook carrying so much of this offense. If they want to take it to another level, and yes, we’ve seen them get to that level at times, I really believe the tight ends need to become more consistent.
I’m not asking for Kincaid and Knox to combine for 150 yards every week. I’m asking for a group that’s supposedly one of the strengths of this offense to actually play like it on a more regular basis.
Josh Allen’s Inconsistencies
Josh Allen had one of the strangest passing performances I’ve seen from him in a while. He started the game completing five of his first six passes, and I thought we were about to see one of those afternoons where the Bills offense just does whatever the hell it wants.
Then, suddenly, he couldn’t complete anything.
After that 5-for-6 start, Allen completed just three of his next 13 passes. Three of 13!
There were missed throws (especially the one to Coleman that he missed) passes that weren’t particularly close, and an offense that looked completely out of sync. I couldn’t understand how a guy who looked so comfortable to start the game suddenly looked like he couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat.
And then, because it’s Josh Allen, he completely flipped the script again.
In the second half, he completed 13 of 15 passes, threw two touchdowns, and finished the game 21-of-34 for 289 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
I know quarterbacks are going to miss throws, but the difference between how Allen started, how he played in the middle and how he finished was ridiculous. I’m not worried about Josh Allen’s ability. We know how great he is. I just want to see him and this offense put together four consistent quarters.
My Failed Political Field Trip
So the end of the first half and the beginning of the third quarter are a bit of a blur for me, and here’s why. I’m sitting there watching the game and scrolling through Instagram when I discover that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Zohran Mamdani and Kathy Hochul are apparently hanging out at Murphy’s, the Bills Backers bar in Astoria.
Now, I like AOC and Zohran. Hochul, I’m not exactly running out to buy a poster of her. But the point is, they’re all at a Bills bar in my neighborhood, and I’d love to get a picture. And here’s the real kicker. My wife had taken both kids out with a friend. I had an incredibly rare afternoon of freedom. Normally I’ve got kids coming out of my asshole, and for once I could actually leave the house without organizing a military operation. So what did I do? I waited too long, rushed over there around the beginning of the third quarter, and of course everybody was already gone.
What the hell did I expect? That they were going to sit there doing shots of Blue Light and watching the entire Bills game? They’re politicians. They show up, shake a few hands, take pictures and move on. I failed as a husband, a father, a voter and pretty much everything else. My wife gave me an afternoon of freedom, and I somehow managed to blow it.
And now, back to the Bills, who apparently weren’t the only ones making stupid decisions today.
The Ballwasher — Greg Rousseau
Greg Rousseau gets my Ballwasher of the Game, and quite frankly, he’s been one of the best things about this Bills defense all season. Rousseau finished with three combined tackles and a sack against Baltimore. That gives him seven sacks through the Bills’ first seven games, matching his entire sack total from last season.
Think about that. Seven games into the season, and he’s already matched what he did in 2025. His career high is eight sacks, which he accomplished in both 2022 and 2024, so he’s right on the doorstep of setting a new personal best. He also entered the game with three forced fumbles this season, and he’s been one of the few players on this defense who consistently makes you notice him.
I know the obvious counterargument is that Baltimore was down to its third-string quarterback. And that’s fair. But Rousseau has been playing like this all season, not just today.
For all the complaining I’ve done about this defense, Rousseau deserves his flowers. He’s been a bright spot, he’s making plays, and he’s having the kind of season we’ve been wanting to see from him.
He’s my Ballwasher, and this one wasn’t a difficult decision.
The Ball Breaker — Joe Brady
I know it’s a little weird giving the Ball Breaker of the Game to a head coach whose team just won by nearly four touchdowns, but I’m giving it to Joe Brady. This was just a really weird game from him, and I don’t think it was his finest day.
First off, WHAT THE FUCK were those option plays with Josh Allen? This isn’t Nebraska in the 1990s, and Josh Allen isn’t Tommie Frazier and he’s too big for that shit. Maybe Allen checked into those plays himself, but somebody needs to explain the thinking behind them because I thought they were absolutely ridiculous.
Then there’s the decision to keep playing DJ Moore when the game was already out of hand. Moore had already dealt with an injury, and then he gets hurt again. Maybe he’s fine as Brady said after the game, and hopefully he is, but why are we risking these guys when we’re up by three touchdowns against a team playing its third-string quarterback? Start getting your starters the hell out of there.
I could understand being a little more cautious if Lamar Jackson were still in the game. We’ve seen what he can do. But Baltimore was down to its third-string quarterback, and the Bills had this game under control. At some point, you have to start thinking about next week and the rest of the season. So congratulations, Joe Brady. You helped coach an offense that won by nearly four touchdowns, and you’re still my Ball Breaker of the Game. That’s pretty impressive in its own ridiculous way.
It just wasn’t his finest day.
Four Random Stats
1. Josh Allen Breaks Jim Kelly’s Passing Touchdown Record
With his 11-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore, Josh Allen became the Bills’ all-time leader in passing touchdowns when you combine the regular season and playoffs.
Allen’s 259th touchdown pass broke Jim Kelly’s record of 258. He did it in his 150th game, compared with Kelly’s 177. That’s 27 fewer games. And then Allen added another touchdown pass to Dalton Kincaid, giving him 260.
I genuinely hope Allen eventually beats and absolutely crushes every single Jim Kelly record. I have my reasons for feeling that way, but I’m not going to get into them here. I’ll just leave it at that.
2. Josh Allen Is Chasing Emmitt Smith. Yes, Seriously.
With his rushing touchdown today, Josh Allen now has 88 regular-season rushing touchdowns. The NFL record belongs to Emmitt Smith, who scored 164.
That means Allen needs 76 more to tie Smith and 77 to break his record. If Allen averages 12 rushing touchdowns a season, we’re talking about approximately another six and a half seasons, putting him somewhere around 2033.
Think about how ridiculous that sounds. We’re discussing a quarterback potentially breaking Emmitt Smith’s rushing touchdown record.
3. The Bills Have Scored 77 Points in Their Last Two Games Against Baltimore
The Bills beat Baltimore 41–40 in last season’s ridiculous comeback victory. Today, they won 36–10. That’s 77 points in two games, an average of 38.5 points against the Ravens. It’s also a good reminder that, as much as I’ve complained about the Bills offense today, the production is still there. I’m not ignoring 36 points. I just think the circumstances of today’s game matter when evaluating them.
4. Three Ravens Quarterbacks, One Miserable Afternoon
Baltimore used three quarterbacks today: Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley and Joe Fagnano.
Combined, they completed 12 of 26 passes for just 91 gross passing yards. After accounting for sacks, the Ravens finished with approximately 69 net passing yards. Buffalo held Baltimore to just 145 total offensive yards, including only 23 in the first quarter and 30 in the second.
And this is exactly why I have a hard time getting overly excited about today’s defensive performance. Yes, Buffalo did what it needed to do, and there were good individual performances. But it’s difficult to draw sweeping conclusions when the opposing team is down to its third-string quarterback.
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Closing Thoughts
I just don’t think beating the Ravens under these circumstances tells us much of anything. In fact, I posted on social media midway through the second quarter that the game was basically over and the Bills were going to win by three touchdowns. And this was while we were all sitting there miserable watching the offense play like shit.
That’s what was so bizarre about this game. I knew the Bills were going to win. I wasn’t worried about that at all. But I was still sitting there getting pissed off at the play calls, the missed throws and some of the stupid decisions they were making. How often do you watch a Bills game, know they’re going to win comfortably, and still want to throw something at the television?
And that’s why I can’t get too excited about this one. Congratulations, you beat a team playing its third-string quarterback by 26 points. You were supposed to. I’m sure we’ll hear plenty of people talk about how impressive the final score was, and that’s fine. But I watched the game, not just the scoreboard.
The Bills are 6–1. That’s fantastic. Stack the wins. But the goal isn’t to beat up on Joe Fagnano in November. It’s to win a fucking Super Bowl.
And if that’s the goal, I’m going to judge them like a team that’s trying to win one.
If you want more terrible takes from yours truly, I’ll be on Pat Moran’s Talking Buffalo podcast tonight at 9 PM ET.
You can watch us live on YouTube tonight or wait until tomorrow morning (Monday), when the episode drops, and listen whenever you want.
Either way, come hang out and hear me say some more stupid shit.
Listen Monday on Apple Podcasts:
Talking Buffalo website:
https://talkingbuffalo.com/