I can’t lie — some of these hurt
Unfortunately, not all the Buffalo Bills film review can be super fun. B.J. Monacelli got us rolling with the 2022 giveaways in Part 1 and we have plenty more where that came from. Hurray? Enough with the depressing intro — let’s dive in. We’ll begin Part 2 with film from Week 5 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, followed by games versus the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings in Weeks 6 through 10.
Levi Wallace’s interception — Week 5
This one hurt. I think we all know how much I love Levi Wallace. To see him do Levi Wallace things against the Bills…
Man that sucked. Sure, this game wasn’t remotely in question at any point but it could have been even MORE out of hand, which is always fun. Anyway, my best guess here is just an underthrown pass by quarterback Josh Allen. I always praised Wallace for his on-field awareness and intelligence, so it’s not too surprising to see him take advantage of this one.
Quintin Morris’ fumble vs. Steelers — Week 5
I like the idea here. Allen did a quick pitch to tight end Quintin Morris who might have been able to bully his way through. He lowered his shoulders but defensive tackle Cameron Heyward lowered his a touch more. You can see at the pause that Morris’ arms came away from his body a bit. That allowed the hit from Heyward to dislodge the ball. I want to also point out that the Bills were up by a ton and wide receiver Stefon Diggs was still so into the game he finished the tackle with authority.
It’s Bad Pitch O’Clock vs. Chiefs — Week 6
This one was pretty cut-and-dry. The Bills called a play with options, Josh Allen chose to fake the handoff then went with the pitch to wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. The pitch came quickly due to pressure and McKenzie didn’t have his head turned around fast enough.
Rasul Douglas’ interception — Week 8
Josh Allen made this throw on the run and from this angle you can see that he had Gabe Davis wide open. The pass needed to float a bit more than it did. The low trajectory allowed Rasul Douglas to make the jumping catch.
Jaire Alexander’s interception — Week 8
This was the flukiest fluke that ever did fluke. I’m convinced that Allen was trying to get this into the turf and Jaire Alexander just made a phenomenal dive to scoop this one up.
Jordan Whitehead’s interception — Week 9
This is another one where I think I like the idea, but not the throw. At the pause, tight end Dawson Knox had a step on Jordan Whitehead. You can argue that Knox drifting back was the problem, but even if he hadn’t, Allen would need to have placed this more to the right side of our view to avoid…well, this. If Allen was on the same page as Knox and lofted this one a bit to clear Whitehead, I think it’s an easy TD for Knox.
Sauce Gardner’s interception — Week 9
I covered this pretty thoroughly for the weekly Skarey Movies for this game. This was a third-quarter turnover and, as noted, Buffalo was up at the time. Without interrogating offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to know the play call, I can’t say whose part the misunderstanding was on, but Allen threw the ball at the right time, though to a different spot than Gabe Davis expected to see it. Sauce Gardner managed to see it, however.
Devin Singletary’s fumble vs. Vikings — Week 10
This was a lot like the Quintin Morris fumble above. Singletary went low to avoid a big hit but Akayleb Evans got a touch lower. Low enough, in fact, to hit the ball and knock it loose.
Well, you’ve made it through Part 2. May as well stick around for the rest of them at this point. Look for B.J. next installment, Part 3, in the coming days.