Bills Report Card: The Good, bad and Ugly of Loss at Tampa Bay

Uneven performances add up to heartbreaking setback at hands of Buccaneers.

Coming back from a 24-3 halftime deficit to force overtime, only to fall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a heartbreaking — and possible quarterback-breaking — process for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

As poor as they were in the first half, they were brilliant in the second, then poor again in overtime.

Our report card for this game must take into account all plays, however, so don't be surprised if some grades are lower than they may have appeared on TV.

Let's get to the details.

Quarterback: B

Here's the deal: Josh Allen played like an MVP in the second half, with great decisions, great runs, great throws and a willingness to play through pain after suffering a left foot injury that is sure to dominate the headlines all week.

Here’s the play Josh Allen was injured on.

Currently in a walking boot on the L side.

Hard to see what happens to the ankle at the very end, possible eversion. Did see report that they taped up the big toe, mechanism possible for turf toe.

Hope for low ankle sprain. #Bills pic.twitter.com/YE2ATd44zg

— Banged Up Bills (@BangedUpBills) December 13, 2021

Without him, there's no chance they even sniff overtime.

But he also played a role in them getting behind in the first place, failing to recognize blitzes and throwing an interception near the end of the first half that gave the Bucs a chance to add to their lead.

Allen finished the first half 12-for-20 with three sacks and a pick.

Did faulty protection play a part? You bet. But so did confusion at times on Allen's part that led to poor decisions, particularly when he felt pressure that wasn't there and hastily threw wild out of the back of the end zone on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, forcing the Bills to settle for three instead of seven.

Running back: C-

Too often the backs are graded strictly on what they do with the ball in their hands or how well they pull in passes. As far as the Bills are concerned, there's usually not a good-enough sample size to make an accurate grade.

Considering no back carried the ball until the second half, that was the case again Sunday.

When they did touch the football, they were efficient. Devin Singletary averaged 13 yards on four attempts and caught six of seven targets for 37 yards. Matt Breida averaged 4 yards on three attempts.

But Breida's failure to pick up a blitzer on one sack alone was worthy of knocking the whole grade back a few notches.

And that's what we did here.

Tight end: B

Because Tommy Sweeney was injured and deactivated, Dawson Knox was the Bills' lone player at this position for this game and responded well after a brutal game against New England six days earlier.

Knox caught seven of nine targets for 60 yards and a touchdown.

Not too shabby.

Wide receiver: A-

Does anybody in the league have a better sense of where the first-down marker is than Cole Beasley? We think not. That showed again in this game when he caught a team-high nine passes.

Stefon Diggs finished with seven catches, including a TD, and Gabriel Davis continued to impress with five catches, including a TD.

Emmanuel Sanders was forced out of the game in the first half with an injury after catching his only target for 25 yards. So we'll have to keep an eye on him this week.

Offensive line: D

When blitzers aren't picked up, that could be due to poor pre-snap communication (usually by center Mitch Morse) or lack of recognition by Allen at quarterback or both.

Suffice to say there appeared to be plenty of both in this contest, and Morse after the game acknowledged his role in the breakdowns.

Gene Deckerhoff calls the Bucs defense's first sack of the day, a group effort by Andrew Adams, Shaq Barrett, Vita Vea and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/zt7HwNha5X

— Bucs Rays Bolts (@BucsRaysBoltsYT) December 12, 2021

"I think what we got ourselves into was like it was something secret," Morse said. "We want everyone on the same page. Even if it's wrong, it's better than four people doing the right thing and one person doing something off topic. And ultimately that comes down to me, making sure that the O-linemen get everything together. So that was definitely one of the factors that played in that first-half slump."

Defensive line: C

The Bills ask a lot from the defensive linemen, particularly when they play a team that runs the ball as well as the Bucs.

Sometimes they came through. Sometimes they did not.

We should point out, however, that it was not the defensive line's fault that Leonard Fournette broke off an early 47-yard TD run.

Harrison Phillips (six tackles) and Eli Ankou (three tackles, 1.0 sack) were their statistical leaders.

Vernon Butler was a healthy scratch.

Again.

Linebacker: C

Tremaine Edmunds needed to get off a block, which he could not, on Fournette's long TD run. He did make 12 tackles, however.

There Goes Lenny@_fournette + #ProBowlVote

📺: #BUFvsTB on CBS

pic.twitter.com/dTx0cx1glq

— LSU Football (@LSUfootball) December 12, 2021

Matt Milano was his usual active self, with nine tackles, including a sack and another quarterback hit. He remains an alert pass defender who rarely gets out of position.

Secondary: C-

Cornerback Tre'Davious White's absence definitely was felt in this contest, although Dane Jackson played well.

The group as a whole was hurt by some questionable officiating that failed to notice (or deliberately refused to acknowledge) most of Tampa's transgressions but called every single one by Buffalo.

Tom Brady's 13-yard TD pass to Mike Evans was perfect and could not be defended.

Still, the group gave up the most passing yards (363) all season, the last 58 of which came on the game-winning touchdown reception by Breshad Perriman in overtime.

Special teams: B+

While this group has cleaned up its act on penalties that wipe big returns off the board, it also isn't getting any more big returns.

Punter Matt Haack had a good game, pinning the Bucs inside the 20 on four of six attempts.

Kicker Tyler Bass was perfect on two short field goals and three extra points.

Coaching: D

When a team comes out as poorly as the Bills did following a loss the week before, it raises all kinds of red flags.

To this staff's credit, it adjusted at halftime to make a game of it.

But not handing the ball to any of their running backs in the first half proved to be malpractice because it allowed the Bucs to completely sell out to the pass.

At some point, head coach Sean McDermott, who's a defensive specialist, may have to either take over the play-calling from offensive coordinator Brian Daboll or come up with some other system, because his offense went out there with one hand tied behind its back for the first 30 minutes.

Sure, there were some awful calls by a rag-tag officiating crew.

But the biggest reason the Bills lost was a faulty game plan that was executed haphazardly by a group that needed until halftime to wake up.

That falls on the coaches.

Unacceptable.

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.