A lot of Buffalo Bills games this season don't seem to be going well, then halftime happens.
Buffalo might be the best team in the league when it comes to making halftime adjustments. The Titans were gashing Buffalo on the ground, the Bills started with three straight three-and-outs, and after being down 10-0 early, they went into halftime down 10-7 with five punts. It looked sloppy and disjointed, like it has plenty of times this season.
Coming out of halftime, things could not be different. On offense, the Bills scored all five times that the touched the ball in the second half, punching in three touchdowns and two field goals. On defense, Titans' Tony Pollard had negative rushing yards in the second half, and the Tennessee offense managed only 72 yards total and no points after halftime.
The defense was on fire in the second half in particular, flowing downhill and blowing up plays in the backfield consistently. Greg Rousseau, in particularly, was wreaking havoc. He finished the game with 6 quarterback hits and half a sack.
The offense also couldn't have looked more different. In the first half, the receivers struggled to find space to work, and the offense regularly found themselves in third and long situations. It was an issue that Josh Allen commented on.
"I think just first and second down efficiency in that second half," Josh Allen answered when asked what was different after halftime. "You know, getting the ball past the sticks. I think we skipped quite a few third downs in that second half, which, again, that first half, just being in those third and sixes, third and sevens, you kind of go through your third down call sheet real quickly. And you don't like to be in those situations. I don't know, it took us a while to get a first down, but again, to come out the way we did in that second half our team played really well."
Allen earlier said that it's something he needs to do a better job of, but the play calling was visibly different. In the second half, plays were designed to get the ball out quickly to the playmakers, namely to Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, and Amari Cooper in his first game for Buffalo. When offensive coordinator Joe Brady dialed up the quick passes, the offense looked nearly unstoppable. It caused the defense to creep down into the box, opening up more opportunities
The ability to make halftime adjustments is huge, but there have been some trends that should be adapted to going forward. This efficient, fast-moving offense should be the script from the beginning, not just relying on it in the second half of games.
For the defense, second half adjustments are massive. Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich has shown the ability to settle well into games and adjust to what opposing offenses are doing to him, which bodes very well for their chances this season.
