The offense for the Buffalo Bills was a tale of two halves on Sunday. In the first half, the offense had one touchdown and five punts. After halftime, the Bills put three touchdowns and two field goals on the board, scoring on all five of their drives.
It was the prioritization of the quick-hitting passing game that made all the difference, with do-everything wide receiver Khalil Shakir the engine for it all. Shakir had one target in the first half, one target in the third quarter, but saw the ball five times in the fourth. He caught all seven of his targets for 65 yards. Shakir clearly noticed a difference.
"That second half was scary. Everything just started to click for us," Shakir said.
Everything absolutely did start to click. The offense put up 27 points after halftime, and Josh Allen, who started the game slow, completed 15 of 20 passes with three touchdowns after halftime.
What was different? The depth of the throws made a big difference in the game.
"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."
To start the game, Allen was 4/11, with four of those 11 incompletions coming on attempts deep down the field, one incompletion coming from a drop from Amari Cooper, and another coming by way of a batted pass at the line.
Part of the responsibility falls on offensive coordinator Joe Brady for the play designs, but part of it certainly falls on Allen. In the first half, there were times when Allen was holding the ball too long, or forcing it down the field instead of taking the underneath completion.
You never want to take away what makes Allen so special, but the efficiency in the short passing attack in the second half, which then opened up multiple big throws down the field, felt like a revelation.
Shakir is proving to be one of the league's best and most reliable wide receivers. He simply needs more volume. His strength is twofold — he catches everything, and he's elite after the catch. Dial up passes time and time again to get the ball into his hands. Shakir currently is leading the league in EPA/target, has the highest catch percentage in the league at 96.4%, and is eighth among all wide receivers with 7.8 yards after the catch per reception.
As Shakir said, it was scary. Hopefully we continue to see that style of offense going forward.
