During the Week 5 loss to the Houston Texans, it appeared that the Buffalo Bills‘ offensive line was struggling, yet the All-22 video tells a somewhat different story.
There were instances where the Bills’ line created a solid pocket, but Allen chose to leave early. He was sacked only once, yet he sustained numerous hits outside the pocket. Additionally, James Cook averaged 4.1 yards per carry, and collectively, the team averaged 5.4 yards.
Pro Football Focus agrees, ranking them number five in the NFL, the same as they had them last week. Only the Chiefs, Packers, Lions, and Colts ranked higher. PFF stats had Dion Dawkins allowing pressures on only 4.9 percent of dropbacks, the second-lowest rate in his career. PFF gave Conor McGovern a run-block grade of 86.0, top among centers in Week 5 Here is what else PFF had to say.
Second-year right guard O’Cyrus Torrence has shown a lot of improvement in pass protection since last year. After earning a 48.2 PFF pass-blocking grade in his rookie season, he has garnered a 73.6 grade over the first five weeks in 2024. While he allowed four sacks and five quarterback hits in 2023, he has yet to let up a sack in 2024 and has given up just one quarterback hit.
– Pro Football Focus
RELATED: Is Bills offensive line still Top 5 in latest NFL offensive line rankings?
With potentially no James Cook for Monday night against the New York Jets, the Bills will need the Bills line to be at their best, providing run lanes for Ray Davis and Ty Johnson.
It’s also possible Buffalo will be without Khalil Shakir once again, so the longer they can provide Allen with protection, it increases the chances someone can come open and give Allen a target. This is a big week for the Bills, who are floundering right now and hope to avoid their first three-game losing streak with Allen as the starting quarterback.
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