The defense came to play against the Bills and almost did it all by itself with five takeaways.
The offense, on the other hand, is barely there and may not have completely gotten off the bus.
It would be a shame to waste such a performance by Chris O’Leary’s unit, and particularly rookie safety Genesis Smith who twice picked off Josh Allen for his first two career interceptions.
Sorry, newbie. The other side of the ball owes you some gifts.
One positive note from the offense was the performance of Joe Alt who returned to being one of the league’s best tackles. After a Week Two that saw him flagged repeatedly, this was refreshing to see.
Let’s take a look at this week’s grades.
OT Joe Alt – 83.6
RB Keaton Mitchell – 78.9
WR Tre’ Harris – 75.1
OT Travis Burke – 72.1
WR Ladd McConkey – 67.7
Alt rebounded with his best game of the season. He earned an elite 90.0 run block grade and an excellent 79.5 in pass blocking.
Mitchell was leaned on more this week compared to the first two games and he put in a solid performance behind a 79.5 rushing grade.
Harris showed some serious hands with a great pluck out of the air against the Bills when the team needed a clutch play in the second half. He was solid and passed Quentin Johnston as the team’s WR2.
Burke got the job as an extra offensive lineman against the Bills. He was above average in both run blocking (67.1) and pass blocking (70.1) while leading the team in both receptions (six) and yards (76).
McConkey played most of the snaps on offense but was rather unproductive by his normal standards. He finished second on the team with four catches and 66 yards.
AND Cole Strange – 30.1
TE Oronde Gadsden II – 38.6
TE Hayden Rucci – 47.4
QB Justin Herbert – 51.1
RB Omarion Hampton – 52.0
Strange had his worst game of the season Sunday and that’s saying something when he hasn’t had a game grade above 47.1. His 33.2 in pass blocking is somehow second-worst behind Trevor Penning (24.6).
Gadsden is underwhelming as a run blocker with a 54.6 in the area. His receiving grade of 45.7 is also the worst of all players.
Rucci’s grade dipped to 29.6 in pass protection but his run block grade of 68.0 was third on the team. He was really solid and had a nice sequence with Joe Alt where he sealed the edge for Mitchell to score the team’s lone touchdown on Sunday.
Herbert’s interception was one of the worst balls he’s thrown in some time. It was a huge decision at a hugely important moment.
Hampton was bottled up all day and it showed in his 52.0 rushing grade.
S Genesis Smith – 95.1
CB Donte Jackson – 81.4
S Tony Jefferson – 81.1
CB Tarheeb Still – 75.9
LB Del’Shawn Phillips – 75.4
A day for Smith coming off a rough outing against the Raiders. He sacked Allen twice, including a circus pick in which the ball landed on his stomach after ricocheting off several players.
Jackson was again the team’s best corner but unfortunately left the game with a concussion in the first half.
Still forced one of the fumbles of the game that Jefferson recovered. He was weak in the tackle and run defense but came into coverage most of the day.
Phillips was top five in both tackling (80.4) and run defense (71.1), finishing as the team’s best linebacker against the Bills.
CB Rodney Shelley – 25.1
EDGE Bud Dupree – 45.5
LB Troy Dye – 52.6
EDGE Akheem Mesidor – 54.7
LB Daiyan Henley – 54.7
As good a day as it was for Smith, it was also a bad day for Shelley who was picked as soon as he entered the game for Donte Jackson. Right now, Shelley is playing the team’s third cornerback behind Deane Leonard who seems to only be playing special teams right now. that’s not good!
Mesidor had the best sack of the day as he cleanly beat left tackle Dion Dawkins with a great hand swipe en route to bringing down Josh Allen for his first career full sack. However, his 47.5 in run defense dropped his grade to the bottom five.
Henley allowed three receptions on four targets for 46 yards, including 35 after the catch. He is on pace to have one of his worst seasons as a professional. His coverage grade is a poor 38.7 through three games.