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    Buffalo Bills destroy Jacksonville Jaguars and look like the best team in the NFL
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    Buffalo Bills destroy Jacksonville Jaguars and look like the best team in the NFL

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    7 minutes, 16 seconds Read

    ORCHARD PARK – Although many football analysts believed their chance at the Super Bowl was already over, the Buffalo Bills currently look like the best team in the NFL three weeks into the 2024 season.

    The Bills put together a stunning first-half performance at Highmark Stadium on Monday night, scoring touchdowns on all five possessions to take a 34-3 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then shined in the final 30 minutes en route to an easy 47-10 victory.

    The performance was reminiscent of the Bills' 47-17 loss to the Patriots in the 2021 playoffs, when they played a perfect game by scoring touchdowns on all seven possessions when they weren't kneeling to end a half. So it was quite fitting that Mac Jones, the Patriots' quarterback in that game, was called upon by his new team, the Jaguars, to end that game.

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    Instead of playing like a dangerous 0-2 team trying to salvage their season, the Jaguars have proven themselves to be a bad 0-3 team that won't go anywhere without a major turnaround this year. The $245 million investment in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, looks pretty ominous.

    The Jaguars have been in the NFL since 1995 and have allowed the most points in the first half ever, 34. It is also only the third time in NFL history that a team that scored 34 or more points has built a 31-point halftime lead.

    Who is better than the Bills as September draws to a close? The Chiefs are 3-0 and could easily be 0-3. The Steelers are 3-0 but have only scored 51 points. In the NFC, the Seahawks are 3-0 but have beaten the Broncos with a rookie quarterback, the Patriots and the Dolphins without Tua Tagovailoa. The Vikings are 3-0 and are legit, but are they better than the Bills with Sam Darnold?

    Josh Allen, who had thrown for just 371 yards in the first two games, completed 22 of 28 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns to Dalton Kincaid, Keon Coleman, Khalil Shakir and Ty Johnson. And that was just the first half.

    After the Jaguars scored a touchdown on the kickoff in the second half, Allen responded with another beautiful drive that ended with a field goal by Tyler Bass, but also took more than six minutes in the third quarter.

    It was scary how easily Allen took the Jaguars apart, and all the overrated talk about the Bills quarterback or thoughts that he would be lost without Stefon Diggs this year? Seems a little silly right now.

    The main reasons for the Bills’ victory

    ▶ Everyone was just great: You could tell from the start that he was hot for this game. The Jaguars were missing two cornerbacks, Tyson Campbell and Darnell Savage, and offensive coordinator Joe Brady had clear plans to take advantage. His plays were impeccable in several of his decisions, and the execution was just as flawless.

    Brady brought everyone into the game in the first two quarters, as Allen targeted 10 different receivers and completed passes to nine of them. After relying on the running game the first two weeks, Brady called just 11 runs compared to 28 passes in the first half.

    ▶ The pass defense was overwhelming: Lawrence took advantage of the Bills' defense and played to the point in the second half, but he was helpless in trying to keep up with Allen in the first half and left the field trailing by 31 points.

    Cornerbacks Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford were in lockdown mode on the outside, and none of the Jaguars' talented receivers – Gabe Davis, Brian Thomas and Christian Kirk – could get free. And once Thomas got free, Lawrence threw a ball right into the arms of Bills safety Damar Hamlin, his first career interception.

    Impressively, no team has been able to take advantage of the loss of star nickel cornerback Taron Johnson, as Cam Lewis has held up remarkably well. Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich even used a safety blitz that resulted in a sack of Ja'Marcus Ingram.

    ▶ The story didn’t matter: There was a lot of talk leading up to the game about how the Jaguars seemed to have the edge over the Bills, especially given the way the last two meetings had gone – a terrible Jaguars team that went 9-6 in 2021 and then the fiasco in London last year when half of the Bills' defense was injured.

    There have been some strange games in the series between these teams, starting in the 1996 playoffs when the two-year-old Jaguars surprised the Bills. On Monday night, the Bills made sure nothing strange happened.

    Pieces that proved critical

    ▶ No one can ever complain that Sean McDermott doesn't take risks. He continues to be one of the most aggressive coaches when it comes to going all out on fourth downs, and just like last week in Miami, he did it on Buffalo's first possession on Monday. Six plays into the game, the Bills had a fourth-and-3 attempt at the Jaguars' 44, and Allen threw a 12-yard pass to Shakir after a well-thought-out call, and from there the Bills ran the entire game, quickly taking a 6-0 lead.

    ▶ On the second offensive possession, the Bills faced a third-and-3 at the Jaguars' 48-yard line. Brady made a great play when Kincaid got free on the left side and Allen tackled him for 28 yards on the run. After another fourth-down conversion, when Allen pushed forward on a QB sneak, he and Kincaid combined for another great play.

    On third down and goal from the 6, Allen was under pressure, but he bought time in the pocket and that allowed Kincaid to work his way from left to right, where he got free in the back of the end zone. Allen threw a perfect pass and Kincaid caught it, giving him a 13-0 lead.

    ▶ Rookie receiver Keon Coleman started the game on the bench. He didn't play on the first possession, played just once on the second, but Brady brought him in on the third and called him on a first-down play from the Jaguars' 24-yard line.

    Coleman lined up on the left side and the Jaguars went man-to-man with Montaric Brown. He ran a lateral route, beat Brown cleanly, Allen hit him on the run and Coleman finished the play by getting into the end zone and scoring his first NFL touchdown, increasing the Bills lead to 20-3.

    ▶ If the Jaguars had any chance to decide the game, they blew it on the following series. There were 4:28 left in the first half, so there was still time to get something done. Lawrence converted a fourth down and a one-night stand with a sneak, but on the next play he clearly overshot Thomas and Hamlin intercepted the ball. And of course the Bills converted that into a touchdown, because five plays later, on a third down and nine at the 27, Allen found Shakir free on the right side for the touchdown that made the game virtually unattainable.

    Bills most valuable player

    There's no point going against the grain here. Allen played like the superstar he is, and it didn't matter that he was essentially sidelined in the second half. He only had 16 passing yards after halftime because the game was clearly in his grasp. So he finished the game with 263 yards and also ran for 44 yards six times, with five of those runs leading to first downs.

    Bills least valuable player

    OK, if we're going to be nitpicky here, it was the Bills' protection unit that allowed Bass' first extra point of the game to be blocked. There was some sort of mishap and while fans immediately blamed Bass, it wasn't his fault. Once again, the Bills' special teams made a play that was costly, even though it was pretty inconsequential at the end of the night.

    Injury report

    As expected, nickelback Taron Johnson and linebacker Terrel Bernard are out, but it's still a good sign that neither player has been placed on the injured list, meaning the Bills' medical staff should expect both to return in the near future, perhaps as early as this week against the Ravens.

    Lewis had to go to the medical tent briefly to be examined for a head injury, but was quickly released and able to return to the game.

    Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time reporter for D&C, and has written numerous books on the team's history. You can reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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