Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs explain how Bills offense plans to bounce back vs. Dolphins

Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (left) and receiver Stefon Diggs (right) during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Orchard park, N.Y., Sunday Sept. 12, 2021. (AP and Getty Photo).

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills receiver Stefon Diggs didn’t talk after his team went down in a disappointing opening-season loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Instead he went straight home, cracked open a cold ginger ale, got comfy in his cryotherapy recovery chamber, and popped on the tape.

What he watched just wasn’t good enough for the 27-year-old receiver that’s always hard on himself anyway.

“I feel like I could have played a better game, I feel like I could have played faster,” he revealed Wednesday after the Bills wrapped up their first practice of the week in preparation for the Miami Dolphins on the road Sunday. “I feel like I was thinking a little bit, so for me what does that tell me to do. I guess get in the lab a little bit more, study a little bit more, have more confidence in what I’m doing, and play faster.”

The Bills moved the ball down the field at times against the Steelers, gaining 371 yards compared to just 256 for Pittsburgh. But coach Sean McDermott said emphatically today that yards don’t win games - points do.

Josh Allen reiterated what his coach said: The Bills have to put the ball in the end zone.

“The best way to cure that is to go out there and execute and play how we know we can play football,” Allen said. “It’s going to be no easy task going against the team that we’re playing this week. ... We’re hungry.”

Allen would never admit it but he might be licking his chops because of the team that’s on the schedule. In six career starts against Miami, Allen has 17 touchdown passes to just four interceptions. He’s posted a 5-1 record against Miami and has won AFC Offensive Player of the Week three times in those six games.

If the Bills are going to have success in South Florida, the offense must execute better, starting at the line of scrimmage. The Steelers pressured Allen 18 times last week. Miami doesn’t quite have the horses up front that the Steelers have, but they hit New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones 8 times last week and pressured him 9 times in a 17-16 win. The Dolphins are the only team in the AFC East with a win after one week.

Dion Dawkins, Jon Feliciano, and Daryl Williams all struggled to handle Pittsburgh’s front four - and that’s all they needed to generate all their disruption in Buffalo’s backfield. Diggs and Allen threw their support behind the line and expect things to be better as soon as this week.

“By no means has anyone lost any confidence in them,” Allen said. “We’re looking forward to having really good years from (Dawkins and Feliciano), and really all five guys up front - whoever may be playing. There’s no loss in confidence at all.”

Allen knows he can be better, too. He missed some throws, including a bomb to Emmanuel Sanders that could have broken the game open. From McDermott all the way down the coaching staff and the roster, Allen said there’s been accountability this week.

“We’re extremely accountable,” he said. “But we care about each other, and we don’t want to let each other down.”

Diggs said the offensive line is a prideful group.

“(The Steelers) are the top 2, top 3 defensive line in the league. As far as like with the addition of Melvin Ingram, and T.J. Watt is a hell of a player, Cam Heyward, I even know their defensive line. So that says a lot,” he said. “Respect to them they have a hell of a d-line, but I still love my guys. I still feel like they can play at a high level.

“And I don’t get on anybody, I make it a point to (never play) the finger game. It’s football at the end of the day, we’re going to have some good, we’re going to have some bad. Hopefully we can work through it and overcome adversity. But I’m looking for them to have a bounce back game as well. Nothing is going to be perfect, but it’s not the end of the world.”

The Bills face a Dolphins defense that took the ball away (29 turnovers) more than any other team in 2020. Allen said they do a lot of different things and their secondary - led by Xavien Howard - is pretty good.

“They’ve got some vets back there who have been making some plays. They switch up some things,’ he said. “They looked a little different obviously than what they looked like last year. When they’re healthy, they’re really good. And they’ve got two guys on the outside in the secondary that are darn good players.

The Bills fumbled the ball four times last week and only lost one of them. Allen and Diggs said they have to protect the ball better.

“We’ve got to find ways to move the ball, be smart with it and not have any turnovers,” Allen said. “That’s a point of emphasis just making sure that we’re taking care of what we need to take care of and try to go out there and execute.”

Diggs knows the best way he can support Allen is to get open and catch the ball. That’s his plan now that he’s been properly hydrated and his body is recovered from the opener. Oh, and he watched the tape.

“I understand that the games has its ebbs and flows, and for him all you got to do is be there for your quarterback,” he said. “We’ll have more adversity throughout the season, but the guys that rally behind him, the guys that kind of keep them poised and keep him even keel, that’s a guy that’s gonna make a difference for his team.”

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