How Josh Allen got forced into pressing and how to fix it

The Bills dropped a second straight game on Sunday, forcing plenty of big-picture questions to surface.

How did the Texans get the usually unflappable Josh Allen-led passing attack to be so ineffective? And what can the Bills do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

After reviewing the All-22, here’s what stood out and what it could mean moving forward.

How defenses have made Josh Allen begin to press in the passing game

After watching the Bills’ passing offense sputter through a close loss to the Texans, it does not inspire much confidence in general. But in fairness, the one thing to point out is that it won’t always be that bad. Allen is too talented to have another 9-for-30 performance and there were several moments where his receivers let him down. Mack Hollins did not have enough speed to bring in a catchable deep ball. On a separate incompletion, Hollins continued to drag across the field opposite of the way Allen was running even after Allen reared back to throw the ball to him. Then there was the ball that bounced off the back of Keon Coleman’s head because the rookie wasn’t looking. Throw in two Dalton Kincaid drops, which are usually not an issue for him, and you’ve got an error-filled afternoon even before the conceptual issues.

However, how the Texans continued to defend Allen and the passing offense as the game progressed showed an institutional flaw in some of the general operating procedures the Bills have used in the first five games. The Texans weaponized the Bills’ lack of separation skills at receiver and Allen’s default coping mechanism to try and make something out of nothing, which helped fuel one of the worst single-game performances of Allen’s career.

The Texans tried to mix up a variety of defensive play calls, but they all shared one thing in common — they were not scared of getting beat for a big play by the receivers. They used strategies like Cover 1 over the top with man-to-man coverage underneath. They used a simple four-man rush while keeping a spy on Allen several times, which resulted in a rollout by Allen with a linebacker on his doorstep. The Texans also worked in some three-man rush with a Cover-3 look and eight dropping defenders. And just to put the Bills on the back foot, they were unafraid to blitz Allen with five, sometimes six rushers to get him off his spot while playing man coverage on the back end.

Teams know the Bills have a good offensive line when pass blocking straight up, and they continued to do so against the Texans. So the best way to get heat on Allen with a healthy offensive line is to send additional rushers. It quickened Allen’s pace to his throwing decision, which the quarterback had previously conquered. Teams began to realize blitzing Allen wasn’t an ideal solution because he could really hurt them with his arm. But he also had a much different caliber of receivers available to him back then. In this game, without anyone working open quickly enough, Allen didn’t have those quick answers to the blitz that he’s grown accustomed to having. And that proved to be a huge issue Sunday.

As the game unfolded, Allen didn’t look like himself. It looked like he was pressing. He was occasionally throwing with an uneven base, which impacted his accuracy. He left the pocket before the threat of pressure was present sometimes. It was probably rooted in thinking he had to be the one to make a big play in a big moment since it wasn’t working otherwise. The Texans didn’t force Allen to roll to his right. He did so willingly because throughout his playing career when he rolls right, big plays tend to follow.

But when he rolled right to get out of structure and to a scramble drill, the big play never followed. That is why the Bills’ lack of separation and trustworthy assets at receiver matters in a big way. Without them getting away from defenders and into the open air, Allen has only a handful of options — to throw it away, force a throw or put his body at risk by tucking the ball and running. And we all know Allen doesn’t love to throw it away, especially when the team needs a play down the stretch.

But one play encompassed many of the problems the Bills were dealing with on Sunday. The play almost resulted in Allen’s first interception of 2024 at the end of the first half. But when you watch it back on the All-22, it’s the type of play that makes you think changes — even small — should be pretty close to happening. Let’s get started.

The Texans are showing a standard four-man rush pre-snap, but with both linebackers lined up on each side of the center to potentially cause confusion. Notably, the Bills went into the 3rd-and-10 attempt without Coleman or Kincaid — their two best healthy pass-catchers on Sunday.

As the ball is snapped, the Texans actually dropped half of the players they were showing at the line of scrimmage and went with only a three-man rush. And without their top two available pass catchers on the field, it immediately put the Bills into a bit of a bind

As Allen gets to the top of his dropback, he surveys the field with the only immediate option being Knox. But because they need ten yards, and Knox likely doesn’t have the speed to get to the sticks, Allen continues searching elsewhere.

With nothing open downfield a good three-plus seconds after it’s snapped, Allen begins to roll right — as he did so many times throughout the game — to try and pry open the defense.

As Allen begins to go that way and turns it into a scramble drill, Valdes-Scantling decides to head the opposite way Allen was heading, which would have required a ridiculous cross-body throw even by Allen’s standards.

As Allen approaches the sideline, Knox and Hollins try to get to the same sideline at different levels, which is a good thing. Knox goes just past the first-down marker, with Hollins a good 15 yards upfield. The problem is Hollins has a defender right behind, waiting to pounce. Knox’s primary defender is about the get replaced by another, so that could have spoiled that idea for Allen. Allen’s focus was on Samuel, who was the deepest of all the targets.

This is where the disconnect comes into play here. Recall the Ravens game, when Allen turned a second-half play into a scramble drill that he rolled to his right, Khalil Shakir got the memo. Shakir knows his quarterback will go for a big play if it’s available, so he slipped behind the defense and made it happen. Samuel, even with the quarterback’s eyes in his direction, and with the defenders around him hovering over him, doesn’t try to slip for a deep shot. Instead, he just remains covered up. The end zone angle shows Allen was hoping to see Samuel move off his spot.

This moment of Allen looking down the field reminded me of a Harry Potter scene, when he was battling an oversized troll. As the troll held Potter upside down by the legs, he pleaded for his trusty cohort, Ron Weasley, standing there watching, to help.

Harry: Do something!

Ron: What?

Harry: Anything!

With the sideline approaching, and desperate to get some points at the end of the half, Allen then looked back toward the middle of the field for a low-percentage look.

While Samuel has barely moved from his spot, Allen sets his sight on the well-covered Valdes-Scantling, which invites the linebacker to drift back toward the middle and almost get an interception.

It all leads to a more significant discussion. While yes, they’ll have Shakir in this situation most weeks, he’s not going to bail them out by himself every time. The real question is, why are the Bills continuing to spread around their snaps almost evenly when it isn’t working? Not having either Kincaid or Coleman out there in that spot — especially without Shakir available — is less than ideal.

For things to change, the first step may need to be to isolate their snaps heavily to those three and spread out what’s left to the Hollins, Valdes-Scantling, Samuel and Knox group. But beyond that, the receiver room certainly looks like a group in need of a new piece- and not just one off their practice squad. They need a legitimate separator who can help Allen in several situations, with the idea that it can take an already good offense to the next level, and turn the Texans’ blueprint of how to defend this passing offense on its head.

Quick thoughts on the top 2

RG O’Cyrus Torrence (A-minus) — The second-year guard has shaken off a slow start to the year and has been outstanding. Torrence did well in one-on-one pass protection, but his run blocking was what stood out. Do yourself a favor and watch the James Cook touchdown run from the end zone angle. Torrence whipped one player out of the way and continued to take out the last line of defense.

MLB Terrel Bernard (A-minus) — Bernard’s impact on the game went far beyond his interception. It was a bit of a slow start for him in his first game back, but beginning in the second quarter, Bernard was on fire with his reads both in run defending and coverage. From what the Bills had last week at middle linebacker to this week, Bernard was truly a difference-maker for them Sunday.

Quick thoughts on the bottom 2

WR Curtis Samuel (D-plus) — Samuel was a complete disappointment in his first game with a huge role in place of the injured Shakir. And too often, when plays broke down with Allen scrambling, he didn’t try and work himself open vigorously enough. If Shakir has to miss more time, the Bills need far more out of Samuel moving forward.

S Damar Hamlin (D) — Hamlin’s hesitation to get involved in some plays and the overall depth of some of his drops can be, and has been, taken advantage of by opponents. It’s not as visible when you’re watching a game live, but it’s a problem. It may stem from not wanting to give up the big play, but the Bills are giving up several intermediate plays as a result. It would not be a surprise if rookie Cole Bishop took Hamlin’s place in the lineup sooner rather than later.

Underrated standout

LB Dorian Williams (A-minus) — This might have been one of the best games of Williams’ career. He was sharp all game long, didn’t take the bait on some misdirection plays and read his keys to make some impact tackles. It went under the radar due to the outcome, but Williams was excellent on Sunday.

Players with fewer than 15 snaps:

DT Branson Deen (9), FB Reggie Gilliam (5), TE Quintin Morris (4), RB Ray Davis (2), QB Mitchell Trubisky (1), S Mike Edwards (1), OT Ryan Van Demark (0), C/G Sedrick Van Pran-Granger (0), LB Baylon Spector (0), LB Nicholas Morrow (0), LB Joe Andreessen (0), CB Kaiir Elam (0), CB Brandon Codrington (0)

**Minimum 75 snaps

How the standards work

When the All-22 film becomes available, we’ll go through and watch every player on every play as many times as necessary to assess letter grades. It is a subjective analysis, and it’s important to note we do not know the play calls and full responsibilities. The grades stem from technique, effort and presumed liability.

The study accounts only for players who take a snap on offense or defense. Players with fewer than 15 snaps — unless they significantly impact the game — will not factor into weekly rankings. The grades range from an ‘A’ (a perfect 4.00 GPA) to ‘F’ (0.00 GPA). There is no such thing as an ‘A+’ on this grading system. Season-long grades will be tallied and documented, with a single game’s grade weighted based on how much the player was on the field in a given week.

(Top photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)