The Buffalo Bills’ run game may be the NFL’s most underrated dominant force

Buffalo Bills’ offensive line and running back trio is one of the most underrated units in the NFL

Josh Allen is the 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player, and you can pretty much put that in the bank. The Buffalo Bills are now 11-3 on the season, and the AFC’s second seed behind the 13-1 Kansas City Chiefs. Oh, by the way, the Bills are the only team to beat the Chiefs this season. And a great deal of that is all about Allen, and the ways in which he has married his own preposterous physical abilities to the intricacies of offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s system.

That’s been especially true in recent weeks, and boy, was it true in Buffalo’s 48-42 Sunday win over the Detroit Lions. Allen completed 23 of 34 passes for 362 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 122.4.

Allen also ran 11 times for 68 yards and two touchdowns, and that’s part of the hidden genius of Buffalo’s offense this season. Allen became the first player in NFL history with at least two touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns in consecutive games, and the first player all-time with three such games in a season – he also did it against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, and against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14.

So, as much as we talk about Allen and the Bills’ passing game, it’s entirely possible that the Bills’ run game is the most under-the-radar dominant force in the NFL right now. And it showed up over and over against Detroit’s admittedly depleted defense. Overall, the Bills ran 34 times for 197 yards and four touchdowns. And as Josh Allen attempted 34 passes, you can’t get much more balanced than that.

As much as it’s all about Allen, it isn’t quite. The Bills now rank ninth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (130.8), tied for sixth in rushing yards per attempt (4.6, tied with the Lions and the New England Patriots), first in EPA per rush (+0.14), first in rushing touchdowns (28), ninth in runs of 10 or more yards (49, tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers), and third in Rushing Yards over Expected (+278). By the way, the Bills are doing all of this while facing the NFL’s third-highest rate of stacked boxes – 27.8% of their run plays have had seven or more defenders in the box to counter them.

Offensive tackles Dion Dawkins and Spencer Brown were dominant

Of the Bills’ 34 rushing attempts against the Lions, 20 featured at least one pulling lineman, and what really killed Detroit’s run defense was Buffalo’s ability to dominate in man-on-man situations in which either left tackle Dion Dawkins or right tackle Spencer Brown was stealing souls to the edge. It’s “power with a puller” in football parlance, and the Bills had 10 of those plays for 100 yards on the nose, and three of their four rushing touchdowns. Get your inside guys moving bodies, and have that tackle blow up the last guy on the edge of the front. This was a situation where the Bills started to crack the foundation of the Lions’ run defense with four- and five-yard plays, and then, the whole thing blew open with James Cook’s 41-yard touchdown with 13:20 left in the third quarter, and Josh Allen’s 21-yard run with 6:36 left in the game.

This is where running backs coach Kelly Skipper and offensive line coach Aaron Kromer come in, and a major aspect of this Buffalo run game is how well the front five (and front six, occasionally) works in tandem in any blocking scheme, and how well the line and the backs work together.

The three-headed monster at running back

The Bills have three backs – James Cook, Ray Davis, and Ty Johnson – who each play different roles. Cook is the alpha dog, as evidenced by his rushing stats this season: 171 carries for 878 yards (4.8 yards per carry), 13 touchdowns, 32 forced missed tackles, 19 runs of 10 or more yards, and eight runs of 15 or more yards. At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Cook is better than you might think as blasting through traffic, but he doesn’t get the ball that often to mix it up inside without prominent results – the idea is to get him in the open field, where he can embarrass people with his downfield acceleration.

“Seems like each week he’s getting more comfortable and confident,” Allen said of Cook back in September, after Cook was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 2 after gaining 78 rushing yards, 93 yards from scrimmage, and three touchdowns against the Miami Dolphins. “He’s been begging for some goal-line runs, and we gave [them] to him. So, can’t be happier for him and more proud of him. He just continues to make plays for us.”

Ray Davis, the fourth-round rookie from Kentucky, has been through quite a lot off the field in his young life – he struggled with homelessness at times. On the field, the 5-foot-10, 216-pound Davis is generally the aggressor. He has 87 carries for 357 yards (4.1 yards per carry), three touchdowns, 25 forced missed tackles, 10 carries for 10 or more yards, and three carries of 15 or more yards. He’s become indispensable in power situations, and 252 of those 357 yards have come after contact. .

“He runs the ball very hard,” Allen said of Davis in October. “He packs a punch, but he’s very decisive in his running, and I think that makes him very good for this team.”

Then, there’s Ty Johnson, who is the hidden factor of the group. Johnson can get things done on the ground, but he really shines as a receiver, and in pass protection. Johnson was Allen’s most explosive receiver against the Lions, with five catches on five targets for 114 yards and three explosive plays.

Johnson and Cook became the first running back duo with one gaining over 100 yards on the ground and another with 100 yards in the air since Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles did it for the New Orleans Saints in Week 2 of the 2012 season.

“He’s really smart,” Allen said of Johnson. “I think he’s the best third-down back in the game,” Allen said of Johnson. “The way that we communicate, the way that he sees protections, it’s quarterback-like. He just plays the game the right way.”

Of course, Josh Allen is no fun to deal with as a runner either, but we already knew that.

The Bills throw everything and the kitchen sink at you

Where personnel and coaching come together with the Bills’ run game is in the variety of concepts they’re able to effectively challenge their opponents with. If you’re playing defense against this Bills team, you’re just as likely to see trap, counter, or pull lead plays as you are to see inside and outside zone, and they’re really, really good with all of it.

“We’ve got guys that are bought in,” Allen said of his backs. “That’s what it comes down to in the run game that sets up in the pass game, and vice versa.”

It was never more true than it was against the Lions on Sunday, but it’s been that way for a while. And as the Bills journey into the postseason, it’ll be a major part of every opponent’s game plan.

Buffalo’s run game may not get the public prominence it deserves, but you can bet that it’s not a secret in the league.