Can the Bills repeat last week's performance on offense? This battle will be key

One of the keys to Josh Allen’s success in the 31-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams - other than Allen being Allen - was the speed with which he got rid of the ball when he dropped back to pass.

Knowing how disruptive Aaron Donald and the Rams pass rush could be, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey game-planned for Allen to make quick reads and not hold the ball, which is why you saw more short passes than you’d typically see, at least for the early portion of the game.

“We knew coming in we had to be efficient offensively,” coach Sean McDermott said. “In part, at least a little bit because of what Aaron Donald does and how quickly he can get to your quarterback. So if you hold the ball too long back there, he’s going to show up or somebody else is going to show up.

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“I just thought we did a good job taking what they gave us, Josh was very patient and the receivers were running crisp routes. We’re going to do that, take what they give us there.”

Part of the plan was being efficient with getting the play calls in to Allen quickly, which, Allen explained, allowed him, “to get to the line of scrimmage and see some things that I needed to see” both in coverage and the front the Rams were showing.

It worked. Allen got the calls, made the proper reads, and according to NextGenStats he averaged 2.47 seconds on his release, the second-lowest of his NFL career on his way to completing 26 of 31 passes for 297 yards with three touchdowns. The 83.9 completion percentage set a Bills single-game record.

Buffalo Bills offensive line stood out vs Rams

The other factor in the success of the passing game was the offensive line’s performance. Yes, it helped that Allen was delivering quickly, but when he needed the time - such as the two deep balls he hit to Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs in the second half - he got it.

It was quite a debut for the revamped unit of, from left to right, Dion Dawkins, Rodger Saffold, Mitch Morse, Ryan Bates and Spencer Brown.

“We felt like going into the game that we had to do a good job up front in order for us to have a chance to win that game,” Dorsey said. “Obviously, (the Rams were) extremely talented. They have one of the best players in the league up front and have a lot of talent all around that group.

“We knew our guys were going to have to play well up front and they really stepped up to the challenge, not only in the pass game but in the run game. I was really excited with how they played, that chemistry of kind of jelling together. And it’s gonna be the same type of thing this week, another great challenge for them.”

Ah yes, it certainly will be.

Tennessee Titans defense will bring another level of challenge

As the Bills get ready to host Tennessee in their home opener Monday night, you can expect a similar mode of attack because the Titans have their own game-wrecker, and he’s a guy Bills fans should be painfully aware of: Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.

The Bills were lucky that Simmons, Tennessee’s first-round pick in 2019, missed both the 2019 game (non-football injury in what was a 14-7 Bills victory) and the 2020 game (COVID, a 42-16 thrashing by the Titans).

However, the 305-pounder made up for lost time in the Titans thrilling 34-31 victory last year. He stuffed Allen on the fourth-down QB keeper inside the 5-yard-line in the final seconds in Tennessee which allowed the Titans to hold on for a victory that proved critical as it helped secure home-field advantage in the playoffs. Not that it ultimately mattered for them.

That night Simmons had five tackles, five pressures and two sacks, and his presence also allowed edge rusher Harold Landry to rack up eight tackles, five pressures and two sacks.

Bills offensive line vs Jeffrey Simmons may be key to game

“They’re different styles of play (the Rams and Titans) but they pose just as big of a problem,” Dorsey said. “Jeffery Simmons creates a lot of issues matchup-wise from a protection standpoint, from a run game standpoint. So it’s a big challenge for us this week facing a guy like that, but then also, again, they’ve done a great job surrounding him with guys that can also win. So it’s not just him up front.”

That was evident in Sunday’s shocking 21-20 loss to the Giants. Simmons was a beast. He was in on six tackles, had six pressures, two sacks for 19 yards and forced a fumble as Brian Daboll’s offensive line, including ex-Bill Jon Feliciano, could not control him. And that was without Landry who is out for the season.

Simmons lined up over Giants right guard Mark Glowinski on 23 snaps, over left guard Ben Brederson 18 times, and on almost all of those snaps, Feliciano was helping in some way.

Having already dealt with Donald, the Bills have to be feeling pretty good about how the line played, and it seems as if the work of new line coach Aaron Kromer is already paying dividends.

“He’s been around and he’s a veteran offensive line coach,” McDermott said. “I have a lot of trust in Aaron and what he does for our front and I think he’s building a good dynamic with our offensive staff.”

What Kromer has been able to do is implement some of his techniques with what the Bills were already doing under previous line coach Bobby Johnson because so much of the offense has stayed the same despite the switch at coordinator from Daboll to Dorsey.

“I think we try to keep things as similar for the guys as possible and I think that’s been the great part about Kromer,” Dorsey said. “He’s been able to adjust to things that we do well, putting his spin on things. So I think that’s been a good blend for us, whether it’s some technique things that he believes in, whether it’s protection adjustments that incorporate well into what we do without reinventing the wheel of kind of how our offense was run.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's new twice-a-week newsletter, Bills Blast, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills vs Titans: Play up front key for Josh Allen's quick passes