The Bills have brought back some familiar faces on both sides of the ball.
Veteran safety Jordan Poyer’s presence has elevated the play in the secondary. Could recently returned receiver Gabe Davis do the same for the receiver’s group?
While Davis has been working his way back to the field from injury, he has an eye on what he sees as being the standout issue in the Bills’ air attack.
“Honestly, I just think we have to play to our standards,” Davis said this week. “I feel like we all as a collective, forgot about how hard it is to win. It doesn’t matter who we play. It’s about us, and we got to go out there and play our game.”
Buffalo has been a different team on the field this season at times, starting the year with a 4-0 win streak, losing back-to-back games to the Patriots and Falcons, then bouncing back with wins over the Panthers and Chiefs before dropping another dud to their AFC East rival Miami Dolphins. That last performance was particularly bad. QB Josh Allen went 28 of 40 with 306 yards and two touchdowns while committing two turnovers, and Buffalo went scoreless until the fourth quarter.
Since Davis departed in free agency and Stefon Diggs via trade, the once explosive passing threat the Bills flashed has dwindled to a glimmer of its former self in Joe Brady’s offense, save for the occasional downfield catch by TE Dalton Kincaid or WR Keon Coleman. The Bills rank 12th in passing yards per game (231.2), led by receivers Khalil Shakir (45 catches for 457 yards) and second-year receiver Keon Coleman (32 catches for 330 yards and three touchdowns). Coleman’s the only Buffalo receiver with 100+ yards in a game this season.
The Bills have the second-most receiving yards in the NFL amongst their tight end group (716 yards with seven scores), and Dalton Kincaid has had a career year as a passing target.
But Kincaid and Shakir can’t carry the passing game themselves.
“We know the team that we got. We just have to be consistent,” Davis added.
RB1 James Cook has also been carrying more of the offensive load, as one of only two running backs in the league averaging 80+ rushing yards per game this season, behind the Colts Jonathan Taylor (102.2 yards per game). Buffalo is rushing for more yards per game (153.2) in 2025 than they have in any season with Allen under center.
And if it were working and the team was winning like the Colts are, it would be a non-issue. But unlike Indy, Buffalo isn’t getting the passing productivity.
“Offenses are always gonna be easier when you’re running the ball effectively,” Allen said. “But yeah, we got to be better in the pass game, we know that, I know that,” he added. “But I definitely think we’re more than capable of being able to do that.”
