Morning Coffee: Allen shines in crucial win for Bills

The Buffalo Bills desperately needed to get back on track with a win on Thursday Night Football.

Their MVP quarterback certainly played like it.

Josh Allen got it done through the air and on the ground in a crucial prime-time victory.

Allen went 31-of-40 for 324 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 41 yards and a score in a 24-18 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

If you bet the over on Allen’s completions, attempts, passing yards, touchdown passes or rushing yards props at FanDuel, you swept the board.

You could also add Allen anytime touchdown at +190 to the list of winners from last night, as Buffalo’s franchise quarterback ran in a score for the fifth time in his past six games.

After dropping two of their previous three games and going 0-3 against the spread over that span, the Bills were desperate for a “get right” win in front of their home fans.

While it wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch, it was certainly a step in the right direction for a contending team that was desperate to get back in the win column in its final game before the NFL trade deadline.

This is the Morning Coffee for Friday, Oct. 27, 2023.

Allen shines in crucial Thursday Night Football win

After starting 3-1 with an average of 34.8 points per game to start the season, the Bills averaged just 19.7 points per game during a 1-2 stretch from Weeks 5-7.

The Buffalo offence was plagued by poor starts over that three-week stretch entering Week 8, averaging just 5.6 points in the first three quarters of those games.

Last night, the Bills scored more first-half points than they did over the previous three weeks combined.

Allen recorded his 10th career game with at least 300 passing yards, one touchdown pass and one rushing score – the fourth-most in NFL history.

A lot of fans were wondering who would step up for Buffalo as a secondary option to Stefon Diggs in the passing game. It wasn’t just one player who delivered on Thursday night.

Four different Bills recorded at least five catches and 50 receiving yards in last night’s win, which tied the franchise record.

Gabe Davis had a career-high nine receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Khalil Shakir had a career-high six catches for 92 yards.

Dalton Kincaid finished with five catches for 65 yards and a score.

Diggs recorded nine catches for 70 yards, marking the first time this season that he hasn’t led Buffalo in receiving yards in back-to-back weeks.

The Bills improved to 4-0 with a plus-96 point differential in games when they commit one or fewer turnovers.

While the offence stole the spotlight, Buffalo’s defence and special teams both delivered in the win.

The 17 pressures that the defence generated were the most that Baker Mayfield has faced in a game since 2019.

Mayfield went 3-of-11, scrambled three times and was sacked three times when the pressure got home.

Meanwhile, huge shout out to punter Sam Martin, who consistently pinned the Tampa Bay offence deep in its own end.

The Buccaneers were forced to start three drives inside their own five-yard line – the most in one game since 2018.

With the victory, the Bills improved to 5-3 – a half-game back of the Miami Dolphins for first place in the AFC East.

Buffalo’s schedule is about to get a lot more difficult, with five of their next seven games against opponents that are currently among the top-13 choices to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel.

That includes an absolutely brutal stretch in which they’ll have to face the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, and Dallas Cowboys in a four-week span that includes a bye week.

While all three phases stepped up to help secure a crucial win on Thursday Night Football, I’m still not convinced the Bills are deep enough to make a deep playoff run in the loaded AFC right now.

There were so many positives to take away from last night’s game, and still the visiting Buccaneers had a chance to win the game on a Hail Mary as time expired.

Buffalo has already been hit hard by injuries this season with the losses of linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Tre’Davious White.

They still have nine regular-season games to go, plus three or four more in the playoffs if they are going to make a Super Bowl run.

With the NFL trade deadline right around the corner on Tuesday, I’d expect general manager Brandon Beane to try to add some pieces in order to solidify his roster.

The Bills are -230 to make the playoffs and +1200 to win the Super Bowl at FanDuel this morning.

If they can fill the holes left by the absences of Milano and White on defence, and perhaps even add another weapon on offence, then those odds could be a lot shorter entering next week’s showdown against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.

A FanDuel Best Bet for NFL Sunday Week 8

Anyone who tailed the best bets I posted in Thursday morning’s column made a small profit as we went 2-1.

I added a couple of plays that I posted to my X account in the afternoon, and ultimately went 4-2 on Thursday Night Football after coming within a holding penalty of the 6-0 sweep.

Meanwhile, our guy Davis Sanchez delivered another Sanchez Slant Same Game Parlay winner. This time, it was a +530 SGP that cashed in the third quarter.

Next up, we’re turning the page looking for another FanDuel Best Bet winner for this NFL Sunday.

I’m taking the Houston Texans to beat the Carolina Panthers outright.

The Texans have turned a lot of heads with wins in three of their past four games, including lopsided victories over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The arrow is pointing up for Houston as a team headed in the right direction coming off a bye week.

Meanwhile, the Panthers are headed in the opposite direction as the league’s only remaining winless team.

Rookie second-overall pick C.J. Stroud has emerged as the favourite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year following his strong start, and he will have had two weeks to prepare for a potential revenge spot against the team that passed on him when they took Bryce Young first overall.

 I’ll take the better team with the better quarterback at -150 odds and lock in Texans ML as a FanDuel Best Bet for NFL Sunday.