Bills Central

These impressive stats prove that Bills are a ‘second half juggernaut’

The Buffalo Bills have been one of the league's best teams in the second half thus far this season.

Kyle Silagyi

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
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It’s seemingly happened time and time again throughout the 2024 season: the Buffalo Bills stumble out of the gate both offensively and defensively before playing lights-out football in the second half, putting whatever game they were playing in at the time out of reach and constructing a scoreline that would suggest they were in firm control throughout the entire contest.

This has happened on several occasions through 11 games, perhaps most memorably in Buffalo’s Week 1 win over the Arizona Cardinals and Week 7 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The Bills trailed at halftime in both of those games before waking up in the third quarter to earn wins, the offense scoring a combined 51 points in the second halves of those games while the defense allowed just three total points.

Related: NFL disciplines Patrick Mahomes for unsportsmanlike conduct in loss to Bills

It’s, again, long felt like Buffalo becomes a different team in the second half, but The 33rd Team recently shared some data that proves that the Bills become a markedly better side in the third and fourth quarters. Buffalo, per the outlet, ranks first in points margin, first in turnover margin, third in offensive EPA, third in defensive EPA, and second in EPA per dropback in the second half of games thus far this year (EPA stands for “expected points added” and measures how well a team performs relative to expectation).

Bills fans have oft-spoken about their desire to see the team get off to better starts, but given the proficiency with which it’s been closing out games, a strong start, while certainly not unwelcomed, is not a necessity. With a quarterback like Josh Allen, who can demonstrably take games over late (doing so most recently in his team’s Week 11 win over the Kansas City Chiefs), under center, Buffalo figures to always have a fighting chance in the closing moments of whatever game it plays, the team's dominance in the second half a testament to not only Allen’s excellence, but the ability of the entire coaching staff to make mid-game adjustments that verifiably breed success. 

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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