Falcons at Bills: Three top Storylines Include Return of key Players

With Bills much closer to full strength, how will they handle ball distribution among so many qualified players?

Any football coach will tell you that having too many skill-position players on offense is always better than not having enough.

Still, the Buffalo Bills find themselves in a curious situation heading into Sunday's Week 17 clash with the Atlanta Falcons.

Because of various injuries and COVID-19 outbreaks, the Bills were forced on consecutive weeks to give receivers Gabriel Davis and Isaiah McKenzie significantly more time with the offense than they played all season.

Both came through beyond reasonable expectations. With Emmanuel Sanders (knee) out, Davis responded by tying a career high with five receptions that included a career-high two touchdowns in a 31-14 win over Carolina on Dec. 19. With Davis and Cole Beasley out — each were on the Reserve/COVID-19 list — McKenzie produced career-highs of 11 catches and 125 yards in a 33-21 win at New England last Sunday.

Now, barring any setbacks leading up to the Falcons game, all of those receivers will be available along with top wide receiver Stefon Diggs and top tight end Dawson Knox, who lead the Bills with nine touchdown catches apiece.

And then there are running backs Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, who have combined for 59 catches this season.

This brings us to our first of three top storylines heading into this week's game.

One football, 16 hands

Eight Bills have caught at least 18 passes from quarterback Josh Allen this year. All have featured flashes of brilliance in either the running game, passing game or both.

So how do the Bills attack the Falcons on Sunday?

Allen wasn't saying, of course, but did point out that playmaking opportunities should be available to all of them.

"I don't know the exact stat of how many times we threw it last week," he said, "but I think it was upwards of 40-45 times. ... We're a team that likes to throw the ball. So there's opportunities out there for everybody, and we've just got to make the most of them. When guys are in certain plays, certain situations, they understand that ... I'm not trying to force-feed anybody. I'm just trying to find the open guy and and give them a shot to make plays.

"So again, it's a luxury to have this many weapons and guys that are able to make plays and wanting to make plays. And I think that's that's the main thing. We have guys that want to make these plays, which I'd rather have it that way than the other way."

Falcons' unique weapons

Cordarrelle Patterson is a running back these days. Except when he's a wide receiver or kickoff returner.

Kyle Pitts is a rookie tight end. Except when he plays and produces like a top wide receiver, which is most of the time. His 64 catches, 949 yards and 14.8 yards per catch lead the team and have landed him a berth in the Pro Bowl.

He's the only rookie tight end in NFL history with 60-plus receptions and 900 yards and is second all-time in yards in a single season for a rookie tight end, trailing Mike Ditka (1,076).

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Patterson began his career as a part-time wide receiver and full-time electric kickoff returner with the Minnesota Vikings, where he once teamed with Bills receiver Stefon Diggs.

Patterson began to get more carries after leaving the Vikings. The New England Patriots gave him more carries than targets in 2018. Same with Chicago last year.

But this year as a running back, he's exploded for career highs of 140 carries, 579 yards and six TDs on the ground and 523 receiving yards and five TD catches through the air. His 49 receptions have him on track to break his single-season high of 52, set in 2016.

Said Diggs: "He's probably one of the most ... No, he's probably the most talented person I've ever seen with the ball in his hands besides Adrian Peterson. He's up there with guys like ... Dalvin Cook. He's like 6-2, 6-3, probably 225. But he probably looks a lot stronger than that. Our old receivers coach, George Stewart, he used to say, `you're too strong, too fast and too big.'

"So he's one of those guys that's, you know, extremely talented, can play all around the field and is really just a generational talent.

Patterson has returned eight kickoffs for touchdowns in his career, with the most recent coming last season. He's led the league in yards-per-return average three times.

The Great Unknown: COVID-19

As of Thursday afternoon, the Buffalo Bills may have been in the best shape in terms of the coronavirus since the pandemic began nearly two years ago. None of the players on their active roster were on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, which is incredible, considering the way the league has been hit over the last month.

But nothing is guaranteed. By Friday afternoon, they could be in their worst shape ever. They're not out of this yet. Not even close.

"It's been chaos," safety Micah Hyde, "and chaos in the sense that you never know what to expect. We learned a lot last year as all this stuff was going on, and guys are in and out because of COVID and all that. So this year has just been the next-man mentality and guys have been stepping up.

"You never really know what to expect, so all you can do is just, you know, put your head down and keep working."

The bottom line is that a positive test or an outbreak can happen at any time, and even with the league's recently relaxed protocols, it can knock any team for a loop and possibly right out of playoff contention.

Safety measures be damned.

"We've taken about as many precautions as you can take," coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday. "We've been virtual really as of two weeks ago. So other than that, as I said last week, I'm not sure what else you can do.

The guys are only in for the most part for practice time other than treatments."

Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.