Bills vs. Cardinals Week 1 snap counts: Keon Coleman dominates in NFL debut

Buffalo Bills football is finally back and the 2024-25 season started with a win! However, in typical Bills fashion, Week 1’s game against the Arizona Cardinals wasn’t exactly stress-free for fans. Buffalo trailed 17-3 at one point in the first half, but quarterback Josh Allen donned his Superman cape and never looked back, securing a 34-28 win for Buffalo in a thriller.

Allen was great — he completed 78 percent of his passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, and he even found the end zone twice with his own legs. The first half was certainly strange, as the Bills simply did not have the ball, and with just two minutes left in the second quarter, Allen had only tried two passes. The halftime adjustments proved crucial as both sides of the ball stepped up, scoring 24 and allowing just 11 points in the second half.

As for the inactive players in Week 1, here’s the full list, with the most notable names being rookie safety Cole Bishop, tackle Ryan Van Demark and linebacker Joe Andreessen, also known as “Buffalo Joe.” Four of Buffalo’s 2024 draft picks were inactive.

Bills offensive snap count (62 snaps)

Aside from the strip sack on the first offensive possession of the season, the offense was surprisingly efficient. I didn’t expect Allen to look so composed and complete such a high percentage of his passes with a new wide receiver room. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on Allen’s left hand injury while we wait for x-rays.

It’s always a good feeling when the entire offensive line comes out of a game unscathed and registers every offensive snap, but there’s still work to be done. Left tackle Dion Dawkins (100%) had two penalties of his own, and while running back James Cook (61%) made some nice runs through big holes, Buffalo probably could have been better and taken more advantage of Arizona’s perceived weakness on defense. Still, 34 points is a lot of scoreboard cheddar. Rookie running back Ray Davis (10%) only logged six snaps and was outpaced by Ty Johnson (23%), but he did manage four touches for 27 scrimmage yards.

The tight end splits were what was expected throughout the offseason, with Dalton Kincaid (84%) outpacing Dawson Knox (58%) and even all pass catchers. However, Kincaid caught just 1 of 2 targets for 11 yards despite running 21 routes — the second-most behind only rookie wideout Keon Coleman (73%), who ran 22 routes and hauled in 4 of 5 targets for 51 yards. The rookie fan favorite was exactly what the Bills Mafia wanted — a monster of a contested catch. He even drew two penalties.

Wide receiver Mack Hollins (58%) outscored Khalil Shakir (53%), suggesting he and Coleman will operate strictly as X-receivers. Both Hollins and Shakir performed exceptionally well, however, both finding the end zone in the third quarter. Recently signed wideout Curtis Samuel (27%) logged just 17 snaps but has been dealing with turf toe for a while now, so it’s no surprise Buffalo would play it safe with him.

Bills defensive snap counts (61 snaps)

Nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (11%) logged just seven snaps after injuring his forearm on the Bills’ first defensive drive of the game. That’s gonna hurt bad if he is absent for a long time.

In Johnson’s absence, quarterback Kyler Murray carved up the defense on Arizona’s first three drives. Still, adjustments were made the rest of the way, with safety Cam Lewis (90 percent) stepping up in his absence. With safeties Cole Bishop and Mike Edwards both dealing with injuries during training camp, Buffalo’s safety tandem consisted of Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin, who each logged every defensive snap. Hamlin even broke up a big play on the game’s final possession.

The CB1 and CB2 spots appear to be locked in with both Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford logging every defensive snap. Douglas essentially wiped rookie sensation Marvin Harrison Jr. off the field, though Murray Harrison Jr. did miss a wide-open would-be touchdown late in the game.

Sophomore linebacker Dorian Williams (85%) looked noticeably stronger and more decisive, but will still need to improve as the season progresses to get the defense back to a higher level. But that’s an achievable task when you’re playing alongside Terrell Bernard (100%), who led the team with 11 total tackles. If edge rusher Greg Rousseau (79%) can do even half of what he’s been doing each week, the Bills’ pass rush could look very scary come season’s end. Rousseau feasted on Murray, totaling three sacks and a forced fumble that led to seven points for Buffalo on the next possession. Even Von Miller (48%) had his first sack since November of 2022. The interior didn’t produce much, outside of some occasional pressure from both DaQuan Jones (74%) and Ed Oliver (82%). Arizona didn’t attack the inside much, however, as both Murray and running back James Conner continued to take advantage of the edges.

Bills special teams snap counts (27 snaps)

• 23 photos (85%): Reggie Gilliam and Quintin Morris
• 21 snaps (78%): Ja’Marcus Ingram and Baylon Spector
• 17 snaps (63%): Nicholas Morrow and Kameron Cline
• 13 snaps (48%): Casey Toohill and Tyler Bass
• 12 snaps (44%): Alec Anderson
• 10 snaps (37%): Sam Martin, Cam Lewis and Mack Hollins
• 9 snaps (33%): Mike Edwards and Kaiir Elam
• 8 snaps (30%): Ty Johnson, Brandon Codrington and Reid Ferguson
• 6 snaps (22%): David Edwards, Spencer Brown, O’Cyrus Torrence, Dion Dawkins and Tylan Grable
• 5 snaps (19%): Ray Davis
• 4 snaps (15%): Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Terrell Bernard, Dorian Williams, Greg Rousseau, Austin Johnson and DeWayne Carter

Of course, the Bills managed to be the team to record the first-ever kickoff return touchdown under the new kickoff rule. When it happened, bringing Arizona within three points, flashbacks of the 2020 Hail Murray game began to form. But thankfully, no other history was made in this game. Newly acquired return specialist Brandon Codrington nearly made a house call early in the game with an impressive return of over 50 yards.

Kicker Tyler Bass has drilled all four of his extra point attempts and two field goal attempts. He continues to struggle with the new kickoff rule, having blown multiple kickoff attempts in both the preseason and in Week 1. Bass kicked the ball out of bounds late in the game, and if Arizona had converted that opportunity into points, a large portion of the Bills Mafia would have been hammering him down yesterday to make him cut.