Bills first half report card: Grading Josh Allen, Keon Coleman, the Buffalo defense, and more

While you never want to jump the gun in the NFL, especially during an unpredictable season like this one has been, it's almost safe to say that the Buffalo Bills have already won the AFC East, isn't it?

With a dominant 31-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks this past Sunday, Sean McDermott's squad secured its second three-game winning streak of this 2024 campaign, thus improving to 6-2.

As for the rest of the division, it's been an absolute disaster, with all three other teams only owning two wins each as we near the midway point of the regular season.

Nobody expected much from the New England Patriots (2-6) in their first season without Bill Belichick in roughly a quarter-century, so they get a pass. The Miami Dolphins (2-5) season was essentially lost the moment Tua Tagovailoa went down in a Week 2 loss to Buffalo. And the last place New York Jets (2-6) — well, we simply don't have enough time to get into everything wrong with that franchise.

Things obviously haven't been all sunshine and rainbows for the Bills. From an overall standpoint, the offensive attack has been strong throughout the season, although there have been a few hiccups here and there.

The bigger issue has been the defense. While the unit as a whole has looked much stronger in recent weeks — and one would think it'll only get better with the return of Von Miller — there are still concerns that need to be addressed. But we'll get into that in a little more detail momentarily.

To kick off our first-half Bills report card, though, you know where we have to start.

Josh Allen: A

The only thing keeping Josh Allen from a perfect grade here is those two dismal performances in the Bills' only two losses. Those, of course, came in back-to-back weeks against the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, and in those defeats, he completed just 50.9% of his passes, averaged just 155.5 yards per game, and threw only one touchdown.

Allen can sometimes offset his lack of passing TDs by rushing for scores, but that wasn't the case in those two outings, as none of his three rushing touchdowns on the year came in those games.

Otherwise, he's been absolutely outstanding. Overall, Allen has completed 64.1% of his passes for 1,766 yards with 14 touchdowns. And, of course, arguably the most astounding statistic on his 2024 resume is his one interception, which came against Seattle. He's famously had issues in that department, throwing a career-high 18 a season ago, but his ball control and overall decision-making this season have been stellar.

Allen isn't running as much as he used to, but he's still posted 204 rushing yards through eight games, which is just fine.

As he typically tends to be, No. 17 is right there in the NFL MVP race, and heading into the Bills' Week 9 matchup with Miami, he's actually tied for the shortest betting odds with Lamar Jackson. If Allen can continue to keep the turnovers to a minimum and put up the numbers he has during this current winning streak — 69.5% completion percentage, 273.7 passing yards per game, 6 TDs, 1 INT — he'll be in the mix at season's end.

Keon Coleman: B

As Amari Cooper only has two games under his belt in a Bills uniform, it's somewhat difficult to grade him at this point. And with all due respect to Khalil Shakir, who's been simply fantastic and would probably get a B+ or an A- at this point, he didn't have the target on his back that Keon Coleman did coming into the season.

The Bills, if you recall, were widely criticized for making a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs that allowed their rivals to jump up and draft Xavier Worthy at No. 28 overall. They then traded the pick they received from Kansas City to the Carolina Panthers, who took Xavier Legette at No. 32. Buffalo then drafted Coleman with the first pick of the second round at No. 33 overall.

Again, at the time, the Buffalo front office took a ton of heat. But now, it looks like an absolute steal.

Early on, it seemed as if the pressure had gotten to Coleman. In recent weeks, however, he's been an absolute stud. In Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans, he notched his first 100-yard game, catching four passes for 125 yards.

And in Week 8 against Seattle, he recorded a career-high five receptions for 70 yards, one of which went for a highlight-reel touchdown, as he made Pro Bowl corner Tariq Woolen look foolish.

Coleman is just getting more and more comfortable, and with defenses having to give so much attention to Cooper, he's only going to get more opportunities to shine. This is a star on the rise, folks.

James Cook: A-

Some may view this grade as a little too high, but James Cook has certainly earned it.

Coming off a strong sophomore season, the third-year running back has been everything Buffalo has needed him to be thus far. Even with sitting out a game, Cook has rushed for 452 yards, averaging a solid 4.6 yards per carry, with seven touchdowns, nearly doubling the four he recorded in his first two seasons combined, and has added 145 yards and an additional score on 14 receptions.

His 597 yards from scrimmage lead the team and rank 23rd among all NFL players, 11 of whom have appeared in one more game than Cook has.

Bills defense: B-

Overall, the Buffalo defense has held opponents to just 18.2 points per game, the sixth-fewest in the NFL.

That may sound surprising to some, given the yardage the Bills allow on a weekly basis, both in the running game and the passing game.

Against the run, Buffalo gives up 120.2 yards per game, putting them in the middle of the pack, as that's the 15th-fewest or 18th-most in the league — depending on your outlook on life. They rank a touch better against the pass but not by much, as they allow 208.1 yards per game, tied for the 13th-fewest in the league.

What's kept their opponents' scoring average lower than what it probably should be is how good the Bills' defense has been in the red zone. For the season, Buffalo has given up touchdowns in the red zone just 42.86% of the time, which ties them for the sixth-best mark in the league. Over the last three weeks, it's been just 30%, the third-lowest rate in the NFL, behind only the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears.

Compared to the 55.36% mark from a year ago, this is obviously a vast improvement. If the Bills continue to give up as many yards as they have, they'll clearly need to keep this up.

Overall Bills grade: B

All in all, the Bills have to be thrilled with where they're at as a whole at the midway point. As mentioned early on, they're essentially a shoo-in to win the AFC East for the fifth straight season.

And based solely on win-loss records, they've got the 10th-easiest remaining schedule, even with remaining dates against the Chiefs and the Lions. They've also got a Week 13 meeting with the San Francisco 49ers, who should have Christian McCaffrey back by then. And it'll be these games where we see what this team really is.

While some might not like the overall grade here, the fact remains that, perhaps outside of Seattle and maybe the current NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, the Bills have yet to beat a really good team. The top two teams they've faced thus far were the Ravens and Texans, and Buffalo lost both.

Let's see how they handle the Chiefs in Week 11, and then we'll talk about the Bills being a genuine Super Bowl contender.