For most of the Falcons’ 23-17 loss, they limited Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s dual-threat skills. However, the 27-year-old was just mobile enough to lead the Bills to victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium Sunday.
Taylor escaped the pocket on two third downs to keep drives alive and bought his tight end Charles Clay enough time to get open down field for a big gain. All three of those plays later resulted in points for the Bills.
"I feel like he is a great mobile quarterback," Falcons' linebacker Deion Jones said. "He does a great job extending plays with his feet and making things happen when things break down."
On both third downs, Taylor escaped up the middle and broke a tackle to reach the first-down marker.
“Of course he is really good breaking contain with his feet, but it is really on us,” rookie linebacker Duke Riley said. Taylor broke free from Riley on one of those third down conversions. “We can’t let him beat us like that.”
The big pass play came in the second quarter when the Bills ran a bootleg. Taylor ran to his left, then came back to his right to avoid Grady Jarrett and De’Vondre Campbell. He fired a pass 44 yards down field to Clay who caught the ball at the Falcons’ 9-yard line. Buffalo scored a touchdown on the next play.
That is the tough part about playing against Taylor cornerback Desmond Trufant said. The longer he can run around in the backfield, the longer the defensive backs have to be in coverage.
“That is one of his strengths,” Trufant said. “It’s tough to cover your guy for a long time.”
Overall, the Falcons’ defense was pleased with how they did against Taylor.
“Tyrod made some big plays, but we got him off his spots a couple of times too,” Jarrett said. “I thought we played well against him.”
Taylor came into Sunday averaging 35.3 yards per game. The Falcons held him to just 12 yards on seven carries while sacking him three times. The tough part about those two third-down conversions was the Bills only needed five yards and three yards. Taking away the first-down runs, Taylor rushed for one yard on five carries.
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