Bills TE Dalton Kincaid returned from a three-game knee injury for Sunday's win over the Lions. He drew 7 targets to tie WR Khalil Shakir for the team lead. Kincaid caught four of them for 53 yards. But he also trailed Dawson Knox in playing time.
Cooper led the team with 14 targets last week but didn't see a single one today. However, of the 32 targets the Bills had on the day only seven went to receivers who were not Khalil Shakir. The Lions secondary has been the strength of their defense all season, so the Bills chose to attack their defense with running backs and tight ends, which worked incredibly well. Cooper should be back in a bigger role next week against the Patriots.
Kincaid was tied with Khalil Shakir for the team lead in targets and could have had a bigger day after a 10-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen in the fourth quarter was called off due to a suspect holding penalty. The Bills clearly wanted to get Kincaid involved in the passing game after he missed the last four weeks, but he remains more of a high-end TE2 due to the competing weapons in the Bills' passing attack.
Shakir was tied for the team lead in targets in a game where the Bills leaned heavily on running backs and tight ends in the passing game against a banged-up Lions defense. Shakir did show his typically elite balance, pin-balling off tacklers for key first down catches and his touchdown. He remains Josh Allen's clear go-to receiver and should be in for a solid game against the Patriots next week.
Shakir secured six of seven targets for 39 yards and a touchdown in the Bills' 48-42 win over the Lions on Sunday.