Bills: McDermott demands reset after loss; Allen takes responsibility.

Bills Seek to Reinvent Themselves After Loss to Falcons

The Buffalo Bills enter their bye week after suffering two consecutive losses, following a promising 4-0 start. Coach Sean McDermott, after the 24-14 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, stated that the team must “start from scratch”.

We have to analyze things in offense, defense, and special teams. We must start over, from scratch, and solve this by working hard.

Sean McDermott

With the loss to the Falcons, the Bills fall to 4-2, trailing the New England Patriots in the AFC East. McDermott reiterated in his post-game press conference that the effort was not “good enough”. The Bills are hoping the bye week will allow some players to recover from injuries, although McDermott noted there are no guarantees on how many will be able to return. Tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique) missed the game, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones injured his left calf in pregame warmups and was unable to play, wide receiver Joshua Palmer (ankle) left in the first half, and linebacker Terrel Bernard (ankle) did not play in the second half. The defense struggled early, allowing 335 yards in the first two quarters, the most the Bills have allowed in the first half of a game since 2001. Most of those yards went to two players: 152 to running back Bijan Robinson and 147 to wide receiver Drake London. McDermott said the defense will continue to work on the fundamentals, adding: “It has to improve.” Although the defense improved in the second half, allowing only a field goal and one series of more than 35 yards, the offense struggled throughout the game to find consistency against one of the best passing defenses in the league, with six punts. Quarterback Josh Allen threw two interceptions, as the Bills lost the turnover battle for the second consecutive game. Allen was also sacked four times, completing 15 of 26 passes (57.7%) for 180 yards and two passing touchdowns, both on the opening drives of the two halves. He ran for 42 yards on six carries. Allen said his hand wasn’t injured in the game and that he is healthy, while McDermott said he wasn’t informed of any injury to Allen, but did say the game was “too hard” for the quarterback, in terms of the position he was put in. Allen’s 12 sacks on the season are two short of his total in the 2024 regular season. Allen was pressured on 47.1% of his dropbacks, his highest rate since the 2020 AFC Championship (47.4%). According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons blitzed Allen on 55.9% of his dropbacks, the highest blitz rate he has faced since Week 8 of 2021. When blitzed, Allen completed 8 of 14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, but was pressured on 9 of 19 blitz dropbacks and was sacked three times. Answers for the offense were difficult to find.

I think we need to go back to the drawing board. As far as technique goes, you have to practice hard. But yeah, you never want to see your quarterback getting hit. You don’t want to pick him up off the turf. You don’t want to see him grabbing his arm or his stomach or whatever’s going on. So we get paid to protect. So that’s our job and we’re supposed to do it.

Spencer Brown

The reigning MVP, however, took responsibility several times after the game, including the captures, saying: “I have to get better. Protections, identifications, movement in the pocket. I just have to get better.” After the defeats, Allen usually talks to his fellow quarterbacks by his locker, but an unusual guest, offensive coordinator Joe Brady, joined them after Monday’s game. The running back James Cook was not on the field for any of the team’s nine third-down plays (2-9) or one fourth-down play (0-1) despite running for 87 yards on 17 carries. “That’s a good point. We’ll analyze it during halftime as well,” McDermott said about why Cook came out on third down. Cook said: “I control what I can control.” With less than two weeks to go before the Bills travel to play the Carolina Panthers, Allen said this will haunt him. “It’s going to haunt me for the next two weeks,” Allen said. “So yeah, there’s a lot to clean up. We’ll put our focus on our next opponent and go from there.”