MCDERMOTT FOCUSED ON FIXING BILLS AFTER 2 STRAIGHT LOSSES
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) » Sean McDermott didn’t mind being reminded of how the Buffalo Bills still lead the AFC East despite consecutive losses to Kansas City and Tennessee.
The Bills coach, however, understands there’s plenty that needs to be addressed if the team is going tomaintain that position.
“Two good opponents, I know. But the minute losing gets easy, that’s not a good deal,” McDermott said after Buffalo dropped to 4-2 following a 26-17 loss to the Chiefs on Monday night.
“We take it hard. There’s no moral victories,” he added. “We’ve got to really take a good look at our football team and be truthful with ourselves and say, ‘ What do we have to get corrected?’” Where to begin? Buffalo’s once-stout defense has been a sieve on third down, allowing the past four opponents to convert 29 of 48 opportunities, including the Chiefs finishing 9 of 14.
The Bills have given up 12 touchdowns passing, three fewer than all of last year. And in limiting Patrick Mahomes to 225 yards passing, the sixth fewest of his career, they allowed the Chiefs to pile up 245 yards rushing — the third most by an opponent in McDermott’s three-plus seasons in Buffalo.
In the meantime, the Josh Allen- led offense has begun resembling the inconsis-
tent attack of the previous two seasons as opposed to the one which was among the NFL leaders in yards passing and points scored through the first four weeks of the season.
Though Allen had two touchdowns passing to become Buffalo’s first player with 16 through the first six games of a season, he finished 14 of 27 for 122 yards against the Chiefs. By comparison, Allen had 124 or more yards passing in each of the first 10 halves of Buffalo’s first five games this year.
Allen summed up his performance by calling it, “cruddy.”
Having fallen short in measuring up against the AFC’s elite the past two weeks, the Bills at least get a break in their COVID19- condensed schedule in preparing to face the conference’s worst team in the winless New York Jets on Sunday.
Following an eight- day break between beating the Raiders 30-23 on Oct. 4 and a 42-16 loss to the Titans on Oct. 13, the Bills are in the midst of playing three games in 13 days.
The game at the Meadowlands is a rematch of the season-opener, in which the Bills coasted to a 27-17 win, with the Jets scoring a garbage-time TD on their final possession.
It was an outing which failed to reflect the deficiencies which have since emerged, particularly on defense, which has just 11 sacks, generated seven takeaways and forced 17 punts, though only six in the past four outings.
“These last two weeks, we got punched in the face, and we’ve got to finish this month strong,” defensive end Jerry Hughes said. “We can’t go back and change the past. But we’ve got to learn from it and we’ve got to figure out a way to get better.” WHAT’S WORKING Pass protection. Allen has been sacked 10 times this season, and just twice in the past three games. WHAT NEEDS HELP A rushing attack that has not topped 100 yards in Buffalo’s past three, the team’s longest stretch since a fourgame span from Sept. 21 to Oct. 12, 2014. It’s no wonder the Bills investigated the possibility of signing Le’Veon Bell after he was released by the Jets last week, before he eventually signed with the Chiefs. STOCK UP Cornerback Tre’ Davious White returned after missing one game with a back injury, and limited Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill to a season-low 20 yards receiving on three catches.