ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — If the sky is falling in Buffalo, Bills coach Sean McDermott showed no sign of ducking for cover by instead presenting a calm, resolute front following two straight losses, and amid growing concerns over a porous defense and misfiring offense.
This is hardly the first time McDermott has been in this position over nine seasons in Buffalo. And it’s certainly not the first time he enters a bye week facing what resembles a crisis for the five-time defending AFC East champion Bills (4-2) and their Super Bowl aspirations.
Rather than make guarantees, McDermott drew upon the past in knowing the Bills have lost two straight in each of their last six seasons — but never three in a row — and still made the playoffs. And then there’s McDermott’s record of 4-5 entering the break and 8-0 coming out of it.
"It’s not going to be easy. But we all have a job to do. And we all have to be accountable to one another,” McDermott said. “That’s really been the recipe for us in the past. Who knows this year, but we’re going to work our tails off to get it done.”
On defense, McDermott’s message to Bobby Babich was getting his unit better prepared to start a game after Buffalo allowed 335 yards and 21 points in the first half against Atlanta.
“It’s just not a great formula,” McDermott said.
Though the Bills limited the Falcons to 108 yards and three points in the second half, the lack of consistency has been a season-long issue.
“Completely understand the sense of panic,” Babich said. “But in this building, we know where we have to improve.”
Josh Allen lost a fumble on a botched handoff to tight end Dawson Knox to end the opening drive of a 23-20 loss to New England two weeks ago. A similar play failed again against Atlanta, with receiver Elijah Moore recovering Allen’s fumble on third-and-1 at midfield in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
“I feel we’re better than that, and we need to be better next time,” McDermott said.
The Bills, who travel to play Carolina (3-3) on Oct. 26 upon their return, are suddenly regarded as an unknown quantity with four wins against teams entering Week 7 with a combined record of 3-21.
Injuries have been an issue. Buffalo finished Monday night minus three defensive starters and two offensive playmakers.
Defensively, the Bills have veteran reinforcements coming. Multi-purpose lineman Michael Hoecht and tackle Larry Ogunjobi are both set to return after serving six-game NFL suspensions for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancers. Veteran safety Jordan Poyer, meantime, is in position to come off the practice squad to replace injured backup Damar Hamlin.
Offensively, Brady and Allen might have to figure things out with the players they have in a passing attack that’s shown signs of regression and lacks a reliable deep threat. Barring GM Brandon Beane getting creative, Buffalo has minimal salary cap space to make a significant move before the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 4.
Just as troubling is how the Bills' two losses have come with Allen falling short in one-score situations in the fourth quarter.
Against New England, the Bills settled for a game-tying field goal with 2:17 left after Allen threw three incompletions from the Patriots 27. Against Atlanta, the offense turned the ball over on downs and punted twice on three consecutive drives when trailing by seven.
Beane continues backing his offseason roster-building plan in which he added free agents Moore and Joshua Palmer to a receiving group that returned Khalil Shakir and Keon Coleman.
Palmer was off to strong start with two catches for 60 yards against Atlanta before going down with an ankle injury. With tight end Dalton Kincaid (oblique) out, no one was able to pick up the slack with Shakir finishing with three catches for 33 yards.
Meantime, Brady was second-guessed for failing to lean more on running back James Cook, who had 87 yards rushing on 17 carries before not getting another touch in the final 11 minutes.
“There’s got to be a level of urgency. We’re not OK with how we’ve played,” Brady said.
“But unfortunately we’ve been in this position before, and I believe in the coaches and the players that we’re going to figure it out,” he added. “We’re going to come up with solutions and kind of hit the ground running again.”
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