The Buffalo Bills have issues that need to be addressed.
They blew a double-digit lead for the second straight game. They haven’t scored a second-half touchdown since Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs. They rank 21st in the NFL in red zone success rate after ranking 1st last year.
All of these things have compounded in a sluggish three-game stretch that has included an uninspiring win over the Packers and then back-to-back losses to the Jets and Vikings. As a result, a team that was seen early in the season as a Super Bowl favorite is now not even a sure thing to win their own division.
Fans are starting to get upset, with many questioning the coaching decisions of head coach Sean McDermott and the playcalling of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Both coaches sat down virtually with the media on Tuesday morning to answer questions, many of which were about the team’s struggles in the second half and the playcalling concerns both in the red zone and with the run/pass balance.
“During the bye we were one of the top teams in the second half both offensively and defensively,” said McDermott, “so we’ve obviously done it before, now we’ve taken a step back and now we have to reassess and make the appropriate adjustments.”
However, neither McDermott nor Dorsey mentioned what any of those specific adjustments would be. They both repeatedly mentioned that the coaches could need to watch the film and evaluate whether they were putting their players in the best position to succeed or not, but there was no specific beyond that.
“Part of it is fighting the human nature to relax after you’ve had the first half and going into the second half,” Dorsey offered. But, again, failed to discuss what the team could do to prevent that kind of relaxation. He did mention that he felt like “There were a lot of good things in the second half of that last game, but we just didn’t capitalize.”
To his point, they did mount one 46-yard drive for a field goal, then another 67-yard drive that saw them turn the ball over in the red zone, and the final two-minute drill drive where they went 69 yards in 39 seconds to tie the game.
However, the team also had two second-half drives where they went three and out and lost yardage. One of those drives was when the Bills were up 27-23 with just 4:28 left in the game, but instead of trying to run out the clock, Buffalo threw three straight passes and punted the ball back to the Vikings with 3:26 left.
That led to many questions from the media about the team’s balance between the run and pass to which Dorsey responded that he believed the Bills were running a balanced offense. However, he specifically focused on the drive that started at the end of the third quarter and saw the Bills, who were up 27-17, march down the field up until they had 2nd-and-2 from the Minnesota seven with 10:49 left in the game.
“We were really balanced going into that drive with the run and pass,” Dorsey said.” Then, on that drive, we started hitting some screens on them, so we tried to hit a screen there on that 2nd and two.” Josh Allen would have to throw that screen pass into the ground, and then he proceeded to throw an incomplete pass on third down and an interception on fourth down.
The Bills never called a running play to a running back for the rest of the game. So while Dorsey is technically correct, that the Bills were calling a balanced game through that drive (31 passes to 25 rushes), the balance went out the window with the team looking to close out a victory.
Yet, other than mentioning that the coaches will evaluate if they’re setting their players up for the best success, all either would add is Dorsey mentioning that “I think the biggest thing is that we’re staying ourselves. We’re playing Buffalo Bills offensive football. We’re playing smart not conservative; we’re playing fast, physical and disciplined ball, and we’re executing our assignments.”
The question just becomes, if this version of Buffalo Bills’ offensive football can be improved upon, are the coaches willing and able to do so. It seems like certainly there can be improvements made in the red zone, but, again, neither coach was overly direct about what changes the team needs to make.
“I think it’s A) it’s decision making. But it’s why are we making the decisions we’re making?” offered McDermott when asked specifically about Josh Allen’s struggles in the red zone. The Buffalo quarterback has four red zone interceptions and no touchdowns in the last two weeks.
“Josh is a very confident player, confident in his own abilities, confident in the players around him. And sometimes instead of pressing you have to let the game come to you a little bit and take what the defense gives you at times. And then we have to put him in the position to do that from time to time as well.”
Ken Dorsey added that “Down there, there’s going to be tight windows. You know, the field is condensed… but it’s gonna be important in terms of when do we take those chances and ball location. We’re gonna continue to harp on those things, and I think those are the biggest things and make sure we’re looking at ourselves from a playcalling standpoint to make sure we’re giving our guys the best chance to make plays and operate.”
However, there was no specific discussion of whether the Bills believe there is a better way to operate in the red zone. “It’s something that we’re definitely going to evaluate,” said Dorsey, “and make sure we’re putting our players in the best possible position to succeed moving forward.”
While it’s nice to hear that the coaches are willing to evaluate their approach, fans are starting to wonder whether the coaching staff has a clear idea of what those best possible positions to succeed truly are. If the coaches aren’t going to address it in interviews with any clarity then they’re going to need to do so on the field.
