BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Sean McDermott has a lot going on during the bye week.
“We’ve got to start over and start from ground zero,” he says. “We’ve got to figure this thing out. And work our tails off to do it.”
Starting from ‘ground zero’ may not be what the Bills had in mind for their vacation week. But it’s only way to go after losing their second straight game, a 24-14 loss to Atlanta.
“We’ve got to go back now,” the coach says, “and figure out things on offense, defense and special teams.”
That pretty much covers it.
Why after scoring on the first possession of each half did they go four punts and an interception in the first half, and two punts, a turnover on downs, and another interception in the second?
And why, oh, why don’t they let James Cook run it more? Why does he come off the field on third downs?
“It’s a good point,” answered McDermott. “We’ll look at that over the bye.”
They scored a touchdown coming out of the locker room at halftime thanks to Cook picking up half the yards on the ground. He averaged five yards per carry. Even with 17 carries, he’s still about 5-10 carries short of what a premier back in the NFL should get.
Josh Allen was not perfect, but he didn’t get much help. He threw two interceptions and was sacked four times. He was pressured at least another four times.
The problem is not pass protection, but even with time to pass, Josh doesn’t have any open receivers.
McDermott sees that also.
“I could feel what you’re saying in terms of it’s too hard,” he says. “Too hard on our quarterback. It doesn’t need to be that hard all the time.”
McDermott deferred answering a question on whether another wide receiver is needed. But you get the feeling the Bills are in the market for a fast, physical pass catcher. Good luck getting one by the trade deadline.
On defense, most of the problems stemmed from missing playmakers. At least four regulars (Milano, DaQuan Jones, Bernard, and Cole Bishop) missed significant time on the field. The result was a stellar day for Atlanta’s running back, Bijan Robinson.
That’s a problem that may not be as easy to fix during the week off. That and penalties (averaging nine per game the last three games) will have to be addressed.
Yup, there’s a laundry list of issues the Bills must tackle during the off week. That’s why McDermott has 24 assistant coaches.
John Murphy, the longtime Voice of the Bills and former News 4 sports director, now writes columns for WIVB.com. Find more of his work here.