Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills lost their sixth game of the season, as they allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to come back and earn a 37-34 overtime win at Lincoln Financial Field.
Let's break down Sunday's loss in the "City of Brotherly Love":
Passing offense: A-
Interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady is making his mark, and it has certainly been a positive one. One week after carving up a tough New York Jets defense, the Bills put it to an Eagles defense that allows for plays against their secondary.
Josh Allen had another great game with 420 total yards and four total touchdowns in consistent rain.
Gabe Davis had his best game of the year. Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid and James Cook chipped in with good totals. Stefon Diggs was able to get back into a groove.
Pass protection was also solid against a talented defensive front.
Not all was perfect, as Allen did have a pass picked off on a stellar read by Eagles cornerback James Bradberry. Bradberry broke off covering Davis to pick off the pass meant for Diggs on a crossing route.
Cook also dropped a dime of a pass that would have been a touchdown. There were a couple of drops in the game.
All-in-all, the passing offense looks like it has been fixed.
Rushing offense: C+
The Bills needed Allen to be the 2021 version of himself, and that included him as a runner. Allen was the leading rusher on the day, which was needed with James Cook averaging only 2.7 yards per-carry, and Latavius Murray and Ty Johnson not faring much better at 3.3 yards per-touch.
It was a very tough game for Cook, who also dropped a would-be touchdown pass and was benched for a short stretch.
The inconsistency of the rushing attack outside of Allen is nothing new. However, the difference now is Allen has been allowed to break it out more often, which helps this team move the football and, more importantly, score points.
Passing defense: C-
When push comes to shove, the pass defense shrunk to the occasion once again.
The Bills faltered with a chance to close out the game, as the team couldn’t get the stops needed on the final drive of regulation or in overtime when the Bills offense left the field with the lead.
In weeks past, I had a soft spot for the injured defense. But I have realized something about this unit in crunch time: If they have been good enough to keep the game within striking distance, why do they crumble at the end?
The play-calling seems to be this baffling mix in these closeout situations, where the defense plays soft to avoid being beaten deep, yet, sends the all-out Cover-0 blitz in the worst possible moments. Buffalo’s soft defense when teams only need a field goal is hurting them more often than not.
Finally, Von Miller isn’t right this season. If he isn’t capable of being effective, they need to shut him down for the year.
Against the Eagles, it seemed like he was more of a detriment than an asset. The big-name pass rusher has only two tackles on the stat sheet this season, which is not good enough for any player, let alone Miller.
Rushing defense: C-
The Eagles are a proficient rushing attack, and this game was no different.
While most of their damage was done in the second half, the ground game for Philadelphia was able to get the push needed to be a consistent threat.
Hurts also tagged in 65 yards rushing to aid the ground game, allowing Bills fans to feel the pain of other fan bases when Allen runs wild.
Tyrel Dodson and Terrel Bernard weren’t able to make a lot of plays against one of the best lines in the NFL, as the two linebackers combined for only nine tackles.
Special teams: D
Every week, there seems to be a critical special teams error. In Philadelphia, it was a blocked field goal.
Tyler Bass also missed a second field goal; two missed opportunities that were huge in a one-score game.
Sam Martin was solid, pinning the Eagles inside the 20-yard line three times with his punts.
The punt return team let up another solid return, an 18-yard scamper that was undone by a three-and-out by Philadelphia. Siran Neal also did take a bad facemask penalty while covering a punt.
The special teams have not been good enough all season, and the major mistakes need to stop occurring.
Coaching: D-
One week after lowering the temperature on the hot seat, Sean McDermott did himself no favors this time around.
Another game where the Bills went and claimed the lead late, but with another two-minute drill, the Bills defense let another opponent go down the field and either win or tie a game.
It has become a common occurrence this season, where the defense plays too soft, allowing teams to march on them in two-minute situations. Often times, the head coach also burns timeouts to go over defenses and freeze kickers, the latter tactic hasn’t been relevant since the early 2000s.
McDermott’s time mismanagement came back once again, burning timeouts that could have been used to win the game with 20 seconds left. Instead, he kneeled it out.
While a desperation chase to get into field goal range would be nice, with only one timeout, it’s not as realistic. It’s the fact he only had one timeout that is the real problem.
Here is the simple issue with the head coach now: When this team plays tough games against tough competition, McDermott tends to be a shell of himself. Less aggressive, less willing to go for the throat.
This is nothing new, as Buffalo is 2-6 in one score games. Yes, we’ve had to return to this statistic.
McDermott has a bigger target, and with more failures comes more scrutiny. And McDermott’s struggles with close games have been through his whole tenure.
In 2021, the Bills went 0-7 in close games, including the infamous 13 seconds, where a team with three timeouts aggressively drove the field for a field goal.
Hmmm.
Also, the coach better take swift action with Shaq Lawson and Jordan Phillips - Lawson, in particular. Their behavior is inexcusable with their encounter with Eagles fans. Ed Oliver and Greg Rousseau also need to keep their composure as well.
Lawson better get benched, at minimum.
What's next:
The Bills finally head to their bye week.
After that, the schedule doesn’t get much easier with the Bills traveling to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 4:25 p.m. EST with pregame coverage on Sunday, Dec. 10 starting at 11 a.m. EST on the official voice of the Bills - WGR Sports Radio 550.
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