Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Losses to the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans in back-to-back weeks have the Buffalo Bills sitting at 3-2 in the AFC East after a hot start to the 2024 season.
This past Sunday's matchup against the Texans was quite the rollercoaster, as the Bills, once again, could not get anything going on either side of the football to start the game. This time around, though, Buffalo managed to battle back from a 20-3 third quarter deficit to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.
What was the Bills' fatal flaw in Houston was the final possession of the game offensively, where Buffalo did not properly manage the clock deep in their own territory. The Bills ended up attempting three passing attempts, that all fell incomplete, failing to force the Texans to burn any of their three remaining timeouts.
Houston was able to work just enough in seven seconds to get in range for a game-winning 59-yard field goal for kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn to seal a cruical AFC win over the Bills.
Bills head coach says there's plenty to process from the opening five games of the 2024 season, especially in the last game or two on the road.
"We talk a lot about process here, and the results sometimes is variable. If our process is right, and that's really the root of everything we do. So a lot of the conversations this week were based on that," said McDermott while making his weekly appearance on the "Extra Point Show" on WGR. "I would say, a week, two weeks prior to this, lot of those process conversations were on the defensive side. Then this past week, certainly, a lot of those conversations on the offensive side, and just making sure that we're good. And then from a staff standpoint, communication wise and just situational football-wise, making sure that our process is as air-tight as possible. That's what leads to winning."
One glaring problem the Bills are facing leading into Week 6 is a growing injury report. While McDermott did not rule out any players on Friday for Monday night's contest with the New York Jets, one player that was recently added to the report is running back James Cook.
If Cook cannot go Monday in New Jersey, the Bills will have to play running back Ty Johnson and rookie Ray Davis in more prominent roles in the offense.
Despite being a fourth-round pick of the Bills this past April, Davis has already had chances this season to show how valuable he can be this season and the years to come.
"He's off to a good start. A limited sample due to limited touches, because James has been our primary guy there. That'll be affected by James' availability," McDermott acknowledged with Sal Capaccio. "To this point, because James has not practiced this week, Ray and Ty have both been getting more touches, and I think they've been handling those opportunities well."
Meanwhile, the Jets made waves on Tuesday when they fired head coach Robert Saleh after starting the 2024 season with a 2-3 record. Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named as the team's interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
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New York also announced this week that former Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing will be taking over as the team's offensive play caller for offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
Despite the Jets' rocky start to the season, McDermott knows that defensive unit still ranks as one of the best units (second overall) in the NFL.
"A very talented defense," he said. "They've been really strong for a number of years, and a lot of high draft picks, In the front, they just roll them, they're very deep up front. Then with the corner positions, we talk about being a matchup game. They've got a really good corner or two back there, and so it leads to a tough matchup. They do a great job defensively. We'll have to do a great job offensively in making sure we're patient where we need to be patient."
The Bills and Jets will kick things off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Monday night at MetLife Stadium. Hear all of the play-by-play action on the official voice of the Bills - WGR Sports Radio 550.
