Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Bills surprisingly fell to 4-3 on the 2023 season in a 29-25 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Let's go over how each element of Buffalo's game performed, and spoiler alert: This one isn't going to be pretty:
Maddie Meyer - Getty Images
Passing offense: D+
It all started with the first pass of the game.
Josh Allen and company have some misleading numbers from this game.
The passing offense was held together by two players: Dalton Kincaid and Stefon Diggs. Kincaid finally saw a focal point in the offense, while Diggs refused to let the team die while they had to claw back into the game.
Sadly, even Diggs had a rough drop in this game. If it was reeled in, Buffalo gets a legitimate prayer to snag victory back from New England.
However, Diggs was also the only wide receiver to have over 50 yards in this game (6 catches, 58 yards, 1 touchdown), with Khalil Shakir the next-best receiver with four catches for 35 yards.
The offensive line struggled in this game as well. Despite only being sacked once, Allen had to create time for himself very often.
New England was credited with six quarterback hits, and Allen was uncomfortable in the pocket all too often.
Gabe Davis, once again, was invisible in this game. Trent Sherfield and Deonte Harty don't get used. Combined, these three receivers totaled three catches for 16 yards. Davis, in particular, has not been able to capitalize on targets as he was thrown at five times.
Dawson Knox was dreadful, reeling in one catch for 10 yards and dropping another crucial pass for the second-straight week.
However, a theme has arrived with this offense as of late: If Davis doesn't show up, the Bills offense doesn't move. Diggs still gets his, but when Davis is a ghost, the offense does not have much of a pulse.
I've said it on Sports Talk Saturday, and I'll back it up here: The wide receivers room has to be better. If the team can't add to it, someone needs to actually step up, Davis in particular.
Some of it is due to scheme, as offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey has fallen in love with 12 personnel. You can't make plays when you don't take the field, in Harty and Sherfield's case.
Davis is out there over 90% of plays every week, had five targets and six yards on Sunday. He has to be better. If he's not, it's an indictment of the front office that the team decided a player popping off in one playoff game was the best idea for their second wide receiver.
Allen struggled with consistency in this game, but at the end of the day, the scheme seems to take away the best of Allen. Yeah, he has been more efficient this season with completion percentage, but without the deep and intermediate passing attack, Allen's big play element is essentially taken away.
While it is in an effort to reel in the turnovers, it seems that now that Dorsey is misusing even Allen in this offense.
Maddie Meyer - Getty Images
Rushing offense: D
James Cook was OK in game, but the over-reliance on the shotgun handoffs, once again, slowed down a lot of drives for the Bills.
Dorsey continues to try ramming a speedy back into a mass inside, while Cook is a gifted runner at getting the edge and using his speed. One of Cook's best runs saw him beat two Patriots to the edge on a play that looked like a four-yard loss, only for him to run a man over to get a first down.
Cook averaged 4.3 yards per-carry on the afternoon.
The offensive line also struggled in this aspect of the game, not getting a consistent push.
However, the Bills not using another talented runner in Allen is starting to show itself. Allen adds a dynamic to the run game that is now not being utilized, and for a team that suddenly cannot score points consistently, every major weapon needs to be on the table. That includes Allen's legs.
Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports
Passing defense: D-
I get that the Bills' injuries make this group beaten up, just like last year, but when a defense gives up a stat line of 25-of-30 for 272 yards and two touchdowns to Mac Jones, the grade isn't going to be a generous one.
The pass rush, which had the most sacks in the NFL entering this game, had one sack on Sunday. The sack came from Jordan Poyer on a safety blitz, while the team only had four quarterback hits, two of which from Poyer.
The usually reliable edge rushers were surprisingly quiet against a patchwork Patriots offensive line. Leonard Floyd, Greg Rousseau, A.J. Epenesa and Von Miller were quiet all afternoon.
In addition, the Bills only had two pass deflections.
The usually reliable Taron Johnson had probably his worst game of the season, including getting beat on the final touchdown of the game against Patriots tight end Mike Gesicki.
Buffalo was allowing a dink-and-dunk quarterback like Jones to take the simple plays, which plays into Jones' strengths. Sadly, without a pass rush to mess with Jones and his timing, the soft defensive scheme gave Jones what he wanted.
The Bills kept allowing the slants and smaller passes to move the chains, which finally did the team in on New England's game-winning drive.
Finally, Buffalo still shows its struggles against screen plays, an ugly head that continues to show its face in most games. None of which hurt more than the first play of their final drive, a 34-yard catch-and-run from Rhamondre Stevenson.
Kris Craig - The Providence Journal via USA TODAY Sports
Rushing defense: C-
The Bills' rushing defense allowed 96 yards on the ground, which allowed New England to sustain drives and remain in control for most of the game.
The injuries to DaQuan Jones and Ed Oliver at defensive tackle, as well as Matt Milano at linebacker are starting to show in Buffalo's run front.
Stevenson was able to sustain drives, averaging 3.8 yards per-carry. Ezekiel Elliott rammed home a touchdown, while New England got a big play on a reverse with Demario Douglas.
While the Bills defense struggled to keep New England's offense off of the field when it mattered, the Patriots were more capable of moving the chains in the air.
Bob DeChiara - USA TODAY Sports
Special teams: F
Tyler Bass had another tough miss, now missing three of his last four field goal attempts.
For one of the more consistent kickers in the league, it is a tough stretch to see him struggle through. The miss in this game was also a shorter field goal, which is usually a given for a player like Bass.
Meanwhile, the Bills also allowed a big punt return that would help New England set up a field goal on their third drive of the game. Buffalo couldn't make many big plays in the return game on their side either.
With a banged-up defense and an underwhelming offense, the special teams cannot contribute negatively to a game.
Billie Weiss - Getty Images
Coaching: F
Pathetic.
For the third-straight game, Buffalo's offense was laughably bad to start. Buffalo has 10 combined points in the first half of their past three games.
After a while, it is not merely a concern, that is a trend.
Buffalo's slow starts on offense have caused the 1-2 slide over that three-game stretch. At some point, two people fall on that sword: Allen and Dorsey.
Dorsey's deployment and personnel decisions have already come under fire, and now the offense's slow starts are going to keep Dorsey in the crosshairs of fans and media alike. Dorsey also needs to figure out how to properly utilize his players' strengths (from making Allen a short-range passer, to Cook being the inside runner, to Knox and the over-usage of 12 personnel, to Harty getting maybe 11 snaps in a game, among others).
The offense needs to be able to get big plays reinstated into their scheme, as the defense can no longer be relied upon this year to carry the burden. Through seven games, the defense has been able to win a game single-handedly in six of them.
The offense is playing passenger, and for a quarterback like Allen, that's not right. If this keeps up all season, it's time to get a new offensive coordinator, simple as that.
That said, backups or not, giving up 29 points to the second-worst offense in the NFL is a horrible look for head coach Sean McDermott's defense.
The Bills defense also floundered out of the gate, allowing the opening drive to go for a touchdown. The defense played right into the strengths of Jones and New England's ideal offensive attack through the air. They slowed the Patriots down for a bit in this game, but ultimately, Buffalo's defense did allow the final drive to happen.
After carrying this team all season, the defense finally put up the final letdown, unable to slow down New England on the final drive, relinquishing the lead on a similar play that the New York Giants failed at a week ago.
At some point, if the Bills, once again, fail to meet expectations this season, it might be time to have an uncomfortable conversation regarding McDermott as the head coach of this team.
McDermott has earned some leeway, but after "13 seconds," this Bills team has not been the same ever since. From assistants shuffling from the team, to similar positions on other staffs, to the Bills woefully playing down to competition this year, it seems there are some new wrinkles to the typical "same old Bills" frustrations we experience as a fan base.
If Buffalo fails to make it to the divisional round, moods will sour over the leadership at One Bills Drive.
What's next:
It is a good thing, in a sense, that the Bills have a short week. Buffalo has to turn around and host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night at Highmark Stadium.
Wall-to-wall pregame coverage on WGR starts at 6 a.m. ET on Thursday with the "Jeremy and Joe Show" on the official voice of the Bills - WGR Sports Radio 550.
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