Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - There's been a good back-and-forth since the Bills' humiliating loss to the New England Patriots on what to focus closer on: Buffalo's changing offense or an injured defense that allowed Mac Jones to have one of his best games ever.
The defense may have injuries it cannot overcome to stay an elite unit. Linebacker Matt Milano was the best player on that side of the football, and his replacements have not come close to filling the void after three games.
Defensive tackle appeared to be a deep position for the Bills on paper, but the likes of Jordan Phillips, Tim Settle, and Poona Ford are huge downgrades from DaQuan Jones.
And while Christian Benford, Dane Jackson, and Kaiir Elam have been serviceable, none of them have replaced the ability to shadow an opposing team's No. 1 wideout like Tre'Davious White could.
What does that mean for the Bills defense as a whole? It means 28th in defensive DVOA over the last three weeks.
I'm not buying the Bills were three injuries to anyone away from being one of the worst-five defenses in football.
There's plenty for the Bills to still be a middle-of-the-road defense. Von Miller, Greg Rousseau, Leonard Floyd, A.J. Epenesa, and Ed Oliver is still an elite pass rush when healthy.
Jordan Poyer is coming off his best game of the year, and Micah Hyde has been a rock all year. The cornerbacks are fine, and so is linebacker Terrel Bernard.
If he truly is a top defensive mind in the sport, head coach Sean McDermott has more than enough at his disposal to keep the defense afloat.
All that being said, the defense will not be as good as it was.
Which brings us to the offense.
The offensive standard for this Bills team is much higher right now than the defense. It's a near impossible standard to reach. To be not one of the best offenses, but the best offense in football.
There are numbers that show that top offense is still in there. The Bills are third in the NFL in EPA per-play. They're also third in offensive DVOA for the season, and fourth in DVOA over the last three weeks, even with the lower point totals.
So why have the Bills scored just one touchdown in the first half of the last three games?
A big part of the problem is a newfound commitment to the run game, and with that, a slower pace of play.
The Bills are 25th in the NFL in drives per-game and have the fifth-slowest average drive time.
Sure the Bills offense is still great per-play, but they're bleeding the clock on themselves, which is a gift to bad teams trying to shorten the game.
Whether pace of play is the biggest reason for the offensive inconsistency or not, the Bills are having more down games offensively than they used to.
It's been three games in-a-row with the Bills scoring 25 or fewer points. The Bills have not done that since 2019, before Josh Allen became an elite quarterback.
Just having great efficiency numbers and being one of the best offenses in the NFL isn't going to be enough for this Bills team to win the Super Bowl.
The bar needs to be set at them being the best offense - No. 1 in the NFL - especially with the current state of the defense.
