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For a team in first place, the Buffalo Bills sure have a lot of question marks. And it’s hard to imagine they won’t win the AFC East because it’s a pretty lousy division. But head coach Sean McDermott seems to be on the hot seat, the Bills are keeping their eyes open for help from the outside, and the loss to the Texans proves QB J osh Allen can’t win with current supporting cast.
It’s easy to see the issue at the receiver position. Khalil Shakir is a No. 3 guy. Keon Coleman is a No. 4, at least as a rookie and he needs to prove he can create separation. And Mack Hollins is a retread, maybe a No. 4. And those are the starters!
Looking for help at tight end? Many NFL observers expected Dalton Kincaid to be a breakout star. Through five games he has 166 yards receiving with one touchdown. Dud. ANd Dawson Knox is invisible.
Bills QB Josh Allen needs help
With all of that ugliness at receiver, the Bills better burn it up on the ground. James Cook is pretty solid, but he’s averaging less than 80 yards rushing per game. So there’s no thunder on the ground.
Even Allen’s rushing total of 160 yards isn’t great. He’s on pace for just a few more yards than he had last season, but his touchdown pace is way off. After scoring 15 times in 2023, Allen is on pace for just seven this season.
So without a good receiver group and no big threat on the ground, the Bills currently don’t have a scary offense. It’s clear the front office overestimated Allen’s ability to lift marginal talent to a high level and keep the Bills in the Super Bowl chase.
Plus, Allen is coming off a career-worst performance in the 23-20 loss to the Texans. He completed just 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards with only fluky touchdown. He carried four times for 54 yards.
It seemed to boil in the final minutes against the Texans as three straight incomplete passes by Allen opened the door for the Texans to kick the game-winning field goal. Allen defended his coach, according to The Associated Press.
“I’ve got supreme trust (in McDermott),” Allen said of his coach, who was second-guessed for not attempting to run and force the Texans to use their timeouts. “And it says a lot of how much trust he has in me down there in that situation. And I’ve got to find a way to convert.”
It just takes a little oil and elbow grease
For Allen’s part, he seems to think the Bills’ offensive woes can be fixed in house. After all, the team scored 34, 31 and 47 points in the first three weeks before getting only 10 against the desperate Baltimore Ravens.
“Well, I’ve got to be better,” Allen said. “Just making sure we’re on the same page, and it starts with the quarterback. That’s on me.”
Part of it is getting used to a new receiver group, even five games into the season, Allen said.
“It’s hard to know everybody,” he said. “We’ve shown it before, the first couple of weeks and had a great training camp. I got no doubt and I got a lot of trust in these guys.”
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And Allen has support of his teammates, including Knox.
““He’s got the weight of the whole city on his back, and he takes the losses very harshly,” Knox said. “But it’s on all of us. There’s plays I wish I had back blocking-wise. There’s routes I could have done better. I guarantee you, everybody on this team would say there’s stuff they regret. That’s what makes him such a great leader. He does take responsibility for the loss. But it’s definitely not just on him.”
Offense coordinator said there’s no panic with the Bills, according to observertoday.com via apnews.com.
“When you lose two games, there’s always going to be a concern,” Brady said. “But inside this building, there’s not. Inside this building, we believe in who we have. The sky hasn’t fallen.”
And while McDermott expressed a little worry, he also said things are under control.
“There’s no doubt there is a concern,” McDermott said. “That said, I’m confident in those guys, confident that we can put them in positions and use their talents and their potential.”
Did Allen's head injury contribute to his poor performance?
Maybe they all feel comfortable and believe Allen’s 9-for-30 wipeout can be attributed to the nasty head blow that caused him to be checked for a concussion. Allen got cleared, but it happened pretty fast, according to comments by University of Rochester associate professor of orthopaedics Dr. Katie Rizzone to democratandchronicle.com.
“Four minutes is going to be a pretty tight window,” said Dr. Katie Rizzone, associate professor of orthopaedics at University of Rochester. “There are validation tests and questions. Asking about symptoms they're having would take a minute or two. Then you're going to put him through physical exam testing even if everything was negative and he felt OK. It's difficult but doable to examine a professional athlete in four minutes.”
She she it takes a detailed exam to clear a player.
“That would be a pretty comprehensive exam to do on the sideline,” said Rizzone. “You could see initially he didn't feel right. But we don't know what happened in that tent. Adrenaline is a powerful drug and medical staff could've tested him quickly and he could've been normal on all those tests.”
For the season, Allen has completed 60% of his passes for 945 yards with eight touchdown tosses. Impressively, Allen has yet to throw an interception this season. However, that may be of some concern because he's usually more of a risk-taker. And that's what made him one of the NFL's best because his risks usually produce results. If he's not willing to trust his new receiving group, it makes sense the Bills' offense would bog down at times.
