Upon Further Review: All signs after loss to Patriots point to Bills becoming unglued

A season that started with Super Bowl aspirations continued to spiral out of control Monday night with a 14-10 loss to the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium. The Bills are now 3-4 over their past seven games, erasing most of the good that came from a 4-1 start.

The No. 1 seed in the AFC? Forget about it. At this point, the Bills are fighting for their playoff lives.

“I don’t know if it’s spiraling out of control,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “I don’t know if I’d put in that context.”

Of course, Allen also had the audacity to say he didn’t think the wind “was too bad,” so his grasp on reality was as bad as tight end Dawson Knox’s grip on the football against New England.

Allen can use whatever context he wants, but there’s no escaping the pattern the Bills have fallen into. They haven’t won consecutive games since victories against Houston and Kansas City, the latter of which came Oct. 10.

“We are what our record says we are,” coach Sean McDermott said of his 7-5 team. “Yeah, we’ve been inconsistent.”

That’s not entirely true. The Bills’ losses have followed a very consistent pattern. The team is losing the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball far too often; it turns the ball over too much; it takes too many presnap or post-whistle penalties; and the offense isn’t executing in the red zone.

The Patriots ran for 222 yards on a night when they showed no desire or willingness to throw the ball. Conversely, 19 carries by Bills running backs produced just 60 yards.

“Not good enough,” McDermott said. “We’ve got to be able to run the football, we’ve got to be able to stop the run. Those things don’t change. The message hasn’t changed, in terms of physicality, and the necessity for physicality in what we do. It’s why we start training camp the way we do, with running the football, and you’ve got to win the line of scrimmage. Their backs averaged, I think, five-point-whatever, and our backs averaged 3.1 or whatever, so not good enough.”

Tensions are boiling over as a result. The last time a team attempted fewer passes than the three New England quarterback Mac Jones threw Monday was 1974, when Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson threw two passes in a Week 3 win over the New York Jets.

Asked if that was embarrassing, safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer showed more fight in their postgame press conference than their teammates did on the field.

“What kind of question …” Hyde said.

“What are you doing, bro? What kind of question is that?” Poyer asked.

When the reporter responded that the Bills are inevitably going to be called soft, Poyer continued: “I think we gave up … 14 points? Fourteen to 10, was that the final score? We made stops when we had to. They had one big run. They’ve got good backs. They kept coming back to a couple of runs. I mean, I don’t know how you want us to answer that question.”

“That’s funny,” Hyde added. “We’ll remember that. I’ll remember that.”

After their press conference was over, Hyde continued unprompted as he was leaving the podium: “It’s all about respect, man. I come here every single week and I answer your questions truthfully, honestly. I appreciate you guys. Don’t do that. Don’t do that.”

This was not a good look for Hyde or Poyer. It’s true they have been stand-up players, willing to answer questions after wins and losses. If they’re getting frustrated about having to answer the same questions week after week, that’s somewhat understandable.

With the restrictions in place because of Covid-19, reporters aren’t allowed into locker rooms this season, so they are unable to talk to other players about the defensive failures. As team captains and leaders, Poyer and Hyde address the media every week. Give them credit for that, because it’s more than fellow team captain Stefon Diggs does after games.

However, if they don’t want to answer those questions – or they’re going to stare down reporters who ask a question that’s not out of bounds – then the Bills’ public relations department should put players at the podium who will.

This has been brewing for a while. Hyde and Poyer have previously been prickly after losses this season, including after the Week 11 loss to Indianapolis, when they were asked about the defense’s inability to contain Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.

“You guys can answer every one of the questions you guys are about to ask us,” Hyde said then. “Honestly, you guys know our responses.”

That might be true, but it’s not going to stop the questions from being asked. Picking a fight with the media is one thing, but the real drama might be found elsewhere.

McDermott, who was as visibly angry as can be remembered after a loss, didn’t hesitate to blast his kick returners. When asked why both veteran Isaiah McKenzie and rookie Marquez Stevenson were inactive, the coach said “the same reason they turned it over on their punt return team – I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to put a guy back there that I trusted and was gonna make good decisions with the ball,” referencing Patriots punt returner N’Keal Harry losing a muffed punt that set up the Bills’ only touchdown.

McKenzie shared a one-word reaction on Twitter to that quote: “Damn.”

McDermott also shared how frustrated he was with the team’s offense on multiple occasions during his postgame press conference.

Asked point-blank if offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is doing a good enough job, McDermott was surprisingly blunt in saying, “I didn’t think we honestly took advantage of our opportunities tonight. I honestly didn’t. The ball’s at the 40-yard line and we’re 1 for 4 in the red zone. We gotta figure that part of it out.”

When asked specifically about those failures inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line, McDermott said “Just sloppy football. I mean you name it, presnap penalty, just no rhythm. No rhythm down there.”

For as much blame as the run defense will rightfully shoulder for this loss, the truth is holding a team to 14 points should be good enough to win – something Poyer seemed to be hinting at.

“You’ve got to do a better job in the run defense, and then score more points,” McDermott said. “That’s the name of the game. Scoring points.”

The Bills didn’t do enough of that Monday, and there seems to be a philosophical schism growing on how to fix that problem. McDermott wants the Bills to be a physical team, but it’s just … not.

“If you were in the team meetings at training camp you would know what style of offense I want and what style of defense I want and what style of football team I want,” he said. “That identity, and you guys have heard me talk about this before, is built in training camp. And that identity has got to embody toughness.”

With just five games left, hope is quickly evaporating that the Bills will get there. That doesn’t excuse Daboll, though.

If turning around and handing the ball to a running back doesn’t work – and we have plenty of evidence to surmise that’s the case – then it’s up to him get the running game going in other ways. Allen is dynamic as a runner. Why did he have just six carries? Why not get the receivers involved in the running game with some jet sweeps? Where is the creativity in the game plan?

The Bills still have just one win over a team that currently has a winning record and now has a short week to prepare for a road game at the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I'm very confident in our guys,” Allen said. “We've got some great leaders. We've got some true professionals on this team and this can be one that can rip us apart or bring us together, and I think the latter. I think we'll get things rolling. I don't think, I know. I know for a fact that we will because of the makeup that we have.”

Here's one final question: Do you believe that?