JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Here is what we’re asking ourselves after the Buffalo Bills’ 9-6 loss at Jacksonville on Sunday:
Is this the worst loss in Bills history?
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No. But it’s the worst loss of Sean McDermott’s career as the Bills' head coach.
It’s also the worst loss by a “good Bills team” in franchise history – 62 seasons. I’m counting the 1960s playoff years.
The Super Bowl losses and most of the playoff losses were worse, obviously. Home Run Throwback, of course, was worse, obviously. I’d rate a couple of the incomprehensible losses during The Drought as worse. But those were bad Bills teams.
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Thinking of all the Bills’ playoff seasons, the one that comes closest was a 10-5 loss in December 1988 at Tampa Bay. That was an egg-laying, self-inflicted defeat. The Bills were 11-3 and the Buccaneers was 4-10 at the time. But the Bills were a 7.5-point favorite.
The Bills were a 14.5-point favorite in this game.
McDermott never has had a loss like this with the Bills. In fact, one of the credits on his resume before Sunday was that the Bills never had lost to a team they clearly should have beaten since he took over in 2017.
They’ve had egg-layings under McDermott. There were the blowouts against the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers in 2017, a loss in the opener at the Baltimore Ravens in 2018 and at home against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019. But those all were against good teams.
The ugliest losses of the Super Bowl era were against very good teams. There was a bad, 20-3 loss at the then-Los Angeles Raiders in 1992, and the Raiders only went 7-9 that year. But they had six Hall of Famers on the roster. There were two other big upset losses in '92, to the Colts and Jets. The Bills played worse in this one than in those two.
The Jaguars were 1-6, ranked 27th in scoring, 28th in points allowed and second last in turnover differential.
What does this mean for playoff seeding and home-field advantage?
Hah! Let’s declare a moratorium on playoff seeding discussion for the near future.
This loss means the race for the AFC East division title is wide open.
The New England Patriots are 5-4. The Bills are 5-3. The Patriots have won three straight. They lost in overtime to a good Dallas Cowboys team and took mighty Tampa Bay down to the final possession.
New England is balanced on offense and has a veteran defense. The Patriots do not beat themselves, a hallmark of Bill Belichick teams.
Maybe the best spin we can put on the AFC East race is that the Bills don’t play New England until Dec. 6. Buffalo will need the three games in the interim – at the New York Jets, at the Saints and home versus the Indianapolis Colts – to get its act together.
What’s problem No. 1?
You saw the game. You know it. The Bills’ offense is putting too much weight on quarterback Josh Allen. The offensive line is struggling. Guard Cody Ford, forced into the lineup due to injury again, got the chance to rehabilitate his position on the team and failed again.
The Bills need to figure out how to run the ball better. Take away Allen’s scrambles and the run game is almost non-existent. Not almost. It is non-existent. The Bills can’t survive being this one-dimensional.
