All the Buffalo Bills had to do to defeat the Atlanta Falcons was score more than 24 points. If someone knew that going into Monday Night Football, they’d probably believe Josh Allen was a lock to get it done. When the final whistle blew, Buffalo had just 14 points — only one touchdown to begin each half. That’s rarely enough to get a “W” in today’s NFL.
The Bills are now 4-2, having lost a road game in which they never led. For the second-consecutive game, Buffalo lost the turnover battle, which is
uncharacteristic of teams under head coach Sean McDermott in recent seasons. It’s no wonder they lost on Monday night, as is true of two Sundays ago.
The effort isn’t enough to win football games, regardless of opponent. There’s a concerning lack of execution in almost every phase and each position group, and the offensive line looks nowhere near as dominant as it did in 2024.
Atlanta deserves plenty of credit for coming in well-prepared, clearly taking advantage of film study and practice sessions based around Buffalo’s tape. The Falcons have a fantastic defense that’s loaded with blue-chip talent thanks to the premium draft assets invested in the trenches.
But that’s no excuse for the Bills’ effort on the field. General manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott signed off of each player wearing game-day numbers, and the truth is that too many of them just aren’t good enough to play proper chess. That’s especially true on defense, and at wide receiver on offense.
Quite often, critiques of games skew heavy one way or the other. The defense is the reason for the loss; the offense is why they lost. Well, what if both sides are at fault? At halftime, Buffalo’s defense gave up 21 points to Atlanta, then surrendered just a field goal after the break. Defensive penalties gutted the Bills in the first half. A lot of that second-half success is due to the play of defensive tackles Ed Oliver and Deone Walker. That’s commendable considering they were down DaQuan Jones who injured his calf in pregame warm-ups.
At the same time, they didn’t do enough in the first half. No defender did. But who would claim such to be true when surrendering 335 yards of offense to an opponent in one half of play?
Just as it was against the New England Patriots, Buffalo’s defense came to life after halftime, and the offense wasn’t ready to hold up its end of deal. Complementary football. It’s preached all the time. Yet another week, another awful effort on offense.
You may hear a lot of negative things about Taylor Rapp in the coming days, but his effort kept this game within range thanks to an individual effort to stop a touchdown with zeroes on the clock ahead of halftime. That’s another commendable moment that involved a ton of luck, but his play overall also deserves the criticism that’s surely waiting in the days ahead.
The Bills found the sort of momentum that winning teams thrive on, when defensive end Greg Rousseau blocked a field goal to keep it a one-score game at 21-14. The offense then laid an egg with three-and-out that led to a punt.
Whatever the root cause of offensive coordinator Joe Brady again calling a “cute” play in that moment on 3rd & 1 to a wide receiver (Elijah Moore), it’s flawed methodology. It was an awful play in the wrong moment. That was also true last week when the offense ran a “cute” play on 3rd & 1 to a wide receiver (Khalil Shakir). In both instances, the opposing defense snuffed it out with vigor. That’s two terrible play calls in two key moments of two consecutive games. Allen’s always going to say that it comes down to execution (which is partially true), but there’s something to be said for outsmarting yourself. That’s exactly what Brady’s doing at present.
Wide receiver Joshua Palmer was a major factor early, catching the longest pass from Allen on the evening that served as the opening play and catalyst for Buffalo’s first touchdown. Then not long after, Palmer went down awkwardly after a catch that was later revealed as an ankle injury. Once Palmer was out of the lineup, the Bills had zero legitimate man beaters. That didn’t play into Allen’s favor the rest of the evening.
The receivers room will continue to be a problem if they don’t make changes in-season. Keon Coleman and Tyrell Shavers were not up to the task in front of them, and Khalil Shakir could only do so much from his role. If Beane wants to bring someone in, now’s the time. It’s past time. Remember, Gabe Davis is on the practice squad, but where he is in terms of injury recovery remains unknown.
It’s pretty clear that tight end Dalton Kincaid is a valuable part of the offensive game plan. Knox tried to fill in and he’s actually a faster timed player, but Knox has never been the matchup problem that Kincaid presents defenses.
McDermott told reporters in postgame comments that at times it was “too hard on our quarterback.” That’s an understatement, especially when it’s clear that Allen’s struggling to overcome the lack of talent around him. James Cook is still a heck of a running back and one of the most important players on the team. So why isn’t he more involved, and why hasn’t Brady found meaningful ways of getting him the ball past the line of scrimmage in space. Why aren’t Cook or Ty Johnson sent out on downfield routes?
The good news is that the Bills can’t lose next week — they’re on their bye in Week 7. If you’re looking for encouraging trends, Buffalo hasn’t lost three games in a row since 2017, yet have bounced back from two consecutive losses each season since 2018.
There’s a lot to figure out during the bye, including who they can count on moving forward, and where changes need to be made. That’s for McDermott and Beane to figure out in the coming days. No pressure.
