The Buffalo Bills’ Loss on Sunday Was Historically Bad, and This is Why

The Buffalo Bills' offense had a game to remember on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Roughly ten days after firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, and one week removed from a 32-6 thumping of the New York Jets, the Bills once again performed well on offense. QB Josh Allen created 420 yards of total offense alone in the game, while throwing for two touchdowns, and rushing for two more.

As good as the offense was, however, they were unable to keep up with the poor play of the defense, and in the end, the Bills would end up losing this game in historic fashion.

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An article on Syracuse.com from Matt Parrino pointed out that the Buffalo Bills made history on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the type of history that fans like to brag about. Check this out:

Unfortunately, collapses in the fourth quarter are becoming an increasingly common trend for the Sean McDermott-led Bills.

Every fan in football will point to the 13-second disaster against the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2021 season. That's the most famous example, but far from the most recent. One of the more recent examples, as noted by Parrino in his article, came against the now-third-to-last-place-in-the-entire-league New England Patriots earlier this year.

In that game, a since-benched QB Mac Jones led the Pats on a miracle drive to take the lead in the waning moments of the game, and ultimately, beat the Bills by four points.

Look, I am well aware of the injury issues facing the Bills' defense right now. Taylor Rapp, DaQuon Jones, Matt Milano, Tre'Davious White and Dane Jackson are all impact players, and were just a handful of the names who did not suit up for this game against the Eagles.

Even players designated as healthy for the game, like Von Miller, are still banged up and not making as large of an impact as was intended before the season.

That said, that same group of walking-wounded defenders held Philadelphia to 14 points through three quarters of football. When the game is on the line, however, the defensive strategy seems to shift. Sean McDermott, the head coach and acting defensive coordinator, begins to deploy prevent defensive schemes.

These calls are fine when teams are in Hail Mary-type situations on offense, but should never be called when there is still significant time left on the clock.

It feels as though, when the game is on the line, McDermott has been coaching his group not to lose. While that's fine, and can work on occasion, it's certainly not a strategy for a team looking to win a championship. Your coach should be calling plays in a manner that allows you to lock down the win, not cling to life in the final seconds.

Because of that, as the Bills enter their bye week, the team's hopes of making the playoffs are also clinging to life.