Brett Davis-Imagn Images
It’s no secret that the Buffalo Bills have struggled for the past two games, and dare I say all season.
The inconsistency on both sides of the ball in the early portion of the season has been all but exposed with the Bills losing to both the Patriots and Falcons. What is becoming more evident however is the Bills have struggled with simple inconsistencies and questionable decisions since Week 1. Injuries have played a significant role, but Buffalos’ struggles run deeper than just missing a few pieces.
It was easy to look the other way with a 4-0 record, but now that they’ve dropped two in a row, it’s time to start wondering: what’s wrong with the Bills?
To start, let’s cover some league rankings for Buffalo to see where they line up against the whole league.
Points per Game: 4th — 27.8
Total Offensive Yards per Game: 3rd — 389.2
Passing Yards per Game: 13th — 238.2
Rushing Yards per Game: 1st — 151.0
Time of Possession per Game: 1st — 33:12
Points Allowed per Game: 16th — 22.8
Total Yards Allowed per Game: 16th — 323.5
Passing Yards Allowed per Game: 2nd — 167.2
Rushing Yards Allowed per Game: 31st — 156.3
Sacks: 14th — 15
Interceptions: 24th — 2
On paper, not completely terrible, unless you’re looking at the defensive stats at all, then it’s pretty awful. However, that’s something we all know and have realized by now… the defense is plain bad. The secondary has played incredibly poor, with Christian Benford not playing up to his pay-day, Tre’Davious White just not able to keep up like he used to, and Taylor Rapp playing incredibly slow, with inadequate coverage and bad tackling. It’s a conglomeration of everyone not playing up to the Buffalo standard. The main problems aren’t deeply hidden or require advanced knowledge, in fact the main issue is pretty apparent.
The Bills can overcome the failures of playing fundemental defense with an extremely tough to stop offense, however with the offense looking as wobbly as ever, massive issues are staring them in the face.
I get it, it’s a lot easier to type “Just wrap up!” in an article than actually to tackle, but the failure to perform basic football fundamentals is an issue that lies beyond just the players themselves. These players have struggled, but it also looks like they have not been put into a position to win by defensive coordinator Bobby Babich.
The Bills are, as noted above, allowing 156.3 rushing yards per game. Their pass defense looks strong by the numbers, but why would a team need to pass at all when they can get 200 yards on the ground? The team is dealing with a handful of significant injuries, like Ed Oliver being out, TJ Sanders on injured reserve, and Matt Milano being hurt again. However this does not give them the pass to be this bad against the run.
It seems that Bobby Babich is well liked in Buffalo, and he has not done a horrible job with what he’s been given, but the time has come to return the Bills defense to Sean McDermott. Historically, the defense has played better, been more aggressive, and been ultimately cleaner under the playcalling of McDermott.
In 2023, Mcdermott’s last season calling plays for the defense, the team ranked 4th in total defense, boasting a top-five rushing and passing defense in the NFL. In 2024, this dropped to 11th, and in 2025, they sit at 10th, but sit at the fifth-most rushing yards given up. As I mentioned above, no need to pass well when you can run over a defense. McDermott’s slightly more aggressive and tempered approach to defense could provide the Bills steadiness and give them a boost as they head into the next portion of their season.
As for the offense, it’s another story of odd coaching and roster decisions.
The Bills are no stranger to bad offensive coordinating, just two years ago they fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey in the middle of the season after the majority of the year was plagued with horribly inefficient offense and very poor playcalling. It seemed for a while, like the Bills struck gold with his successor, Joe Brady. Brady turned the Bills rushing attack into something that was feared around the league. Before Brady, the Bills consistently ranked mid-to-low every season in rushing statistics. The revamped rushing game led by James Cook seemed to be everything the Bills were missing, and to this day, it remains powerful.
Brady’s struggles don’t lie with the strength of the rushing game however, they lie with the passing attack and situational playcalling.
There’s no better example of Brady’s situational struggles than on a critical 3rd and one vs Atlanta in Week 6. He called an end-around to Elijah Moore which was fumbled and led to a loss of four yards, requiring the Bills to punt. This decision on it’s own is bad, especially noting that they have Josh Allen who can take a QB draw or sneak, and James Cook who can easily slide his way to a couple of yards. It just gets so much worse when Brady tried the same thing the week before, and it failed then. To thrive in the NFL you must learn from mistakes, and it doesn’t look like Brady is.
Brady also failed to utilize James Cook much in the past two losses, having him on the field for only 52.6% of snaps against the Falcons. He wasn’t on the field for any of the Bills’ third or fourth down attempts, and they would go 2-for-9 and 0-for-1. It doesn’t make much sense to not have your best weapon outside of Josh Allen not on the field for integral plays. His use is in stark contrast to other star running backs like Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs who line up in a variety of roles, spreading their presence all across the field.
In the last two weeks, the Bills scored a total of 34 points after scoring 30+ points in every one of their first four games. Also, the Bills rank 26th in EPA per play over the last two weeks and 25th in EPA per rush. Brady himself has acknowledged the Bills’ struggles, and that it starts with him. Only time will tell if he can turn it around.
In terms of the passing game, it just has not been powerful. The team seems to have put a lot of faith in second-year wide receiver Keon Coleman, but this faith doesn’t look to be paying dividends. Whether it’s from bad scheming or poor receiver play is still to be figured out, but Coleman, who has been benched this year for disciplinary reasons, hasn’t shown himself to be the leader or player that the Bills imagined on the outside. Obviously, he’s only in his second year and has much more time to develop, but his lackluster numbers which include 24 receptions for 237 receiving yards and two touchdowns through six games are something to keep track of. Coleman doesn’t seem to be used much in the Joe Brady system outside of back shoulder passes, which have not been very successful.
The team is most effective with tight end Dalton Kincaid on the field, though he has been dealing with injuries. When he does play, his usage seems weirdly low. He is used in less than 50% of snaps, which just like with James Cook, doesn’t make much sense. Other players in the offense like Khalil Shakir and Joshua Palmer are producing, but simply not at a high level.
The general idea is that something needs to be changed, whether it’s lean heavier on James Cook, or find new ways to get receivers open downfield. It starts with Josh Allen though, who also hasn’t played all too well in his past few games. The Bills should look to have more involvement from their best players, while also utilizing guys who might fly under the radar like Tyrell Shavers to contribute more.
The Bills season is far from over, and while they have struggled, they are still an elite football team when at the top of their game. The Bills lost two games in a row last season as well, and continued to the AFC Championship.
The sights are higher than just playoffs, though, and the team must find a way to step up as they continue into the season.
