Bills A Good Team 'In Fantasy Land' While In Real Life Are Struggling To Be Playoff Contender
Some teams find a way to win and the Philadelphia Eagles definitely are one of those. Some, like the Buffalo Bills, not so much this season.
The Eagles just completed their fourth consecutive win in a game they trailed at halftime. They came back from a 10-point deficit and walk away from a 37-34 overtime victory with the NFL's best record at 10-1.
So everything we've seen from the Eagles this season says, no, screams this is a team likely to play deep into January and perhaps even in February.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 26: James Bradberry #24 of the Philadelphia Eagles celebrates with teammates after an interception during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field on November 26, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Buffalo Bills Keep Losing Close Games
The Bills, meanwhile, seem lost.
Lost on defense.
Lost on offense in the game's key moment.
And lost as to how to fix it all.
The Bills on Sunday lost for the third time in four weeks -- all of them by six points or less.
"That's the NFL, man," Bills safety Micah Hyde said. "You're either on one side or the other. We've been fortunate enough around here for a long time to be on the winning side. And seems like this year every game comes down to the last two minutes.
"Offense has the ball, we have the ball and these are the results. It's unfortunate. Like you said, we could have nine or 10 wins. But that's fantasy land and in the real world we understand what our record is."
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills looks on during the second quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 26, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Bills Head To Bye Week Outside Of Playoffs
The Bills, one of the NFL's Super Bowl favorites before the season, go into their bye week knowing that their 6-6 record means they are not even a playoff team right now.
The thing with the Bills is they aren't even on the cusp of being among the playoff seeds. They're 10th in the AFC seeding now. And only seven teams qualify in each conference.
"Losing does suck, but there are definitely pieces of this loss that are great," offensive tackle Dion Dawkins said while looking on the bright side of things.
The thing is the bright side is a small patch of grass somewhere in Western New York. But the reality of the problems and gloom and worry is a much more vast territory.
Bills' Defense, Once Great, Is Broken
The concerns are everywhere. Defense? It's a makeshift secondary trying to cover for injuries and sometimes they get the job done. And sometimes they don't.
The pass rush, featuring veteran rushers Von Miller and Leonard Floyd, is not getting to the quarterback without blitzing. Miller seems a shadow of the player he was before last year's knee injury.
And other times he looks, well, confused.
So the secondary is beat up and the front four are ineffective. That's a terrible combination.
That's the reason sometimes there are problems, as was obvious late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter when Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw three touchdowns in four pass attempts.
There also are other problems and reasons Bills didn't win Sunday.
Running back James Cook dropped a touchdown pass on the team's first drive.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 26: Jake Elliott #4 of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after his team's 37-34 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field on November 26, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Bills Lose On Offense, Defense, Special Teams
Tyler Bass missed two field goals from 33 and 47 yards, which glow in neon because Eagles kicker Jake Elliott sent the game into overtime with an improbable 59-yard field goal.
"That was a helluva kick," Hyde said. "Pretty amazing kick by them."
The offense? Earlier this season, the problem was quarterback Josh Allen who was wildly inconsistent and often helped the other team with turnovers. That all led to coach Sean McDermott firing offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and promoting Joe Brady to offensive coordinator.
And it's kind of worked.
"His level of play has risen over the last two weeks," McDermott said of Allen. "The last two weeks, Josh Allen's level of play has been good enough for us to win."
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 26: Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills walks off the field after his team's 37-34 overtime loss against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 26, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Josh Allen Carrying Offense Is Not Good News
Allen basically carried the offense this game, passing for 339 passing yards and leading the team with 81 rushing yards, which was a season high. And yet, it's not enough because winning football is a team sport. not an individual's showcase.
And here's the problem: A team that relies so heavily on one player as the Bills do has to hope that one guy is perfect most of the time.
And most players are rarely perfect often enough to carry a team through a season. So there are moments that make people crazy.
One such moment came in overtime this game when Allen and receiver Gabe Davis weren't on the same page on a third-down pass into the end zone that could have won the game in overtime. Davis, wide open, seemed to expect a pass inside. Allen threw it outside.
Incomplete.
"I made a guess and I guessed wrong," Allen said of his choice on an option route.
"We had the game. It was right there," Davis said. "It was a miscommunication on a touchdown ... We had 'em. It's that simple we've been running it for four years. So it is that simple."