After losing to the Jets on Monday Night Football with a 13-3 halftime lead, Bills head coach Sean McDermott had a full day to analyze the film and determine what went wrong.
McDermott cited turnovers as the primary reason for the 22-16 loss in his postgame press conference, and he reiterated this point during his Tuesday afternoon press conference.
“We had three turnovers in the second half alone, and it’s difficult to win when you turn the ball over,” McDermott said.
Josh Allen was responsible for all three second-half turnovers, as he threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. During his postgame press conference, the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills took responsibility for the team’s loss. Head coach Sean McDermott viewed this as a positive indicator of leadership as the team attempts to put the loss behind them.
Tuesday, McDermott remarked, “He does a great job of taking responsibility for this.” As you are aware, Josh is very forthright about it, and he desires to have it corrected.
McDermott revealed that upon a closer examination of Allen’s three interceptions, there was not necessarily a single factor that led to the turnovers, although there were some similar situations.
“Just overall balls thrown down the field,” McDermott remarked. “Sometimes we needed the yards, and other times we didn’t. Just trying to be intelligent and play situationally intelligent football, and sometimes attempting to do too much.”
McDermott stated that the film helped him gain a better comprehension of the Bills’ punt coverage in overtime and how Xavier Gipson returned the punt 65 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
There was insufficient implementation by our coverage team, he said.
“It’s never a good idea to kick the ball down the middle of the field, because there are numerous directions they could take it. As I indicated last night, you want to pin them near or on the number lines, or even closer to the sideline. Unfortunately, there were multiple people involved, it’s never just one — the kick, punt, and coverage could have been improved. So must perform better.”
It’s the first time since the 2011 season that an NFL game has ended on a punt return touchdown, and it’s the first time Sam Martin has scored on a punt return since joining the Bills in 2022.
In Week 1, no NFL team allowed more yards per carry than the Bills defense, which surrendered 6.1 per carry. Buffalo surrendered 172 total yards on the ground.
McDermott stated that the primary issue with the Bills’ run defense against the Jets was a lack of gap integrity at all levels of the defense.
Josh Jacobs, the 2022 NFL rushing champion, will be the focus of Buffalo’s defense in Week 2 when the Raiders visit for the home opener. This week in practice, McDermott will emphasize methods to shed blocks and get to the ball carrier faster.
“Physicality at the point of attack is important for us,” McDermott stated. “Use of our hands to get off blocks and defeat blocks, as well as tackling in general, I believe will be crucial as the season progresses here.”
