Are Sean McDermott’s explanations for historically bad loss vs. Eagles good enough?

PHILADELPHIA — Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen handed Sean McDermott’s defense two leads late against the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. And they squandered them both.

Defensive blunders late in games have become the identity of McDermott’s defense this season. Buffalo’s offense put up over 500 yards of total offense and scored 34 points on the Eagles — the most by any team this season against Philadelphia (10-1). Still, they lost 37-34 in overtime.

The loss comes after a historic performance from Allen, and begs a lot of questions from McDermott, especially on some of his decisions late in the game.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Bills are the 40th team since the NFL merger in 1970 to have 500 yards, 10 third-down conversions, and a positive turnover margin in a game. The Bills are the first team to ever accomplish that feat in a game and lose. Teams were 39-0 entering Sunday’s NFL slate.

Penalties were mind-boggling at times — both for the fact they were called and for the amount on the Bills. Buffalo was flagged 11 times in the game and the Eagles were flagged just four times. Still, the Bills had chances to win the game with their backs against the wall in a crowded AFC playoff picture.

McDermott said he looks at himself first after the team loses a game. He has the right idea. Some of his late-game decisions were questionable, to say the least.

McDermott was asked if he thought about going for it on 4th and 6 in overtime instead of kicking the field goal.

“Yeah, there was (some consideration),” he said. “If we had gotten to fourth and 2, fourth and 3 possibly. We talked about that – going for the win for sure.”

The Bills defense struggled to stop Hurts in the second half. The Eagles scored three touchdowns and a game-tying field goal on four of their final five drives in regulation. Buffalo’s offense was driving in overtime and had the ball at Philadelphia’s 22. The Bills had converted a 3rd and 9 on a throw from Allen to Gabe Davis and another 3rd and 9 on an Allen run on the overtime drive. A field goal gave them the lead but it felt like a formality that the Eagles were going to drive it right back down for a touchdown – and they did.

McDermott was asked about blowing two timeouts late in the fourth quarter when the Eagles were driving with under two minutes to play. He said he called the team’s first timeout on third down to make sure he had the right defense on the field to try and get a stop and force the Eagles into a tougher kick. Then he tried to ice the kicker with the Bills’ second timeout.

“Hey, it’s in the rain,” he said. “Make the kicker think about it a little bit, and he made a 59-yard field goal. Then we’re left with one right there. And so we went overtime and had a chance to win it, and we did it.”

The Bills kneeled the ball with 20 seconds left on the clock with the game tied at 34. McDermott mentioned the Eagles’ pass rush and implied that he didn’t want to risk a bad play, instead electing to take his chances in overtime.

That’s a safe and reasonable choice. But when the game is on the line and the ball is in the hands of your super-freak quarterback, who’s having one of those special games, you keep it in his hands. Kicking the field goal in overtime felt like the end result was a foregone conclusion because his defense was struggling.

When asked about the offense after the game, McDermott praised its ability to move the ball but also said there are opportunities for the offense to come up with more.

Allen had a bad interception in the game, sure. But he accounted for 420 of Buffalo’s yards and had four touchdowns. The Bills needed more from their defense. They needed a stop like in Week 7 when they allowed Mac Jones to drive down the field for his first fourth-quarter comeback since his rookie season. Jones has since been benched in New England – twice.

Since McDermott became head coach of the Bills in 2017, his team is 1-6 in overtime. He hasn’t won a single game in OT with Allen as his quarterback.

McDermott’s words rang hollow at the podium on Sunday night after another blown game. He said Allen has been good enough for the Bills to win. That’s an undersell.

Allen had 300+ yards passing and 75+ yards rushing for the fourth time in his career in Sunday’s game, becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to accomplish the feat four times (Russell Wilson and Michael Vick did it three times). The Bills wasted that historic performance.

What’s McDermott’s message to his team as it heads into the bye week?

“Stand up,” he said. “We didn’t do enough or make enough plays and do enough on the coaching end. At the end of the day, there is a tough group of guys in that locker room – a tough group of coaches. There are no moral victories. Each and every one of us has to look at ourselves. Like I told you, it starts with me.”

Indeed.

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