The Buffalo Bills suffered a major blow to their divisional hopes on Thursday, wilting in the face of an aggressive Houston Texans defense in a 23-19 loss.
Though the Bills were able to convert a fourth-and-27 on their final drive thanks to some creative play-calling from offensive coordinator Joe Brady, the struggles of the offense — and the pressure it placed on quarterback Josh Allen — led many to suggest the Bills part ways with Brady.
Bills Struggle on Offense
The Bills had one of their worst offensive performances of Allen’s career, giving up eight sacks with three turnovers, including two interceptions from Allen. Brady drew some heavy criticism for his play-calling, including a run to James Cook on a key fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter that saw Allen handing off deep in the backfield.
The Texans snuffed out the play, stopping a visibly tired Cook deep in the backfield and forcing a turnover on downs.
Amid the struggles, many Bills fans called on the team to fire Brady.
“I am consistently anti calling for coaches to be fired,” one noted in a post on X. “I think it’s built on reactions that don’t take things into context. Joe Brady has to be fired.”
Some called out Brady’s predictable play-calling, saying it was putting too much pressure on Allen.
Others suggested the team find a way to bring back former offensive coodinator Brian Daboll, who was fired midseason from his job as head coach of the New York Giants.
“Convince Daboll to get off the golf course, get him in here as a senior offensive assistant and have him work to get this pass game back on track,” wrote reporter Nate Geary of Buffalo’s WGR 550 in a post on X.
Sean McDermott Points to Failures on Offense
Bills head coach Sean McDermott said the Bills failed to keep Allen healthy against the league’s top defense, saying it was “not a good formula” to succeed.
“Well, when they hit the quarterback 12 times, I don’t like that,” McDermott said, via ESPN. “I don’t like that stat at all. And it’s not a healthy way to play or a healthy way to keep our quarterback healthy through the remainder of the season. So, that’s just not a good formula there.”
Allen was seen getting visibly frustrated, including an outburst after the failed fourth-quarter run to Cook that led to a turnover on downs. The Bills quarterback was seen saying, “What are we doing?” as he slammed his helmet on the sidelines.
“Just frustration on my part,” Allen told reporters. “In a situation like that, probably should have just banged a timeout. Just getting … we got the play in late. Didn’t give ourselves a chance there.”
But McDermott also made it clear after the game that he’s not considering any changes to the coaching staff, saying he still has faith in Brady.
“That’s the formula, the unhealthy formula I’m talking about when Josh takes too many hits,” McDermott said. “And so, we’ve got to figure that piece out. And I believe in our offensive staff, I believe in our coaching staff.”
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