The Buffalo Bills suffered yet another tough loss on Monday night, as the Atlanta Falcons defeated them 24-14. This setback drops Buffalo’s record to 4-2 for the season and places them second in the AFC East, just behind the New England Patriots, who beat them last week.
Buffalo is currently facing several challenges. If it can turn things around over the next few weeks, it may still be in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
Pete Prisco Worries About Buffalo
CBS Sports NFL analyst Pete Prisco doesn’t think the Bills scare anybody at the moment, citing two significant areas of concern.
“I’m going to give you two problems with this team right now: they are not good on defense, and they don’t stretch the field at all. They don’t throw the ball downfield,” Prisco said on Tuesday. “Josh Allen hit one shot to Josh Palmer on Monday night, but then he got hurt, and everything fell apart. They don’t scare anyone, and the Falcons played them that way.”
The Bills‘ defensive struggles have raised major red flags over the past six weeks. Buffalo has been struggling to stop the run, giving up an average of 156.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks 30th in the NFL.
If the Bills can’t find a way to stop the run, opposing offenses will have the upper hand. The most straightforward strategy to take down the Bills is to limit the time the ball is in Allen’s hands. Teams can achieve this by running the ball effectively, controlling the clock, and dictating the pace of the game.
The Bills Have to Get Better on Both Sides of The Ball
Bills head coach Sean McDermott wasn’t thrilled with the team’s inability to stop the run in the first half on Monday night.
“It comes down to run defense,” McDermott said on Monday, via Alex Brasky. We had eight-man run fronts to stop the run. We need to be able to make a tackle. And secondly, we shouldn’t be out of our gaps to begin with.”
The Bills allowed Falcons running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier to rush for 202 yards on 29 carries, a performance that’s not ideal for any team aiming to win the game.
When the defense isn’t performing well, the offense needs to step up and match the points the defense is giving up, but that’s not happening right now. The Buffalo team managed only 14 points on Monday, which is unacceptable.
Buffalo will head to its bye this week and will need to hit the drawing board both on offense and defense if it wants to figure out a way to be an AFC contender.
The Bills will need to figure out a way to get their run defense going and also work on a game plan to open up the passing game to take more shots down the field, allowing Allen to play more freely.
Buffalo will come off its bye playing a hot Carolina Panthers team that has won their last two games, and then the Kansas City Chiefs in a possible matchup for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
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