When you're 4-0, it's easy for issues to be veiled until all of those issues simultaneously rise to the surface - such is life for the Buffalo Bills. Sure, the offense didn't look great against the New Orleans Saints or Miami Dolphins, but they put up 30 points in each of those games and made enough plays to leave victorious.
Until they didn't.
The New England Patriots exposed the Bills and all of their biggest flaws. And now after another rough loss at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo needs to spend the bye week righting its wrongs with tough conversations because there is so much that needs fixing.
Secondary Issues
The Bills' secondary is abysmal. Over the last two games, Buffalo is allowing 261.5 passing yards per game, which would rank 31st in the NFL if it were their season-long total. The Patriots had precisely one player that could gash Buffalo, and he did. Stefon Diggs caught 10 passes for 146 of Drake Maye's 273 yards. The Bills knew Diggs would be the focal point of the passing game, and could still do nothing to stop it.
The same thing happened against the Falcons. Drake London is the only receiver on Atlanta's roster that can take over a game, and he did, catching 10 passes for 158 yards and one touchdown. Teams with solid quarterbacks and good No. 1 receivers will be able to have their way with Bills' defense, and that's because their secondary is awful. The Bills paid Christian Benford a ton of money this past offseason, and even so he hasn't played consistently well. The Bills haven't done him many favors, though, in terms of who else they are putting on the field.
It is a crime that Tre'Davious White continues to start games for the Bills. He has been consistently dreadful, allowing a passer rating of 121 entering Week 6, per Next Gen Stats. Additionally, Taron Johnson is regressing and can't tackle. The same can be said for Taylor Rapp. And while those two are regressing, Cole Bishop isn't progressing. The entirety of the Bills' secondary is a tire fire, and teams with even baseline competency under center will pick them apart.
Bad receivers
The Bills gave Josh Palmer a three-year, $29 million contract this offseason - he has 14 catches in six games and has yet to score a touchdown. They signed Curtis Samuel to a three-year, $24 million contract in 2024, and he has more missed games due to injury than touchdown catches.
On top of that, Keon Coleman is a bust. He has zero separation ability, and he isn't a boundary receiver. He is more suited as a big-bodied slot receiver, but that role is already occupied by Khalil Shakir and Dalton Kincaid. They have no one that Josh Allen can lean on when the Bills need a big play. When it's 3rd-and-7, there is no alpha on the offense who everyone knows he is getting the ball but he makes the grab anyway. Guys like that are coveted for a reason. The "Everybody Eats" mantra was cute for a while, but right now the offense is starving.
Bad team building
Brandon Beane has been awful at drafting, especially in the first two rounds. Since 2020, their top picks are as follows:
- 2020: A.J. Epenesa (Second round)
- 2021: Greg Rousseau
- 2022: Kaiir Elam
- 2023: Dalton Kincaid
- 2024: Keon Coleman (Second round)
- 2025: Max Hairston
Kincaid is the only consistently reliable guy on this list, and even so, he had down year in 2024 and dropped a potential game-winning catch in the AFC Championship Game. No star players. No game-changers. And the players that they have ended up paying from classes over the last five years aren't stars, either. James Cook is the only game-changer they have drafted since drafting Josh Allen, unless you count changing the game for the worse as game-changers, then they've drafted a lot of those.
Brandon Beane's inability to evaluate talent has stunted the growth of the Bills, and in turn, wasted multiple years of Josh Allen's prime. 2025 is by far his greatest failure thus far. There were clear issues at receiver. Instead of adding a No. 1 caliber guy, Beane's biggest move at the position was yelling and cursing out Buffalo radio hosts for daring to suggest the Bills need help at the position. The aforementioned secondary was clearly a problem, and he thought drafting three defensive backs, two of which were Day Three picks, would fix everything. It's just time to call it like it is with Beane, and several people in the organization - they've benefitted from having Josh Allen at quarterback, and he has single-handedly saved a lot of jobs for a long time in that organization.
Bad coaching
Calling an end around on 3rd-and-1 that loses yards and leads to a punt. Not having your $48 million on the field for a single third or fourth down. Giving up over 200 rushing yards for the second time this season, including a career-high 170 yards rushing to Bijan Robinson - 81 of which came on a long touchdown run.
The Bills are a poorly-coached football team. Sean McDermott isn't the guy. The lack of high-level, proven voices on the staff to ensure his voice is the loudest, even though it lacks any sort of fire or passion when he speaks. The lack of accountability, the scared approach when it comes to getting rookies in the lineup because you think your scheme is calculus combined with brain surgery.
Yes, the Bills are 4-2, but they've lost two straight games in every season of the McDermott era. They'll probably win 11-12 games, win the AFC East again, and win a wild card game. That's not what the Bills' goals are. Not anymore. This isn't 2019 where fans are just happy the team is relevant. McDermott has had several cracks at breaking through and getting to the Super Bowl, and he's failed. And with this current roster being the worst it's ever been in the Josh Allen era, there's no reason to think the Bills will come out of the AFC this season. If and when they do fail to reach the Super Bowl this season, McDermott needs to go, and so does Beane. The complacency needs to stop with this organization, and it won't if the same people are rewarded for constant failures.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
More NFL news:
Josh Allen provides health update after injury scare vs. Falcons
Bills could try and steal star receiver away from division rival in blockbuster move
Myles Garrett throws teammates under the bus after Browns loss to Steelers