Bills defense collapses, continuing disturbing trend
Bills have lost four games this season in which they have led in the fourth quarter
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (WROC) — It doesn’t matter the quarterback or the offense.
It happened against Mac Jones, Russell Wilson, and against the 10-1 Eagles against Jalen Hurts. The 2023 Bills defense has proven time and time again that they can not find a way to finish off victories.
All three quarterbacks led game-winning drives to defeat the Bills. Even Zach Wilson was down in the fourth quarter and brought his team to overtime.
It was even more baffling during their 37-34 overtime loss to the Eagles because the Bills allowed a grand total of 100 yards in the first half, but gave up 110 on the Eagles’ last two scoring drives alone.
“I look at myself first and I look at the defense right after that,” said head coach Sean McDermott. “The second half we didn’t do enough to win the game. We’ve just got to continue to work on finding plays, finding plays down the stretch. Obviously, not enough.”
“Super frustrating,” said edge rusher Leonard Floyd. “Just got to find a way to finish the game. It’s a four-quarter game, you’ve got to find a way to finish the game.”
The Bills allowed just seven points in the first half. But on the Eagles’ final six drives of the game, four ended in touchdowns and one ended in the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.
“I can’t put my finger on it,” said defensive tackle Ed Oliver. “For me, I’ve got to make more plays. Get to the quarterback, get him on the ground, maybe take the ball away. Some splash plays to give us a spark and hopefully turn the tide and win the game. Obviously, I didn’t get that done.”
“We hold ourselves to a high standard and we haven’t been good enough at the end of the game,” said linebacker Terrel Bernard. “That’s on us. We’ll go back, look at the tape, and fix it. It’s been an issue and we know that. All we can do now is learn from it and move on.”
Hurts threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 65 more with two scores.
“In the second half, they hit a couple of runs. They went to the run game more and it became a two-dimensional type of game again,” said McDermott. “I thought we were rushing well in the first half and playing good rushing coverage. I felt like our front was getting after [Hurts] and in the second half he got out a few times and was giving us some trouble with his feet.”
The Bills will have their bye week to try and fix some of their problems, but waiting for them will be Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
