McDermott: Game was 'too hard' on Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen
Allen was sacked four times on Monday night. Allen now has been sacked 12 times in six games this season after he was sacked just 14 times all of last season.
For another 15 minutes or so after his press conference ended, Josh Allen sat in a small circle in the visitors’ locker room.
With four chairs facing inward, Allen sat with Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and backup quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Shane Buechele. There was plenty to discuss.
The Bills have dropped to 4-2, their latest loss coming at the hands of the Atlanta Falcons, 24-14, on Monday night in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Bills now will have the bye week to reflect, which Allen implied can be good and bad.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Falcons defensive end Zach Harrison react after Allen’s pass was tipped and intercepted
during the fourth quarter Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Joshua Bessex, Buffalo News
“It’s going to eat at me the next two weeks,” Allen said of the loss. “So, yeah, I mean, a lot of stuff to clean up. We’ll put our focus to our next opponent and go from there.”
Allen was 15 of 26 for 180 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in the loss.
He appeared shaken up after a hit in the first half, but he said after the game that “no,” he did not hurt his hand, and “yeah,” he is playing healthy right now. Healthy or not, Allen seemed off.
The offense as a whole was anemic and could not sustain drives. Brady’s play-calling deserves some questioning as the Bills dropped consecutive games in prime time.
Allen was sacked four times on Monday night. Allen now has been sacked 12 times in six games this season after he was sacked just 14 times all of last season.
“I’ve got to be better,” Allen said on the sacks. “Protections, IDs, movement in the pocket. I’ve just got to be better.”
Obviously, it doesn’t all fall on Allen. The Bills returned all five starters on the offensive line this season, a group that was able to keep Allen clean most of last season.
“You never want to see your quarterback getting hit,” right tackle Spencer Brown said Monday. “You don’t want to pick him up off the turf. You don’t want to see him hold his arm or his stomach, whatever’s going on. So, they pay us to protect, so that’s our job, and we’re supposed to do it.
Brown didn’t think there were communication issues on the offense line in the game. He just thought the group was overpowered by Atlanta's defense.
Per Next Gen Stats, the Falcons blitzed Josh Allen on 56% of his drop backs on Monday, which marked the highest blitz rate he's faced since the 2021 season.
“Yeah, I mean, they had a good plan,” Allen said. “It looks like they came off a bye week and got to game plan us quite a bit. And, again, I’ve got to be better in seeing the things that they’re trying to do to us and make adjustments accordingly.”
Bills head coach Sean McDermott acknowledged that there are multiple factors at play.
“You have to evaluate everything to make sure we're looking in the right spots in terms of the coverages we're getting and the quarterback's progression overall,” McDermott said. “I can feel what you're saying of, it was too hard. Too hard tonight on our quarterback. Again, it doesn't need to be that hard all the time, where he's having to run out of the pocket.
“Their pressure, I thought at times we picked up the pressure and then other times the pocket was getting affected early, so the rush and coverage, we talk about that, it was disrupting our offense too early in the down.”
Allen downplayed the idea that his receivers are not getting open quickly enough.
“You can beat man-to-man with a perfectly thrown ball and a well-thrown ball, and we’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities,” he said.
It was a major point of emphasis for Allen last season to clean up turnovers. He ended last year with just six interceptions. Now, he’s had four picks in the last three games. Allen had just one game with multiple interceptions last season, Week 10 against the Colts.
“The one before half, again, the ball gets deflected out of my hand,” Allen said. “The one at the end there, you’re in dire situations, the ball gets deflected. So, obviously, if I could take them back, I’d take them back. But, yeah, I’ve got to be better.”