Olean Times Herald

‘“There are a lot of coaches who sit on their hands and make comfortable decisions … that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to win and sustain winning and in order to do that you’ve got to be willing to make (some) uncomfortable decisions.” Even if they’re tragically flawed and reversed within a week?’

‘And while McDermott’s all-for-one, one-for-all philosophy resonated throughout the roster over the first seven games, the last three have been a sledgehammer back to reality.’

‘In the current three-game losing streak, Buffalo has been outscored, 135-55, or 45-18 per game. The Bills, in that span are also surrendering an average of 414 yards a game, the NFL norm is 337.’

The franchise that had called San Diego home for the previous 55 campaigns, could easily be 7-2. The Chargers lost 3-point decisions at Denver and Jacksonville (6-3) and two-pointers at home to Miami and Philadelphia (8-1) and fell by only 21-13 at New England (7-2).’

‘“We’re going to go back and look at some things we did prior to the last couple weeks. When looking at the tape, it’s purely us not being where we need to be on certain occasions. Our tackling wasn’t bad … much better than the week before (against the Jets). But, being in and out of our gaps was a big problem. We played a lot of eight-man front (against New Orleans), which means you think you’re going to be fine against the run, but it didn’t turn out that way for us. That’s the biggest culprit.”’

‘As McDermott pointed out several times on Wednesday, he’s here to win for the future, but also win now. Clearly he decided Tyrod had peaked and that a rookie QB gave them just as much of a chance to win as did a 7-year veteran.’

‘Outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander, at 34 the Bills oldest player, conceded, “I don’t have (an) answer as far as what we can do. We’ve just got to be professionals, correct (the mistakes) and have a better total effort defensively the next game.” To which Brown added, “We have to change something (but) I’m not sure what that is right now.” And maybe that’s the most troubling takeaway from Sunday’s loss.’

‘No matter how McDermott spins it, the Bills are in trouble.’

‘“It starts up front at the line of scrimmage … that’s where the game is won and we’ve got to do a better job there,” first-year coach Sean McDermott said when asked why the Bills are struggling.’

‘When the Bills host the Saints this afternoon at New Era Field, it’s not a stretch to suggest that the rest of Buffalo’s season could well be in the balance.’

‘The Saints are first in the NFL with fewest sacks surrendered (eight in as many games) while the Bills’ defense is 28th of 32 teams in generating sacks (only 14).’

‘At age 38, in his 17th season, Brees has the Saints at 6-2, tops in the NFC South, and on a 6-game win streak.’

‘“We’ve certainly done some good things,” McDermott said. “We’re still building, we’re not where we need to be. We’ve won five games, which I’m proud of. (But) we have to continue to build; continue to evolve as a football team, (doing) what it takes to win on a week-to-week basis; what’s it going to take to win in order to get to the playoffs; what’s it going to take to win when you’re in the playoffs? That’s a coming of age of an organization; a coming of age of a football team.”‘

‘Making Benjamin inactive was probably a good decision. Besides his brief time with the team, it would have been a bad optic, especially for the psyche of rookie second-round draft choice Zay Jones, who stands to lose his starting job when the former Panther is ready.’

‘What was most bothersome about this Buffalo defeat is that it was reminiscent of the Rex Ryan teams the past two years.’