Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘And there sure was a lot that happened, and plenty that needs to be fixed, and it leaves us to ponder a rather important question. Was Sunday’s performance just a random bad day against a team with playoff-level talent, or does it raise doubt about the true viability of this unit?’

‘A 5-2 record is nothing to scoff at, but this was an opportunity for the Bills to add a little bit of legitimacy to it, and instead, their defense played its worst game of the season, and Josh Allen had another performance that makes you sigh deeply. It was a complete beat down in every phase.’

‘This season Allen now has 12 touchdowns (nine passing, three rushing) but he also has 10 turnovers (seven interceptions and three lost fumbles). That ratio is unacceptable, and in the second half when the Bills start playing the tougher part of their schedule, Allen can’t keep playing this way.’

‘Because this wasn’t like losing 16-10 to New England earlier at home when the defense did a masterful job containing Tom Brady. This was an old-fashioned butt whuppin’ by a team using an old-fashioned game plan.’

‘The continued lack of use with Singletary is a mystery to me. He had no carries in the first half and just one ball thrown his way. This on a day when the Bills needed to establish a strong running game, and with Frank Gore unable to get anything going, Singletary went ignored.’

‘Eagles 23, Bills 19.’

‘However, what is new in 2019 is that the Bills now have a much deeper roster, one that has good or very good players in every position group and coach Sean McDermott is getting meaningful contributions from a wide variety of them during this 5-1 start.’

‘And despite their defense ranking No. 3 in yards and points allowed, they rank 22nd in sacks and 10th in takeaways, areas that could use vitamins to keep the Bills operating at an elite level.’

‘“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Allen said. “Obviously you want to hit every throw that you put out there. We haven’t attempted too many deep passes (he’s 0-for-10 on passes of that depth this season in six games) and when we’ve had them I haven’t done a good enough job of putting it where the ball needs to be. It’s something that we’re working on and it’s something that I don’t have any worries or thoughts about. It’ll be taken care of and I have no doubts on that.”’

‘Some fans are never going to forget that Sean McDermott (and we imagine then general manager Doug Whaley) traded out of the No. 10 overall spot in the first round of the 2017 draft rather than pick quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes or DeShaun Watson.’

‘That drive showed the promise that Allen possesses in that right arm of his. After four runs and a short completion to Brown moved the Bills away from their own goal line, Allen went to work, completing three straight passes as the third quarter came to a close.’

‘Make no mistake, the Dolphins are one of the worst NFL teams anyone has ever seen, but for nearly three quarters, they were outplaying the Bills up and down the sun-drenched turf.’

‘The Dolphins made it quite clear that this wasn’t gonna be a walk in the park, and it certainly wasn’t. And for much of this glorious autumn day, a sun-bathing sellout crowd feared the absolute worst: That these winless Dolphins, who are redefining what professional football ineptitude looks like, were going to throw some serious shade on Buffalo’s alleged entrance into the upper tier of the NFL’s hierarchy.’

‘“I knew what play was coming and I was fortunate enough to get off the ball quickly,’’ he said. “We needed to make a play and I was just happy to do it. We finally got our juices going after that. The crowd really got into. It was a swing-the-momentum deal, you could tell the tide had turned.’’’

‘I didn’t like Brian Daboll’s play-calling in the first half. I thought he was getting too cute on some of the plays against a weak opponent, especially the first drive third-and-1 pass play that failed and led to a field goal. He put too much of the game in Allen’s hands rather than pound away his running backs against a Miami defense that had been allowing 169 yards per game.’