ORCHARD PARK, NY - While Josh Allen has shown encouraging signs and progress the first two games back from that elbow injury, against the Jets, his third straight start back, there was more good than bad.
Yes, Allen made some impressive throws down field, especially the one to Robert Foster for 38 yards late in the game that led to a field goal.
And once again, Allen led the Bills in rushing with 101 yards and a touchdown. He's also the team's leading rusher overall now.
But in the air, he went 18-36 for 206 yards and two awful interceptions, two throws that he never should have made. The first one looked like that interception he had in Green Bay where instead of just throwing it away, he was scrambling and forced it and threw it across his body to the middle of the field where it was picked off.
Allen also lost a fumble while running too and even admitted after the game, at times ball security was not a top priority.
"I gotta be smarter with the football. I gave it away three times today and didn't put us in great situations. Coach McDermott preaches ball security all the time and there were a couple plays where it wasn't the most important thing to me and it hurt us," Josh Allen said.
However, despite Allen's struggles and the mistakes he did make, this was yet another reminder that he needs help on offense. It was proof Allen is trying to do it alone and he simply can't. There needs to be more around him in order for this offense, any offense to work.
Turnovers weren't the only glaring issue. The Bills special teams play continues to be a problem. Special teams coordinator Danny Crossman is now on the hot seat after what we saw against the Jets.
"There's a recipe to winning in this league, and it starts by taking care of the football, giving yourself a chance with good field position," McDermott said. "When you say the field position difference, we're at the 27-yard line, they're at the 48-yard line. That's not a recipe for success right there, so it comes back to taking care of the football, playing good special teams, and then being able to convert in the red zone on offense well."
The Bills allowed two big kickoff returns by Andre Roberts (one for 51 yards and the other for 86 yards) that led to 10 points for the Jets.
Stephen Hauschka had a field goal blocked and then missed a 54-yard attempt in the second half. He was not the same after he was hit with a cheap shot after that blocked field goal to end the first half.
Hauschka said his lower back was very stiff and he had X-Rays taken after the game.
"You watch the first half, and the first quarter in particular, I thought we got out to a pretty good start," McDermott said. "But when you let a team hang around through poor special teams play, turning the ball over, and then when we have opportunities -- we were shooting ourselves in the foot."