By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
It’s probably time Bills fans put a moratorium on talking about the Super Bowl.
A more timely subject would be whether Buffalo is a playoff-worthy team.
After Sunday’s embarrassing 30-13 loss to the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium, one could be forgiven for wondering whether the Bills are one of the six-best teams in the American Football Conference.
Based on what we saw yesterday afternoon at Miami Gardens they aren’t.
Buffalo looked unprepared and played uninspired.
And in dropping to 6-3, they’re looking up at the Patriots, Broncos and Colts, all 8-2, in the conference and are in trouble in the division as New England has a 1 1/2-game lead plus the advantage of a head-to-head win over Buffalo.
And, oh yeah, the Pats have the NFL’s easiest closing schedule. They play the Jets (2-7) twice, the Giants (2-8), the Bengals (3-6), the Dolphins (3-7), the Ravens (4-5) and the second game against the Bills, this one in Foxboro.
By contrast, Buffalo, besides the Pats on the road, plays both of last year’s Super Bowl teams — Philadelphia and Kansas City — plus Tampa Bay (6-3) and Pittsburgh (5-3) and Houston, Cincinnati, Cleveland and the Jets.
The Bills’ chances of earning the No. 1 playoff seed and its bye are virtually dead and claiming their sixth straight division title are on life support.
It’s also unlikely, if they make the playoffs, that they’ll play a home game.
AND THERE are a number of reasons.
Start with injuries as the secondary (cornerbacks and safeties) is banged up as is the defensive line.
Worse, that unit has been victimized by missed tackles and blown coverages.
On offense, the unit is mostly healthy but the receiving corps has a well-documented problem getting open.
Then there’s quarterback Josh Allen who threw an end zone interception, contributed a costly fumble and was sacked three time. Running back James Cook, also lost a key fumble and had a modest effort — 13 carries for 53 yards and five catches for 24 yards for 77 yards total offense — given his standards. For the record, the Bills are 0-3 this season when Cook fails to top 100 yards rushing and receiving.
IT WAS clear during the game that coach Sean McDermott was fuming.
“We’ve got to get back to our style of playing football,” he said during his post-game press conference. “We’ve lost our consistency and after today’s performance I have to look at it … it’s never one thing.”
But Allen took part of the blame
“They wanted it obviously a little bit more than us,” he said. “I’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better in the protection game, in the pass game, in the run game, all of it. Anytime you turn it over three times … that’s a recipe for disaster.
And the Bills cooked it perfectly against the Dolphins.
NOTES FROM the Bills 30-13 loss to the Dolphins Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock. Stadium in Miami Gardens:
— Buffalo’s first takeaway was an interception of a Tua Tagovailoa pass by safety Cole Bishop. The second was a pick-off by rookie first-round draft choice Maxwell Hairston his second in as many games.
— The first Dolphins takeaway was a fumble by running back James Cook when the ball was knocked loose by Jack Jones and recovered by fellow cornerback Juju Brents. Miami’s second takeaway was an endzone interception of an Allen pass by cornerback Ifeatu Melifonwu. The third was a killer as Allen fumbled during a rush when linebacker Jordyn Brooks knocked the ball loose with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick recovering.
— Buffalo’s 98-yard drive for a touchdown was its first of that length in three seasons but Sunday was the first time the Bills had been held scoreless in the first three quarters since 2018.
— Early in the game edge rusher Landon Jackson left the game with a knee injury. Tight end Dalton Kincaid suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter. Neither returned.
— The Dolphins first sack of Allen was logged by defensive lineman Zach Sieler, his first of the season. Later Fitzpatrick and Willie Gay Jr. combined for one and finally edge rusher Bradley Chubb logged one in the late going.
— The Bills attempted an onside kick with 3:35 remaining and down by 10 points. Running back Ray Davis, who kicked in high school, made the unsuccessful attempt. The last time Buffalo converted an onside kick was in 2017 against the Jets. Since then Buffalo is 0-for-12 on those attempts.
— Buffalo’s loss ended a seven -game winning streak against the Dolphins.
— The Bills hadn’t lost a divisional game by more than seven points since 2018 and since then it had won 40 straight or lost by seven points or fewer … an NFL reccord.
— Brooks had a game-high 12 tackles including six solos. Veteran safety Jordan Poyer, in his second stint with the Bills, topped Buffalo with eight tackles.
— Inactive for the Bills were wide receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle), nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (groin), linebacker Shaq Thompson (hamstring), cornerback Christian Benford (groin), edge rusher A.J. Epenesa (concussion) and offensive tackle Chase Lundt.
Rookie first-round draft choice Maxwell Hairston started for Benford and Cam Lewis took Johnson’s place.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
