The Bills lost to the Eagles 37-34 in overtime on Sunday, leaving them with a 6-6 record and a bye in Week 13.
This puts Buffalo in 10th place in the AFC, behind No. 7 Indianapolis, No. 8 Houston and No. 9 Denver for the conference’s final postseason spot.
Buffalo has certainly played better offensively since the team fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and promoted QB coach Joe Brady to that role. But that doesn’t help when the final result is a disappointment, as it was on Sunday.
“There are no moral victories,” head coach Sean McDermott said in his postgame press conference regarding his message to the team. “I’m encouraged by the direction of our offense over the past two weeks. As a team, we will think comprehensively and evaluate our current situation. This week we will do some self-scouting and prepare for the game against the Kansas City Chiefs. I’m going to be ready.”
Buffalo heads to Kansas City for its first game after the bye, but the team’s schedule remains tough going forward. The Bills will host the Cowboys in Week 15 before heading to Los Angeles to face the Chargers on Saturday in Week 16. The game against the Patriots in Week 17 doesn’t necessarily look tough on paper, but then the club closes out the regular season with the next game. A trip to Miami.
Coach McDermott said his team needs to “stand up” after Sunday’s gut punch.
“This is the league we’re in,” McDermott said. “We came here and fought against us.” [tails] off.didn’t earn enough [plays]. We didn’t work hard enough, we didn’t play hard enough, we didn’t coach hard enough.
“At the end of the day, we have a tough group of players in the locker room. We have a tough group of coaches. We are a good football team, but we came up short here. There are no moral victories. Each of us has to look at ourselves. Like I said, it starts with me. That’s what you do. That’s what the best teams do, and that’s what we do. I know our football team is a very good football team.”
The Bills will have a week of recuperation before proving McDermott right with five weeks left in the season.