WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

Notes, Quotes

The Sports Xchange

December 13, 2018 at 12:54 am.

–The Bills have been a good pass rushing team in 2018 as they rank sixth in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus in pass-rush pressure, the percentage of time they get heat on an opposing quarterback. Their figure is 36.4 percent, but it has been falling in the last two weeks because the Bills have not been as proficient.

In the losses to the Dolphins and Jets, the Bills pressured Ryan Tannehill and Sam Darnold on just 33 percent of dropbacks, and after sacking Tannehill three times in the first half, they have now gone six consecutive quarters without a sack and remain stuck at 31.

One of the issues against New York was the fact that the Jets mass-protected Darnold, which made it difficult to get home. The Bills had a season-low seven pressures in the game, they did not record a sack, and for the first time this year did not even manage a quarterback hit.

–Bills’ special teams coach Danny Crossman may be sinking deeper and deeper into hot water after the woeful performance of his units against the Jets. The Bills gave up kickoff returns of 51 and 86 yards that led to 10 New York points, they had a field goal blocked due to a breakdown right up the middle in protection, and they had an illegal formation penalty on a kickoff, which is something that should happen exactly zero percent.

“We’ve got to get it fixed,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “You can’t win football games going out and playing poor special teams. After we started off the way we did on special teams, it was trying to make an adjustment within the game. … At the end of the day, we weren’t good enough.”

The Jets’ average drive start for the game was their own 47, while the Bills was 20 yards worse, the 27. “That’s not a recipe for success right there,” McDermott said.

“We need to come out and establish a tone on special teams, and that starts with our coverage units, our kickoff coverage unit in particular,” McDermott said. “Sometimes that just comes down to guys flying around and feeling a part of something bigger than them – just buying into something and going down there and buckling it up and going to hit someone. That’s something that we need to get done.”

BY THE NUMBERS: 6 – Games the Bills defense has held the opponent under 250 yards, which is partly why Buffalo is now No. 1 in the NFL in fewest yards allowed. However, the Bills are 2-4 in those games.

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