Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and the Bills offense didn’t do enough to earn a Week 13 win over the visiting New England Patriots on “Monday Night Football,” and it drew some criticism from Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott.
McDermott shared immediately after the game how the offense didn’t take advantage of their opportunities, referencing how the Bills went 1-for-4 in the red zone on an blistering cold night in Buffalo. It essentially turned into McDermott not wanting to give Patriots head coach Bill Belichick too much credit.
Daboll was complimentary, though.
“We’ve had games that we’ve been pretty good, we’ve had games that we’ve struggled,” Daboll said Tuesday, per the team. “Look, I think you always give credit to the opposition and to the guys that you’re going against. They did some good things down there. Are there certain plays that we definitely could have executed better? Absolutely. Better play calls, whatever that may be. But credit New England. They did a good job down there and, you know, they did better than we did.”
Daboll did echo McDermott while referencing how missed opportunities doomed the Bills.
One of the plays he mentioned came as quarterback Josh Allen was sacked on second-and-goal from the New England 6 yard line with under eight minutes left. It then turned into third-and-goal from the New England 15 before Tyler Bass missed a 33-yard field goal. Another play Daboll noted was a false start on tight end Dawson Knox. The crunch-time penalty backed Buffalo to third-and-14 before two straight incompletions.
“Each game presents it’s unique challenges. Yesterday there was, I’d say, a fair amount of them,” Daboll said. “We had some good plays in there. And then, obviously, we had those those drives there in the red zone that, we stall a little bit on them. … Those are things that always set you back regardless of where you’re playing, when you’re playing, the wind, sun, it doesn’t really matter.”
The Patriots were plus-1 in the turnover margin after a Josh Allen first-quarter fumble at the New England 29 yard line.
“We didn’t get going too well,” Daboll said. “We left some plays out there certainly. That starts with me. So, try get it corrected this week against Tampa Bay.”
The Patriots maintained the No. 1 seed in the AFC after Monday’s win. And while New England enters a bye week, the Bills, who are second in the AFC East, get set for a tough clash against the Buccaneers in Week 14.
