The Buffalo Bills have never lost two consecutive games going into a bye week under head coach Sean McDermott.
Until now.
The team dropped their second loss of the 2025 NFL season on Monday Night Football to the Atlanta Falcons by a final score of 14-24, a week after losing to the New England Patriots.
“It’s gonna eat at me the next two weeks,” Allen said after the game. “I mean, a lot of stuff to clean up.”
The Bills continued to struggle on offense for the second week in a row, though there were some flashes of their big-play potential with Josh Allen under center. The Buffalo QB also threw two more interceptions, however, and was sacked multiple times.
The team now heads into their bye week at 4-2 with more questions than answers.
Allen and the Bills looked the part of contenders for another MVP and playoff run in their first several games, averaging 30+ points, executing, and protecting the football. The run and passing games were also successful in those contests, but have looked more sputtering and limited in their last two outings, aside from a career game by TE Dalton Kincaid against New England.
“We had our opportunities to take advantage of and we didn’t,” Allen noted. “It sucks when you feel like two-thirds of your team (special teams and defense) are doing their job and you’re the team not to pull your weight. It sucks.”
The Bills’ defense struggled as well, particularly in stopping the run, which has been a consistent issue year-to-year for McDermott and company. And a costly one at times, as was the case Monday night.
Even still, the defense gave the offense several opportunities to get back in and win the game in the second half. But OC Joe Brady’s squad went three-and-out four times, two of which were with a chance to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Buffalo’s O-line, known for its protection of Allen with the lowest pressure rate in the NFL (22.3%) entering Week 6, allowed pressure on 44.1% of his dropbacks (15 out of 34) against Atlanta, which is the highest pressure rate the QB has faced in a game since a 2024 NFL Week 5 loss to Houston.
Allen forced the first of two interceptions at the end of the first half, and the second on the final drive of the game. The Bills didn’t use James Cook on the field in key situations as well, with three of their four three-and-outs coming without the RB1 carrying the ball or utilizing him similarly to how the Falcons use Bijan Robinson.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” head coach Sean McDermott said. “We’ve got to dive deep into what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, making sure we’ve got the right people in the right positions, and then the execution at the end of the day, we’ve got to start from ground zero and work our way back up.”
Allen has often mentioned ‘finding a way to win’ as he did postgame in this instance, but perhaps a different mindset might elevate him and the offense back to the elite level of play he achieved in Brian Daboll’s offense the season before the former OC became the head coach of the Giants.
One in which Allen and the offense were dominant.
The team will next look to adjust and bounce back against the Carolina Panthers coming out of their bye week, before taking on their AFC rival Kansas City Chiefs the week after that.