Following the Buffalo Bills 14-10 loss to the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football, frustrations are at an all-time high.
The Bills (7-5) not only allowed the Patriots (9-4) to maintain their lead in the AFC East, but Buffalo dropped back to seventh place in the conference. They are narrowly clinging to the final Wild Card spot.
Following the game, Bills players and coaches alike were visibly on edge while speaking with the media.
Bills safety Micah Hyde was asked if it’s fair to say the run game is an issue for this defense.
“You asked me that last time,” Hyde replied sharply. “They ran the ball how many times? 46 times? Do I think that’s an issue for this team… for this defense? No I do not… we can always do better… we can always do better.”
Following that exchange, Hyde and fellow safety, Jordan Poyer, were asked if the run defense was “embarrassing.”
Both Hyde and Poyer were clearly upset by that question and had a well documented response before eventually walking out of the press room.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen was not immune to the apparent irritation, either.
“We’ve gotta find a way to win… I don’t know what you want me to say. We didn’t play good enough,” Allen said following the game. “We gotta play better than the other team that we play on every Sunday, Monday, Thursday, whatever it may be and we haven’t done that too often in the last few weeks and we understand that.”
When Allen was asked to describe the mood in the locker room, the QB didn’t hold back.
“I think frankly, we’re pissed off,” Allen said. “We’re pissed off because we want to be great. We’re pissed off for greatness. And we expect so much out of ourselves that when we don’t play the way we know we can play, it can be angering at times. But again, with the makeup of the guys that we got, I got no doubt in our ability, in our team ability to turn this around and start winning games here towards the end of the season.”
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who typically gives very little during his post-game press conferences, seemed more emotional than usual.
When asked if it is frustrating watching Patriots coach Bill Belichick do what he does best, McDermott was quick to cut that notion off.
“Ya, it’s not Bill… let’s not give more credit than we need to give to Bill Belichick in this one,” McDermott stated.
“It was… whether it was Bill or anyone else, they beat us, right? But you sit here and you tell me when we start with the average starting field position at the 40 yard line and he starts at the 23-yard line… and we were one for four in the red zone and they were 0 for one in the red zone, you give me that ahead of time and I’ll say I like my chances, I like my chances. So it’s not… I don’t think, with all due respect it’s not a Bill Belichick type thing, it’s what are you doing with the opportunities that you got?”
When asked how the Bills players and coaches take this visible frustration and use it going forward, McDermott did his best to give some sort of answer to a question that no one most likely has a direct answer to.
“You just keep doing your best to solve problems. That’s what you do. You keep coaching, you work your ass off, players work their ass off and we each gotta do a better job starting with me.”
McDermott continued, “that’s what you gotta do. It’s a short week and we’re going against another good football team down in Tampa, the defending World Champs. So, that’s what you gotta do. We’ve gotta figure it out. We’ve gotta continue to try to figure this thing out to why we’re performing the way we are and you know… I think I got a pretty good idea.”
McDermott concluded by saying he doesn’t think his emotion on the sideline has a negative impact, either.
“No, I think they know what I stand for,” McDermott said. “I think they know me well enough to know how I am day to day. I’m standing up for my team in those situations is what I’m doing… or I’m trying to encourage, or challenge my guys in a motivating way to get them to perform at a higher level, to get us to coach at a higher level. That’s what leaders do.”
While Hyde and Poyer did not take kindly to the question about being embarrassed, McDermott answered a similar question, very matter of fact.
“I get embarrassed every time we lose,” the coach said. “I take it personally and I expect our team to do the same.”
Frustration can be channeled into a positive, or it can cause a team to unravel further.
As the Bills head to Tampa Bay, to face old friend Tom Brady, in what has now become a challenge just to make the postseason… we’ll find out which it is for Buffalo.
[lawrence-related id=92804,92661,92807]