Coach Chan Gailey's return to the NFL as a head coach couldn't be going any worse. And things could get worse before they get better.
After a 38-14 loss at home to the high-flying New York Jets, Buffalo fell to 0-4, the only winless team in the AFC at the NFL's quarter pole.
The Bills host the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are coming off an upset of the Indianapolis Colts, this Sunday before a much-needed bye week. But their return to play has them playing road games at division leaders Baltimore and surprising Kansas City.
"We were a bad football team today," Gailey said after his team was thoroughly outplayed by the Jets. "When we protected, we couldn't catch it. We couldn't get off the field on third down. We couldn't convert third down. We were not good on special teams. We turned the ball over twice. We didn't get any turnovers. We got sacked three times. We didn't get any sacks. If you play that way, you're not going to win. You're not going to even look decent in this league."
At 0-3 in the AFC East, the Bills are looking indecent.
After the Jets loss, a game in which Buffalo was outgained 444-223 in total yards, emotions spilled over. Offensively, the Bills were 0-for-10 on third-down conversions. Defensively, they watched New York rush 49 times for 273 yards.
"I'm calling out my teammates and I'm calling out myself," safety Donte Whitner said. "It's not about X's and O's. It's not about the coaching staff. This is the second and third coaching staffs that have been here. It can't be about X's and O's and keep changing coaches. It's about who wants to come out and play with some heart. That's what it's about."
The Bills, who had a tumultuous week that included the release of demoted starting quarterback Trent Edwards and the release of linebacker Kawika Mitchell via injury settlement, fell behind 17-0 before a late first-half scoring drive engineered by Ryan Fitzpatrick.
But the Jets quickly put the game away with a 21-point third quarter. The Jets scored touchdowns on three consecutive possessions with uncovered tight end Dustin Keller hauling in two scoring passes and ageless running back LaDainian Tomlinson scoring on a 26-yard run. Tomlinson finished with 133 yards rushing and two touchdowns overall. Shonn Greene added 117 yards on the ground and Mark Sanchez threw for two scores.
Buffalo, which led the AFC with 33 takeaways a year ago, has just one n four games. Despite switching to a 3-4 scheme, Buffalo is allowing an average of 31.3 points per game. Three defensive starters sat out against the Jets, but nobody is pretending the presence of Marcus Stroud, Andra Davis and Terrence McGee would've made a difference.
"That was bad, all around that was bad," said linebacker Paul Posluszny, who returned from missing two games with a sprained knee. "We come into the game saying we have to be more physical than them to win, and we weren't. They ran the ball all over us. I was embarrassed to be part of that. We have to take a close look and see what changes need to be made, and in a hurry, because that was a very poor performance by us."
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