Getty Sean McDermott reacts to a play in a Buffalo Bills game.
After the Buffalo Bills dropped a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings on November 13, head coach Sean McDermott fell back on a common refrain.
“It makes it awfully hard to win a football game when you turn the ball over four times,” McDermott said, a near identical statement to one he had made the week before when the Bills lost the New York Jets.
McDermott was not afraid to call out his team’s performance following the 33-30 loss to the Vikings, but also expressed optimism that they would bounce back from the crushing defeat.
McDermott Critical of Bills’ Turnovers
As McDermott noted, the Bills had four very costly turnovers in the game. Running back Devin Singletary lost a fumble, and quarterback Josh Allen had a first-half interception and then two more turnovers that sealed the loss. The first was a fumble that came with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, with Allen fumbling a snap after the Bills’ defense had made a goalline stand.
Though the Vikings recovered in the endzone for a touchdown, Allen led the Bills back to a game-tying field goal and forced overtime. After the Vikings kicked a field goal on their first possession in overtime, Allen led the Bills on a drive into field-goal range, but threw an interception in the endzone that ended the game.
After the loss, McDermott called out the mistakes. He said the Bills put themselves in position to win, but gave it away.
“We’ve got to do a better job, we had opportunities to win the game but need to do a better job of taking care of the football,” McDermott said.
Josh Allen is currently leading the NFL with 10 interceptions🤯
Allen has struggled with turnovers, throwing two in each of the last three games. Though the Bills were able to overcome the interceptions in a win over the Green Bay Packers, they lost to the Jets on November 6, with McDermott airing a similar grievance about turnovers and lost opportunities.
“It’s hard to win the game when you turn the ball over,” McDermott said after the Jets loss. “We had opportunities and we shot ourselves in the foot.”
But McDermott was still optimistic after the loss to the Vikings.
“I believe in this team,” he said.
Allen Puts Blame on Himself
After Sunday’s loss to the Vikings, Allen took the blame for his turnovers, especially the costly fumble that allowed the Vikings to steal the lead.
“It’s on me,” Allen said, via a report from ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg. “Can’t have that.”
Center Mitch Morse, who combined with Allen in flubbing the exchange on the quarterback sneak attempt with the Bills pressed against their own goalline, came to the defense of his quarterback.
The #Bills had the game won after a 4th-down stop by the defense late in the 4th quarter. Here’s what Mitch Morse and Josh Allen said about the fumble.
“In any situation where there’s a snap like that, I put that on myself,” Morse said. “And it’s just unacceptable on my end … it’s just one of those things where you have to gut through the film and see what happened. … It was a game-altering play, which is tough.
“It’s one of those plays that you look back when you’re 40 and you wish you had back.”