The Buffalo Bills had their worst offensive output of the season at the worst time last year, scoring just 10 points in a crushing playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Former receiver Isaiah McKenzie believes the gameplan may have something to do with it.
The veteran receiver, who was released by the Bills on March 17 and has since joined the Indianapolis Colts, spoke out on the team’s abrupt end to the last season. McKenzie said in an interview with Go Long’s Tyler Dunne that his team should have been better prepared for the difficult weather conditions and credited the Bengals for a better approach to the snowy field.
Isaiah McKenzie: Bills Should Have Adjusted Plan of Attack
The Bills struggled to get anything going in the 27-10 loss to the Bengals on January 22, struggling to move the ball and missing on a number of potential big plays. Quarterback Josh Allen and wide receiver Stefon Diggs had difficulty getting their timing down, with Diggs eventually letting his frustrations out in an outburst on the sidelines.
McKenzie spoke about the loss with Dunne in the podcast published on May 15, saying his team didn’t seem as prepared to play in the poor conditions. There was a wet snow that fell in the hour before kickoff, leaving the field slick and making it difficult for the Bills players to find their footing.
McKenzie said the Bengals seemed to have the right approach and wishes the Bills had followed suit.
“The Bengals ran basic routes, maybe we should’ve did that, ran basic routes,” McKenzie said. “Like out routes, go balls, you know, instead of running routes that you have to be going lateral or coming back to the football, or turning and running curls and things like that. If we were in a dome it would have been a totally different game.”
Blame to Go Around in Playoff Loss
Many of McKenzie’s former teammates offered other explanations for the loss to the Bengals. Immediately after the game, Pro Bowl linebacker Matt Milano called out the team’s lack of energy, saying they struggled to seize any momentum on either side of the ball.
‘There was no real energy, juice, no momentum,” Milano told reporters after the game. “Usually we’ll get a stop [and the] offense will score. Or offense will score, defense will make a turnover, something to bring some change in momentum. But there was none of that this week.”
John Wawrow of The Associated Press suggested that the lack of energy could have been the result of an emotionally and physically exhausting stretch of the season that left the team depleted.
“The Bills were flat from the beginning, seemingly spent from a two-month stretch in which they watched in stunned horror as [safety Damar] Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field in Cincinnati on Jan. 2, had their schedule disrupted by two winter storms, and showed signs of fatigue in a sloppy 34-31 playoff-opening win over Miami last week,” Wawrow wrote after the game.
Ex-Bills WR Criticizes Team’s Gameplan in Playoff Loss to Bengals