Buffalo Bills: 4 biggest disappointments from first four games
Third Quarter Woes
As great as the Buffalo Bills offense has been this season, they have scored a grand total of seven points in their combined third quarters. Hypothetically, if all of the first four games only counted the score from the 3rd quarter, the Bills would be 0-4 rather than 4-0. The Bills have lost the 3rd quarter by a combined score of 27-7.
Obviously, all the responsibility for the Buffalo Bills’ third quarter woes do not fall solely on the offense, the defense is equally to blame for the team’s struggles. By allowing the opposing team to drive down the field and keep possession, it negates the ability of the Bills’ offense to score points in the third quarter. Thankfully, the Bills have been dominating the first half this year so this issue hasn’t been the cause for a loss this year, but it certainly has been the most obvious trend through four games.
To be fair, the Buffalo Bills have received the opening kickoff in the second half in just one of their first four games which would definitely help towards setting the tempo for the second half. Additionally, the Bills have been in a similar game script in most of their games this season where they can afford to play more conservatively on both sides of the ball.
However, the Bills have been most successful on offense this season when they are aggressively pushing the ball down the field with chunk plays. Late in Week 4 against the Raiders, the Bills defense also showed that they are much more successful when they are playing aggressively and ripping at the football, rather than sitting back in a zone shell.
Head coach Sean McDermott has been asked about this issue multiple times in press conferences throughout the first quarter of the season. Eventually, if nothing changes the 3rd quarter struggles will begin to catch up with their final record on the season. Obviously, McDermott and the team understands that these struggles are much more than a coincidence and it has to improve if the team wants to continue throughout the season with this current level of success.