Buffalo Bills ‘Blame-O-Meter’: Who’s at Fault for the Team’s Struggles?

2. Sean McDermott (9/10)

Bills head coach Sean McDermott isn't just the defensive coordinator of the football team.

While it's impressive that McDermotts banged-up defense held the Bengals offense to just 24 points this past Sunday, despite being in a short field for most of the night, he's still at fault for the Bills struggles because, after all, he's the head coach.

McDermott has never been good enough, at least in my opinion, at situational football. The greatest example is the Bills 13-second debacle against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 playoffs, but there have also been a number of instances this season.

For example, the Bengals possessed the ball for over 23 minutes in the first half alone on Sunday night, scoring 21 points. While part of possessing the ball is sustaining long drives, something the offense wasn't doing, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was nearly perfect in the first half — something McDermott was supposed to handle when former Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier stepped away from the team after the 2022 season.

Not to mention, the Bills defense was solid for most of the second half but when they needed one final stop to give their offense a chance to capture its first lead, McDermott couldn't draw up the right plays to get things done.

Once again, I understand the Bills defense is injured but McDermott handles all three facets of the football team and no facet has been good enough this season — especially when you consider that McDermott continues to say everything is under control when in reality, that's not the case.

Eventually, the excuses will run out for the Bills seventh-year head coach.