How close were the Buffalo Bills to being 10-0 rather than 5-5 in 2023?

Week 9 Buffalo Bills vs. the Bengals

The Bills defense was getting carved up early on, allowing 21 points in the first half while the offense struggled again. However, a few of the plays in the first half did not go in the Bills' favor in terms of penalties not being called in the Bills' favor, potentially taking away at least 3 points from the Bills. 

However, in the second half, the defense did a great job holding the Bengals to only 3 points. On three of the four drives, the offense was moving downfield, though the offense only put up 10 points, mainly due to a costly Kincaid fumble. The Bills' defense with around four minutes left in regulation failed to give the ball back to the offense and let the Bengals run out the clock.

Week 10 Buffalo Bills vs. Broncos

The defense kept the Bills in the game until the end, but the offense did everything in their power to lose that game. The first person to blame would be Allen, who had a pretty bad game, but with a combination of drops, fumbles, and questionable play calls, that's overall setting the team up for failure.

Dorsey punished James Cook for one fumble that he had at the start of the game. Cook wouldn't seek another snap until the second quarter, and ran the ball well all night, along with Latavius Murray. Although they both only combine for 21 attempts, Cook would only get 12 of those and average almost 10 YPC. If the running game is working well, you have to implement the run game more in the offense, especially if the quarterback is struggling.

The real question is, why is the run game being abandoned when it's working? Something that Dorsey had done repeatedly throughout the season, which puts the offense in difficult situations. 

Dorsey realized this on the last offensive drive of the game, where Cook would put the offense in the red zone and cap off the drive with an Allen rushing touchdown. Now the defense would have to keep up their dominance and prevent the Broncos from scoring. 

As the Broncos were at midfield on second down, the defense would come up with a huge sack to push the Broncos out of field goal range, putting them in a difficult situation. Then, McDermott sent an all-out blitz with the corners in man coverage, to which Russel Wilson easily drew up a pass interference on Taron Johnson.

The Broncos would kneel the ball three times and hurry up special teams for a 41-yard field goal, which was no good. Then again, coaching fails to come through as a 12-man penalty gets called on Buffalo, and the Broncos would take that opportunity to win the game.

Overall, the Bills sit at 5-5 with multiple chances to improve their record. Lots of it is a combination of coaching and execution, as McDermott fails to call an effective defense in the clutch and Dorsey fails to put his offense in the best situation. Along with Allen continuing to commit stupid turnovers, fans know what Allen can do when he's on his A-game.

Putting Allen in comfortable situations is key to the offense succeeding, and that starts with implementing the run game and drawing players open. With Dorsey fired and Joe Brady stepping in, there are questions about whether the offense can turn this season around. McDermott may also be coaching his last season in Buffalo if the team can't form some sort of resurgence.