The Bills and Ravens have very different records after the first six weeks of the season, but the two preseason contenders are heading into their Week 7 byes with similar plans.
Baltimore is hoping to get healthy enough to make a run at the playoffs despite a 1-5 start to the season. The Bills are 4-2, but those two losses have come in the last two weeks and head coach Sean McDermott was talking about a rebirth as well after Monday night’s loss to the Falcons.
McDermott said that his team is “not good enough” after their defense gave up 443 yards and their protection for quarterback Josh Allen consistently broke down in the passing game. Allen was sacked four times and he threw a pair of interceptions in a 24-14 loss that could have been even worse if Falcons wide receiver Drake London had not stepped out of bounds just before scoring on the final play of the first half.
In his postgame press conference, McDermott was asked how important the bye week will be. McDermott said he hoped to get some injured players back, but made it clear that won’t be enough to turn the tide for the Bills.
“Figure out things on offense, defense and special teams,” McDermott said. “We’ve got to start over and start from ground zero and figure this thing out and work our tails off to do it.”
The Patriots and Bills are both 4-2, but New England won their game in Week 5 and that gives them first place in the division after six weeks. It’s been a while since the Bills had serious competition in the AFC East and that will make it even more important that they make the right tweaks in the coming days.
