ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills head coach Sean McDermott didn't exactly have a vote of confidence in Brian Daboll after the Bills only mustered 10 points in a primetime Monday Night Football loss to AFC East rival New England, 14-10.
Asked if his offensive coordinator was doing a good job, McDermott responded, "I don't think honestly we took advantage of opportunities tonight... I really didn't. When the ball's at the 40-yard line, ya know? We're one for four in the red zone. So we gotta figure that part of it out."
Less than 24 hours later, McDermott was singing a bit of a different tune on the team's day off.
"Those are the things you work through, you work through your challenges," he explained.
"Challenges are different every year, and those are things we're working through to get fixed and make sure we're on the same page, and I believe we are."
Daboll agreed the pair is on the same page.
"We have conversations daily," he said, echoing the head coach. "We have a good relationship... we'll work at it."
But there's more work to do besides healing a relationship that could have potentially been bruised by a postgame press conference answer in the heat of the moment of a loss that devastates Buffalo's chances to reclaim the division title this season.
The Bills led the Patriots by two games just seven weeks ago, now they trail by a game and a half - New England now with one of a pair of games in hand - after Week 13, and the offense that was meant to pace Buffalo to be a Super Bowl contender has lacked consistency.
Monday night was a chance for the Bills to re-establish themselves as a juggernaut, but ten points from what should be a high-powered Buffalo offense simply was not enough against the Patriots, no matter the gusty, wintery conditions both teams faced at Highmark Stadium on Monday night.
With that blustery weather forcing the run, the Bills only tallied 99 yards on the ground, compared to New England's 222.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said the game plan was to run the ball, and only attempting three passes from rookie quarterback Mac Jones worked.
Now it's back to the drawing board, as the team prepares for reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay on Sunday.
It will be a tall order for the Bills. The Buccaneers are tied for a league-best 84 yards per game in run defense.
"We're all in this together... to try to fix the things we need to fix. There's quite a bit to clean up from this game, and that's what we'll do. We'll do that together," Daboll said.
The Bills only have five regular-season games remaining to tidy up the mess.
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