Bills Look to Learn From Mistakes After Monday Nights Overtime Loss

The Buffalo Bills lost their 2023 season opener to the New York Jets 22-16 on Monday Night Football. As a team, they had several missed opportunities to change the game.

Seventh year head coach Sean McDermott felt the loss wasn’t on one person but on the team.

The Jets (1-0) overcame the Buffalo Bills (0-1) Monday night after a 65-yard, game-winning punt return by Jets undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson.

What Happened

While both teams had a slow start, the Bills began to fall after quarterback Josh Allen’s first of three interceptions thrown.

The Bills were up 13-3 going into the second half. McDermott emphasized to his team to play smart and take care of the football, but the Jets pass rush made their presence felt. Allen was sacked five times and threw his second pick to give the Jets their first touchdown. His fourth turnover came from a bobbled snap recovered by New York’s Quinnen Williams.

Despite all four turnovers belonging to Allen, McDermott still felt the loss of the game did not come down to just one person.

The head coach admitted that he worries about what games like this can do to his quarterback’s confidence. He feels Allen is a competitive man that wants to do his best, but needs to use what he has around him.

An unsuccessful drive from Buffalo in overtime led them to send a punt back toward Gipson. He moved in and out defenders for 65 yards to the end zone for a Jets win.

Moving Forward

The solution to recover from a tough loss is to simply move forward. The team will have to play their best and learn from their mistakes as a whole. Avoid simple missed coverages, poor first-down efficiency and allowing a punt return for the game-winning touchdown.

As McDermott discussed, it’s hard to win in this league if a team produces four turnovers in one game.

The Bills will look to redeem themselves in their season home opener against the Las Vegas Raiders (1-0) at 1 p.m. Sunday.