Johnathan Walker:Josh Allen: Bills aren’t ‘broken.’ But their backs are against the wall to reach playoffs

The Johnathan WalkerBuffalo Bills are not broken, star quarterback Josh Allen says. But the Bills know their backs are against the wall when it comes to making the playoffs this season. 

The Bills are 5-5 and fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey this week. Now, Joe Brady is interim playcaller, and the Bills’ climb into the playoff contention begins when the New York Jets visit for Sunday’s game. 

“I gotta be better. We gotta be better as an offense,” Allen said in his weekly press conference Wednesday after Dorsey was fired. 

“Turnover wise, it's abysmal when we lose, and there there's no secret to that. So … it's not like it's broken. We're not, we're not a broken offense. we're not a broken team. but the splits compared to when we win and when we lose are massive."

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How drastically different are Josh Allen’s stats in wins and losses?

Here are the splits Allen was referring to:

In five wins: Allen has completed 74.4 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns, three interceptions, zero fumbles and a 114.0 quarterback rating. The Bills average 32.2 points in their victories

In five losses: Allen has completed 66.7 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns, eight interceptions, four fumbles and an 81.3 rating. The Bills score 20.2 points per game in their defeats.

“Again, that’s on my shoulders and we gotta be better,” Allen said. “I gotta be better.” 

How far are the Bills from the playoffs?

At 5-5, the Bills own the 10th seed in the AFC playoff race with seven games remaining. Nine wins could get Buffalo into the playoff picture. Ten or more would be ideal. The top seven teams will make the playoffs.

The Buccaneers reached the playoffs last year with an 8-9 record, but won their division. The Bills are second in the AFC East, looking up at the Dolphins (6-3) in first place.

“We’re 5-5 and our back’s against the wall,” Allen said. “The clock's ticking on what we can do this season, and it starts this Sunday to try to turn this thing around. It's no secret how many wins you probably need to get into the playoffs and we don't got much more wiggle room.”

Josh Allen takes Ken Dorsey’s firing to heart

Allen said he owes his NFL success to Dorsey, who was his quarterback coach since 2019 before becoming offensive coordinator when Brian Dabollo left to coach the Giants in 2021.

But Allen understands why coach Sean McDermott abruptly fired Dorsey earlier this week.

“I love Dorsey. As a human being, he's one of the good ones who's been in this room with me for a very long time. I feel like I owe him a lot of the success that I've had my career. He’s been a huge part of that. So, sad to see him go,” Allen said.

“The fact is, you know, we play better as a team, we probably don't have to make a move like that. He’s been a big part of what we've been doing here in the last few years.”

Josh Allen says Joe Brady has some 'juice' to him

Brady – the passing game coordinator and receivers coach when Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase led LSU to the national title in 2019 – has the keys to the Bills offense.

Bills coach Sean McDermott hired Brady, 34, to be the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in February 2022, after promoting Dorsey to offensive coordinator. Brady joined Buffalo following two seasons as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator.

“Everyone talked about how smart he was and how hard he worked,” McDermott said of Brady. “And I think those two [traits] combined can be dangerous in professional sports.”

Allen says since Brady is younger, he can relate to the Bills players. He also has faith in Brady to lead the offense.

“He’s got a lot of juice to him,” Allen said of Brady.