Bills coach Joe Brady said ‘the house was on fire Sunday’ in win over the Chargers
By CHUCK POLLOCK, Senior Sports Columnist
Bills quarterback Josh Allen scored an ‘A’ for candor Sunday afternoon.
Following Buffalo surviving five turnovers, 10 penalties — eight of them major — and four sacks to hold off the Chargers, 24-16 Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, Allen didn’t sugarcoat the victory.
The ninth-year QB admitted, “It’s not a game that you expect to win … but we’ll take it them anyway we can get them.”
EVEN HEAD-COACH Joe Brady was honest abour what Allen called a “stolen” victory.
Using one of his favorite analogies Brady admitted of the game, “The house was on fire today and that’s unacceptable and that’s a reflection on me. You turn the ball over five times and you’re not going to win many games.”
So here are the Bills at 3-0 one of six unbeaten NFL teams along with Kansas City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minnesota and Las Vegas.
“I’m so proud of our defense and their response,” Brady said of beating the Chargers.”You learn a lot like ‘Are we a front-runner?’ Do we have to have early success to be successful? How are we going to handle sudden changes?
“(The defense) kept us in the game early. The first eight drives we had five (giveaways, three fumbles, two interceptions) and that’s unacceptable.”
He admitted, “It’s clearly on me, but the idea we still found a way to win the football game speaks to the character in our locker room and guys not pointing fingers and staying together.”
But Brady pointed out, “We can’t just gloss over this, ‘Hey, we won’ because that (thinking) will get you beat.
“We’ve got to make better decisions and I’ve got to call a better game and put them in a better position to have success. Everything we put on the field reflects on me. I’m not going to start off, ‘Hey you guys have to be (focused). I’ve got to start pointing my thumb at myself if it’s showing on tape, everything is a reflection of me and it can’t be ‘What are we doing about the penalties … how are they happening?
“We did a lot out there (Sunday) that’s losing football and we did a lot to lose it. But I don’t want ou guys feeling like we lost the football game. I want them pissed off like we didn’t play our best and there’s a (team) standard, but we found a way to win and they earned it.”
ONE UNEXPECTED break the Bills have gotten is that what appeared to be a brutal five-game season-opening schedule suddenly has become pretty tame: at Houston (0-3), home with the Lions (2-1) and Chargers (0-3) with the Patriots (1-2) visiting next Sunday and a Monday night game against the Rams (1-2) in Los Angeles a week later.
Those five foes are a combined 4-11.
The Texans and Chargers are two of the NFL’s five winless teams joining Miami, Tennessee and Tampa Bay.
In assessing the win over the Chargers, Brady allowed, “When you find a way to win a football game and your best player isn’t A-plus, plus, plus that says something to the team.
“We’re always going to ride with Josh, and win the game with Josh Allen and the decisions he makes.There’s some (made Sunday) he’d like to have back. But to win the game without him having to be perfect speaks to our football team.”
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
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