Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott bit the bullet and fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Tuesday, one day after they dropped to 5-5 on the season following a 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos.
The move came after Buffalo turned the ball over four times while struggling out of the gate. The Bills didn’t get their first points of the game until there were less than four minutes remaining in the first half.
In talking about the decision to fire Dorsey, McDermott noted it’s all about finding more production and consistency.
“We’ve got to find that confidence, we’ve got to find that energy, we’ve got to find that consistent level of production,” McDermott on the firing of Dorsey.
The head coach also made it clear that they are not happy with the performance of quarterback Josh Allen. “(He’s) not where we’d like him to be,” the head coach said.
Allen excelled under former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll in 2020-21, combining for 73 touchdown passes and 25 interceptions. It’s been downhill for the quarterback under Dorsey since Daboll departed to be the New York Giants’ head coach ahead of last season.
This year alone, the quarterback leads the league with 11 interceptions while turning the ball over a total of 14 times in 10 games. That’s not a recipe for success.
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Sean McDarmott, Buffalo Bills turn to Joe Brady
It’s interesting that the Bills would promote quarterbacks coach Joe Brady to offensive coordinator given Allen’s struggles under him this season.
However, there weren’t many real options from Buffalo’s perspective. Brady has experience calling plays dating back to his days as the LSU passing game coordinator in 2019 and Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2020-21.
Carolina didn’t do much under Brady, finishing 24th in scoring in 2020 and 29th in that category in 2021 before he was ultimately fired by then-head coach Matt Rhule.
But one thing has become rather clear. The status quo was not working for Buffalo under Ken Dorsey. They entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations, only to find themselves at a mere 5-5 heading into Week 11. While the Bills do rank eighth in scoring, their 18 turnovers are problematic. Whether Brady can change that remains to be seen.