They say you get what you deserve, and nobody deserved to lose more than the Bills on Sunday. The Bills didn’t play well enough in any facet of the game, and you can spin the lucky Wheel O’ Misery to see what contributing factor you want to think about.

Coming off a huge win in Miami, the Bills came home for a classic trap game – at home, a 6 point favorite against a team with a weaker roster and everyone already talking about playoffs in week 4. As much as I was thrilled with the dominating performance in Miami, that twinge of doubt was in my gut – are the Bills really that good?

Wanting to enjoy some success and not dwell on 15 years of futility, I convinced myself that the Bills could win any of their remaining non-New England games and the Giants were no exception. Unlike any years in that decade plus, the Bills finally have depth at many positions, so the loss of LeSean McCoy, Sammy Watkins, John Miller, and Aaron Williams would be OK – the Bills have good players behind all of these starters and the drop off could be tolerated. McCoy and Watkins are dynamic playmakers, but it’s not like they’ve been responsible for the wins Buffalo has. Karlos Williams and Percy Harvin would be just fine representing the best of the new Buffalo Bills.

To say that the Bills started off flat is an insult to flat – they were downright terrible. The first two offensive series the Bills went 3-and-out with both series ending on passes short of the first down marker with the receiver running parallel to the mark before getting tackled – painful to watch. The Bills managed a field goal on their third drive, but had a ball picked off that led directly to a New York touchdown two plays later.

By halftime, the Bills were in deep trouble – they had laid a huge egg in the early part of the game. Down 16-3, the Bills had 2 first downs, a turnover and a total of 78 yards. Oh, and they also had 9 penalties for 59 yards.

In the third quarter the Bills had a touchdown called back and missed a 30 yard field goal but eventually pulled to within a touchdown at 16-10. Five plays later poor tackling led to a 51-yard Giants score and the game was back to 24-10 and I knew that even with the Bills starting to move the ball they weren’t going to emerge victorious. In garbage time the Bills had a second touchdown nullified by a penalty – a fitting metaphor for the type of game they were playing – reality crushing what little hope was starting to grow.

The reasons for the Bills loss are numerous, but let’s dive in and take a look. First and foremost, penalties. The Bills finished with a near-record 17 accepted calls for 135 yards. And they weren’t just penalties, they were agonizingly painful penalties – two touchdowns nullified, several drives extended, a field goal taken down and replaced by a touchdown. Four of the penalties were of the boneheaded personal foul 15 yard variety – two on Jerry Hughes and two on Preston Brown. It’s great that the Bills play with emotion, but for the second time in 3 weeks that emotion has gotten away from the Bills and hurt them – this is something that absolutely must change if the Bills are going to contend this season.

Also for the second time this season, the Bills very expensive defensive line was put in check by a decisive quarterback who could get rid of the ball quickly – the Bills defense again had no answer for the strategy used by New England. They were able to get almost no pressure on Eli Manning – he stayed upright with a clean uniform for the most part and he picked the Bills apart. In a copycat league I am deeply troubled that the secret to beating the Bills high-powered defense is out – quick decisions and passes mixed with some runs up the gut and you have the Bills defense on their heels most of the afternoon. Other opponents may not be able to run the plan as well as Tom Brady and Eli Manning, but they sure are going to try and the Bills need to figure out how to handle it.

If the defensive line didn’t get any push they certainly weren’t the only Bills line losing the battle of the trenches – the offensive did not play well at all. For the most part the pass protection was adequate, but the run game had no holes for Karlos Williams. 1 yard and a cloud of dust as he hit a pile of offensive lineman being pushed backwards – ugly. Tackling was also ugly – instead of making a key tackle on 3rd and 3, Nigel Bradham bounced off Rashard Jennings as he went 51 yards to the house (Bacari Rambo and Brown also missed a tackle on the run) – make that tackle, end that drive, prevent that score and the Bills could have been right back in the game – painful to watch.

Offensively Tyrod Taylor wasn’t great, but he wasn’t the reason for the loss, either. It seems as if Taylor and The Bills are hell-bent in proving that he is a pocket passer and not a running back who occasionally throws the ball, so much so that they are doing little to move him around or having him run the ball. This is the same type of thing that killed E.J. Manuel – hemming him in and not letting him run. The Bills need to allow Taylor to be the multi-dimensional threat that he is to maximize his value. The play calling, especially down at the goal line, was boring and unimaginative and ineffective – move Taylor around and make the defense try and cover more options than they can and you stand a good chance of getting 6. Oh, and while you’re making changes to the offensive game plan, how about making sure guys run routes past the first down marker on third down instead of constantly throwing the underneath route – man, that made me sick.

I’m really not sure why I still have some optimism, but there are some positives to Sunday’s debacle. I knew that the Bills were going to lose some more games (I really didn’t see them going 14-2 with only losses to New England) and if the Bills are going to lose some unexpected games they might as well be against NFC teams – much better than losses against divisional opponents. The Bills may be past the best quarterbacks they will see this season – Brady, Luck and Manning – from here on out I think the best signal callers they’ll face are Andy Dalton and possibly Tony Romo. Other teams may know the blueprint to beating the Bills, but if they don’t have the quarterback to do it the Bills stand a good chance of winning their way – with defense. Lastly, while Taylor was not great on Sunday, he also wasn’t the reason the Bills lost. I would feel much worse if they Bills had played well but Taylor turned the ball over by forcing the ball into double coverage or being wildly inaccurate – that didn’t happen and I’m still very pleased with the young quarterback.

After 4 weeks I’m still not really sure about the Bills. I want to believe that they are talented enough and on the right track to make the playoffs, but being beaten by New England and New York is worrisome at best. The next 3 week will tell us a lot about who the Bills are – they need to win the games they are supposed to win (Tennessee, Jacksonville) and if they want to be considered contenders, they need a good showing against a team like Cincinnati. At 2-2 the Bills could still go either way – time for the Bills to step up and live up to expectations.