Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey hearing criticism after two lackluster games

ORCHARD PARK - Two straight games of sub-par offensive performance have catapulted Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey into a cauldron of criticism leading into Sunday’s game against the Patriots.

Mind you, all of it is from fans and some media, none of it coming from One Bills Drive, something Josh Allen wanted to make perfectly clear.

Allen was asked Wednesday if the noise surrounding Dorsey is misguided and he replied, “All of it is. Nobody knows what’s going on between walls here; nobody knows the reads that we have in the quarterback room; nobody knows the blocking schemes that we’re putting in the offensive line room. It comes down to us executing and making sure that I’m on task and making sure that I’m trying to guide this offense in the right way. Making sure I’m making good decisions. It starts with me, so that’s No. 1.”

UPDATE, Nov. 11: Buffalo Bills remove Ken Dorsey as offensive coordinator

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Of course you would expect Allen to say that. And you would expect center Mitch Morse to chime in that, “It’s feast or famine for everyone. When something doesn’t go well, the world’s going to hell, and when things are going well, it’s no one’s ever been a greater play-caller.”

Somewhere in the middle probably lies the answer.

Lets face it, when the Bills were scoring 123 points in consecutive victories over the Raiders, Commanders and Dolphins, you didn’t hear a peep about Dorsey’s play-calling. But now, after the Bills scored a combined seven points in the first three quarters of each of their last two games, there are some who are wondering whether head coach Sean McDermott should change play-callers.

What?

Seriously, it’s a little insane. Clearly, the last two weeks have not been sharp for a Buffalo offense that is capable of so much more, and inconsistency has been an issue. But when you look at the season-long performance, the Bills’ offense remains one of the best in the NFL almost across the board.

Third in points per game (28.8), fifth in total yards (374.8), eighth in passing yards (256.7), second in third-down percentage (49.9%), fifth in first downs (22.0), and second in red zone touchdown percentage (75.0%). And Dorsey is getting grilled by the masses.

“If you look at statistics over the last couple years, of how much we’ve scored and how efficient we’ve been as an offense and how many drives end in points, we’re at the top or near the top in almost every statistical category,” Allen said. “Just because we’ve hit a lull right now doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.”

To his credit, Dorsey claims to understand it because given the quarterback that he has, surrounded by some of the weapons in his arsenal, the expectations are massive for the Bills’ offense. And yes, he’s the guy calling the plays so there’s an undeniable responsibility on Dorsey’s shoulders when the offense sputters the way it has in the last two weeks, especially early on.

“I have to make sure I’m putting my guys in the right position to be successful in the first half,” he said. “It comes down to our execution and what we do and when we focus on us, usually everything else kind of takes care of itself. I think at the end of the day, when you look at it, there’s a lot of good in there. We just have to sustain and again, I think that’s something that we’re going to continue to focus on.”

McDermott, who answered the question about what chance there was of him changing play-callers with a flat “zero,” did acknowledge that the slow starts are a concern.

“I think we’ve got to look hard at that, right?” he said. “We have not gotten off to a good start the last two games and so we’re doing work this week to figure out why and what we can do to improve that. We’ve got to be more detailed, and the level of detail has got to lead to a higher level of execution for us.”

And one other thing McDermott said could be seen as a veiled shot at Dorsey. He was asked about why wide receiver Deonte Harty hasn’t been more involved and his reply was, “I just think overall, whether it’s Harty or some of the other names that could be brought up as well, I think it’s just about we’re going into Week 7 now, we should know some of these guys and what they do best and the roles that they’re going to play so that we can be the best offense we can become.”

McDermott elevated Dorsey to offensive coordinator prior to the 2022 season when Brian Daboll left to become head coach of the Giants. Dorsey was the logical choice as he had been Allen’s QB coach since 2019 and McDermott knew that there was no reason to go outside the organization and bring in someone who might tinker with an offense that had been so good for the previous two years.

And in 2022 the offense was very good. Sure, it didn’t end well, but with Dorsey calling the plays the Bills scored at least 30 points in nine of their 18 games; they ranked No. 2 in the NFL in points (28.4 per game), yards (397.6), first downs (22.9), yards per play (6.1), yards per drive (39.1), points per drive (2.64), and were No. 1 in third-down conversions (50.2%).

Then this season began and against an outstanding Jets defense, the Bills laid an egg, though that certainly couldn’t be blamed on Dorsey; he wasn’t the quarterback who turned the ball over four times, one worse than the next. What has followed were three dynamic games, and now a pair of clunkers.

McDermott made a good point in that it’s Week 7 now and there are pieces in this offense that have not been developed or utilized.

“Every time we touch the ball we want to score and that hasn’t happened the last couple weeks,” Allen said. “We know as an offense we’ve got to be better. It comes down to the guys on the field, myself included, executing the plays that coach Dorsey calls. I trust him implicitly. We’re working through some things and this adversity is going to help us moving forward.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Ken Dorsey under fire as Bills offense struggles last two games