Did the Bills make the right move by firing OC Ken Dorsey?

After losing to the Denver Broncos on Monday night, the Buffalo Bills have fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. Buffalo took a one-point lead with 1:55 left in the game but lost after costly defensive pass interference and 12-men on the field penalties. The offense surely struggled, but was firing the offensive coordinator with how the game ended the right call?

Heading into Week 11, the Bills rank seventh for the most offensive yards per game with 370.1. They are scoring the eighth most points (26.2), have the third-most yards per play (6.0) and have the sixth-most first downs per game (22).

Quarterback Josh Allen finished Monday night’s loss going 15-of-26 with 177 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He added a rushing touchdown, which was the score that put them ahead late in the game.

Yes, the interceptions that Allen threw and his fumble were bad and kept Denver in the game. Wins and losses are often attributed to the quarterback, and Allen is definitely not without blame for Monday’s result and the team being 5-5.

The reality of the situation is, though, that the defense hasn’t been up to snuff. They are allowing the fifth-fewest points, the 12th-fewest passing yards and the 14th-most rushing yards. Buffalo allowed 300 yards of offense at home in primetime. The defense also had a 28-yard defensive pass interference penalty on third and 10 with 35 seconds left. That allowed Denver to get into field goal range on the Buffalo 17.

After a few kneeldowns, the Broncos attempted a 41-yard field goal, which kicker Wil Lutz missed. Flags were thrown, and Buffalo’s defense had too many men on the field. This moved the ball up for a 38-yard attempt that Lutz drilled. Denver had knelt the ball three plays in a row to put the ball where Lutz wanted, and yet, heading into the first attempt, Buffalo was trying to substitute into a field goal block defense. This caused the extra man to be on the field, and the blame for the loss needs to be on the defensive coordinator or head coach, both of whom are Sean McDermott. Dorsey feels like the fall guy for the team’s 5-5 record when the blame needs to be on Allen and McDermott.

Joe Brady will take over as the interim offensive coordinator and has been serving as the quarterbacks coach. Brady was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021, during which the team had a 10-18 record, and he was fired in December of 2021.