Jekyll and Hyde: how far have the Buffalo Bills fallen?

Following a third consecutive soul-and-spirit-crushing blowout loss for the Buffalo Bills, this time at the hands of the Los Angeles Chargers, the takes were as hot as freshly fried wings. Like many of you, my friends and I talked after the game, and rationality was not high on the priority list. For those of you who missed the last Jekyll and Hyde article, what follows is a list of in the heat of the moment thoughts and remarks (Hyde) and a more rational, cool-headed view (Jekyll).

As always, add some of your own Jekyll and Hyde remarks in the comments!

Hyde: Dennison needs to be fired before leaving Los Angeles. The offense has regressed greatly this year and it is a result of his ability to call a game.

Jekyll: The beast inside was wrong on this one, but only partially. What my other half erred on is the timing of a replacement. You can point to the Broncos canning their offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, but Buffalo is 5-5 and still has a chance to make the playoffs.

I’ll wait for you to stop laughing or saying how my head needs to be examined.

While Dennison is woefully inept at play calling (I look at Tyrod running read-option down 30 late in the fourth quarter as an example of that), I am not a fan of change this late in the season.

What should happen is McDermott has a heart-to-heart with Dennison and lays down some rules, first of which should be no more designed plays to fullback Mike Tolbert. This offense has no identity and McDermott needs to put his stamp on that side of the ball one way or the other. If we want to be a running team, stop with the 30 passes a game in a close game and run. Use fullback Patrick DiMarco for what we brought him in for and get LeSean McCoy his touches.

Hyde: We are cursed. Every good start we have to a season is doomed to be .500 or worse by the end of the year. The pre-2016 Cubs have nothing on us.

Jekyll: This is a bit out there, but I can see where Mr. Hyde is coming from. As Bills fans, we have been here before during the drought. Fast starts make us think of potential bye weeks in January. By Thanksgiving, however, we fall back to Earth with a resounding, “Why us?”

In reality though, three straight weeks of having opponents blow our doors off has nothing to do with luck or curses. It has to do with a team that has glaring holes, which the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Los Angeles Chargers have exploited to near perfection.

The simple truth is that this is the team most of the national pundits predicted we would be all season. It just took longer than expected for the true team to come forward.

Hyde: Tolbert shouldn’t see the field the rest of the year. In one game, Travaris Cadet proved he is a more valuable piece to the offense then big Mike.

Jekyll: You know, you haven’t been too far off with your hot-headed takes this week. While there were few bright spots in Sunday’s game (shoutouts to Stephen Hauschka, Jordan Poyer, and Shady), the biggest positive was Cadet’s play.

Cadet proved to be a viable weapon in the passing game (6 catches for 39 yards) and offers more of a home run threat than No. 35. I understand that McDermott wanted some of his guys when he came here, but I want the best players on the field.

At this point, that is clearly Cadet.