ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills allowed eight sacks in their 40-32 loss Sunday to the New England Patriots, hampering their efforts to keep pace with Tom Brady and a red-hot Patriots offense.
Back in the locker room Tuesday, receiver Sammy Watkins dissected what went wrong for quarterback Tyrod Taylor and the rest of the Bills' offense.
"For the most part, I think we're doing pretty well," he said. "We just got to eliminate the turnovers. We got to move the ball down the field, for the most part. I think Tyrod got to gain trust in the lineman. We got to gain trust from Tyrod. And I think once we get everybody to trust each other, it'll be much easier.
"It's Week 2. We got a lot more weeks to play football. It's early right now, so you can't really point fingers or blame it on nobody because it's a new, collective group with so many guys and you got so many weapons and everybody got to get on the same page."
Watkins mentioned multiple times how Taylor saw little time with the Bills' first-team offense in the preseason because of injuries to several top offensive skill position players and a quarterback rotation throughout the summer.
"We're new guys," he said. "We haven't made plays with him. The more we make plays, the more he'll get comfortable with us. The more the line blocks, he'll get more comfortable with staying in the pocket. That's the thing -- with playing these games, you get to realize how much it's a big difference when you haven't played with a guy for so long. So you can't point fingers at him and saying, 'Oh, he missed these throws.' Well, some guys mess up on routes or depth."
Rex Ryan echoed the same theme as Watkins -- that Taylor needs to stay in the pocket -- in his Monday news conference.
"We had some guys open," Ryan said. "Sometimes I think we have to step up into the pocket a little bit and we had some guys open. So we can be better in a lot of those areas.
"... If I look at anything with Tyrod, I’d like to see him step back, set up and then step up in the pocket a little more. But hey to their credit, I mean shoot they were buzzing, shoot they had eight sacks. They were clearly doing something right."
Pro Football Focus measured Taylor as having 3.39 seconds on average to throw, the longest time of any quarterback in Week 2. Is that more of an indication that Taylor was forced to scramble because of protection breakdowns or that his offensive line held up and Taylor simply held the ball too long?
Let's take a look at Taylor's eight sacks for some clues:
Rob Ninkovich sack, first quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush that was picked up by a five-man protection. Taylor had a clean pocket but didn't find his first read open. He scrambled to his right, allowing Ninkovich to break off and chase Taylor down. Right tackle Cyrus Kouandjio didn't have any chance given Taylor's decision. Verdict: Taylor's fault.
Jamie Collins sack, first quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush on third down against a five-man protection from the Bills. The Patriots overloaded the 'A' gap between left guard Richie Incognito and center Eric Wood with two rushers (Chandler Jones and Collins), confusing the Bills' interior. Wood and Miller picked up Jones but Incognito kicked outside to help left tackle Cordy Glenn, allowing Collins to run free to Taylor. Verdict: Offensive line's fault.
Jones sack, second quarter: The Patriots brought a six-man rush on third down against a six-man protection from the Bills. Taylor had a clean pocket for long enough to throw but drifted too far backward, leading him to sense an outside rusher and begin to scramble. Verdict: Taylor's fault.
Jones sack, second quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush against a five-man protection. Jones beat Glenn with a lightning-quick inside move and Taylor had no chance of escaping. Verdict: Offensive line's fault.
Alan Branch sack, third quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush against a five-man protection. Miller was pressured to the outside by Branch, but Taylor had room to step up. He didn't, and Branch was able to strip-sack Taylor. Verdict: Taylor's fault.
Collins sack, third quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush against a six-man protection. LeSean McCoy wasn't able to move across Taylor in time to pick up a blitzing Collins in the left 'B' gap between Glenn and Incognito. Taylor had no shot and was strip-sacked for a second consecutive play. Verdict: Offensive line/McCoy's fault.
Jones sack, third quarter: The Patriots brought a four-man rush on third down against a five-man protection. Unlike the play before -- the Collins blitz -- this was a standard rush look from New England. Jones bull-rushed Glenn into the pocket but instead of stepping up, Taylor slid to his left and gave Jones an easy sack, his third of the game. Verdict: Taylor's fault.
Collins and Dont'a Hightower sack, fourth quarter: The Patriots brought a six-man rush against a seven-man protection. The blocking held up well initially until safety Patrick Chung came on a delayed blitz and was picked up by both Incognito and Karlos Williams, allowing Hightower to break free. Still, Taylor had a clean pocket for long enough to get rid of the ball. Verdict: Taylor's fault.