Orchard Park, N.Y. — It’s no secret that the Buffalo Bills offense has been struggling to generate points in recent weeks.

A 19-16 loss on the road against a 3-6 Cleveland Browns team finally exposed a problem the Bills offense has been dealing with all season despite a strong record of 6-3.

Bills coach Sean McDermott said Monday and then reiterated Wednesday that the name of the game is scoring points. He delivered a specific message to his players this week in hopes of inspiring them to score more points against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.

“Coach sat us down today and said, ‘Play fearless,’” Bills quarterback Josh Allen said on Wednesday. “To have that green light and confidence from him still means a lot. Not saying I’m going to go out there and be reckless - those are two different terms for a reason. Just be very aware of what’s going on but not be gun shy about anything.”

Allen’s been riding an impressive streak without an interception over his last four-plus games. He’s gone 128 straight passes without a pick. But in those games the Bills have gone just 2-2 and he’s turned in two sub-60 percent completion percentage performances in a season where he’s upped his accuracy numbers as a whole. Sunday’s loss against the Browns may have highlighted to Allen and the Bills coaching staff that being gun shy might be holding Allen and this offense back.

Josh Allen said Sean McDermott used the term "fearless" when talking about how he wants the offense to play.



"To have that green light and confidence from him still that means a lot." @WGRZ #Bills pic.twitter.com/m2SBDX8xWr — Heather Prusak (@haprusak) November 13, 2019

Bills center Mitch Morse said that this is a moment of the season that he thinks the offense comes together more as a group. Sometimes the answer to some questions on either side of the ball is about dialing back some of the details and remembering to just play football.

“We don’t need to change everything just because we lost one game. But I think we need to look at what gets us stuck in certain situations,” Morse said. “When you think too much on the football field you don’t play as fast. That doesn’t mean don’t think but it means be confident in yourself and be confident in your group of guys with you. Maybe sometimes less is more ... and then go out and play football.”

Allen wasn’t bad against the Browns last week but he said he knows he left a few opportunities on the field to get the ball to his playmakers that were open. He completed 54 percent of his passes for a career-high 266 yards while running for a pair of touchdowns. Through 20 games Allen has one more touchdown (20) than he has interceptions (19), and is the first one to tell you he’s still a work in progress.

“I know I’m nowhere near where I need to be; nowhere near where I want to be,” he said. “Where I want to be is higher than where I need to be. I hold myself to a very high standard.”

Allen has confidence that the Bills can get the offense on track and where it needs to be to start scoring more points. He said Buffalo is 6-3 for a reason.

Bills running back Frank Gore smiled when he heard that reporters found out that McDermott told players to “Play fearless.” The 36-year-old third All Time leading rusher simply said nobody has to worry about that with him because he plays fearless every time he steps on a football field.

Buffalo linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said McDermott’s message is a way to get his message out to the entire team as a sort of reminder of what’s expected on Sundays.

“Often times when you’ve lost two or three, and you haven’t played your best ball, the outside (noise) can kind of come into the locker room," Alexander said. "People start talking: ‘I saw this on Twitter. And they said this about me.’ And you can sometimes believe it.”

McDermott’s message reiterated to players that there is a reason they’re all on the team.

“Don’t try to play against Miami and play to not make a mistake. But go out there and play ball. We’re all here for a reason,” Alexander said. “Everybody in this room has made great plays at some point. Just get back to that and that mindset that I’m gonna make a play instead of, I hope I don’t mess up.”

The Bills face the Dolphins Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium.

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