Rex Ryan

Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan checks the scoreboard in the second half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

(Steven Senne)

Orchard Park, N.Y. — Maybe Mario Williams was on to something when he sounded off about the communication issues the Buffalo Bills are having on defense.

After a 35-25 loss to Washington Sunday that eliminated the Bills from playoff contention, Williams seemed astounded by how many times the Bills weren't on the same page.

"You know, it's crazy," Williams said. "You saw the game. You're trying to switch personnel as they're coming out of the huddle. I don't know, man. I don't know who in the world was calling, saying what personnel they're in and how that was confusing, but apparently it is. Like you say, this is game in and game out. My mindset is, if you're an attack defense, if you're going to be a bully on the field. You don't let anything else dictate what you do. We're going to put who we're going to put out there and then we're going to be able to execute and make plays with the guys out there. I don't need to wait on you to make a decision. ... We're trying to switch men. It's not like we're trying to switch plays, we're trying to switch men as they're coming out of the huddle. That's happened a few times in 10 years with me -- a few times in those 10 years -- but like you said, game in and game out, I don't know how it keeps happening."

On Tuesday, linebacker Preston Brown, who has been responsible for receiving play calls from the sideline each of the last two seasons, said calls have been coming in much slower this season than last.

"It has been an issue up in the box," Brown said. "I don't know who is getting it in because I'm getting the calls extremely late. But I mean that happens. We know guys are running people in and out, it's been happening a lot this year. The changes? I can't tell you what's going to happen. I'm not upstairs. I don't know what's gong to happen. I'm just going to go out and play my hardest these last two games."

The result is that the defense hasn't been getting aligned quickly enough and players don't know their assignments. That might be why Washington cruised out to a 21-0 lead with ease Sunday.

"We're all over the place," defensive back Corey Graham said. "We're all over the place, we don't know what's going on half the time. Half the time guys are running in, running off, guys are trying to get calls, trying to figure it out. We're not going to win because we're not good right now."

Why aren't the plays coming in on time? Even Brown doesn't know.

"I'm not sure," Brown said. "Last year, I don't know who was in the box, but we used the card system. We had guys on the cards showing what the personnel group was, but it seems this year there's been issues with that."

Brown doesn't know who is responsible for getting the play call in from the booth, but he can see the negative results of the inefficient system and he said coaches know it needs to be changed.

"I don't know who that guy is," Brown said. "We talk about it in meetings and stuff, it's been an issue with the personnel coming in and out. You can see it in the game, people are running in and out we're changing plays here and there. It's definitely been an issue. The Texans scored a touchdown on us when we were running on the field, so it definitely has been an issue and it's something that shouldn't happen.

"They run people in and off because they know we're having issues with that upstairs in the box. People are going to keep doing it, running in and off. Teams that usually are the slowest team team to the ball, they're hurrying up on us and trying to make plays because they know it's something that we've had issues with."

The most puzzling aspect of the 2015 Buffalo Bills is how Rex Ryan took a defense that ranked No. 4 in the league in 2014 and turned them into a unit that has been plagued by miscommunication and become one of the weakest defenses in the NFL.

"Because we all have to be on the same page," Graham said. "It don't matter how smart he is, how good a defense is. If we're not all on the same page, if we're not all buying into what's going, we're not going to win. That's not just the players, it's from the coaches, it's all around. We all have to buy into what's going on. If everybody't not buying in, if everybody's not on the same page, believing it's going to work, then we're not going to win."

Graham is sympathetic to the coaches who have to get the play calls in and realizes some of that falls on players as well.

"It's tough," Graham admitted. "Obviously it's tough on the coaching staff because they've got to know personnel, they have to know who's going to be out there, who's not. We've got substitutions, guys coming out there in different packages and things like that. It's a tough job for everyone. Obviously we all have to do better. We have to get the calls in fast. As players, we have to get the call and get aligned. You have to find out who you're on and you've got. It;s a process. We're all working together. When calls come in late, you just have to get aligned and when we get the call get your guy. You can't just sit here and point at the coaches or anything like that. They're trying to find personnel, they're trying to find out who's on the field. Guys re-running guys on late. The offense is acting like they're substituting and not, they're running guys out. It's like a big chess match our there. They're trying to figure it out, we're trying to figure it out. When it's all said and done we just have to execute."

Going out and executing has been a bit tougher this season because they are all learning a new defensive scheme, and it's one that isn't quite as straight forward as Jim Schwartz's scheme from 2014. Ryan said he'll evaluate what changes need to come to the defense once the season is over.

"This year in this defense, there's so much thinking that's involved with it that a lot of guys haven't been a part of," Brown said. "It's definitely been difficult but at times if you let us play you can see be one of the best defenses in the league, it just never came together like we wanted it to."

Why is that? Probably because too often, the Bills' defense hasn't been working as a unit.

"To be honest, we just have to all get on the same page," Graham said. "We're in Week 15, 16 and still we're talking about the same things. We're just all not on the same page. One guy may be playing this, one guy may be playing that. We might not know what's going on. They're rushing, speeding things and we're trying to get calls in at the last second and things like that. When we're not all on the same page, we're not going to make plays. When you're rushing, when you're trying to figure out what we're playing on defense and what we're doing out there, than it's going to be tough going out there doing your job."