The Bills are No, 1 in yards allowed per game, but are No. 20 in points allowed.

The Bills have fared well in turnovers as they have forced 20, tied for 10th in the NFL.

With 31 sacks, the Bills are tied for 20th.

ORCHARD PARK – You’ll have to excuse me if I’m not all that impressed by the fact that the Bills have now taken over the No. 1 spot in the NFL’s defensive rankings.

If ever there was a case for the old axiom that statistics are for losers, this certainly works.

The Bills have played well on defense this season, there’s no doubt about that, especially in comparison to their offense and special teams, though that may be the ultimate in backhand compliments.

But if anyone is turning cartwheels over the fact that Buffalo leads the NFL by allowing just 290.6 yards per game, please, save your energy, because ranking defenses – or offenses, for that matter – based on total yardage is rather ludicrous.

Here are the numbers that matter most, and you’ll see these do not exactly paint the picture of a true No. 1 defense:

Bills win-loss record

First, the Bills’ record is now 4-9, which would currently earn them the sixth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, right up there with the rest of the dregs of the NFL such as the Raiders, Cardinals, Jets, Jaguars and 49ers.

As stated, the main reasons for the record are the awful offense and special teams, plus a very difficult first-half schedule, but looking back through history, you’re not going to find too many defenses ranked No. 1 with a won-lost record like Buffalo’s.

Points allowed

The Bills rank 20th in points allowed at 320. Last I checked, the team that gives up the fewest yards in a game wins some of them, but the team that gives up the fewest points in a game wins all the time. This defense gave up 47 points to the Ravens, 31 to the Chargers, 37 to the Colts, and 41 to the Bears. Heck, it even gave up 21 to Blake Bortles and the Jaguars.

True, not all the points are the fault of the defense, most notably four touchdown returns off turnovers by the offense. Also, due to horrible play on offense and even more horrible play on special teams, the defense has often had to defend a short field. Still, if you’re truly a No. 1 defense, shouldn’t you be making more stops than the Bills have?

Rookie linebacker Tremaine Edmunds thinks so. “We just have to do a better job getting off the field,” said Edmunds. “That starts with us.”

Performance in the red zone

Which leads to the next vital statistic. The Bills rank 28th in the league in red zone touchdown percentage allowed, meaning when the opponent drives inside the 20-yard-line this season, it is scoring a touchdown 71.2 percent of the time. The Eagles lead the NFL in this category at 44.6 percent.

This is the area of the field where the best defenses typically shine, but the Bills have not. The Jets scored touchdowns on three of their four penetrations Sunday, and for the season, opponents have scored a TD on 30 of 42 trips. Further, the Bills have now allowed a touchdown or field goal (the Jets went 4-for-4) on 40 of the 42 trips, which is a ghastly 95.2 percent.

“Yeah, we haven’t done as well in 2018 in the red zone,” said defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. “We’ve been struggling. We’ve got to go back, take a look at it real hard. We have to find a way to get better.”

In the last two games, Sean McDermott’s defense has permitted the Dolphins and Jets, not exactly a pair of powerhouse offenses, to score 48 points. And when it mattered most, with the Bills clinging to a fourth-quarter lead, the defense buckled and coughed it up.

They were almost bailed out in Miami by Josh Allen, but Charles Clay did what Charles Clay too often does and a victory went by the wayside. Sunday, the Bills took the lead with 2:31 left, then allowed rookie quarterback Sam Darnold to march the Jets to the winning score.

“You know, we had a couple opportunities to end the game,” safety Jordan Poyer admitted. “It’s football, man. Comes down to who is going to make a play. On that last play on the goal-line (Elijah McGuire’s game-winning one-yard TD run on fourth down), they were able to execute.”

The Jets had scored three touchdowns in their last five games before putting up three against Buffalo, two coming in the fourth quarter which enabled them to end a six-game losing streak. This was an offense that ranked 26th in points, dead last in third-down conversions, 31st in first downs, and 30th in total yards and passing yards.

The Dolphins? Heading into Sunday, they ranked 25th in points, 29th in third down conversions, 30th in first downs, 29th in total yards, 28th in passing yards.

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“There’s a lot of pride that takes place in this locker room,” said Poyer, recognizing the defense needed to be better. “We’re going to continue to work.”

Without the defense playing as well as it has in most games, the Bills would be in line for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, so there’s plenty to be excited about moving forward in 2019 with the bulk of the unit already established. However, every member of the defense would tell you they have to be better in several critical areas if they hope to become a dominant defense next year, the type of defense that not only can keep the Bills in games, but win games.

MAIORANA@Gannett.com