Sean McDermott Reveals Why Buffalo Bills Benched Dorian Williams for Tyrel Dodson

The Buffalo Bills attempted to stop the defense's bleeding against the New England Patriots by benching linebacker Dorian Williams for Tyrel Dodson. Now what?

What transpired at Gillette Stadium on Sunday was between the Buffalo Bills and the football gods. The New England Patriots, for six weeks, resembled the offensive output of a rookie quarterback going up against their own Bill Belichick—borderline hysterically bad and demoralizing for any fan particularly fond of touchdown celebrations.

The Bills were fodder in a get-right matchup, costing themselves a critical game for the AFC playoff picture after a 29-25 loss to the Pats, who won on a game-winning touchdown drive from quarterback Mac Jones.

If that wasn’t enough, Week 7 was easily Jones’ best game of the season. Not only did New England score two possessions worth of points more than their next-highest total. Jones' nine yards per attempt was 30 percent higher than his next-best performance of the season, and it was his first four quarters of competence since Week 1.

Tyrel Dodson, who replaced Dorian Williams, approached by Bills head coach Sean McDermott.  / USA TODAY Sports

One reason for the loss was a lack of stability in the middle of the defense. For the first time, Buffalo truly felt the absence of linebacker Matt Milano.

Rookie linebacker Dorian Williams stepped up admirably last week against the Giants but struggled mightily on Sunday. Head coach Sean McDermott knew it, but even the ensuing adjustments weren't enough.

Williams was benched in the second quarter and replaced by linebacker Tyrel Dodson.

McDermott spoke about the decision after the game.

“Just overall, we were giving up a few plays right there at that position,” McDermott said. “Just wanted to try and calm it down a little bit.”

It’s possible Belichick planned to pick on the linebacker spot, capitalizing on the loss of a star and the presence of an inexperienced defender. For the first time in weeks, New England actually executed.

Dodson was better, totaling seven tackles, including one for loss, but the defense failed to assert itself. The Patriots would score 16 points in the second half, including the fateful touchdown in the game’s final seconds. At no point did the middle of Buffalo’s defense look like it had during the first few games of the season.

The Bills play on Thursday in Week 8, hosting a competitive Tampa Bay Buccaneers team. McDermott wasn’t ready to make a call at linebacker.

“We’ve got to evaluate that and we’ll do that,” McDermott said. “I know it’s a short week but we’ll do that. Still confident, extremely confident in Dorian.”

As always, the veil of coach speak must be acknowledged, but with only a few days to prepare, there’s a good chance Williams starts Thursday’s game in the middle of the action.

Expect the leash to be even shorter in the coming weeks. Buffalo cannot afford to let its defense fall apart at the hands of inexperience.