ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey on Tuesday with the Josh Allen-led attack stagnating over a six-week stretch and the three-time defending AFC East champions falling further out of the playoff picture.
The move came a day after a 24-22 loss to the Denver Broncos in an outing Allen committed three of Buffalo's four turnovers and the offense was held under 26 points for a sixth straight outing to match the longest stretch since the quarterback's rookie season in 2018.
Second-year quarterbacks coach Joe Brady takes over as interim coordinator. He joined the Bills after spending the previous two seasons as Carolina's offensive coordinator.
Buffalo (5-5) has lost four of six and prepares to host the New York Jets on Sunday.
Dorsey was unable to complete his second season on the job after being Allen's hand-picked successor to take over after Brian Daboll was hired to coach the New York Giants. Daboll spent four seasons in Buffalo, with his hiring coinciding with the Bills trading up five spots to select the raw and erratic but strong-armed Allen with the seventh pick in the 2018 draft.
Under Daboll, Allen set numerous single-season franchise records for passing and scoring.
Coach Sean McDermott ran out of patience with the offense's struggles and its inability to pick up the slack for an injury-depleted defense that's down three starters to long-term injuries and was missing two more in the loss to Denver.
After spending the past month reiterating his confidence in Dorsey, McDermott altered his message following the loss in saying: "I'm confident but I believe we can be better at the same time."
The drop-off in Buffalo's offensive production has been dramatic since opening the season 3-1 in which the Bills outscored their opponents by a combined 139-55.
In the past six outings, Buffalo has been outscored 129-123, and has particularly struggled in the first half in managing just 42 points.
Turnovers have become an issue with Allen throwing 11 interceptions, including at least one in a career-worst stretch of six straight outings.
Allen has struggled in developing a rapport with receivers outside of Stefon Diggs and rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid. The lack of production this season mirrors the struggles the Bills offense endured in closing last season.
This marks Buffalo's second change at coordinator this year. McDermott took over the defensive play-calling duties after announcing in February that coordinator Leslie Frazier was taking the year off from coaching with at least one year left on his contract.