My guess is that the Bills’ coaches didn’t get much sleep Sunday night.

As soon as the flight from Jacksonville landed in Buffalo, it’s likely coach Sean McDermott’s staff double-timed it back to One Bills Drive to start reviewing the horror video that was the Jaguars’ stunning 9-6 victory earlier that afternoon at TIAA Bank Stadium.

There was plenty of coaching guilt to go around, though coordinator Leslie Frazier’s defense earned a pass … but not necessarily from McDermott.

Hold a team to 218 yards total offense, the lowest number surrendered by Buffalo since December 2018, and a mere six points, that should easily be enough to win even though six of the Bills’ 12 penalties were against that unit.

After the game, McDermott, somewhat cryptically, allowed, “We’ve got to look back at some of the things we did defensively as well … trying to get off the field earlier and give the ball back to our offense.”

What, did he want Frazier’s ‘D’ to score too?

Buffalo had nine possessions during the game, three turnovers (two interceptions and a lost fumble), three punts, two field goals and a turnover on downs. In short, besides the field goals, the Bills had seven other chances in which to score and they squandered them to varying degrees.

THE PENALTIES were particularly galling as the dozen flags and 118 yards marked off were season highs.

As with one of his Bills’ coaching predecessors, Gregg Williams, McDermott, when the team struggles with infractions, has maintained “that’s not us.”

Well, yes it is.

Buffalo, going into Sunday, was tied for seventh-most penalties in the league and five of the teams worse than the Bills had played one more game.

BUT, INFRACTIONS aside, this game was lost because McDermott’s team, for the second straight game, wasn’t ready to play. And that’s on him.

Going back to the first half against the Dolphins at Orchard Park, through the loss at Jacksonville, in three halves, Buffalo’s offense has mustered a trio of field goals.

And while some of the blame falls to quarterback Josh Allen, who has been accused of playing “Hero Ball” when seemingly trying to do too much, he was hardly the lone culprit in the loss.

Allen played the entire game under siege as his offensive line did an imitation of a quintet of turnstiles letting in the Jaguars’ defensive front with impunity.

Ultimately, being sacked four times and hit on eight other occasions, the latter contributing to his two interceptions, led to one of his worst efforts as a pro.

Is it possible the injured absence of veteran guard Jon Feliciano and rookie tackle Spencer Brown led to the line’s implosion? Certainly, subs Ike Boettger and Cody Ford, at the guard spots, hardly distinguished themselves. Indeed, Ford, the second-round draft choice in 2019, has proven to be a certified bust and figures soon to be out of Buffalo.

But you also had the idea that general manager Brandon Beane and McDermott harbored concerns about the offensive front when the Bills drafted tackles Brown and Tommy Doyle, consecutively, in the third round and fifth rounds last spring.

FINALLY, of course, there’s the running game … or lack of it.

Even McDermott is painfully aware that it’s an issue.

Oddly, Buffalo ranks a respectable 11th in the league, rushing for 120 yards a game. The problem is that a third of those yards have been gained by Allen, too high of a percentage for an elite quarterback who’s at risk every time he takes off on foot.

Currently, he has the team-best yards per carry (5.3) and is tied with Zack Moss for most rushing scores (3). Moss and Singletary, the team’s rushing leader (339), have combined

to produce 566 yards on the ground, an unacceptable 71 per game. That lack of balance puts too much pressure on Allen’s arm and legs.

AND, OH YEAH, Sunday’s loss — the worst in McDermott’s tenure and one of the most hurtful non-playoff defeats in franchise history, considering Buffalo was favored by 14½ points — dumped the Bills into a cauldron of 11 AFC teams at .500-or-better heading into the season’s second half.

Pending last night’s Bears-Steelers game, Buffalo (5-3) is tied for third with the Chargers and Raiders and possibly Pittsburgh if it beats Chicago Monday night, behind Tennessee (7-2) and Baltimore (6-2) in the conference.

And with only one of seven teams getting a first-round playoff bye …

As McDermott might say, suddenly there’s a lot of work to be done.

(Chuck Pollock, an Olean Times Herald senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@oleantimesherald.com)