BY DAN BEGNOCHE
Seventeen regular-season weeks and a bye. That's how long it's been since the Buffalo Bills have won away from home.
“I have no reason,” Gailey told the media Wednesday. “If I knew a reason I would solve the problem. I do not. We have not played well on the road. I do not have an answer to that one.”
One obvious issue has been the defensive effort they've put forth while away from Ralph Wilson Stadium. In the combined eight losses, the defense has given up an average of 36 points per game, including three over 40. Buffalo's offense wasn't much better, averaging half that amount during the losses.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick told reporters he didn't realize it had been that long since a road win and didn't pinpoint a specific reason for their troubles, either.
“That is not a good stat," he said. "I think it is obviously too long, too many games in there that we have lost on the road. I do not know if you can pin it on one thing. It is always easier playing at home, tougher going to play an opponent at their place having to handle the crowd noise, the distractions and everything that goes with it.
"That is something which hopefully we break that trend in a hurry because if you do not win games on the road then you are not going to be very successful.”
But if there was ever a time to break the streak, that time may be now. Buffalo rolls into Cleveland to face a Browns team winless in their first two games and ailing on both sides of the ball. While Gailey called the Browns' defense “relentless” Wednesday, they have still allowed an average of 26 points and more than 400 yards on average their first two games.
The Bills' offense has averaged more than 30 points a game, and their defense looked much better in Week 2 after a deplorable performance in New York. These two teams have a history of gritty, low-scoring games, however, with their past two meetings ending in combined scores of 19 and 9, respectfully.
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