ORCHARD PARK - I put it to Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott as plainly as I could when he sat down to meet with reporters late Monday night.

I asked him whether that was one of the most inexplicable losses he has ever suffered, and his answer was “Absolutely.”

How could it not have been, right?

In a game the Bills had no business winning, that’s exactly what had happened when Denver’s Wil Lutz pushed a 41-yard field goal attempt wide right with four seconds remaining. The sellout crowd went wild, the Bills’ bench went bonkers, and then … what?

Flag on the play, the Bills had 12 men on the field. For those who may be new to football, you can only play with 11, so Lutz was given a second chance from five yards closer, and he drilled it to give the Broncos a 24-22 victory that may very well crush Buffalo’s playoff chances.

“We practiced that two or three times this week, the substitution from dime to field goal block and at the end of the day, we didn't execute it,” McDermott said through clenched teeth. “So it's inexcusable.”

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Sure was, but that incredible mistake was right in line with the entire night as the Bills put forth yet another horrible performance on offense and lost to a team with a losing record for the third time this season.

“Just a lot of bad football. A lot of bad football,” said quarterback Josh Allen, who was responsible for an unhealthy amount of that bad football.

At 5-5, the Bills are going to need to a miracle if they hope to earn a playoff berth. All you have to do is look at the schedule over the final seven weeks and if you can find the five wins it will probably take just to give them a chance, God bless you.

Here’s how I graded the Bills:

PASS OFFENSE: F

I think this is the case, but I’m not sure Josh Allen can play much worse than he did in this game. Against a Denver defense that was the laughingstock of the NFL in Week 3 when it gave up 70 points and 726 yards to the Dolphins, Allen looked like he was back at Wyoming playing against a Power 5 conference school.

He completed only 15 of 26 passes for 177 yards, though to be fair, there were at least four drops, one of which led directly to one of his two interceptions. That wasn’t on him, but his horrible throw late in the first half that gift-wrapped a field goal for the Broncos was all him. Allen looks lost right now. Nothing is coming easy, every decision and every throw looks labored in an offense that has gone completely stagnant.

Stefon Diggs had his worst game of the year, three catches for 34 yards, and while Gabe Davis had one nice catch and run for 37 yards, he had just one other catch, and it was his hands who Allen’s right-on-the-money pass went through that resulted in a drive-killing interception.

RUN OFFENSE: A

James Cook had a bizarre night. He fumbled after catching a pass on the first play from scrimmage, stood on the sidelines much of the rest of the first half, but once McDermott put him back in, he played one of the best games of his career as he finished with 109 yards and a 9.1 average.

However, he put the ball on the ground again in the midst of a 42-yard run on Buffalo’s last possession and was fortunate it bounced right back up to him and he continued on.

While Cook was being punished, Latavius Murray ran well with 68 yards on nine attempts and one TD as the Bills finished with a season-high 192 rushing yards. Allen had only 13 yards, but he did score the go-ahead six-yard TD on a bootleg with 1:55 left to play.

PASS DEFENSE: C

Minus five starters, the defense was up against it all night and Russell Wilson, cagey veteran that he is, methodically worked the ball down the field on several drives including the game-winner. Wilson completed 24 of 29 for 193 yards and two TDs and, most importantly, no interceptions.

Although the Bills sacked him four times, Wilson also escaped pressure several times and turned negative plays into positive ones by either scrambling (he had 30 yards) or finding a receiver at the last possible second and that was huge reason why the Broncos went 8-for-19 on third down and possessed the ball for more than 37 minutes.

Courtland Sutton made one of the best catches you’ll ever see to score Denver’s first TD, and then he caught a break when he was ruled to be down after a catch just before Denver’s last TD. That play looked like it might have been a fumble, but the officials ruled the play dead. Jerry Jeudy did basically nothing until the final minute when he drew a 28-yard pass interference penalty on Taron Johnson who was left in one-on-one coverage when the Bills blitzed. That penalty was about as predictable as the sun rising.

RUN DEFENSE: C

Denver was determined to grind this game out on the ground and by rushing 38 times for 122 yards, that was also critical in the time of possession battle. Javonte Williams had 79 yards to lead the way.

Terrel Bernard, who passed concussion protocol, had a game-high 13 tackles while Jordan Poyer, again playing in the box on many defensive calls, was in on nine tackles.

On the 12-play, 54-yard fourth-quarter drive that ended with Wilson’s TD pass to Williams, the Broncos chewed up 7:10 off the clock by running six times which kept them in manageable down-and-distance almost the entire possession.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

What a disaster in every way, right to the very end when the Bills committed one of the most egregious penalties of the NFL season.

Sam Martin was terrible. He punted three times and thanks to short hang times and poor placement, his net average was 30 yards. Denver’s Marvin Mims was able to rip off two returns totaling 44 yards which provided huge field position gains. And yes, the punt coverage team could have helped Martin out, but it was lousy, too.

Mims also had a 31-yard kickoff return in the second half on a play where the Bills missed four tackles. As usual, Deonte Harty and Khalil Shakir gave the Bills virtually nothing in their return game. Tyler Bass’ lone contribution was two extra points.

COACHING: D-

Special teams coach Matt Smiley has not had a good year because his units have been disappointing across the board, but that screw up at the end of the game has to rank as one of the worst coaching gaffes we’ve ever seen. That just can’t happen and it cost the Bills the game.

The defense kept the Bills in the game and for that, given how shorthanded it was, McDermott saves this grade from being an F. Still, the Bills had a lead - undeserved as it was - and the defense couldn’t close the game and Taron Johnson’s pass interference penalty was a killer.

On offense, Ken Dorsey is the most unpopular man in Buffalo. His offense is a disaster right now, and he did not have nearly enough answers against a Denver defense that, while not as bad as it was against Miami, certainly isn’t one of the league’s better groups. The four turnovers were not the product of bad play calls, though, those are on the players.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana and on Threads @salmaiorana1. To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which comes out twice a week during the season, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills report card: Buffalo loss to Broncos is one of its worst ever