With their 38-24 loss Sunday to the Oakland Raiders dropping the Buffalo Bills to 6-6 and 11th place in the conference standings, the AFC East's third-place team is a breath away from their 17th consecutive season out of the playoffs.

The Bills, with only a 10 percent chance of making the postseason, have been a disappointment in Rex Ryan's second season as coach. Blame can be placed on injuries (especially Sammy Watkins), an inadequate passing offense led by faltering quarterback Tyrod Taylor, as well as an inconsistent defense that now ranks 17th in points allowed per game, 19th in the red zone and 22nd on third downs.

Buffalo's bright spot? Running back LeSean McCoy.

Aside from two weeks in October when he dealt with a hamstring injury, McCoy has been fantastic. With 191 total yards in the Bills' latest loss Sunday, McCoy topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage for the seventh time in his career. He became the 30th running back in NFL history to surpass the 1,000-yard mark; of those players, only Frank Gore (10 seasons), Matt Forte (nine seasons) and Adrian Peterson (eight seasons) remain active and all are older than McCoy, who is 28.

The threat of McCoy and the rest of the Bills' ground game -- backup Mike Gillislee gained 49 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries Sunday -- has changed the way defenses scheme against the Bills. McCoy noted after the game the Raiders remained in their base defense even when the Buffalo's passing-oriented personnel was on the field. Oakland often kept a safety close to the line of scrimmage, mimicking the Jacksonville Jaguars' approach a week earlier when McCoy was held to 5 yards on eight first-half carries.

Overall, the Bills have gained 47.1 percent of their offensive yards as rushing yards, the highest rate in the NFL by 5.9 percentage points. That is also the fourth-highest rate in the NFL since 2010 -- behind the 2011 Denver Broncos (52 percent), the 2012 Minnesota Vikings (48.9 percent) and the 2011 Jacksonville Jaguars (47.5 percent) -- and is the highest percentage of rushing yards for any Bills team since at least 2001, per ESPN Stats & Information.

"I think this is the most dynamic run game I’ve been apart of," fullback Jerome Felton, who blocked for Peterson on the 2012 Vikings, told reporters Monday. "Obviously Adrian had a great year in [2012] but just the different ways we can run the football, our schemes, I think probably it’s the best that I’ve been around."

Despite the success of running the ball, the Bills' passing offense has been one reason why they will almost certainly miss the playoffs. Buffalo ranks among the bottom third of the league in most passing statistics, including passing yards per game (32nd), net yards per pass attempt (26th), completion percentage (23rd), passer rating (22nd), touchdowns per pass attempt (27th), sacks per drop back (31st) and first downs per pass attempt (26th).

A combination of Taylor's inaccuracy, his indecisiveness in the pocket and tendency to scramble, as well as a slew of injuries at wide receiver have contributed to the sagging stats.

"We got to look to, as coaches, what we are asking our players to do," Ryan told reporters Monday. "Can they do it? I think that it where you first start looking at. For some reason [it is] not getting done to where we need to it. We are 31st in the league for sacks per pass, so that is clearly not good enough. So we just got to take a hard look and improve in a hurry."

Ryan, however, continued to back Taylor while shooting down any suggestion that rookie fourth-round pick Cardale Jones could get a look at quarterback when the Bills are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

"I’m pleased with Tyrod Taylor," He said. "I think he gives us the best chance to win. I think he’s a good quarterback.

"I think it is easy to sit back and be critical, but if you are playing without five receivers in the game, I have a feeling you are not regardless of it is Tom Brady or anybody else."