The loss to the Rams was hard for the Buffalo Bills, especially when you take into consideration that superstar and MVP-frontrunner Josh Allen did something no player has ever done in NFL history by passing for three touchdowns and running for three more.
After the game, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott spoke with the media, and made an admission about the final play of the game that will come as a kick to the gut of Bills Mafia.
With seven seconds remaining in the game, Buffalo’s punt return unit was on the field. The only real chance that the Bills had at that point would have been to send the house for a punt block and hope for a miracle, but that didn’t happen.
McDermott was asked why they didn’t go for a punt block.
“We should have been. Honestly, we didn’t have enough guys on the field to do that. So that’s something that we’ve got to figure out.”
It gets worse.
Later, in follow up, McDermott was asked about the play and what happened with not having enough guys on the field.
“Yeah, just a substitution thing on the sideline. That was the information that I got, because I said ‘count us up, going for the block here” and then something happened there in terms of the substitution,” McDermott answered.
Apparently, Buffalo had only nine players on the field for the final play, information that made it to the reporter pool. McDermott was asked about the team only having nine players on the field — two guys short — on the final punt return.
“It comes down to substitutions, like I said before,” McDermott continued. “So it’s communication, it’s understanding who’s in the game, and who’s available. So we’ll go back and figure that out.”
That’s inexcusable. McDermott also mentioned that he believes the Bills lost two out of three phases today, with special teams clearly having a bad day. Not only were they two players short for a last-second attempt to make something miraculous happen, but they allowed a punt to get blocked early in the game that went for a Rams scoop and score. It’s a horrible look to wrap up an ugly win where the rest of the team failed to support a heroic effort from Allen.
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