The Buffalo Bills lost 23-20 to the Houston Texans on Sunday. The end of the match was marred by questionable clock management on the part of Sean McDermott and the Buffalo staff. Houston legend, JJ Watt posted his take on the Bills’ last-minute choices on social media after the game.
“Baffling game management decisions made by the Bills late in this game…” the CBS analyst posted.
The Bills forced a punt that landed inside the five-yard line with less than a minute to play. The Texans had their three timeouts, Buffalo had none and the game was tied at 20. Watt is referring to the choice to execute three consecutive passes from deep in their own territory. All three fell incomplete and the Bills punted without Houston using a single timeout.
CJ Stroud entered the field with seven seconds remaining. They ran a play, got into field goal range, called one of their timeouts and took out the field goal unit. Kai’imi Fairbairn hit a 59-yard boot to win the game in regulation. The Texans went from 50% chance of winning after their 65.6% punt chance after Buffalo’s punt, according to ESPN.
The spotlight is on the Bills as they finally look to make the Super Bowl in the Josh Allen era. Despite great success in the regular season, they have yet to overcome the January hurdle.
Sean McDermott needs to clean up clock management before playoffs
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While it’s just one game in a long season, it’s indicative of the types of losses the Bills can’t afford. They are looking to challenge teams like the Chiefs and Ravens for the AFC title. These teams have veteran coaches who don’t allow these kinds of losses. Watt is right that these choices were confusing.
Stefon Diggs’ revenge game went the way of the new wide receiver’s team in Week 5. Although the end of the game was really what decided it, the Bills certainly missed on Diggs in this one . The Texans star totaled more receiving yards, 82, than Buffalo’s entire receiving core, 80. No one became the star in his absence and it showed in this game.
Allen also set an unfortunate record in the game with only a 30% completion percentage. This is the lowest completion percentage for a quarterback with at least 30 attempts in the last 30 years. Without Diggs, the Bills offense looked lost. They have an extra day to figure it out, as they face the Jets on Monday Night Football in Week 6.
