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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
BUFFALO (N.Y.) — The end of the Buffalo Bills‘The playoff loss to the Kansas City ChiefsThis is not a one-time deal.
Bills’ fans will forever remember this as the most devastating loss in their franchise history.
Sean McDermott will be one of those who has a difficult time not to think back and revisit the last 13 seconds and the brief overtime of the 42 – 36 loss.
McDermott spoke Tuesday at his end-of-season news conference, “I watched it online and I watched it over an million times in my head and in my stomach an additional million times.” It’s my livelihood, and I’m very competitive. I truly want the best for our football club, this organization, and our fans. This is why I will keep it in my head and in my heart for years. However, once we get there, I believe that it’ll be that much more enjoyable.
The Bills will feel the pain of the loss as they begin their offseason. A lot of the roster was returned for the 2020 season. However, losing to the same opponent at a similar venue one year later (the Chiefs won the AFC Championship Game last year) shouldn’t be a good thing for a team.
According to Elias Sports Bureau: This game was the first playoff game with four go ahead touchdowns in overtime or the fourth quarter.
A historic fourth touchdown by the quarterback helped the Bills go up to 36-33 Josh AllenWide receiver Gabriel DavisThe Chiefs had just 13 seconds to kick a game-tying field goal. They did exactly that.
Led by Patrick MahomesKansas City marched quickly to the field, setting up a successful field goal of 49 yards by Harrison Butker.
After taking the lead in the score, Allen stated that he was thinking of Pat Mahomes. “They made some excellent plays at the final, and unfortunately the coin flip went the wrong way.” He made an amazing play scoring with 13 seconds to go.
Many people questioned McDermott’s decision to kick into the endzone on the kickoff. This was in contrast to McDermott taking extra time with a squib kicked or one that bounced just short of the endzone. The coach refused to discuss the details of his thought process, or if the play was called. However, he did point to the execution.
McDermott stated, “It all comes down to execution.” “It’s (disappointing) because we are proud of our attention to detail. We pride ourselves in execution and being excellent at situational football. This was something we did daily. Nonstop. … It’s more frustrating knowing that those situations are prepared and practiced regularly here in Buffalo. This is where I return to you gotta face the truth and we won’t run from it. That’s what I believe.” Concerning a possible miscommunication on kickoff play call or kicker Tyler BassMcDermott was supposed to kick it faster than he did to reduce the time on the game clock. However, McDermott refused to go into details, saying, “I don’t want to get into all the weeds about that.”
Mahomes was 6-of-6 passing, and took the Chiefs downfield to score the game-winning touchdown. Travis KelceWe are not allowed to reveal any more about what happened on the field defensively.
Linebacker: “We executed.” Tremaine Edmunds“It was the last 13 seconds.” “It’s an unfortunate situation that was in, that things didn’t work out our way.”