Buffalo Bills: Top 3 takeaways from AFC Championship loss to Kansas City Chiefs
McDermott’s decisions
It is easy to get wrapped up as a fan and an ‘armchair quarterback’ and judge a well-qualified coaching staff for making decisions in the heat of the moment that one may not agree with.
That being said, the Buffalo Bills’ decision to opt for field goals when touchdowns are an absolute necessity to beat Kansas City is on Sean McDermott and his staff would like a time machine to go back and undo.
Sean McDermott on the two fields goals in the redzone: "If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go for one of them."
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) January 25, 2021
Kicking two field goals instead of touchdowns when the Bills were deep inside Kansas City territory. If the Bills went for it on fourth down and were able to convert instead of the latter, they would have found themselves more ‘in’ the game than the combined six points would have allowed them to be. That would have tilted the score to 21-16 at the end of the first half and 23-24 and in the third quarter.
Now when playing the Chiefs, you have to take points where you can get them but when facing a deficit as insurmountable as the one the Bills faced against the Cheifs, field goals were not adequate when touchdowns were necessary.
The polarizing details of the Bills opting for field goals is exactly that since Buffalo did show some aggressiveness in going for it on fourth down in their opening drive. Additionally, McDermott coached some very aggressive games throughout the season and these playoffs. Whether it be the moment or the opponent, that aggressiveness was nowhere and it costed the Bills.