Buffalo Bills: Reviewing key coaching decisions in AFC Championship
The Buffalo Bills weren’t able to advance the Super Bowl and one of the main talking points coming out of Sunday night was some decisions made by Sean McDermott. There were a few key moments in the game where the coach made questionable calls that could have potentially changed the outcome of the game.
After the AFC Championship Game, McDermott was asked about some of these decisions and even admitted if he could go back he might have done something differently.
Sean McDermott said if he had it to do over again he might have gone for the touchdown on one of the red zone trips that results in a field goal.
— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) January 25, 2021
Let’s take a closer look at four big coaching decisions that Sean McDermott made against the Kansas City Chiefs that had major impacts on the game.
Going for it on fourth down on the opening drive
The first big decision came on the Buffalo Bills opening drive. The Bills started at their own 25 after a touchback and moved the ball all the way to Kansas City’s 48-yard line after only five plays.
However, they faced a 4th and 1 and at this point in the game, it wouldn’t have necessarily been surprising to see a punt. The coaching staff elected to go for and used a play similar to the one they used to score a touchdown on in their first playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.
https://twitter.com/thecheckdown/status/1353489450748190720
It is really a great play design that gives Josh Allen essentially three options where he could hand it off to T.J. Yeldon, run for the first down himself, or toss it out to Dawson Knox. This play kept the Bills’ drive alive and they were rewarded for the aggressive play call with a field goal and the first points of the game.