What’s more fun than second-guessing NFL coaches? Nothing, that’s what. So let’s do it every week, right here. Today: Whatever that was at the end of Bills-Rams.
The scenario
Late in Sunday’s massive Buffalo-Los Angeles showdown, the Bills were down 44-35 but knocking on the door. Not just knocking, pounding. A pass interference penalty gave Buffalo the ball on the Rams’ 1 with 1:06 remaining in the game. Significantly, however, Buffalo still had all three timeouts … which meant that a quick touchdown plus a three-and-out would give the Bills the ball with substantial time to get into field-goal range.
What to do?
The case for passing
Quick passes would stop the clock; Bills quarterback Josh Allen could fire off four in the space of just a few seconds. That, clearly, was the thought process of one interested and knowledgeable onlooker:
“You are in great position,” Fox Sports announcer Tom Brady said as the Bills prepared to run their first play from the 1. “They just can’t do anything inbounds at this point. Worst case, three shots at the end zone. You get a little bit of time off the clock but nothing inbounds where you have to use a timeout.”
On the other hand …
The case for running
You know the old line about passing — three things can happen, and two of them are bad. With everyone crammed into a single 11-yard-deep box, there’s not much room to maneuver. So why not go the quicker route?
Allen had already run for two touchdowns on the afternoon, two 1-yard grinds where he put himself at the mercy of his offensive line. So why not put the ball in his hands and see what happens?
The result
Bills head coach Sean McDermott opted for the run … and the Rams stacked up Allen at the goal line, forcing Buffalo to use a timeout.
Brady didn’t like the call, and immediately said so in perhaps the best moment of his young broadcast career. “It changes the entire complexity of the last 1:02 of the game,” Brady said. “I did not like that one bit. That could have just cost them the game right there.”
The Bills scored on the very next play — another Allen rush, as it turned out — but without that extra timeout, they couldn’t stop the clock after third down. That allowed the Rams to run the clock all the way down to seven seconds remaining before punting the ball away, and that was that. (The Bills also had only nine men on the field for that punt, but that’s a whole different story.)
So would the game have turned out differently had Buffalo opted to pass? Well, assuming the Bills managed to score either a touchdown or a field goal, they would have been able to use their timeouts and get the ball back with around 40 seconds remaining (if they forced a three-and-out), more than enough time to traverse the field.
Your call. Did Buffalo make the right decision?
