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For posterity: Final recap of Bills' Wild Card loss to Texans


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I concede that I am primarily making this post so I can, in the future, concisely remember exactly what went wrong for the Bills in this game.

 

There are two schools of argument: the Bills lost because they didn't make enough plays, OR the Bills lost because of the officiating.

 

Plays the Bills failed to make:

  • The John Brown – with a chance to put a second touchdown on the board by setting up the Bills with a first-and-goal, Josh Allen delivers a great sideline throw to John Brown. It's a routine toe drag, not even especially difficult, but Brown unnecessarily hops and is not able to keep his feet in bounds. The Bills settle for a field goal, which ultimately proves costly.
  • The Duke Williams – it would have been a spectacular contested catch, but just before halftime, Duke Williams gets both hands on a ball in the end zone but is not able to pull it down for a 17-0 lead.
  • The Dropped Interception – Deshaun Watson throws a second-half ball directly into the hands of Siran Neal, and Neal drops it. This could have sealed the game for the Bills.
  • The Go-for-the-Arm – on Watson's two-point conversion run, Jordan Poyer opts to go for the body of Watson rather than the arm holding the ball. Watson extends the free arm for the two points, which proved to be the difference in regulation.
  • The Helmet-to-Helmet, Part 1: on a keeper in overtime, Josh Allen appears to have a clear path to a first down, putting the Bills in game-winning field goal range. Mitch Morse and Dawson Knox, however, block no one, allowing the free Texans defender to run right past them and knock the quarterback out of bounds.
  • The Swing Pass – after the tough penalty against Cody Ford, the Bills have a chance to get back into field goal range on a swing pass to Duke Williams. Allen badly misfires, however, and that was the last time the Bills' offense would see the field.
  • The Escape – Siran Neal appears on this list for a second time as he, along with Matt Milano, are unable to take down Deshaun Watson on what proved to be the game-winning play for the Texans.

 

Plays the Bills failed to make because of bad coaching:

  • The Frank Gore – 1st & 10, Texans' 23, 0:30 remaining in Q2, 1 timeout left. The Bills inexplicably run Frank Gore out of a timeout, forfeiting any reasonable chance of a touchdown and a commanding 17-0 lead. Instead, they go in with a 13-0 lead which leaves the Texans within striking distance.
  • The 4th & 27 – from the Texans' 42, the Bills inexplicably go for it instead of punting with 3 timeouts remaining. Some argue that "it worked out anyway" because the Bills got the ball back and kicked a field goal to tie, but the Bills could have been in position for a game-winning touchdown if they had pinned the Texans back with a punt.
  • The Delay of Game, Part 1 – on 3rd & 18 in overtime, the Bills' come out in an inexplicably deep coverage and are not able to converge on the ball carrier before he gains 19 yards.

 

Bad calls or no-calls:

  • The Kickoff – Bills appear to go up 19-0 as a touchdown is properly ruled on the field, but on-field "discussion" sparked by off-field officiating assistants causes a dubious reversal. After the game, the entire ESPN studio crew, Armando Salguero, and many others explain that the play should have stood as a touchdown, giving the Bills an insurmountable lead.
  • The Helmet-to-Helmet, Part 2 – on a keeper in overtime, Josh Allen just passes the line of scrimmage when he takes a crown-of-the-helmet blow on the chin from a Texans defender. A 15-yard penalty should have been called, setting the Bills up 1st & 10 on the Texans' 27, where they undoubtedly would have won the game.
  • The Blindside Block – in overtime, Josh Allen partially hurdles a man and puts the Bills in game-winning field goal range. The play is called back because of an "illegal blindside block" on Cody Ford. After the game, PFT, Mike Pereira, Shaun O'Hara, and many other prominent figures condemn the call.
  • The Delay of Game, Part 2 – on 3rd & 18, the play clock expires on the Texans, but the play is allowed to go on, and the Texans convert for 19 yards.

 

Strangely, the off-field officiating assistants—who are ostensibly there in the playoffs to ensure proper rulings—do not storm the field to correct any of these calls or non-calls, except to reverse the kickoff TD. ?

 

Am I missing anything?

Edited by Giuseppe Tognarelli
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1 minute ago, bladiebla said:

It would be nice to have someone post the Texans point of view in a similar way. There's always two sides to a story /history.

 

Nice summary btw.

 

As far as bad calls, Buffalo got away with a delay of game penalty. That's all I can really think of. Would have been a low impact call. Missed / bad calls on Buffalo were quite impactful. 

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26 minutes ago, bladiebla said:

It would be nice to have someone post the Texans point of view in a similar way. There's always two sides to a story /history.

 

Nice summary btw.

Here's what I'd take away.

-We were lucky to escape with a victory as we came out flat which is typical of us in the playoffs.  Need a much better effort against the Chiefs. 

-Watson struggled early but his performance in the second half was encouraging to earn his first playoff win.  Hopefully, winning a playoff game is just another hurdle in the eventual road to the Super Bowl.  He showed the "clutch" gene that we saw at Clemson.

-We desperately need to upgrade our offensive line as Watson was sacked seven times.

-Bill O'Brien calling a qb sneak on 4th and a little over yard to try and ice the game was incredibly dumb considering the Bills knew it was coming.  He was lucky to escape with a victory and we'll have to put up with him for at least another season now.

-Even I was embarrassed as a Texans fan at how much ABC drooled all game over JJ Watt.

-I hope Fuller and Joseph are ready to go against the Chiefs.

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47 minutes ago, bladiebla said:

It would be nice to have someone post the Texans point of view in a similar way. There's always two sides to a story /history.

 

Nice summary btw.

Well, Josh threw two balls directly to Texan defenders that both should have been intercepted and retuned for touchdowns.  I can’t think of any robberies by the men in stripes.

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1 hour ago, bladiebla said:

It would be nice to have someone post the Texans point of view in a similar way. There's always two sides to a story /history.

 

Nice summary btw.

 

The Texan summary would have highlighted a dropped pick-6 in early going that would have evened out the game in the first quarter, likely changing most of the subsequent events...

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3 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

I concede that I am primarily making this post so I can, in the future, concisely remember exactly what went wrong for the Bills in this game.

 

There are two schools of argument: the Bills lost because they didn't make enough plays, OR the Bills lost because of the officiating.

 

Plays the Bills failed to make:

  • The John Brown – with a chance to put a second touchdown on the board by setting up the Bills with a first-and-goal, Josh Allen delivers a great sideline throw to John Brown. It's a routine toe drag, not even especially difficult, but Brown unnecessarily hops and is not able to keep his feet in bounds. The Bills settle for a field goal, which ultimately proves costly.
  • The Duke Williams – it would have been a spectacular contested catch, but just before halftime, Duke Williams gets both hands on a ball in the end zone but is not able to pull it down for a 17-0 lead.
  • The Dropped Interception – Deshaun Watson throws a second-half ball directly into the hands of Siran Neal, and Neal drops it. This could have sealed the game for the Bills.
  • The Go-for-the-Arm – on Watson's two-point conversion run, Jordan Poyer opts to go for the body of Watson rather than the arm holding the ball. Watson extends the free arm for the two points, which proved to be the difference in regulation.
  • The Helmet-to-Helmet, Part 1: on a keeper in overtime, Josh Allen appears to have a clear path to a first down, putting the Bills in game-winning field goal range. Mitch Morse and Dawson Knox, however, block no one, allowing the free Texans defender to run right past them and knock the quarterback out of bounds.
  • The Swing Pass – after the tough penalty against Cody Ford, the Bills have a chance to get back into field goal range on a swing pass to Duke Williams. Allen badly misfires, however, and that was the last time the Bills' offense would see the field.
  • The Escape – Siran Neal appears on this list for a second time as he, along with Matt Milano, are unable to take down Deshaun Watson on what proved to be the game-winning play for the Texans.

 

Plays the Bills failed to make because of bad coaching:

  • The Frank Gore – 1st & 10, Texans' 23, 0:30 remaining in Q2, 1 timeout left. The Bills inexplicably run Frank Gore out of a timeout, forfeiting any reasonable chance of a touchdown and a commanding 17-0 lead. Instead, they go in with a 13-0 lead which leaves the Texans within striking distance.
  • The 4th & 27 – from the Texans' 42, the Bills inexplicably go for it instead of punting with 3 timeouts remaining. Some argue that "it worked out anyway" because the Bills got the ball back and kicked a field goal to tie, but the Bills could have been in position for a game-winning touchdown if they had pinned the Texans back with a punt.
  • The Delay of Game, Part 1 – on 3rd & 18 in overtime, the Bills' come out in an inexplicably deep coverage and are not able to converge on the ball carrier before he gains 19 yards.

 

Bad calls or no-calls:

  • The Kickoff – Bills appear to go up 19-0 as a touchdown is properly ruled on the field, but on-field "discussion" sparked by off-field officiating assistants causes a dubious reversal. After the game, the entire ESPN studio crew, Armando Salguero, and many others explain that the play should have stood as a touchdown, giving the Bills an insurmountable lead.
  • The Helmet-to-Helmet, Part 2 – on a keeper in overtime, Josh Allen just passes the line of scrimmage when he takes a crown-of-the-helmet blow on the chin from a Texans defender. A 15-yard penalty should have been called, setting the Bills up 1st & 10 on the Texans' 27, where they undoubtedly would have won the game.
  • The Blindside Block – in overtime, Josh Allen partially hurdles a man and puts the Bills in game-winning field goal range. The play is called back because of an "illegal blindside block" on Cody Ford. After the game, PFT, Mike Pereira, Shaun O'Hara, and many other prominent figures condemn the call.
  • The Delay of Game, Part 2 – on 3rd & 18, the play clock expires on the Texans, but the play is allowed to go on, and the Texans convert for 19 yards.

 

Strangely, the off-field officiating assistants—who are ostensibly there in the playoffs to ensure proper rulings—do not storm the field to correct any of these calls or non-calls, except to reverse the kickoff TD. ?

 

Am I missing anything?

It's crazy the amount of missed opportunities.  

34 minutes ago, cage said:

 

The Texan summary would have highlighted a dropped pick-6 in early going that would have evened out the game in the first quarter, likely changing most of the subsequent events...

2 dropped pick 6's

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I can’t stop thinking about the Frank Gore. I don’t want a coach that would ever think of doing that. 
 

after the game McDermott said they had to get 6 instead of 3 and not let them hang around. Well, then don’t waste two plays before the half and kick a FG. 
 

that pass to Duke was on the money. Would have been nice to try it (or something similar) a couple more times. 

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4 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

-Bill O'Brien calling a qb sneak on 4th and a little over yard to try and ice the game was incredibly dumb considering the Bills knew it was coming.  He was lucky to escape with a victory and we'll have to put up with him for at least another season now.

 

Yep, this.  O'Brien gave us a gift.  If we went on to win, he'd have to be fired.

They were on the Bills' 32 yard line.  A 50 yard kick isn't a gimme, but he didn't trust his kicker to tack on 3 points?  We'd have needed a touchdown instead of a field goal with little time and no timeouts.  .

 

Or, if he really wanted to ice the game, he'd have used a running back to pick up that yard.

 

Either way, I'm so glad O'Brien isn't my team's coach.

 

 

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