Sean McDermott of the Bills blames himself for the late timing

HOUSTON – Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott took responsibility for the game management that led to the Houston Texans getting the ball back in time for a game-winning 59-yard field goal on Sunday.

“That’s on me, the situation at the end of the game on offense,” McDermott said after the 23-20 loss. “We’re in a tough situation…they had three timeouts; they had a good field goal kicker. We had to keep the clock running and the chains moving, and that’s on me. We didn’t do that there, and “That’s my fault.”

With the game tied 20-20, the Bills forced the Texans to punt with 41 seconds left after quarterback CJ Stroud was called for intentional grounding. McDermott waived a possible 10-second runoff that could have resulted in the penalty.

After getting the ball back at the Buffalo 3-yard line with 32 seconds left, the Bills’ offense had three straight incomplete passes from Josh Allen.

“I love Josh with the ball in his hands – you know that,” McDermott said. “And here too, an efficient offense was the right approach and… I didn’t ask that of us. And so we learned from it too. A difficult situation.”

“…You go back and forth, and, hey, I probably should have played it through the first play and just said, ‘Hey, where are we now?’ Anyway, we’ll probably have to move the chains at some point, right? Not to give them a chance, but these are situations too, and that’s on me.

Allen’s first pass to rookie Keon Coleman in tight coverage was incomplete – the receiver was called for offensive pass interference on the play, but the penalty was declined. With 27 seconds left, Allen threw deep to Mack Hollins on second down, but the ball fell to the ground right in front of him. On third down, with 21 seconds left, Allen targeted Curtis Samuel in the middle of the field, but he slipped before the ball got there and it bounced onto the turf in front of him.

“Overall, again, that’s up to me,” McDermott said when asked if he agreed with the playcalls. “And so we just have to do a better job, I have to do a better job in this situation.”

Allen, as well as offensive linemen Connor McGovern and David Edwards, said they agreed to be “aggressive” in this situation.

“Coach is going to trust us to go out there and do that,” Allen said. “Of course I would like to convert there and hindsight is 20:20, but yes.”

After a 13-yard punt return to the Texans’ 41-yard line, Houston ran a play to gain 5 yards and score a 59-yard field goal. On that play, Bills linebacker Dorian Williams ran onto the field just 12 seconds before the snap, and cornerback Rasul Douglas said after the play that he didn’t think Williams knew the playcall.

“We tried to defend nickel and Dorian was on our side,” McDermott said. “We didn’t have the communication we needed on the ground and that’s why he came on the field late and got the call in that situation.”

The Texans won on the next play – a 59-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn as time expired.

Bills receivers caught just 4 of 18 targets on the day – the team’s worst reception percentage since 2009 (Week 13) and the worst of any team’s wide receiver with at least 15 targets since 2016 (Rams, Week 16).

On the day, Allen completed 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown to Coleman. The Bills were without leading receiver Khalil Shakir due to an ankle injury.

Allen posted the lowest completion percentage in a game with at least 30 pass attempts in the last 30 seasons. He said he needed to play better, including his ball placement, to address why the receivers weren’t open. Coleman said it wasn’t the result of anything the Texans did defensively, but of self-inflicted problems, including communication difficulties, that he brought upon himself.

“I would never criticize Josh,” Edwards said. “He is the heartbeat of our offense and our football team. We go as he goes. He is the man. I could easily blame myself on one of these third downs for not being able to learn any of the stunts. So, This game is not on Josh.