The Bills’ “best” short-yardage play came up small at the worst time.
The entire Buffalo organization and its fan base have a new entrant into the “Wide Right” and “13 seconds” Hall of Pain after the human tank Josh Allen could not gain one yard on a quarterback sneak in a pivotal play in the heartbreaking 32-29 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game Sunday.
Buffalo had the ball at the Kansas City 41-yard line while leading, 22-21, with roughly 13 minutes to go and missed on a valuable chance to put the back-to-back champs in trouble.
“It’s been our best play all year at one or inside of one yard. We won some of those, but … they were doing a good job,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said after a fourth loss to the Chiefs in recent playoff history. “I thought overall, maybe we could have disguised it, maybe not, but at the end of the day we have confidence in Josh and our offensive line to get those and they’ve been getting them all year.”
It seems almost unfathomable to think Allen could not pick up one yard in a short-yardage situation, but the Chiefs defended those plays well throughout the game.
The Bills had to fight for each yard, with Allen even coming close to losing the ball in one spot when he fumbled before recovering the ball.
He did not have the same luck on what could be considered the game’s turning point.
Buffalo did not line up in a tush push format, instead having Allen under center with running back Ty Johnson behind him.
Allen ran up the middle with Johnson pushing him slightly but the Chiefs’ wall held up, meeting him right around the marker.
While Allen tried to fight forward with the help of tight end Dalton Kincaid, the Chiefs drove Allen back and prevented him from gaining the one yard.
He credited Kansas City for their jumps on the short-yardage plays and noted the linebackers “were coming downhill pretty hard.”
“They got big guys in there,” Allen said. They played it well.”
The officials reviewed the play, but they did not change the call on the field in a controversial moment.
McDermott believed his team had gained the necessary yard, with the CBS broadcast also echoing those statements.
Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy said he’s “quitting” football after the referees’ call went the Chiefs way in a postseason that has been filled with questionable pro-Kansas City calls.
“The look we had in the stadium, which I don’t know for sure because they have a mixed look feed in the stadium, if it’s the same feed that the TV had or not. I thought he had it,” McDermott said. “Just short of the line was the first down, but it looked like to me, when it was sitting next to me with the marker, just inside that white stripe was the first down and it looked like he got to it, that’s all I can say.”
Allen was somber after the game, yet again having come so close to beating Patrick Mahomes but once again falling on the losing end.
McDermott acknowledged that having such a critical play work in Kansas City’s favor in a three-point game made it all the more difficult to swallow.
“Of course it does. Darn right it does,” he said. “That’s a possession, we’re up one point at the time, a chance to go up maybe multiple scores at that point. It’s a big call. That’s absolutely a big call.”