After recovering an onside kick with a little less than two minutes remaining in Thursday night’s game against the New England Patriots, it appeared the Buffalo Bills would have one final test — making a first down that would allow them to run out the clock.
It turned out that Bill Belichick had other plans.
The Patriots coach had all three timeouts remaining and could have forced the Bills to punt with a stop, giving New England a sliver of a chance while down 14 points. But he instead offered no resistance as Bills quarterback Josh Allen took a knee on three straight downs, running out the clock.
After the game, Belichick explained why he decided to wave the white flag.
Patriots Coach Ready for Game to End
Speaking to reporters after the game, Belichick said he made a calculated decision to let the Bills run out the clock at the end of the game. The Bills were leading 24-10, so the Patriots would have had to stop them from making a first down and then score two touchdowns in a little less than two minutes to force a tie.
Belichick said he didn’t want to risk injuries to any players, recalling that quarterback Mac Jones was hurt earlier this season on the final play of a 37-26 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
“On the kneeldowns? I thought that was the best thing to do for our team. We went the other way in the Baltimore game, we lost Mac for three weeks. I didn’t really think that was worth it,” Belichick said, via Pro Football Talk.
Bill Belichick: I didn’t think it was worth risking injuries to use our timeouts at the end.
The Patriots have overcome similar deficits against the Bills, including a Monday Night Football game in 2009 where quarterback Tom Brady threw a pair of touchdowns in a span of 1:16 late in the fourth quarter. That outcome seemed unlikely on Thursday, when an aggressive Bills defense bottled up Jones and the Patriots, holding them to 242 total yards and winning the time of possession battle 38:01 to 21:52.
Victory Ends Trying Stretch for Bills
Belichick’s decision was likely welcomed by the Bills, who have dealt with a number of injuries during a difficult 12-day period where they played three games away from home. The stretch started with the Bills being forced to move a home game to Detroit due to a snowstorm that buried Buffalo, then defeating the Cleveland Browns there. The Bills won again on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions before taking down the Patriots in Foxboro.
Bills wins vs the Patriots since Bill Belichick took over as head coach in 2000 (including playoffs)
Josh Allen 5
All other QBs 5
Bills quarterback Josh Allen said the wins set them up for a critical final stretch of the season, with three divisional games remaining and control of the AFC East still up for grabs.
“We know these games that are coming up, they matter,” Allen said. “The ones in December and January, they matter. We’ve got to find ways to go win some football games.”
The Bills will be without a key player for that stretch. The team put edge rusher Von Miller on injured reserve just hours before kickoff against the Patriots, ensuring that he will miss at least three more games before he is eligible to return.
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Bill Belichick Explains Odd Decision at End of Bills Loss