Getty Quarterback Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills looks on before playing against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on October 18, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Buffalo Bills took a 34-31 loss against the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football, and it’s a defeat that will likely stick with head coach Sean McDermott for weeks to come.
Down by three points, instead of sending Tyler Bass, who was perfect on Monday night, onto the field to kick a field goal to tie the game, McDermott went for it on fourth down. But quarterback Josh Allen was not only unable to score a game-winning touchdown, but the Titans’ defense also kept him from making a first down, ultimately securing Tennessee the win.
It was a heartbreaking turn of events in what was an incredibly wild primetime matchup, and Twitter blew up with reactions to the brutal loss.
“Terrible loss for the Bills at the end of the day,” Syracuse.com’s Ryan Talbot tweeted. Titans were short-handed in the secondary and Buffalo had to settle for FGs too much. Tennessee has a ton of talent on offense but the Bills should have put up more points tonight.”
The most common reaction from analysts across the league was one simple word: Wow.
Wow.
McDermott receives credit for believing his team could move the chains and win the game without having to go into overtime, but they came up short. And it wasn’t even close. Statistically, however, odds were in the Bills’ favor to come away victorious.
The Bills decision to go for it on 4th & inches from the Titans 3 (trailing 34-31) was unequivocally the optimal call according to the NGS Decision Guide.
🔹 Conversion Probability: 75%
🔹 Win Probability: 63% if GO, 42% if FG
🔹 Recommendation: GO FOR IT (by 21.3%)
Next Gen Stats tweeted after the game, “The Bills decision to go for it on 4th & inches from the Titans 3 (trailing 34-31) was unequivocally the optimal call according to the NGS Decision Guide.”
Center Mitch Morse Says They Can Only Blame Themselves, No One Blames Josh Allen
GettyMitch Morse #60 of the Buffalo Bills pushes a weight sled during training camp at Highmark Stadium on July 31, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York.
After the loss, Bills’ center Mitch Morse said, “It’ll be a tough film to watch. All we can do is point the finger at ourself,” WROC-TV’s Thad Brown tweeted. “Coach put a lot of trust in us on that last play…he put the play of the game in our hands and we didn’t execute.”
Tremaine Edmunds says they have to do a better job at stopping the run and making teams one dimensional #Bills
Byard on the 4th down play: “I know he’s (Josh Allen) is gonna be sick about it. Looked like he slipped or something. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”
Coach McDermott: I’ll take Josh Allen ten out of ten times with the game on the line. I trust him and believe in our coaches and players. #BUFvsTEN
McDermott said that he “felt good about our chances,” going for it on 4th and 1 with 3 yards to go and 22 seconds left in the game. But “at the end of the day we didn’t get the job done, I didn’t get the job done,” per 13 WHAM’s Jenna Cottrell.
Buffalo Heads Into a Bye Week Following Loss Vs. Titans
GettyHead coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills enters the stadium before the game against the Washington Football Team at Highmark Stadium on September 26, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York.
It’s typically easier to get over a tough loss by focusing on next week’s game, but the Bills head into Week 7 with a bye.
The week off will give McDermott, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and the entire team two weeks to think about what went wrong on Monday night, and how to fix it for when the Bills take on the Miami Dolphins on October 31.
When the Bills take on their AFC rival on Halloween, they will have the advantage of playing at home at Highmark Stadium, which will hopefully boost the team’s energy.
The last time the Bills faced the Dolphins this season, they won 35-0. Allen said during the postgame conference that “he has no doubt they will use this to fuel them and be ready to go for Dolphins game.”
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