Bills Coach Admits Declining Crucial Penalty Vs. Jaguars: ‘One I Want Back’

The Buffalo Bills put on what’s arguably the worst performance ever since Sean McDermott took over as head coach while playing against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. While you can point fingers at the atrocious officiating, McDermott admits he made some bad calls, as well.

During the second quarter, on the Jaguars’ third offensive drive, kicker Matthew Wright drilled a 55-yard field goal, a score that could’ve been avoided. During the previous play, the Jaguars were called for holding, which if McDermott accepted, would’ve moved Jacksonville back 10 yards, making it 3rd and 15.

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However, McDermott declined the penalty, not expecting the 25-year-old kicker to nail a career-best field goal. However, Wright made a 53-yard game-winning field goal when the Jaguars took on the Miami Dolphins in London, which led to the team’s first victory in 399 days, per ESPN. During that same game, he also kicked a 54-yarder which tied the game.

To McDermott’s credit, those two kicks were the longest field goals of his NFL career, that is, until Sunday at TIAA Bank Field. Following the 9-6 defeat, the Bills coach admits he’d like that decision back.

“I just felt we weren’t playing great at that point,” McDermott said. “You know, felt like he hadn’t had a lot of field goals — I’m not sure if he had any at that distance at this point in the season — but that’s one I want back, obviously with the result the way it was.”

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Allen Also Took Blame for the Bills Loss: ‘I Played Like S***’

McDermott can’t solely shoulder the blame for the team’s Week 9 upset, as it was a collective team collapse on all fronts, especially for the Bills’ offensive line.

“It’s a long season and the guys have to realize that the season is going to ebb and flow a little bit,” McDermott said. “Obviously, we were down today and we didn’t get the result we wanted, but you have to hang together. We gotta go back and fix some things and make sure we identify where those problems are, particularly on the offensive side right now and get them fixed in a hurry.”

Allen was visibly disappointed in himself during the postgame conference. “I don’t want to lose, I don’t want to lose games,” Allen said. “I feel like I could have played better. I could have helped our team and put us in better situations, and I didn’t. So, I’m frustrated with myself more so than anything. I gotta be better for this team.”

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The Bills Will Look to Bounce Back in Week 10 Vs. New York Jets

It’s not easy getting over such an upsetting loss, a game the Bills (5-3) were predicted to win by at least 14 points, but that’s exactly what the team needs to do in order to bounce back next Sunday when they take on the New York Jets (2-6).

Bills center Mitch Morse said, “You can’t put this on one person. Every person has got a little bit of blame. Simple as that. So much like every loss or every game, you look at what you can fix. I can only speak for myself. There are quite a few plays I wish I’d had back to put us in an optimal position to play more efficiently. I think most of the guys would say the same thing.”

McDermott agrees, too. “You can’t beat yourself. Let’s start there. Whether it’s penalties, turnovers, or fundamentals. We have to fix some things. We’re going to take a hard look at the film, and you know, you gotta win up front in order to play well offensively or defensively.”

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