After losing 17 yards on the previous two downs with their season on the line, the Bills had to make a choice with the ball on the Texans’ 42-yard line — either go for it on 4th-and-27 or kick a 60-yard field goal to potentially force overtime.
Obviously, neither of those are great choices in the moment. But, if you had to choose between the two, you’d probably take the 60-yard field goal with a kicker that was 3-for-3 in the game. Right?
Instead of attempting a field goal, Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott opted to have Josh Allen drop back to throw on fourth down which… led to a disastrous Allen sack.
So, if you’re doing the math here, the Bills basically lost 36 total yards with their season on the line instead of attempting to score. Yes, of course, the internet was confused.
basically any decision the Bills could have made would have been better than going for it on 4th-and-27
basically any decision Josh Allen could have made would have been better than getting sacked
just a truly incredible time for everybody to make the worst choice possible— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) January 5, 2020
You can’t go for it on 4th and 27.
You punt it and pin the #Texans inside the 10. They’ll play conservative so they go 3 & out.
They punt to you, you fair catch at the 50. You get 2 first downs and kick the game tying field goal. #BillsMafia
— Emmanuel Acho (@thEMANacho) January 5, 2020
Really don’t understand the logic of going for a 4th and 27. The chances of making a long field goal have to be much better than converting in that situation.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 5, 2020
Going for it on 4th and 27 is hands down the worst mistake of Sean McDermott's coaching career.
And he once benched Tyrod Taylor for Nathan Peterman.
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) January 5, 2020
You’re telling me a 60 yard FG attempt to tie..wasn’t a better option that 4th and 27? Or punt and pin them and use your time outs. Absolute disaster
— trey wingo (@wingoz) January 5, 2020
Luckily enough for the Bills, the Texans somehow failed to get a first down on the next drive and gave them another chance to tie the game, and Hauschka kicked a game-tying field goal in the closing seconds. Otherwise, this decision would’ve gone down as an all-timer on the melt down scale.
[jwplayer pSVCM5UW-q2aasYxh]