The Buffalo Bills had their sixth win of the 2023 season in the bag on Monday night. After a lucky bounce helped James Cook set up a late Josh Allen touchdown run, all the Buffalo defense had to do was hold serve against Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos.
They could not accomplish this meager task.
In the final moments, a Taron Johnson pass interference penalty set the Broncos and Will Lutz up with a chip shot 41-yard field goal attempt. A Denver win seemed perfunctory. It was anything but. Lutz would miss the kick wide right … but the Bills had 12 players on the field trying to block the kick. Oh. Oh, no. Josh Allen was rightfully stunned.
Who is coaching Buffalo’s special teams? Why couldn’t they get the substitutions right???
Bills lose the game because they have 12 men on the field. #DENvsBUF pic.twitter.com/GX3ePMQUW5
— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) November 14, 2023
Phew. On a second attempt, because that’s how the cookie crumbles, Lutz cruised the ball right through the uprights for the 24-22 Denver victory. In turn, he drove a dagger into what is starting to feel like a lost Bills season. I’m not sure how a middling 5-5 Bills team could possibly recover from a disastrous loss in this fashion.