The Buffalo Bills tried to pull a fast one on the Kansas City Chiefs.
It did not work out.
Thankfully the Bills were not burned in the end. The Chiefs took over the ball in plus territory after Buffalo ran a fake punt on their own half of the field and Kansas City stopped it.
The Bills went on to take the ball back with a fumble, but what the heck happened? Why was that play called? How come didn’t it work?
We’ve got some insight and some breakdown, post 27-24 final.
Many thought the Bills had audibled into that trick play. On the game’s broadcast it was noted that the Chiefs only had 10 players on the field, not 11.
While that makes it look like Buffalo made the right call… and perhaps that is the case… it was not an audible. According to the Buffalo News, long snapper Reid Ferguson said that the play was going to be run all along, the Bills just happened to get that perfect look… but it completely blew up.
On fourth-and-5, defensive back Damar Hamlin barely carried the ball for two yards before the Chiefs stuffed him.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said via video conference he wanted to roll the dice but it did not pay off.
“I just felt like we were having a hard time stopping them,” he said. “They were up three at the time and I wanted to be aggressive.”
On the Xs and Os front… the job just didn’t get done in the trenches. NFL’s Next Gen Stats show it: Kansas City beat Buffalo up front.
Don’t blame Hamlin, he never had a chance.
The Chiefs, with five players up front, rushed through the six the Bills had. The edge was set on the play, forcing Hamlin to carry the ball up the middle, and he was stuffed there too.
The graphic below shows Hamlin had nowhere to go:
Dots show Chiefs only had 10 men on the field on the Bills fake punt, and only six in the box. Poor execution from the Bills blocking. pic.twitter.com/Pf7bDHVEbw
— Nick Veronica (@NickVeronica) January 22, 2024
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