Okay. So, here was the situation.
With 18 seconds left in the game against the Miami Dolphins, and the ball at the Buffalo 47-yard line, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen threw quickly to receiver Isaiah McKenzie under extreme pressure (Miami’s defense was really good in this game), and for whatever reason, McKenzie chose not to go out of bounds.
The Bills had no timeouts left, so now, it was up to Allen to get back to the line of scrimmage in a mad dash to spike the ball so that kicker Tyler Bass could try a long game-winner.
Allen couldn’t do it in time, and the Bills lost their first game of the season, while the 3-0 Dolphin took sole possession of first place in the AFC East.
You can see the entire sequence here.
THE DOLPHINS HOLD OFF THE BILLS ON THE FINAL DRIVE 😳
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/go1Sheu3wE
— ESPN (@espn) September 25, 2022
And this is what caused Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey to go all Keith Moon on his game work in the coaches’ box. Quite understandably.
“Is this the man who… WRECKED the buffet at the Harrow Club?” https://t.co/KVI4qTUdGm
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) September 25, 2022
After the game, McKenzie explained his thought process on that play.
“I was trying to get out of bounds,” he said. “I was also trying to get yards. I knew [Tyler Bass’] range, so I was trying to get out of bounds but also get up the field. I tried to get out of bounds. There was nine seconds left and I was trying to get to the hash, and I kind of got bumped by going to the ref and it just went down from there. If I could take it back, I would probably just go up field, get down, put it on the hash myself and live to fight another down.”
Or, just go out of bounds.
Not that it was all McKenzie’s fault. The Bills started at their own 23-yard line with 1:25 left in the game after Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead’s now-legendary butt punt went through the back of the end zone, forcing Miami to kick from their own 20-yard line. Morstead recovered his good name by booting a 74-yard kickoff.
And with 22 seconds left, a holding call on Bills offensive lineman David Quessenberry pushed the ball back from the Miami 43-yard line to the Buffalo 47-yard line, which is when all the drama really started.
So, it’s never just the one thing.
“We were just in the moment,” head coach Sean McDermott said after the loss. “As a competitor, you’re just in the moment. As players are, as coaches, we’re the same. We’re trying to get our team in a position to execute… We were right where we needed to be with another play or two in there, and we practice that all the time.
“A lot of faith and confidence to come out and kick the game winner. They made a play, and so we move on and learn from it.”
By running out of bounds when a similar situation presents itself, perhaps.