A mistake-filled game by the Bills culminated in an « inexcusable » penalty for having too many players on the field Monday night against the Broncos.
— For 59 minutes and 36 seconds, the Buffalo Bills played a mistake-filled game against the Denver Broncos but still managed to do enough to establish a late one-point lead.
Then, as the seconds ticked off the clock in Highmark Stadium, the miscues and wrong steps caught up to them. A penalty for having an extra player on the field during a missed 41-yard field goal attempt by Denver kicker Wil Lutz held the door open for the Broncos to leave Buffalo with a 24-22 win.
« Absolutely, absolutely, » Bills coach Sean McDermott said when asked if it was one of most inexplicable losses he had suffered. « We practiced two or three times that this week — the substitution from dime to field goal block. At the end of the day, we didn’t execute it. So, it’s inexcusable. »
With the Bills up 22-21, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson kneeled to the Buffalo 23-yard line with 24 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Denver quickly brought out its field goal unit.
The Bills switched from their dime defense to a field goal block package to match Denver and watched Lutz miss the 41-yard attempt.
That should have been game over. But the Bills didn’t switch players well enough, and as the ball was snapped, there were 12 defenders on the field. After a 5-yard penalty, Lutz made the 36-yard field goal attempt that followed. Game over, but a Broncos win.
« You can’t beat yourself in those situations, » linebacker and special teams captain Tyler Matakevich said. « You got to make sure we’re locked in, everyone knows what’s going on.
