Sean McDermott takes the blame for Bills’ last-minute loss to Texans

The Buffalo Bills lose their second consecutive road game amid a clock mismanagement against the Houston Texans.

Sean McDermott takes the blame for Bills’ last-minute loss to Texans

Sean McDermott takes the blame for loss against the Houston Texans (Image via SI/X)

The Buffalo Bills found themselves in yet another last-minute mismanagement, reminding of their playoff game months ago. On Sunday, the Bills lost to the Houston Texans 20-23 at the NRG Stadium.

Bills HC Sean McDermott took the blame for the clock mismanagement at the end of the game. The Texans walked off a field goal after the Bills’ coach’s calls went wrong as the time ran out.

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Speaking to ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg admitted that he was at fault. He pointed out that they should have run out the clock and moved the chains.

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That’s on me, the end-of-game situation on offense. We’re in a tough situation … they were holding three timeouts; they got a good field goal kicker. We needed to run the clock and move the chains, and that’s on me. We didn’t do that there, and that’s my fault.

Sean McDermott said

With less than a minute remaining, the Bills forced Houston to punt after quarterback CJ Stroud was penalized for intentional grounding. However, Coach McDermott opted to decline the accompanying 10-second runoff to try and win in the late minutes.

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Buffalo’s offense then went three-and-out after three incomplete passes from quarterback Josh Allen. The Texans returned the punt to their own 41-yard line, and after a short five-yard gain, Ka’imi Fairbairn nailed a 59-yard field goal as the game clocked out, securing the lead. Eventually, Stroud got the final laugh, getting the celebration as well.

Josh Allen recorded his worst performance in Week 5 against the Texans

Josh Allen completed 30% of his passes (9-for-30) during Sunday’s game, an unwanted NFL record for the first time since 1992. He was nothing like Allen fans saw against Jaguars. The last quarterback to throw at least 30 passes with a completion rate of 30% or lower was Stan Gelbaugh of the Seattle Seahawks.

Josh Allen
Josh Allen (Image via Imago)

Before Sunday, a possibly concussed Allen had never completed less than 40% of his passes in a game. His next lowest completion percentage happened in his rookie season opener, where he registered 6 of 15 attempts (40%) for 74 yards.

Notably, under head coach DeMeco Ryans, the Texans have only allowed one QB to complete fewer than 50% of their passes, which was Anthony Richardson in Week 1 of this season.

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Both teams now focus on their next matchups. The Texans head to Boston to face the New England Patriots, while the Bills prepare for a local rivalry against the New York Jets at the Meadowlands.