The Bills’ clock management on their weirdly aggressive last possession was foolish coaching

After what felt like a tough slog for most of the afternoon, the Buffalo Bills valiantly fought back against the Houston Texans on Sunday.

At one point, the Bills faced a 20-3 deficit before battling all the way back to knot things up at 20-20 in the final minutes. And after the Buffalo defense got off the field in the last minute, Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense probably should’ve just played for overtime while starting against the shadow of their goal line. Especially given that there were only 32 seconds left and Buffalo had no timeouts.

Instead, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and head coach Sean McDermott gave Allen the green light to launch three straight deep passes. All were incomplete, and Buffalo would punt after a three-and-out with 16 seconds left on the clock:

That was more than enough time for the Texans to set up a long 59-yard game-winning field goal for kicker Ka’Imi Fairbain. It was never in doubt:

FROM THE H, FOR THE H pic.twitter.com/2TgRhBXsuU

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) October 6, 2024

Again, I’m just so confounded by what Brady and McDermott were thinking in that last sequence.

The likelihood of the Bills mounting an extremely long scoring drive with just over 30 seconds on the clock and no timeouts was minimal. I appreciate general aggressiveness from coaches when the situation calls for it. That moment called for playing for overtime rather than gifting the Texans a short field and another chance to win it. You don’t go for the kill when missing will hurt you in the worst possible way.

It was coaching mismanagement of the highest order and a mistake the Bills will likely think about for weeks.