Josh Allen defends Tyler Bass after tough loss to Chiefs
The Buffalo Bills had the ideal scenario against the Kansas City Chiefs, the team they've been so desperate to beat in these moments. And the same result happened yet again to their dismay. Buffalo fell in the divisional round for the third consecutive season in a 27-24 loss to Kansas City. They've lost to their […]
The Buffalo Bills had the ideal scenario against the Kansas City Chiefs, the team they've been so desperate to beat in these moments. And the same result happened yet again to their dismay.
Buffalo fell in the divisional round for the third consecutive season in a 27-24 loss to Kansas City. They've lost to their modern AFC rivals twice before in the postseason, but never at home, and never by a missed field goal.
Placekicker Tyler Bass pushed his potential game-tying kick *wide right* in the cold and windy Buffalo air with under two minutes to play. Another infamous kicking folly added to archives to be sure, but the leader of the locker room, quarterback Josh Allen, made sure to defend his teammate after such a low moment.
Allen kept it real during his post-game press conference when discussing Bass' big moment, with a clear sense of accountability seeping through his words.
"I wish he wouldn't have been put in that situation. You know, you win as a team, you lose as a team – one play doesn't define a game, it doesn't define season," Allen told reporters as he sighed. "I know people are going to be out there saying that. You know, we got to be there for him, because again, [if] we execute [a] couple plays prior, you know, [we're] probably singing a different tune, right now."
Bass' heartbreaking miss concluded what was a 16-play, 54-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. It was the three plays leading up to the kick that will really have Allen and the Bills thinking "what if?"
Following a non-descriptive one-yard carry from running back James Cook, Allen sought a touchdown on 2nd-and-9. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir went deep on a post route from the slot and found open space in the end zone, but Allen's pass ended up short due to Chiefs' defensive lineman Chris Jones getting in on the play. Jones' bull rush did just enough to disrupt Allen's release, causing the pass to fall a few yards short of Shakir.
"If the Bills end up losing this game, it'll come back to this one," CBS color commentator Tony Romo said on the broadcast. He wasn't wrong.
Allen had just as much luck on the ensuing 3rd-and-9 call. He escaped a clean pocket to his right upon finding none of his receivers open and had to throw the ball out of bounds to avoid losing yardage.
The ball was snapped on the right hash mark for both of these plays, which is kind of a big deal considering who Bass is as a kicker.
When the ball is snapped from the left hash or in-between the hashes, essentially 90% of Bass' field goals go through the uprights. That percentage drops by more than 10% when the ball is snapped from the right has, per Marcus Mosher of both Pro Football Focus and The 33rd Team.
Bass will get plenty of blame for not delivering in the biggest moment of his young career, but Allen is right. The Bills didn't do enough beforehand, and that shouldn't go unnoticed when looking back at yet another playoff letdown.
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He was ready to go.
