By Matthew Kwitowski, Sports Department Member
A lot of fans around the NFL continue to ponder over the controversial officiating that took place in the AFC Championship Game between the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs. Fans quickly took to social media after the game to criticize the referees. Many believed they were the sole reason Kansas City went on to win the game and even believed the game was fixed.
Although I believe the referees continuously made some horrendous calls, I don’t think we can solely blame them for the result of the game.
One of the most controversial calls from the game was a fourth-down quarterback sneak from Josh Allen late in the fourth quarter that the referees deemed short. This led to the Chiefs getting the ball back and kicking a field goal that would end up giving them the win.
Fans were outraged by this call and were confident it was the sole reason for the loss.
Was this a questionable call? Yes.
But was it the only reason that Buffalo lost the game? Absolutely not.
Despite it being easy to blame the referees, especially when losing to a team like the Chiefs, I think there are other things to blame.
Bills’ Head Coach Sean McDermott and the rest of the coaching staff should be on the top of that list. McDermott was out coached throughout the entire game, and when needed to make a change, he simply didn’t.
A prime example has to do with the controversial call mentioned before. That fourth-down play should have looked a lot different.
The quarterback sneak, also known as the “tush push”, is a play that has worked a number of times for Buffalo this season. However, Kansas City showed early in the game that they were aware of this play and knew exactly how to stop it.
My question to McDermott is why they were continuing to run this play when he saw it wasn’t being productive. That was a blundered play call, and those responsible must be criticized.
This wasn’t the only play call that had me scratching my head, however. There were multiple times in this game that Bills’ Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady made a call that didn’t make sense according to the down, yardage needed, or specific time of the game. One example that stirred controversy was when the Bills were down three points, needing a score. On third and ten, Brady decided to call an Amari Cooper screen pass that only got five yards. That’s the last play I would’ve called if I was in Brady’s shoes.
This coaching staff has proven to us many times that they struggle in the big moments, and the AFC Championship Game was the perfect example.
Another moment from the game that was detrimental was the injury to Bills’ cornerback Christian Benford in the first quarter. Benford has been exceptional the entire season, so him going down is bad enough, but to make it worse, one of the biggest busts in recent memory, Kaiir Elam came into the game.
The immediate second I saw this take place, I knew the odds of Buffalo winning the game had plummeted. Elam has been a liability for the Bills his entire career and continued to be in the biggest game of his career.
Elam was targeted the moment he entered, which led to big plays for the opposition. However, the part that shocked me the most was that the coaching staff didn’t make a single adjustment to this.
After they saw what was happening to Elam, I don’t know why he wasn’t benched for backups Jamarcus Ingram or even Cam Lewis, who have both been proven to be reliable when needed this season.
That decision and the play calling combined heavily contributed to the Bills’ defeat. Allen, who was playing the best ball of his career, deserves a lot more from this team.
I know there is reason to be frustrated with the officiating, but at the end of the day, this team didn’t do what was needed to win the biggest game of the year. The referees were terrible but it’s time to realize the facts. The Bills were outplayed, the Chiefs are doing something historical, and the foolish mistakes are why Buffalo is in Cancun earlier than they wanted.
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