‘Totally on me’: Bass foots blame after Bills’ loss

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The kick initially looked like it was headed through the uprights. Then, it sharply changed direction with the 11-13 mph winds in Orchard Park helping it sail up and to the right, away from the upright.

The missed 44-yard field goal by Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass gave the Kansas City Chiefs the ball at their own 34-yard line with a three-point lead and 1:43 left on the clock in Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game.

“Ultimately, it’s completely on me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting through to my target,” Bass said after the Bills’ 27-24 loss. “I’ve got to do a better job of playing it a little bit more left when you have a left-to-right [wind]. I’ve been here long enough to know that you have to do that. You know, I was trusting my line that I had in warmups. Hit a good ball, but it didn’t work out. I feel terrible, you know? I love this team and it hurts. This one hurts bad. Yeah, I’ve got to do a better job. Totally on me.”

Bass finished the regular season and postseason with his lowest field goal percentage in his four-year career (76.5%). Coach Sean McDermott said after the game that they have “full confidence” in Bass. The coach also pointed to the Bills’ defense and special teams not playing the “way we needed to.”

The field goal attempt will be just another what-if moment for the Bills in a game full of opportunities that ended with more of the same. For the third straight year, the Bills’ season ended in the divisional round, and it extended the team’s postseason record vs. Patrick Mahomes to 0-3. Another postseason, another loss to Kansas City.

“I wish [Bass] wouldn’t have been put in that situation,” quarterback Josh Allen said. “You win as a team, you lose as a team. One play doesn’t define a game. It doesn’t define a season. I know people are going to be out there saying that. We got to be there for him because again, we execute a couple of plays prior, probably singing a different tune right now.”

Two Allen incompletions from the Kansas City 26-yard line preceded Bass’ attempt, wrapping up a 16-play, 54-yard drive that yielded no points. That included a second-and-9 play in which wide receiver Stefon Diggs was open as he ran across the middle of the field, but Allen targeted Khalil Shakir deep as he was pressured by defensive tackle Chris Jones. As well as a drop by Diggs on a long pass downfield on the first play of the drive.

The what-ifs for Buffalo also extend to how and when it was time to take those shots downfield, after the Bills used the short passing game successfully for most of the evening. The Bills didn’t run an offensive play longer than 18 yards, marking only the second time in Allen’s 103 career starts (including playoffs) that Buffalo had zero plays of 20-plus yards in a game (Week 5, 2018). Allen averaged 0.7 air yards on 26 completions with 24 coming within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Since 2006, only two quarterbacks have completed 20-plus passes in a game and averaged fewer air yards on their completions.

Allen went 26-of-39 for 186 yards and a touchdown, in addition to rushing for 72 yards on 12 carries with two rushing scores. There were no turnovers or sacks. The Bills owned the time of possession (37:03), but produced only seven second-half points.

“Losing sucks,” Allen said. “Losing to them, losing to anybody at home sucks.”

Defensively, the Bills gave up two touchdowns on the Chiefs’ first drives of the second half, and the big plays made their mark. The Chiefs had a season-high eight plays that gained 20-plus yards.

Injuries played a role on defense, but the unit was unable to force a turnover — something that it has taken pride in doing; takeaways were the signature of the Bills’ six-game winning streak entering the game (they recorded at least one in five of those games). The defense also allowed tight end Travis Kelce to get loose, catching five passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

The defense forced a fumble out of bounds at the goal line by Mecole Hardman following a failed Bills fake punt early in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to save the Bills.

“Just comes down to making the plays that come your way, making the tackles and doing your job,” defensive tackle DaQuan Jones said. “Some of those plays, we weren’t doing that and they exposed us.”

An offseason with big decisions and question marks awaits the Bills after another AFC East title — one that had a 4% chance of happening, per ESPN Analytics, when the Bills were 6-6 after Week 13. Another chance for the franchise’s first Super Bowl title will wait another year.

“I’m extremely disappointed. I mean, you put so much time into this,” McDermott said. “We put so much time into a season, let alone this game, and the preparation for it, and to come out and to not perform the way I’d hoped we would’ve, it’s extremely disappointing and frustrating and it’s a type of situation in our business where you got to spend the whole offseason thinking about it, but it drives you harder, if that’s even possible to drive someone harder, drives you harder to come back next season and continue to work at it.”