Week 5 included many examples of how not to manage the clock as well in late game situations. Most coaches who learned lessons did so the hard way, losing their own games.
Bills coach Joe Brady learned a lesson by still winning.
In a Tuesday session with reporters, Brady expressed regret for the game-winning 45-yard field goal attempt on second down with two minutes left in overtime.
“I didn’t want to run two QB sneaks with the process of going down, again, putting the ball in jeopardy, making a couple of tackles on Josh, just to get — we knew we were already in line,” Brady said. “So it’s like, hey, do you just, hey, put the ball in the middle and just take two knees? You know, you go back two yards, but you don’t give them, you know, they end up worse off if you miss. They get 45 seconds to, you know, go 20 yards for a field goal. Big difference in two minutes and, 4 yard field goal, 4 percent field. You’ve still got to be good to go, right?
“And, you know, so if I had that opportunity again — look, I got punished for it. You know, (Tyler Bass) was good to go. The talk we had in the huddle and upstairs was like, ‘Let’s just go win the game now.’ But, you know, to not give them that shot again, if we lose, the best thing would be to kneel down and say, ‘Hey, 45 and 47 aren’t that big of a difference.’ Be a completely different story if the ball was a little further back. I wouldn’t hesitate to kneel if we were a little closer. We were alone in that. It’s a long field goal. We had just missed an extra point, but we had faith in (Basi), but then I wish I could have taken a knee, and then we hit the game-winner. And if anything, they would have 45 seconds and not two minutes.”
Many Bills fans would probably prefer a 45-yard field goal attempt to a 47-yard field goal attempt. For obvious reasons. Regardless, the thought process is another example of the decisions coaches have to make in real time, with the clock ticking.
If the punt was missed from the 47, the Rams would have less than 40 seconds to gain enough ground to attempt another potential game-winner. A mistake from the 45 would have given the Rams the triple that time.
