ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — For 59 minutes and 36 seconds, the Buffalo Bills played a mistake-filled game against the Denver Broncos but still managed to do enough to establish a late one-point lead.
Then, as the seconds ticked off the clock in Highmark Stadium, the miscues and wrong steps caught up to them. A penalty for having an extra player on the field during a 41-yard missed field goal attempt by Denver kicker Wil Lutz held the door open for the Broncos to leave Buffalo with a 24-22 win. «Absolutely, absolutely,» Bills coach Sean McDermott said when asked if it was one of most inexplicable losses he had suffered. «We practiced two or three times that this week — the substitution from dime to field goal block.
At the end of the day, we didn't execute it. So, it's inexcusable.» With the Bills up 22-21, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson kneeled to the Buffalo 23-yard line with 24 seconds remaining and no timeouts.
Denver quickly brought out its field goal unit. The Bills switched from their dime defense to a field goal block package to match Denver and watched Lutz miss the 41-yard attempt.