Bills: It’s Time To Stop Blaming Hackett

It’s all become a little too convenient, to the point of cop-out territory.  The Buffalo Bills lose a game they should’ve won and instantaneously fans and media alike aim their wrath at head coach Doug Marrone and more specifically offensive coordinator Nate Hackett.  Before going forward let me say this—I’ve never been a Hackett fan and don’t support his appointment as Bills offensive coordinator. I’ve long thought with Syracuse at the top his resume, the Bills job put him in over his head, and precious little I’ve seen since his 2013 arrival has steered me elsewhere. I’ve carried the same thoughts on Marrone too.

Having said that, pinning the Bills soul-crushing home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Hackett and his play calling is unbelievably shortsighted.  During the game and moments that followed my Twitter feed, Facebook feed, text messages and anything fans got their fingers on was inundated with grievances towards Hackett; calling for Terry Pegula to relieve him of his duties before he could get exit the locker room.

The condemnation is pretty ironic, since I think Sunday was actually one of Hackett’s best showings in Buffalo. Against the New York Jets a few weeks ago fans were incensed at how conservative the offense was. This time Buffalo was far more aggressive.  The Bills passed on nine of 12 first down plays during the first half.  Is the new beef Hackett was too aggressive early in each series?  The Bills went three-and-out just twice in 11 possessions Sunday.

That’s not to say Hackett was perfect. I would’ve liked to see them run in the red zone more.  Buffalo ran 17 red zone plays against Kansas City and only four were runs.  The last four plays with the game in the balance were all incomplete passes.  Hackett needs to have more faith in the running game inside the 20.

Still, this loss falls squarely on the players, not Hackett.  The Bills made far too many mental and physical mistakes to beat a playoff caliber team, even in a game they mostly dominated.

Rather than tell you of the major blunders that ultimately led to their (realistic) playoff lives hitting life support, we’ll show you instead.

Roll the footage…

ROBERT WOODS’ BIG DROP

Already up, 7-3 the Bills are on the move with their second possession.  Facing a third down and four Kyle Orton drops back and finds Robert Woods open in between two defenders. However, Woods drops the ball and the Bills are forced to punt.  Had Woods made the catch at worst the Bills are in Dan Carpenter field goal territory.  For me this is the equivalent of a third down turnover.

BROWN FUMBLES, CHANDLER DOESN’T PICK IT UP

This is the play most fans are talking about Monday morning.  Bryce Brown takes a handoff and appears to be going in for a touchdown that puts the Bills up big, 17-3.  However, Brown gets the ball punched out a few steps from the goal line and the ball trickles into the end zone.  Although Brown’s fumble is both unfortunate and infuriating the real travesty, at least in my mind comes from Scott Chandler’s failure to fall on it. If you watch the loop enough times you’ll see how easy it should’ve been for Chandler to corral it with his hands for the score. I mean, Chandler is a tight end, right?  This was arguably the biggest game-changer.  If Brown holds the ball and/or Chandler simply falls on it the Bills go up big enough that the Chiefs are forced to essentially abandon the run and allow the Bills fierce pass rush to pin their ears back. For the record, the play call was by Hackett was brilliant and should’ve been an easy touchdown.

ORTON CAN’T FIND HOGAN

It’s third-and-two and Orton drops back to pass. He’s pretty much shown patience since arriving, but on this particular play he’s locked onto Chandler.  When Chandler doesn’t get open Orton tries to scramble for the first down but comes up a half-yard short.  The decision may have been Orton’s worst of the day, as Chris Hogan breaks wide (and I mean wide) open across the middle of the field.  If Orton sees Hogan the Bills, at a minimum are in easy Carpenter field goal range.  At the time the Bills led 13-10. It’s worth noting the next play was when rookie Seantrell Henderson committed a false start after the Bills tried to draw the Chiefs offsides on fourth and one.  Not finding Hogan was a critical mistake by Orton. Hackett had this dialed up right.

LAWSON GETS OWNED IN RUNNING GAME

Bills defensive end Manny Lawson was on the field and directly fooled on both Kansas City’s fourth quarter touchdown runs. I should add that’s reserve defensive end Manny Lawson.  What I’d really like to know is why both Jerry Hughes and Mario Williams weren’t on the field for critical fourth-and-one and first-and-goal plays in the fourth quarter.  Hughes has become one of the premier defensive ends in football—why is he only playing eight more snaps than Lawson? I get keeping guys fresh, Jim Schwartz, but in critical moments your best players should be on the field.

Generally speaking, I have little problem with Hackett’s play calls in this game, especially after re-watching. The flaws were in the execution and especially from Orton, who had his worst game as a Bill.

Despite analytics that surely suggest otherwise, I also don’t have a problem with either of Marrone’s second half punts on fourth and one.  Both were in their own territory and with the lead.  With his defense playing as good as it did, why wouldn’t he? The punts gave the Chiefs drive starts from the eight and three yard line and for the record it worked out both times, forcing Kansas City three-and-outs and two punts from their own end zone—one McKelvin fumbled and the other returned 25 yards to the Chiefs 25 that could’ve set up a game-winning score.

You can argue against Marrone’s decisions and may well be right, but let’s save that debate for another day.  This loss was on the players throwing away opportunities. They should’ve won and done so convincingly.