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The Peculiar Approach End of Game Was About the Rushing Attack

The Peculiar Approach End of Game Was About the Rushing Attack

Did the conditions warrant throwing it late?

Cody Stoots's avatar
Cody Stoots
Oct 08, 2024
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Houston Football
Houston Football
The Peculiar Approach End of Game Was About the Rushing Attack
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The Houston Texans beat the Buffalo Bills on a last-second field goal from 59 yards.

They could’ve had a shorter one and avoided the Bills potentially sending the game to overtime.

With 44 seconds on the clock, Houston had third down at the Buffalo 39-yard line. The Bills had no timeouts. Houston had all of their timeouts.

A rushing play allows the Texans to control when the final seconds ticked off the clock. Houston instead threw the football, incurred an intentional grounding penalty, and had to punt the ball to the Bills.

Running the ball was my preferred option there. It made the most sense and allowed Houston to maintain control of the game.

DeMeco Ryans explained the decision behind throwing the ball.

“So of course, we would like to say run the ball, but not trying to lose yards there,” he said. “Felt like, with the pass, we can get a quick pass there to the side, quick pass to Dalton [Schultz] there but miscommunication on the route. Between Tank [Dell], Dalton, C.J. [Stroud], miscommunication at a critical moment in the game.”

The miscommunication compounded a bad decision. The play has to get the clock

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