During the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott attempted a fake punt against the Chiefs that ultimately failed miserably. But it doesn’t sound like he has any regrets about his decision.
On the play, the Bills decided to run a fake punt on a direct snap to safety Damar Hamlin, who was playing the up-back position on the play. It didn’t work, as Hamlin was tackled well short of the five yards he needed for a first down on the fourth-and-5 play.
The decision from McDermott to run a fake punt in that situation instead of simply putting the ball into the hands of his superstar quarterback to get the five yards led to a lot of criticism, but McDermott defended the move, saying that he wanted “the element of surprise” that a fake punt gives.
“I understand what you’re saying about keeping Josh out there,” McDermott said according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News. “It’s just where we were on the field in relation to the element of surprise in that situation. Obviously, we didn’t execute.”
Ultimately, the Chiefs did not look very surprised and the play did not work at all.
