Bills GM Brandon Beane `Not in a Good Spot' After Playoff Defeat
When Brandon Beane gets over his initial shock from Sunday night, which as of Wednesday had not happened, the Buffalo Bills general manager vows to keep pushing his team toward a title by getting everyone pulling in the same direction again.
"I haven't watched the film, to be honest with you," Beane confessed in his season-ending press conference. "I watched a little bit of the last play, but I can't watch it right now. I'm not in a good spot. But I will. We'll review it and we'll learn from it. I promise you that. There's a lot of pain in this city and there's a lot of pain in that building over there, and we're going to do everything in our power to not let that happen again."
Beane watched in horror as the team he assembled allowed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to complete two passes for a total of 44 yards in a 10-second span to set up a 49-yard field goal that tied the game on the final play of regulation. After winning the coing flip in overtime, the Chiefs took the ball and drove for a touchdown to end the game.
The way the game ended revived a furious debate about the NFL's overtime rules, particularly in the playoffs, and whether they should allow each team a possession regardless of what the team that gets the ball first does.
The owners often have discussed making changes without anything getting done.
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"I have my own ideas," Beane said. "We lost the game the other night, but of course we would love to, and I think the TV audience would have loved to see Josh and our offense get it back. I would definitely love to see [the discussion] brought back to the table. I'm not saying I have the exact idea, but I think there are some ways to do it, without getting detail.
"I think there's a way you can do it in the regular season that handles that. But let's do something in the postseason when it's all on the line, and that would that would be where my head is on it."
The league could well make a change to overtime rules for the playoffs only.
"It's a 17-game season," Beane said. "You can't have to these guys playing too many minutes from wear and tear. So maybe there ends up being some more ties in the regular season, but let's make sure we give both offenses a chance when the season's on the line.
"I know Kansas City lost a few years back to New England, I think, in a similar game ... where [Patriots QB Tom] Brady took them all the way down, scored. Mahomes never got the ball back. And so I'm sure, even though it benefited them the other, I'm sure [the Chiefs] would be in favor.
"If you've got Pat Mahomes, you're always going to want to make sure he gets the ball, and we feel the same about Josh."
Beane touched on many other areas in a lengthy session that began with him thanking everyone from the team's training staff to the equipment personnel to the Bills Mafia for keeping everything on course.
He even choked up during his tribute to the fans.
"I'm sick to my stomach that we lost the other night," Beane said. "But I am so appreciative, our building is so appreciative. It's painful, and for people to show up at the airport at three in the morning, I don't know what the temperature was, but I wanted to hug them all. I'm just so appreciative all year long, no matter where we went.
"We lost in Jacksonville, and that was probably the most painful game other than the other night, and so many of them stayed and were like chanting for us. I mean, I would have been booing us. I was booing myself. And it just says a lot to who they are, and I'm sorry that we didn't get it done. We're all hurting, and I'm just I'm sorry."
We'll have more from Beane here at Bills Central, including his thoughts on the team's many pending free agents, as the week goes on.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.