BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady accepted blame Monday for play calling that contributed to the team's first loss of the season.
"I don't think we had a bad plan, I think the game was called bad," Brady said following Buffalo's 35-10 in Baltimore on Sunday night. "I'm taking full accountability."
"I obviously have to be better," Brady said in regard to several areas, including the lack of commitment to a running game after falling behind early, protecting quarterback Josh Allen, and utilizing playmakers Dalton Kincaid and Curtis Samuel. But the coordinator was most regretful of a creative play call in the third quarter that "ultimately kind of costed us the football game."
With the Bills trailing 24-10 but building momentum on a drive into Ravens territory, Brady called for a trick play in which Samuel received the snap and tossed the ball to Allen, who was split out wide. The result was Allen grimacing in pain after getting sacked by Baltimore's Kyle Van Noy and losing a fumble that thwarted Buffalo's comeback hopes.
"It was a pretty bad play call," Brady said. "There's no way to sum that up."
Coach Sean McDermott said he addressed the decision with Brady after the game, and again on Monday when reviewing game film.
"It's probably not the best call for that situation, and something we'll learn from," McDermott said.
Brady explained that he saw an opportunity to try the trick play when the Ravens had backup defensive linemen in the game. But he did not recognize the need to change the play call as Van Noy and other starters returned to the field.
"I try to pride myself on like a feel of the flow of the game and how things are going," Brady said. "And even if we were able to get that off, and even if we were able to do anything with it, and that wasn't the right timing for the play, and I got to have a better feel and understanding."
Brady kept his sense of humor about the situation, joking that when a reporter on Monday's video call had technical difficulties, "it was probably a bad trick play."
Asked to describe the play call in one word, Brady responded: "I probably can't say it on the Zoom."
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
