Bills player: Team has ‘unfinished business’ after blowing lead against Chiefs
It’s been more than a month, but the sting of the Bills’ 42-36 overtime loss to the Chiefs in an AFC Divisional playoff game remains in Buffalo.
In Western New York, the phrase “13 seconds” still is being discussed (and lamented) by Bills fans.
The Bills took a 36-33 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the playoff game, but Buffalo kicked the ball deep, and the Chiefs needed just two plays to get into field goal range to force overtime. The Chiefs won the toss and then beat the Bills.
It seems much of the hand-wringing has been the decision to kick the ball deep to the Chiefs with 13 seconds to play rather than squib kick and take time off the clock.
Buffalo Bills cornerback/special teams player Siran Neal was asked multiple questions Thursday about that decision in a news conference following his signing a three-year contract extension.
The very first question was about the kickoff, and Neal didn’t answer it directly.
“There’s a lot of things in that game we can fix,” Neal said. “I’ll just tell you like this: it’s in the past, and there’s not anything we can go back and fix. It’s something in the past that I don’t want get into, or whatever, but there’s a lot of things in that game to correct.”
Another reporter said fans had a “burning curiosity” about whether the Bills kickoff team had been given instructions about the kick.
“Well, be curious. We don’t have to discuss anything with the outside world if we don’t want to,” Neal said. “And you know what’s crazy? We don’t even discuss it with each other. That was a play that happened back then. We’ve moved on from it.
“There’s a lot of things in that game that we could have done differently to change the outcome in that game.”
Neal reiterated that point after another question about what happen after taking the lead with 13 seconds remaining.
“I’m gonna say it right now, we’re not going to talk about it,” Neal said. “That happened already. It is what it is. And we will not share information about that. Or we’ll keep it inside this building. That’s in the past, there’s more to come.”
‘Unfinished business’
But while answering another query about the game, Neal acknowledged the Bills aren’t happy with how their season ended.
“There’s always unfinished business, not just that game but from previous years prior to that game,” he said. “But that’s another reason why I’m back. We have unfinished business and the guys know we have unfinished business, and we know what we have to do.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 9:01 AM.
