There is “nothing” that can sway Brandon Beane’s opinion that Josh Allen converted on a critical fourth down in the Bills’ crushing AFC Championship loss Sunday.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Bills’ general manager elaborated on the fallout of Buffalo’s season-ending loss, particularly a controversial call involving the star quarterback, who was ruled short of a first down on the Chiefs’ 41-yard line with Buffalo leading, 22-21.
“It’s frustrating, there’s only so much I can say. We work with the league to try to get clarity and I’ll give them credit, they’ve taken our calls, they’ve sent video and things like that,” Beane said.
“If you’re talking about like the fourth-down play, I feel like he [Allen] got that. I still feel like he got that, I felt that in the moment and nothing has changed my mind on that.”
Allen failed to get a fresh set of downs after being ruled short at the marker, giving the ball back to Kansas City.
The Chiefs — accused of favorable calls by the officials throughout the postseason — scored on the subsequent drive en route to a 32-29 victory, punching their ticket to a third straight Super Bowl.
Beane, who has served as Buffalo’s GM since 2017, also supported head coach Sean McDermott’s decision to challenge a questionable catch from Chiefs receiver Xavier Worthy in the first half.
“The play that we challenged I thought was a good challenge, I’m not sure the player had possession on the [safety Cole] Bishop-Worthy play when the ball touched the ground,” Beane said. “… Again, they’ve given how they see it and that’s their job. But it is what it is, those are just like plays we didn’t make in the game, too. By no means are we saying that’s why we lost the game.”
Despite their Super Bowl dreams being thwarted yet again by the Chiefs, Beane is going to “keep kicking the door” until they reach their ultimate goal.
“That is my mentality. That is our mentality. We are not giving in. We’re not. We’re frustrated. We want to win. All that’s doing is making our chip bigger. We’ll reset, we’ll recalibrate, not make any rash decisions, and over the next few weeks and couple months, shape what the next team will look like,” Beane said.
The Chiefs will face the Eagles on Feb. 9 in a rematch of Super Bowl 2023. Kansas City defeated Philadelphia, 38-35.
