HOUSTON – Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott took responsibility for the game management that led to the Houston Texans getting the ball back in time for a game-winning 59-yard field goal Sunday.

“That’s on me, the situation at the end of the game on offense,” McDermott said after the 23-20 loss. “We’re in a tough situation… they held three timeouts; they had a good field goal kicker. We had to run the clock and move the chains, and that’s on me. We didn’t do that there, and That’s my fault.”

With the game tied at 20-20, the Bills forced the Texans to punt with 41 seconds left after quarterback C.J. Stroud was called for intentional grounding. McDermott chose to reject a possible 10-second run-off that could have come with the penalty, but he said they did consider it.

After getting the ball back at the Buffalo 3-yard line with 32 seconds left, the Bills offense had three straight incomplete passes from Josh Allen.

“I like Josh with the ball in his hands – you know that,” McDermott said. “And again, attacking efficiently was the right approach there and … I didn’t let us do that. And so we learned from that again. Difficult situation.

“… You go back and forth, and, hey, I probably should have played it on the first play and just said, ‘Hey, where are we now?’ Anyway, we’ll probably have to move the chains at some point, right?

Allen’s first pass to rookie Keon Coleman in tight coverage was incomplete – the receiver was called for offensive pass interference on the play, but the penalty was dismissed. With 27 seconds left, on second down, Allen threw deep to Mack Hollins, but the ball fell to the ground right in front of him. On third down with 21 seconds left, Allen targeted Curtis Samuel in the middle of the field, but he slipped before the ball got there and it bounced onto the turf in front of him.

“Overall, that’s my responsibility again,” McDermott said when asked if he participated in the play calling. “And so we just have to do better, I have to do better in that situation.”

All, as well as offensive linemen Connor McGovern and David Edwards, said they agreed with their attempt to be “aggressive” in that situation.

“Coach will trust us to go out there and do that,” Allen said. “Obviously I would like to convert there and hindsight is 20-20, but yes.”

After a 13-yard punt return to the Texans’ 41-yard line, Houston made one play to gain 5 yards and set up a 59-yard field goal. On that play, Bills linebacker Dorian Williams didn’t run onto the field until 12 seconds before the snap, and cornerback Rasul Douglas said after the game that he didn’t think Williams knew the play call.

“We tried to use nickel defense, and Dorian was on the sideline,” McDermott said. “We didn’t have the communication we needed there, and that’s why he got on the field late and got the call in that situation.”

The Texans won on the next play: a 59-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn as time expired.

Switch receivers caught just 4 of 18 targets on the day – the team’s worst receiving rate since 2009 (Week 13) and the worst among all team receivers with a minimum of 15 targets since 2016 (Rams, Week 16).

On the day, Allen completed 9 of 30 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown to Coleman. The Bills were without leading receiver Khalil Shakir due to an ankle injury.

Allen recorded the lowest completion percentage in a game with at least 30 pass attempts in the past 30 seasons. He said he needs to play better, including with his ball placement, when discussing why the receivers weren’t getting open. Coleman said this wasn’t the result of anything the Texans did defensively, but problems he brought on himself, including communication issues.

“I would never, ever criticize Josh,” Edwards said. “He’s the heartbeat of our offense and our football team. We go the way he goes. He’s the man. I could easily point the finger at myself on one of those third downs because I couldn’t pick up one of the stunts. So, this one game is not for Josh.”