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The Buffalo Bills are holding onto a 10-6 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season and opted to go for the first down on 4th and 1. Nothing unusual about that, except for the playcall Buffalo offensive coordinator Brian Daboll dialed up. Take a look.
that's one hell of a fourth-and-1 play you've got there, Bills pic.twitter.com/opQgGfelAb
— Christian D'Andrea needs help to buy Ale Asylum (@TrainIsland) September 12, 2021
Josh Allen actually throws this ball eight yards behind the line of scrimmage, turning a 4th and 1 into a 4th and 9 for no real reason. The Bills are unable to block the Steelers at the point of attack and essentially give up great field position on the attempt. There’s not even an attempt at trickery or gadgetry; this is just a bad playcall.
The Steelers would turn this mishap into points with Ben Roethlisberger finding Diontae Johnson for the touchdown to take a 13-10 lead. The Bills were favored at -6.5 entering the contest and will rue this play if they eventually lose this game.