With 39 seconds remaining in Saturday night’s game and the score tied 29-29, Bills running back Devin Singletary took a handoff up the middle at the Dolphins’ 11-yard line, ran toward the end zone, and then purposely stopped and fell down at the 4-yard line. After the game, Bills coach Sean McDermott praised Singletary for not scoring.
McDermott said it was smart of Singletary to recognize that if he didn’t score a touchdown, the Dolphins would have to use their final timeout, and then the Bills would kneel down on the next play, run the clock down to two seconds, and kick the game-winning 25-yard field goal. That’s exactly what happened.
“Great situational awareness by Motor,” McDermott said, referring to Singletary by his nickname.
McDermott said the Bills practice the play where they’re trying to take time off the clock and thinking the other team might let them score a touchdown.
“We had talked about it. We call it ‘no mas,’ which means no more,” McDermott said. “You’re expecting them to potentially allow you to score right there, based on where the game was, where we had the ball, and the timeout situation.”
If Singletary had scored, the Bills would have taken a 36-29 lead, but also would have had to kick off with 34 seconds left, giving the Dolphins a chance to drive for a touchdown of their own. By going down, Singletary ensured that the game’s final play would be the Bills’ game-winning field goal.
Sean McDermott praises Devin Singletary for not scoring touchdown on final carry originally appeared on Pro Football Talk