The Buffalo Bills suffered another loss on Sunday, and Rex Ryan came up with a new excuse for his team’s struggles — the lack of replays available, of course.
In the second quarter, Ryan elected to not challenge a questionable 37-yard reception by Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. It looked like Maclin trapped the ball against the ground, but Ryan said he never challenged it because his staff wasn’t able to see a replay of it.
“The 37-yarder, I wasn’t aware of it because again, I wasn’t seeing the video on it, and again, so from my vantage point, I thought he caught the ball,” Ryan said, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “That was from my vantage point. Obviously, I would have challenged it if I would have known there was any question whatsoever on a 37-yard play that flipped the game. We were in complete control of that game and then they threw some balls over our heads. Obviously I would have challenged [that].”
Ryan said his coaches in the booth did not have access to replay on close plays to determine whether they should challenge.
“A lot of times everybody will be up there, but I’m not saying anybody in particular is advising me because it never worked out,” he said. “Every decision is my decision, and so it’s my responsibility.
“It’s not [like] where this guy has that job to do it, or whatever. There’s other jobs in there. And if you don’t show the replay, then he can’t see it either. So it doesn’t matter. If you can’t see a replay, then how is anybody up there going to know to challenge or not?”
Ryan lost a challenge in the third quarter on a pass that was called incomplete to Bills receiver Robert Woods. That may have influenced him to not throw the red flag on the last play of the same quarter when Alex Smith got a favorable run on a scramble. Ryan also opted to not challenge an incompletion to Buffalo receiver Chris Hogan, which may have been a catch. He used his final challenge flag two plays later when he thought Tyrod Taylor got a bad spot after running on 4th down.
It’s hard to say if a lack of replay availability cost the Bills. What is clear is that Ryan had a very tough day with challenges, and that is his responsibility. This isn’t the first time we have heard Rex fire off lame excuses after a loss.
