The Buffalo Bills' playoff hopes all but ended Sunday in a loss to Philadelphia that embodied so many of the team's troubles this season. They made mental mistakes, hurt themselves with penalties, and remained in denial afterward.
"This one's tough because I thought we were the better team today," coach Rex Ryan started his press conference after the game.
"Penalties. We got ourselves to blame. We jumped offsides a million times. ... You can't have that many penalties. It's a no-brainer when you jump offsides a million times," Ryan said.
Ryan's players didn't handle the loss so well either. LeSean McCoy, who kissed the Eagles logo and hugged Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie before the game, declined to speak to reporters in the postgame locker room. But after the game he jogged off the field quickly before letting his frustrations out in the locker room.
Approached by reporters, McCoy declined to speak. He gained 109 yards from scrimmage, but it wasn't enough to overcome the mistakes.
A separate video taped by WKBW's Joe Buscaglia showed Rex and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurmond giving the officials the business as they ran off the field. One voice was heard to call the officials a "disgrace," although it's unclear who said it.
To Ryan's credit, he didn't blame the officials on the podium at all. He said it was his own team's fault. Their undisciplined play has been something Ryan has grown used to.
"We're going to be sick, I tell you that, if this costs us," Ryan said. "Which it probably will."
