Five seconds, one throw. That’s all that separated the Buffalo Bills from a loss against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17. Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s pass sailed just wide of Khalil Shakir in the end zone, and the two-point conversion failed. Final score: Eagles 13, Bills 12. Naturally, the criticism mounted. Some roasted head coach Sean McDermott, while Allen took the blame on himself. But Ryan Fitzpatrick, the former Bills quarterback, isn’t buying the outrage. Going for two was the only move that made sense. 

“I think there’s no doubt they had to for two there,” Fitzpatrick said on the Fitz & Whit podcast, in conversation with Andrew Whitworth. “They made the call, he was wide open, Josh yanked the throw and didn’t make it. He makes it 99 out of 100 times. It’s a bummer that he didn’t make it.”  

Here’s why it was necessary. Michael Badgley, Buffalo’s journeyman kicker, had already botched an extra point earlier in the fourth quarter. Eagles’ defensive tackle Jalen Carter blocked it straight into the turf. That miss left the Bills down 13-6 instead of 13-7, completely changing the math at the end. When Allen scored his second rushing touchdown with five seconds left, McDermott faced a choice. Trust a new kicker who’d already botched an extra point, or trust your MVP quarterback. For McDermott, the choice was a no-brainer.

“I think you leave the game into the hands of Josh Allen, not the kicker that’s been there for two weeks,” Fitzpatrick explained. And the precedent behind it tracked far beyond the stakes of a win/loss verdict against the defending champs.

Josh Allen’s been clinical on two-point tries throughout his career: four successful conversions in big moments. But this season, it has been a different story. The Bills came into the Eagles game 1-for-6 on two-pointers, and this latest failed attempt dropped them to 1-for-7, a brutal 14% conversion rate. But Sean McDermott stood firm behind his call.

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“Wanted to be aggressive, going for the win,” he said post-game. “It felt like we had a great call, great opportunity to go with it. Wanted to be aggressive so I’m not gonna sit back. I trust Josh Allen with the ball in his hands, and I would do it over again. … I’d take him 1,000 times out of 1,000 times to make that play.”

But even with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Sean McDermott’s support for the two-pointer, the fact is that the play didn’t work. However, the failed play had consequences, and kicker Michael Badgley ultimately paid the price for the loss.

The fallout for Week 17 lands on Michael Badgley

Less than a day after the Bills lost by a single point, Michael Badgley was gone. The Bills released him from the practice squad on Monday, December 29. Brutal, but predictable. With two missed extra points in just two games, the Bills couldn’t afford to carry that liability into the postseason.

Badgley came to Buffalo as a band-aid after Matt Prater went down with a quad injury in Week 15. Prater, meanwhile, was also filling in for Tyler Bass after Bass found himself on the IR with a left hip/groin injury ahead of the season. Badgley offered hope: veteran experience, strong leg, and a solid resume. But the same demons that haunted him with the Indianapolis Colts earlier this season followed him to Western New York. His stint with Indy also notably ended because of a crucial miss in Week 13.

The silver lining? Prater’s expected to be back for Week 18 against the New York Jets. Buffalo gets their reliable kicker back just when it needs him most. Playoff positioning is still in play. The Bills sit at 11-5 as the AFC’s No. 7 seed, with chances to climb up to fifth or sixth depending on how the final week shakes out.

Sean McDermott’s gamble didn’t pay off against Philly. But sometimes the right call and the right results aren’t the same thing. Ryan Fitzpatrick gets it. You trust your best player every time. And with a deep postseason run potentially ahead of them, that aggressiveness from McDermott will matter a lot.