By Katherine Fitzgerald

Copyright buffalonews

In the span of a couple of minutes on Sunday night, there was a Buffalo Bills touchdown, a penalty on the Baltimore Ravens on the extra point, a two-point conversion attempt from the Bills, a different penalty on Buffalo, and thus a failed two-point attempt.

“There was a lot going on,” coach Sean McDermott said Monday. “And that could have become a big play for us, right there.”

Instead, a controversial penalty called on Keon Coleman for illegal touching led to the first missed two-point conversion, which forced the Bills to go for two again throughout the game.

The Bills attempted two-point conversions on three of their five touchdowns. They were 0 of 3 on those attempts, and all three were passing attempts.

“Look, our two-point plays weren’t good enough (Sunday) night,” offensive coordinator Joe Brady said Monday. “Those are the things that you can win and lose ballgames with. We learned that in the AFC championship game, so we’ve got to do a better job when we get those opportunities – whether we’ve got to get 1 yard or whether we’ve got to go 2, we’ve got to do a better job.”

The Bills also failed on their two most recent attempts in the AFC championship game in January against Kansas City, losing the game by three points.

“Two-point attempts haven’t been great for us of late, so it’s another area early on here that we need to focus in on and figure out what we can do better,” McDermott said Wednesday. “Is it execution? Is it design? What is it? Because those plays are important in terms of factoring into the overall score in the game.”

The Bills’ last successful two-point conversion was against the Denver Broncos in the wild-card round, a pass from Josh Allen to Coleman to make it 21-7. The Bills eventually would win 31-7.

In the regular season, the Bills had four two-point conversion attempts, and they made just one, against the Miami Dolphins. They had just one attempt from the 1-yard line, which failed.

Three of the four plays last season, including the one that was successful, went to Coleman.

For Brady, as he cooks up his plays, he knows he has to get creative.

“It’s different than just a third-and-goal at the 2-yard line type of play, different than a fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line play,” Brady said.

There are different consequences for each, Brady said. There also may be less film on opposing defenses to pick apart.

“It’s a unique thing when you’re game-planning, you might have a feel of, (the opposing defense) might have had two in the last three years,” Brady said. “You’re trying to get a feel of the coverages they might do in those situations.

“A lot of times, as always, if you’re passing the ball down there, there is going to be scrambles in two-point plays. Look, it’s something we have to evaluate, because any time coach is like, ‘Hey, put the offense back on the field,’ we’ve got to be ready to go score, and so (I) didn’t like how we executed in those situations (Sunday) night.”

But it’s not just the Bills. Around the league last season, offenses converted just 41% of two-point attempts, the lowest success rate in 15 years, per Fox Sports.

Since 2018, Allen’s rookie season, the Bills have the seventh-best conversion percentage in the league, making 54.2% of their attempts, per TruMedia. Still, Allen knows it’s a challenge and that the Bills want to improve.

“What teams are doing defensively down there, and playing some zero and zero sloop, and having zone eyes and passing things off, and just gets real tight,” Allen said Wednesday. “So, you know, got to be good with ball placement. Got to be good with concepts down there and making sure that, again, we’re practicing those plays, and when it comes down to it, making sure that we’re trying to or we are converting on those.”

Center Connor McGovern feels there can almost be too many options. But the bigger issue is space.

“It’s not like you’re at the 10-yard line, where you can get a little bit of separation,” McGovern said. “Everybody’s in the end zone. Guys aren’t going deep to pull coverage. … There’s just guys everywhere.”

Even when a penalty made it a 1-yard attempt for the Bills on Sunday, the space issue remained. In last year’s regular season, NFL teams were 6 of 14 when going for two from the 1-yard line, per Fox Sports, a success rate of 43%.

“We’re usually trying to motion to get a safety out of there,” McGovern said. “Or just move the linebackers over. … (Defenses) can work with that space. They can drop and cover five yards. … I know it’s kind of easier for us up front to block everything, but it’s harder for those guys outside to get space themselves.”

Left guard David Edwards echoed the sentiment.

“I think it’s so hard because the space is so condensed,” Edwards said. “So, safeties don’t play at 12, 15 yards. They play at eight (yards). And so, then you can kind of play everything short to deep, instead of deep to short.

“And, I think, any time that you have a condensed field, the pass lanes are tighter, the run-game fits are little bit quicker, and it just makes it more challenging.”

Against the Ravens, Edwards saw their defense keep the Bills’ offense on its toes.

“They had a good plan just mixing it up,” Edwards said. “They rushed four. They rushed five. They rushed a lot of different (players). … And they did that really for the whole game. … They did a good job mixing it up. We need to do a little better job executing.”

From a defensive standpoint, safety Taylor Rapp sees defenses having an emphasis on preparing for the two-point conversion attempts throughout the week of practice.

“They’re tough,” Rapp said. “Usually, the offensive coordinator has their best play. They’re saving that. So, it’s tough on a defense. But we have to know each team, what their best plays are and what they’re going to bring out for their situation.”

Cornerback Christian Benford said since so much of the week revolves around the defense studying the offense’s techniques, it’s easier to apply those lessons to a two-point conversion. The defense just has to be ready for surprises.

“You know there’s going to be some … type of trick play,” Benford said. “But if it’s not a trick type play, it’s just a run that they’ve been doing. So, that’s what goes into understanding that. Then, you’re pretty good.”