McDermott Remains Confident In Hauschka Despite Kicking Woes

It was one of the worst outings of Stephen Hauschka's kicking career.

Sunday in Cleveland, the veteran kicker missed two pivotal field goals in the Bills 19-16 loss to the Browns.

The first miss came as the first half was coming to a close - with just 20 seconds left on the clock.

Hauschka lined up for a 34 yard chance and missed wide left. The field goal would have capped off a 58 yard drive for the Bills and given them a 10-9 lead heading into halftime.

Instead, they trailed by two points.

The second, and most important miss of the season, came with 22 second left in the game. The Bills faced 4th and 4 at the Cleveland 35 yard line, trailing 19-16.

Hauschka, who's career long is 58 yards, was facing a 53 yard field goal. His kick was short, and the Bills lost the game, falling to 6-3 on the season.

"I knew where we were and we didn't have many options other than going for it at that point," Sean McDermott said. "I've got a lot of confidence in Stephen and obviously it didn't work out but we have a lot of confidence in him moving forward."

Hauschka has yet to hit a field goal beyond 50 yards this season, his longest coming against New England at 46 yards. He has made eight of his 13 attempts this season, good for 61.5%.

Hauschka faced backlash for the loss from Bills fans and carried the weight of the missed opportunities on his shoulders.

"It is tough. This is one of the hardest things as a kicker," Hauschka said Sunday in Cleveland. "It is a tough pill to swallow and it hurts and my teammates out there are giving everything they have and I let them down. I take it personally and I am always a hard worker and I will be back to it this week and bring all my focus to help out the team."

Hauschka also added that 53 yards was "right on the edge" of where he felt comfortable to make a kick. On Monday, McDermott explained that tying the game - instead of going for it on fourth down - was the Bills best chance to get a win.

"You always want to have a chance to win the game," the head coach reiterated. "And, if you go for it on fourth down and make it, great. You give yourself a chance to win the game. At the end of the day if you don't convert you never really give yourself a chance to win the game. So, you want to give your players a chance to win the game and I felt like at that moment it was the right thing for our team."

The Bills travel to Miami on Sunday to face a 2-7 Dolphins opponent.