When the project fails, the coworker you blamed will remember forever. So will your boss.

Deflection buys about a day and costs a reputation. People forget the details of a failed project quickly and remember precisely who reached for a name when the room got tense, because that tells them what to expect from you next time. Your boss is watching that far more closely than the outcome. Failures are common; the response to one is rarer information.

If something goes wrong this week, say your part of it first and without decoration. Offer the fix in the same breath. That ends the conversation faster than any account of whose fault it was.