JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The fact that Josh Allen was able to stand upright late in the fourth quarter on Sunday night was hard to believe.
Allen limped off the field in the second quarter and went right into the blue medical tent. That was one of the two trips he took for medical attention. A defensive lineman grabbed Allen, and his leg turned awkwardly. With each second he spent in the tent, anxiety mounted for Buffalo Bills fans.
He emerged as if nothing had even happened. When asked about the injuries after the game, he barely acknowledged them.
A look at his fourth-quarter stat line may also downplay the significance of the injury, knowing what he just accomplished given the circumstances.
Allen scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to lift the Bills to their first road playoff victory in the Sean McDermott era. With the Bills trailing in the game, Allen was 14-for-16 passing, with 195 total yards, three touchdowns, and a 133.1 passer rating.
Jaguars rookie head coach Liam Coen marveled at Allen’s performance after the game.
“Such a competitor,” Coen said. “He was spitting it out pretty good, obviously. Scrambled enough times, but he just kind of drifted away, knowing he’s going to get hit, making a play. I thought he threw extremely accurately, as well, and they just made some plays in the pass game specifically. I don’t know what the run stats were or what we held them to or anything like that, but he definitely carried them.”
The Bills were held to 79 rushing yards in the game, the lowest total the No. 1-ranked regular season rushing offense has accumulated in a game all season. With the run game out of sorts, Allen needed to be perfect in the fourth quarter to win.
The Jaguars scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the fourth quarter and had a chance to drive for a tie or win with a minute left. A Tre’Davious White tipped pass led to a Cole Bishop interception to end the game.
The Allen rushing touchdown may never have happened without the 34-yard holy-crap throw he made a few plays earlier. The Jaguars sent Devin Lloyd on a blitz. He rushed unblocked on Allen and landed a big hit to his chest just as he released the ball.
At the time of the throw, nobody was open in the spot he was throwing at. The Jaguars looked like they had the play defended perfectly, but Allen knew where everyone would be. Wide receiver Brandin Cooks scooted past the defensive back and the throw was waiting for him between two Jaguars.
“We put in something this week, and we ran it there on the last drive with B-Cooks running down to the post,” Allen said. “Saw a look, and we executed it. … There was no panic, no rush.”
One of the biggest storylines of the week, hovering over the game, was about the Bills’ significant experience advantage over the Jaguars. Allen made his 14th playoff start on Sunday, and his 33 career playoff touchdowns are just 11 fewer than the Jaguars have in their entire 30-year franchise history (44).
Bills coach Sean McDermott said there’s no substitute for toughness in the playoffs, especially on the road. Allen’s unwavering toughness – not only against the Jaguars but all season – wears off on his teammates.
“It trickles down from him, the team’s toughness,” McDermott said. “When your quarterback’s that type of warrior, that type of competitor, from a leadership standpoint, it just goes through the whole team.”
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins said the Bills understood the moment they were in and fought through the pain.
“We’re all hurt. It’s Week 19, everybody’s hurt,” he said. “You shake it off, take a play, and get your behind back out on the field. And everybody has that mindset. This is kill or be killed. You have to go into it with some battle wounds. Take the blade out, patch up the bleeding, and keep on going.”
Allen was sacked a career high 40 times during the regular season. On one Allen scramble, it appeared a Jaguars defender landed on his head. He looked shaken up when he popped up, but ran onto the field for the next offensive play.
“17 is a dog. Everybody knows what he’s going through,” Dawkins said. “You’ll never know. He’ll never tell you if he’s hurt. He’ll never show it. I got the best quarterback in the world. We got the best team in the world. I love the kid and the beautiful thing is he bought us steaks for Christmas so we get to go home and have another steak together as a unit and we’ll try again next week.”
