HILADELPHIA – Josh Allen is back to being a bad, bad man.
If you’re looking for a positive to take away from Sunday’s 37-34, gut-punch loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in overtime, you can start there. Allen turned in a vintage performance in defeat, nearly willing the Bills to victory twice – if the team’s defense would have done its part.
“I mean, that’s why we love him so much,” center Mitch Morse said. “That’s why he’s the undisputed leader in this locker room. It definitely gets your chili hot when that happens, so, for us, we just rally around a guy like that. I’d go to war with that guy any day of the week.”
Allen threw for 339 yards, rushed for another 81 and produced four total touchdowns. Yes, he threw another interception – for the eighth consecutive game – but he came back to lead his team to a go-ahead touchdown with 1:52 remaining in the fourth quarter when he hit Gabe Davis on a quick slant for a 7-yard score.
In overtime, the Bills started with the ball and Allen converted third-and-9 twice on the drive. The first time, from the Bills’ 26-yard line, he found Davis for a gain of 13 yards. The next time, Allen did it himself, scrambling for a 15-yard gain.
“Looked like Josh to me, I mean, he’s running around, he’s making plays with his arm and his feet,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said. “That’s the Josh that we all know and I love to see it. I’m 17 until the wheels fall off. That’s my guy.”
Those plays helped the Bills get in position to again take the lead on a 40-yard field goal from Tyler Bass. Again, though, it wasn’t enough.
Philadelphia (11-1) drove 75 yards on nine plays, ending in a game-winning 12-yard run from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“His level of play has risen over the last two weeks,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said of Allen. “That is really the biggest thing. When your quarterback is playing well, you have a chance. The inconsistency leading up to the last three weeks were one of the reasons why I made the decision that I did to move forward here. The last two weeks, Josh Allen’s level of play has been good enough for us to win.”
McDermott was referring to the switch he made at offensive coordinator, firing Ken Dorsey ahead of Week 11 and replacing him on an interim basis with Joe Brady. The offense had produced 66 points in those two games.
“I’m extremely confident in our guys. The men that we have in this locker room, we understand where we’re at,” Allen said. “So, we’ve got good things going.”
With the loss, the Bills fell to 6-6. They remain on the outside looking in in the AFC playoff race, in 10th place. If they are to turn that around following their bye week, they’ll need their quarterback to continue to lead the way.
“He is who he is,” running back
Philadelphia (11-1) drove 75 yards on nine plays, ending in a game-winning 12-yard run from Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
said of Allen. “We controlled the game that first half, but we know we would get their best shot in the second half. We were trying to make sure every time we go out on the field, knowing we needed points, knowing we needed to respond and knowing we were going to have to do that all night. Communication was great. He was great, and I think it showed.”
The penalties were a major problem. The Bills were flagged 11 times for 80 yards against. In the first half, 10 of those were committed, setting the Bills back 75 yards.
The Bills were called for six penalties in the first quarter, the most in a game this season.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Morse said. “I can speak for myself on one of those. It was a stupid mistake that was completely avoidable. So every person just has to take it as it is and learn from them. I think in the end, that for sure played a role in us not coming out with a victory.”
We’ll stop here to point out the Bills had a legitimate beef with more than a couple of the calls from referee Shawn Hochuli’s crew. In the second quarter, Allen was penalized for intentional grounding on a play in which it appeared the Eagles’ defender, Haason Reddick, pulled down Allen with a horse-collar tackle.
Before hitting the ground, Allen attempted to flip the ball in the direction of Davis.
“The hit on Josh Allen, we felt that the force was from the front of the collar and what pulled him down was not from the back. So, that’s pretty much it. We felt that he was pulled down from the front of the jersey and the collar,” Hochuli said in a pool report following the game. As for why intentional grounding was called, Hochuli said Allen is “responsible for where the ball goes given that he started his throwing motion after he was contacted, so we didn’t feel like the ball was in the vicinity or the area of an eligible receiver.”
McDermott had a different take.
“From the information that I got, Gabe was in the area,” the coach said.
There were other instances in which officials seemed to miss blatant pass interference penalties against the Eagles, including in the second half when an Allen pass intended for Trent Sherfield Sr. fell incomplete. Replays showed Eagles cornerback Darius Slay had his arms wrapped around Sherfield before the ball arrived, but no penalty was called.
“On that play from the view and the angle of the official, we just didn’t feel that it significantly hindered the receiver’s ability to catch the ball,” Hochuli said.
