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What Can't He Do?: Bills QB Josh Allen improvised game-winning run vs. Jets

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen improvised the first-down run that allowed his team to leave MetLife Stadium with a victory Monday night.

Kyle Silagyi

Chris Pedota / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Few players in the contemporary NFL have the ability to almost single-handedly take over a game in a manner similar to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Whether he’s evading pressure before threading the needle on a 50-yard pass or barreling over a defender en route to the endzone, Allen is simply who will not be denied in crucial moments. There’s arguably no player more dangerous with the ball in his hands in pivotal moments than the former All-Pro given his prowess as both a passer and rusher, with the closing moments of Buffalo’s Week 6 win over the New York Jets only affirming this sentiment.

A Taron Johnson interception set the Bills up with the ball in their own territory with roughly two minutes remaining in the contest. Up 23-20, all Buffalo needed to do was pick up a first down, force the Jets to utilize their timeouts, and leave MetLife Stadium with a victory. Back-to-back runs left the Bills in a pivotal third-and-four situation; a first down would all but affirm the victory, whereas a failure to convert would have set Aaron Rodgers and company up with an opportunity to construct a game-winning drive.

Related: Aaron Rodgers speaks out against egregious penalty on Bills DE A.J. Epenesa in Week 6

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady called a pass play, which Allen checked to a pitch after seeing the defensive coverage. He noticed a path to the first-down marker after taking the snap, and as the signal-caller is wont to do, he went and won the game. He picked up six yards on the scamper, giving Buffalo a fresh set of downs and allowing it to leave New Jersey firmly atop the AFC East.

Allen spoke about his split-second decision following the win.

“Called basically our best pass play, saw zero, got to a zero check,” Allen told reporters. “They played it well and I just kind of peeked backside, and there was an opportunity to go get it, so that’s what I did.”

Josh Allen
Chris Pedota / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

He describes it as almost second nature, as though making an in-play audible and going to win a football game is not a rather impressive task. That’s simply what Allen does, something that Bills head coach Sean McDermott doesn’t take for granted.

“[No.] 17 kind of drew that one up, that last play, in the dirt a little bit,” McDermott told reporters during his post-game press conference. “He’s a heck of a competitor.”

The first-down rush was Allen’s longest run of the day, and though it was his most impactful of the game, it did not propel him into the NFL record books à la like his first-quarter rushing touchdown. His early tush push score was the 232nd total touchdown of his career, allowing him to surpass Patrick Mahomes on the list of most touchdowns by a player in their first seven seasons in NFL history. 

Unbelievable feats are simply part of Allen’s schtick at this point, this now encompassing designing game-winning plays on a whim.

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Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

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