Buffalo continues to march towards Santa Clara with a 27-24 road win over Jacksonville in the AFC Wild Card game.
Josh Allen had four minutes to play the hero against Jacksonville. He only needed three. Allen capped a 10-play, 77 yard drive with a 10-yard run for the game-winning touchdown.
The 2024 league MVP is far from a novice at running the football. Allen has rushed for 79 regular season touchdowns and nine playoff game touchdowns over his seven-year pro career.
His score was set up by the 36 yard completion to Brandon Cooks at the Jaguars 20 yard line. Allen, under pressure threw off his back foot causing the ball to flutter a bit as Cooks ran under it. The Jaguars defense had unknowingly given the Bills signal caller the look he had been waiting for. “Uh put in something this week and we ran it there at the last drive with B Cook running down to the post,” explained Allen. “Saw a look, um, and we executed it.”
The score erased Trevor Lawrence’s performance on the previous drive that woulda-coulda-shoulda been the game-winning drive – in a perfect world for Jags fans. But it’s football not hand grenades or horse shoes. Lawrence’s leadership on the nine-play 65 yard drive now rests in the book of things to build on for 2026. Trevor Etienne’s run after the catch for the score will be on the same page.
Buffalo has a lot to clean up defensively having given up 154 yards on the ground, 207 through the air, and a potential game-winning score with 4:03 remaining. Kansas City is not lurking around the corner to stop them from getting to the Super Bowl. Bills fans are probably looking at this season as a perfect storm situation. They are the most experienced team over the last five years in the AFC playoffs.
There’s still work to do and nobody is going to hand the Bills anything. They are going to have to prove it to themselves more than to their opponents.