Josh Allen sat glumly at the postgame lectern, his mood resembling the dark clouds that hung over Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
Refusing to let on how sore his body might be after he was sacked five times and hit numerous others, Allen kept returning to the play that decided the Buffalo Bills‘ 13-12 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Allen came up short — a foot wide, actually — on a 2-point conversion attempt that would have won the game. With 5 seconds left, he sailed a pass just out of the reach of open receiver Khalil Shakir in the back of the end zone.
“Yeah, I just missed. Rolling left, I’ve got to get him a better ball,” said Allen, who got the Bills into position for the winning 2-point try by rushing for two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter.
“It just comes down to us executing, making one more play than they did. And obviously you saw that we didn’t make that last play,” he added, before correcting himself. “I didn’t make that last play.”
Eagles stop Bills’ Two-Point Conversion to Seal Victory
The loss only mattered in the playoff seedings for the Bills, who clinched a postseason spot a week earlier. Buffalo (11-5) dropped to the AFC’s No. 7 seed and handed the AFC East title to New England, ending the Bills’ five-year run of winning the division.
What hurt Allen, who takes pride in carrying the franchise, was the feeling he let down his teammates, coaches and fans.
“We can learn a lot from this experience,” Allen said. “I’d rather have won and learned from that too, but again, I got to make a play.”
Allen made no excuses. Although he visited the X-ray room after the game, he dismissed questions about whether he was hurt. Coach Sean McDermott said those tests were negative.
“I’m good,” Allen said.
He said the right foot he hurt a week earlier in a 23-20 win at Cleveland and limited him in practice was not an issue.
“Zero,” he said after he finished 23 of 35 for 262 yards.
McDermott rallied to his quarterback’s defense.
“He’s the best quarterback in the league and I’d take him 1,000 out of 1,000 times to make that throw, and he’ll make it,” he said of the reigning MVP, who on Sunday became the NFL’s first player with 300 total touchdowns before turning 30.
McDermott’s only concern was Allen getting hurt, especially with the playoffs looming.
While acknowledging he was ready to pull Allen at the first hint of an injury, McDermott also noted how difficult it would have been to do so.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had my eyes on Josh. Just because of how important he is to us,” he said.
“But I also know who he is. And he’s as competitive as there is, and as good as there is,” McDermott added. “To get (number) 17 off the field, I’d have to wrestle him.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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