Josh Allen was feeling the weight of the Bills’ crushing, season-ending loss to the Broncos.
Moments after Denver kicker Will Lutz sent Buffalo home with a game-winning 24-yard field goal in overtime of Saturday’s divisional playoff thriller, a teary-eyed Allen blamed himself for the loss.
“It’s extremely difficult,” the Bills’ quarterback said during a press conference following the 33-30 overtime loss. “I feel like I let my teammates down tonight.”
Allen, who had not surrendered a turnover in his previous six postseason contests, struggled to protect the football for most of the game.
He completed 25 of his 39 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns, but was also picked twice and lost two fumbles on strip-sacks by Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto.
It was part of five total turnovers for Buffalo.
“Yeah, can’t win with five turnovers,” Allen said. “When you shoot yourself in the foot like that, you don’t deserve to win football games.”
Despite the turnovers, the Bills appeared poised to build on their Allen-led postseason heroics until a series of controversial calls late in the game.
Late in the fourth, officials did not call a pass interference penalty on an Allen pass to receiver Brandin Cooks in the endzone, forcing the team to kick a game-tying field goal instead of potentially having the ball on the one-yard line.
In overtime, cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian ripped a pass out of Cooks’ hands that was ruled an interception, despite the receiver appearing to be down on the play.
“No,” Allen said when asked if he received an explanation for that call.
“I mean, losing that way…regardless…losing in the playoffs is not fun.”
Saturday’s outing was a stark difference from the Bills’ performance against the Jaguars last Sunday, when they notched their first postseason road win in three decades.
A banged-up Allen powered Buffalo to a 27-24 win over Jacksonville as the former NFL MVP authored a comeback that included him running in the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth.
A week later, the Bills have once again been bounced from the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl.
Buffalo has not made it past the AFC championship game with head coach Sean McDermott, who has been at the helm since 2017, and Allen, who was the organization’s first-round pick in 2018.
“I haven’t been doing a lot of talking other than them,” Allen said. “I love my teammates and I’m extremely sorry.
“Just missed opportunities throughout the game. It’s a long season, hate how it ended. It’s going to stick with me for a long time.”
Allen’s tearful comments elicited a similar reaction from several teammates, including Cooks and left tackle Dion Dawkins.
“He ain’t let us down,” Dawkins said, fighting back tears.
