TAMPA, Fla. – Josh Allen hobbled out of Raymond James Stadium with a walking boot on his left foot and his third loss in four weeks after leading a second-half comeback from 21 points down to force overtime against Tom Brady and the reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But after the Buffalo Bills went three-and-out on their only possession of the extra session, Brady hit Breshad Perriman with a short pass that turned into a 58-yard game-winning touchdown, dealing the Bills a 33-27 defeat.
“I know the score is what the score was,” Allen said. “But I'm proud of our team and how we fought in that second half and that's who we are. That's the team I've grown to love and to know really. Guys that are just resilient guys that want to fight for each other.”
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Allen ran for more than 100 yards and scored three touchdowns, rallying Buffalo from a 24-3 halftime deficit to tie the score at 27-27 on a Tyler Bass 25-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining in regulation. Allen rushed for a touchdown and threw scores to Dawson Knox and Gabriel Davis to close the deficit to 27-24 with about five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Allen completed 36 of 54 pass attempts for 308 yards, two touchdowns and an interception while adding 109 rushing yards and a score on 12 carries.
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His 36 completions were a career high and the third-most in a single game in franchise history. He is the fourth player in NFL history with 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a game, joining Russell Wilson, Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson.
“Incredible, incredible amount of heart and guts that they showed,” coach Sean McDermott said. “This team, Josh included, but all of them. All of them. Again, we came up short, they made one more play than we did, but I love how the team fought.”
The Bills hadn’t erased a 21-point deficit in a decade, since Ryan Fitzpatrick rallied the team from down 21-0 against Brady and the New England Patriots on Sept. 25, 2011. Buffalo won that game 34-31.
On Sunday, the Bills’ loss dropped their record to 7-6, two games behind New England in the AFC East. They are 3-5 in their last eight games and are fighting for their playoff lives with four games remaining in the regular season. Three are at home, against Carolina, Atlanta and the New York Jets. They face the Patriots in Foxborough the day after Christmas.
Allen was under siege for most of the game against Tampa and absorbed three sacks and 11 quarterback hits.
Can the Buffalo Bills close the regular season 4-0? Most of the past two months suggests the answer is no. The second half in Tampa keeps it an open question.
He was injured on a 23-yard run to set up his 13-yard touchdown pass to Knox early in the third. He said the foot was sore and he’ll undergo medical tests on Monday, but he didn’t think the injury was too serious because he was able to finish the game.
“There was no way I was coming out,” Allen said.
But while his superhuman performance in the second half and the Bills’ rally steeled the team’s resolve, the mere fact that it was necessary – and that they were capable of such a performance against Brady and the defending champions – makes their first-half struggles even more maddening.
“He’s a great player,” Brady said about Allen. “He has been kind of playing that really unique style – part quarterback, mostly quarterback, but he’s got that running ability and they give him a lot of quarterback runs and he does a great job with it. He’s a real threat back there, so it’s very tough to defend.”
Buffalo players on both sides of the ball said poor execution and communication issues contributed to their 21-point deficit, as the same season-long issues continued to dog the offense and defense.
The Bills’ offense twice stalled out in the red zone and settled for a pair of short field goals, including late in the fourth quarter, when they were in position to win in regulation.
The Bills’ defense allowed another long touchdown run, as Leonard Fournette opened the scoring by galloping 47 yards in the first quarter.
And the Bills’ running game, outside of Allen, was largely nonexistent.
Buffalo didn’t hand the ball to a running back once in the first half. Devin Singletary finished with 52 yards on four carries.
Allen scored on an 18-yard touchdown run to cut the Bills’ deficit to 24-10 midway through the third quarter, becoming the fifth quarterback in NFL history with at least four rushing touchdowns in four consecutive seasons.
In the second half, the Bills held the Bucs to 110 yards, including just 44 on the ground. But the turnaround went for naught.
Allen also has 20 career games with a rushing and passing touchdown, the second-most by an NFL quarterback in his first four seasons, behind only Cam Newton (24).
“Josh is one of the toughest competitors, one of the most resilient football players and people I've been around,” center Mitch Morse said. “Never seen him point a finger except at himself. A guy you can rally around, a guy who's in pain. I mean, you saw the pain he was in and he was still asking for QB runs, still asking to put it on his back and when you have a guy like that step into a huddle, you're so prideful of having a quarterback like that. You want to do everything in your power to help him lead our team down the field.”
The Bills had just eight first downs, 158 yards of offense and were 0-for-5 on third down in the first half, while Tampa racked up 18 first downs and 303 yards of offense. But the Bucs were largely stymied in the second half as the Bills rallied.
Tampa was limited to 110 yards in the third and fourth quarters combined. It finished with 488 yards, including 75 in overtime.
The Bills had alternated wins and losses the previous eight weeks, last winning consecutive games against Houston and Kansas City in October. Buffalo hadn’t lost two in a row since dropping games against Tennessee and Kansas City in Weeks 5 and 6 last season.
Don't miss Katherine Fitzgerald's quarter-by-quarter analysis of the Buffalo Bills' 33-27 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Allen did his best to keep the pattern going.
Now he’s in a walking boot and the team’s playoff hopes are on life support.
“Again, it is what it is. The score is what the score was,” Allen said. “But to come out and play that way, I'm proud of our team of how we did it. Honestly, we wish the end result was different, but I'm super, super proud of our guys.”
