Image Credit: © Bob Self-USA TODAY Sports
The wrong Josh Allen – if you’re a Bills fan – walked away a winner on Sunday. The Buffalo Bills turned the ball over three times after closing as 15.5-point favorites prior to Sunday’s game and lost to Jacksonville. It was just the second win of the season for the Jags, now 2-6.
All three turnovers were committed by Buffalo QB Josh Allen who did not play anywhere near his MVP caliber. However, Jacksonville LB Josh Allen did. The Jags’ Allen recorded one of two interceptions that the Bills’ Allen threw on Sunday. The Jags’ Allen also recovered a fumble by the Bills quarterback, a quarterback sack, two tackles for loss, and eight total tackles for the game.
The Bills’ Allen went 31-for-47 for 264 yards, but he did throw two picks, lose that fumble, and was sacked four times. All three turnovers were costly for a Bills team that entered Sunday, scoring over 30 points per game.
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It didn’t start all that bad for the AFC East-leading Bills. After Jacksonville’s Matthew Wright hit a 39-yard field goal on the Jags opening drive, Allen and the Bills went to work. A 12-play, 48-yard drive resulted in a game-tying 24-yard field goal by Bills kicker Tyler Bass. That drive was a vision of what was to come for Buffalo the rest of the day. The Bills were set up nicely with a first-and-goal at the Jags three-yard line yet failed to punch the ball into the end zone.
Buffalo’s next drive was almost a carbon copy of its first, and Bass nailed a 41-yard field goal to complete a second 12-play, 48-yard drive. Little did anyone know at the time that those would be the last points scored by Buffalo the rest of the game. Every ensuing Bills drive would end with a punt or a turnover.
As poorly as Buffalo played, the Bills still had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter. With just over five minutes to play, Buffalo faced a third-and-two at the Jags 37-yard line. The Bills’ Allen was pressured by the Jags and fumbled. The Jags’ Allen recovered, ending the scoring threat.
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Buffalo would get the ball back once more and advance the ball to the Jacksonville 39-yard line. On third-and-seven, Allen was sacked by Dawuane Smoot for a nine-yard loss. Out of field goal range, Allen’s fourth-down desperation pass to WR Stefon Diggs fell incomplete.
The Bills had a difficult time running the football against Jacksonville. Allen was the leading rusher with 50 yards on five carries, but the Bills running backs – Devin Singletary and Zack Moss – managed just 22 yards. Buffalo was also plagued by penalties, 12 of them that cost the Bills 118 yards.
Sunday’s game made history when the Jags’ Allen sacked the Bills’ Allen. It was the first time since the NFL began counting sacks in 1982 that a player sacked a quarterback with the same name. Interestingly enough, the Bills drafted their Josh Allen in 2018 with the seventh overall pick. A year later, in 2019, the Jags took their Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick.
Jacksonville has now won twice in its last three games. Buffalo is now 5-3 and remains a half-game ahead of New England in the AFC East race. The Bills continue a stretch against some of the league’s worst teams when they face the New York Jets on the road next Sunday.
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