KANSAS CITY (WIVB) – Josh Allen and the Bills just jumped to the top of the AFC as the team to beat in the conference and possibly the entire NFL after leaping past the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium…
Okay I’m done with the hurdle puns I promise but you know where I’m going with this:
The Bills beat the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football in dominating fashion, 38-20 and one of the most talked about plays was actually just a four-yard run but very significant.
Allen hurdled over Chiefs’ cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in the fourth quarter as he scrambled for a first down.
“Obviously knowing the situation, how the game was going I just felt like we needed something to get a first down there and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help our team win a football game and in my mind that was at the top of the list,” Allen said after the game.
As far as if he knew he’d actually clear the defender…
“You really never know until it happens, it’s just one of those split second decision things that sometimes you’ve gotta get lucky for and being a bigger guy I understand that sometimes they’re gonna try to hit low and in that situation it worked out.”
And the rest of the team had a lot to say about that play as well.
“I saw it in slow motion. That’s just Josh doing what Josh does,” left tackle Dion Dawkins said.
“I was like what is he about to do and he just hurdled and I’m like well that’s just Josh. As long as he just got up and came back to the huddle I’m all good.”
Even head coach Sean McDermott was all for it.
“I’ll take it, yeah I’ll take that first down, he can jump over me if he wants for that first down,” McDermott joked.
But in all seriousness, that play was important because it extended the Bills final scoring drive. The Chiefs had just come off a scoring drive of their own as Patrick Mahomes did a chest pass to Travis Kelce for a one-yard touchdown that cut Buffalo’s lead to 11 with 13:42 left in the fourth quarter.
“This is an offense where it doesn’t matter really how much time or how many points they’re down, they’ve shown it time and time again to be able to come back from deficits like those so we had to continue to apply the pressure and continue to be us,” Allen explained.
“I just knew we just needed a drive to go down and really get a lead that we can feel comfortable about and that was the drive that we needed,” Sanders said.
The Bills needed to make sure Mahomes couldn’t work his magic and come back like we’ve seen so many times before. After Allen converted on that third down, the drive ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders that pretty much put the game out of reach for the Chiefs with 5:51 to go in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah we needed it so that was good to see. I thought Josh made some unbelievable plays during that drive but he didn’t do it by himself either so we needed that drive. Momentum was shifting a little bit there and we got it when we needed it,” McDermott said.
The Bills went 85 yards on 12 plays in seven minutes and 51 seconds on that drive.
Allen threw for 315 yards, three touchdowns and ran for one. He also didn’t throw a pick or was sacked at all. Once again Dawson Knox continues to prove he’s he can make an impact in the passing game as he scored his fifth touchdown of the season and his fourth game in a row finding the end zone.
Sanders at 34 years old is also showing why Brandon Beane tried to sign him before this season as he came up with another game with two touchdowns. One of the biggest differences in this game when it comes to how both offenses played is the Bills were able to make those chunk plays downfield where the Chiefs, couldn’t.
Knox’s touchdown was a 53-yard play, Allen found Diggs deep for 61-yards at one point, Sanders’ first touchdown was for 35 yards and even Zack Moss had a 24 yard play as well.
“We had a lot of explosive plays, guys got open, made some unbelievable plays,” Allen said.
