Josh Allen: We’ve got to find a way to learn from this and put in the back of our brains
A COLUMN by Chuck Pollock, Senor Sports Writer
This wasn’t the typical bad loss … it was much more punitive.
As Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen stood before the media after Buffalo’s 29-26 loss to the Patriots, Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, he said what pretty much every pragmatic fan was thinking.
“It was a (AFC East) divisional (loss) and it was a two-game swing,” he allowed wearing a depressed look.
The defeat dropped the Bills to 3-1 and improved New England to 2-2.
Had Buffalo won, at 4-0, it would have had a 3-game lead less that a quarter of the season in. But with the upset — the Bills were favored by 6 1/2 -points – New England got back to .500, trails Buffalo by a single game in the divisional race AND has the advantage of winning the first of two head-to-head meetings … on the road, no less.
IT WAS the second consecutive poor performance for the Bills, including by Allen, following last week’s 24-16 win over the L.A. Chargers that featured five Buffalo turnovers, 10 penalties, eight of them major, and four sacks of its quarterback.
Sunday’s game wasn’t so messy, but even an average performance would have won the game easily for the Bills.
And though Allen set a franchise record (see the notes) his effort was pedestrian at best (23-of-33 passing for 253 yards, one each TDs (rushing and passing) an interception and a sack. Touted for his skills on the run, against the Pats, he had four carries for five yards, including that 2-yard “tush-push” score.
After the game, he lamented. “We can all play better … I feel like we hurt ourselves on offense, defense and special teams.
“We’ve got to find a way to learn from this and put in the back of our brains.”
When he was asked about that fateful interception Allen allowed, ” a lot was happening, I was trying to make a (defender) miss and I thought I had a one-on-one (defender/receiver) balll.”
MEANWHILE, after three lousy games when he compiled a league-worst 58.6 passer rating of 58.6 and an embarrassing 28.8 success rate on third downs, Maye rediscovered his 2025 dominance against the Bills.
A year ago, he led the NFL in passer rating (113.5), completion percentage (72%),win percentage (80%) and was third in the league in passing touchdowns (31).
This year, after posting a league-worst 58.6 passer rating over the first three games, he showed his former skills against Buffalo. He went 22-of-37 passing for 269 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception. He rushed eight times for 54 yards.
Two of the passing TDs went to former Packer Romeo Doubs and the other to Efton Chism III. One of Doubs catches was a single-handed snatch but Chism’s was a genuine circus effort while well-covered and touching his feet down inbounds. His was the game-winning score.
But Buffalo had its own rejuvenated player.
When wide receiver D.J. Moore left the game injured, his mantle as Buffalo’s deep threat was passed to the enigmatic Keon Coleman and he responded … big time.
He finished with six catches for 116 yards including a 34-yard TD that put the Bills up 26-21 with 4 1/2 minutes remaining until Chism’s late-game heroics.
“I really don’t care for pats on the back,” Coleman maintained. “That’s my job … my job is to secure the ball as the most important play of the game and that’s what I was focused on.”
NOTES FROM the Bills 29-26 loss to the Patriots, Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium:
— Bills quarterback Josh Allen’s 2-yard tush-push touchdown in the second quarter set a team record as it was his 88th TD from scrimmage, breaking a tie with running back Thurman Thomas and wide receiver Andre Reed who each had 87.
— Buffalo’s first giveaway was a fumble by wide receiver Khalil Shakir, knocked loose by Pats’ linebacker Robert Spillane and recovered by defensive lineman Elijah Ponder.
The last was a double-covered interception of Allen by safety Craig Woodson that decided the game.
— The Bills interception of Pats’ QB Drake Maye was by nickel back Dee Alford who caught the ball when receiver Romeo Doubs made a catch, but as he rolled to the ground, flipped the ball up to Alford who caught it.
— New England’s sack of Allen was credited to Ponder, giving him a team-leading 2 1/2.
— The Bills’ initial sack of Maye was shared by defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who stripped the ball, with former Buccaneer defensive lineman Greg Gaines recovering.
— Buffalo’s injured players after the game were starting cornerback Christian Benford (toe), who didn’t play, defensive tackle Ed Oliver (hip), Alford, and defensive backs Jordan Hancock and Te’Cory Couch.
— Inactive for the Bills were Benford, defensive lineman T.J. Sanders (illness), wide receiver Skyler Bell, safety Jalon Kilgore, outside linebacker Mike Danna, guard Ar’maj Reed-Adams,and guard Jude Lowry.
— Inactive for the Patriots were two starters, Pro Bowl cornerback Christian Gonzalez and defensive tackle Christian Barmore, plus cornrerback Channing Canada, tackle Demetrious Crownover, tight end Tanner Aiken and quarterbackBehren Morton.
— Next game for the Bills is next Monday night against the Rams in Los Angeles.
(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun and Olean Star senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)
