The cards were finally stacked in Josh Allen’s favor. The Bills were finally playing at home, the Chiefs were not the dominant juggernaut that we’ve been accustomed to them being, and Buffalo was riding quite the hot streak to go from 6-6 to a legit Super Bowl contender. But in the final game of the NFL weekend, Allen and the Bills added one more unfortunate chapter to their story.
Biggest Loss Of Josh Allen’s NFL Career
Josh Allen had a moment with Tyler Bass after the Bills loss ❤️
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/2SdNC2hAR7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 22, 2024
Kansas City has always been the unclimbable hill for Allen and the Bills. Since he and Patrick Mahomes took over as quarterbacks of their respective teams, Buffalo is 0-2 in the playoff matchups between the two sides. There was the AFC Championship loss in January 2021, which was followed by the electrifying “13 Seconds” drive by the Chiefs, which lives in infamy to this day.
Round three was supposed to be Allen’s time. The frustration and anger built up over the years of being sent home at the hands of the same team was likely boiling over, and Sunday’s NFL game was one that he needed to win if he wanted to exercise his past demons and finally move past Mahomes and company.
Despite being the undisputed MVP for his team, he came up short once again. He was asked to do it all, as he passed for 168 yards and had 12 rushing attempts on the game (many of the designed nature) and he accounted for all three of Buffalo’s touchdowns. But there were a myriad of mistakes made by teammates, including dropped passes and penalties.
Romo Shares His Thoughts On The Situation
“This is going to be the most devastating loss of Josh Allen’s career.” – Tony Romo pic.twitter.com/UR6h5GJ30e
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) January 22, 2024
But the biggest blunder was of course made by kicker Tyler Bass, whose 44-yard field goal attempt with 1:47 remaining sailed wide right, bringing Bills fans flashback images of Scott Norwood and four-straight lost Super Bowls, one of the most successful, yet darkest, times in the franchise’s history.
According to CBS announcer Ton Romo, this one is going to sting for Allen for a long time:
This is going to be the most devastating loss of Josh Allen’s career. They had things situated for an advantage. They were at home. They worked all year, they were playing great football…He played great today. He played outstanding….But It’s just so hard to take if you’re Josh Allen cause it’s like ‘what else can I do’
For the Chiefs, it will be on to Baltimore to take on the Ravens in the AFC Championship next Sunday and the right to advance to the Super Bowl.
On the other hand, the Bills face an off-season full of questions. The team has more than a handful of free agents and has plenty of roster tweaking to do this off-season, and they will be hard-pressed to keep all of their talent around for the coming years.