Getty Josh Allen walks off the field after a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Buffalo Bills fans have plenty of blame to go around for the team’s heartbreaking playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs — the defense that allowed them to tie the game with 13 seconds left, the coaches who didn’t call a short kick, even the league itself for its overtime rules that didn’t allow the Bills to touch the ball in overtime.
Josh Allen offered a new culprit in a recent interview — the game’s television announcers.
The Bills quarterback opened up about the divisional round playoff loss, saying he still hasn’t gotten over it. Allen also joked about an unusual streak that came to an end just before the loss and who he thinks might be to blame for it.
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Allen Shares His Pain
In an appearance on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast, Allen explained how he met with the CBS broadcast crew ahead of the January playoff game. During that production meeting, someone informed Allen that he had a perfect record on coin tosses — which came crashing to an end that game.
The Bills lost the opening coin toss, then a much more momentous one in overtime. After the Chiefs had tied the game after the Bills scored a go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, they won the coin toss and ended the game with a single touchdown drive.
Allen believes that the production crew may have played a role in the coin toss losses.
“In our production meeting, it was jinxed, and I was 0-for-2 in that game,” Allen said. “They brought up that stat, you’re 9-0. … I go 0-2 on coin tosses that game. I switched it up, I went heads first and then I went tails at the end, and it was obviously flip-flopped.”
Ripple Effects of Buffalo’s Collapse
Aside from the heartbreak that it brought to fans, the playoff loss also had a number of ripple effects across the league. Many were upset about the overtime rules that allowed one team to win the game before the opposing team had a chance to possess the ball, and in April owners approved a new rule that addressed the complaints by allowing each team at least one chance with the ball.
The Bills also made some coaching changes, moving on from special teams coordinator Heath Farwell, who took some blame for the kickoff after the Bills took the lead late in the fourth quarter. Though Buffalo had kicked short of the endzone in similar situations during the season, forcing their opponents to burn valuable seconds on a return, they kicked into the endzone to give the Chiefs the ball on the 25-yard line without having to take any time off the clock.
“Honestly, my answer to that is that’s a question for the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott.”
Jaguars ST Coordinator Heath Farwell Has Moved On From Final Game With Bills
Though Allen is still sore about the loss, Farwell in his new position with the Jacksonville Jaguars said he’s ready to move on.
“I get that question all the time,” Farwell told the Buffalo News. “To be perfectly honest with you, it’s in the past. I don’t worry about that. Honestly, my answer to that is that’s a question for the Buffalo Bills and Sean McDermott. It’s in the past. I don’t deal with that, to be honest with you.”
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Bills QB Josh Allen Casts Unusual Blame for Team’s Playoff Heartbreak