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Buffalo Bills fans are still a bit sore over a controversial hit on Josh Allen the last time they played the Kansas City Chiefs, so it’s not much of a surprise that they didn’t react kindly to Cris Collinsworth’s comments that appeared to encourage another one in the rematch.
Allen mostly had his way with the Chiefs in the first half of the Sunday Night Football game, running and throwing for a combined 260 yards and leading the team to three touchdowns. The Bills were holding a 24-13 halftime lead over the Chiefs before lightning storms led to a halftime delay of more than an hour.
Left with little else to do, many Bills fans took to social media during the break to complain about commentary from the NBC announcer regarding a low hit on Allen.
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Bills Fans Were Unhappy
The controversial moment came in the second quarter, with Bills in the red zone and Allen attempting a run. He was stopped at the line by Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton, who fell to the turf and held tightly onto Allen’s ankle while safety Dan Sorensen came in to finish the tackle and stop Allen for a one-yard loss.
In describing the replay, Collinsworth seemed to encourage the Chiefs defenders to do whatever it took to stop Allen — even if it took them outside the rule book.
“Watch Bolton come up, and when he grabs Josh Allen’s legs on the tackle, he’s gonna wrestle around with it, twist it a little bit,” Collinsworth said. “Then, ‘You want to run your quarterback, yeah, go ahead. Take a shot all day.’ ”
Bolton was not flagged for the hit, and it didn’t appear in the replay that he attempted to twist Allen’s ankle at all. But many Bills fans were still upset at what appeared to be encouragement from Collinsworth.
Bills fans had plenty of criticism for Collinsworth beyond his remarks on the Allen hit. Many believed he had too much praise for the Chiefs and not enough respect for the Bills, even though it was Buffalo controlling the game.
Chiefs Recall Another Controversial Hit
The Chiefs had already riled up some Bills fans by recalling a controversial moment from last season’s AFC Championship game.
The team took to Twitter to post an image of Allen flipping the football off the helmet of Chiefs defensive end Alex Okafor late in the fourth quarter. The play came after the Bills quarterback was taken to the ground long after the whistle had blown, though the Chiefs were not flagged for the hit itself.
The play set off a fracas, with Bills linemen Jon Feliciano and Dion Dawkins rushing to Allen’s defense and hitting Okafor as he celebrated over Allen. There were four flags on the play, including one for Allen for the football flip.
After the game, Allen apologized and said he regretted the moment.
“The way it ended doesn’t sit right with me with how chippy and ticky tack it got. I’m disappointed in myself,” Allen said, via Matt Parrino of Syracuse.com. “I let my emotions get to me there. That’s not how you’re supposed to play football.”
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