Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen accomplished something he’s never done in his career — a game-winning playoff drive.
Allen led the Bills to a last-minute touchdown drive in the 27-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the wild-card playoff round. Though Allen has led the team to the AFC Championship game twice and now six straight opening-round victories, he had never gotten a game-winning drive until the thrilling finish on Sunday.
Josh Allen’s Near-Perfect Game
Allen had a stellar day against an aggressive Jaguars defense, completing 28-of-35 passes for 273 yards with one passing touchdown, adding 11 carries for 33 yards and two rushing touchdowns — including the game-winning score with just over one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
Allen had never gotten a game-winning drive in the playoffs, despite some heroic efforts. The Bills quarterback led the team to two late leads against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round in the 2021 playoffs, but Patrick Mahomes led the team to a game-tying score with 13 second left and then won it in overtime.
After three quarters dominated by defenses, the Bills and Jaguars both scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. Allen led the team to a go-ahead touchdown pass to tight end Dalton Kincaid with 8:56 remaining, and the Jaguars responded with a touchdown drive with just over four minutes remaining.
The Bills took the ball on the 34-yard line and drove 66 yards in nine plays in 1:04, ending with a 1-yard touchdown run from Allen on a quarterback sneak.
The play that set up the game-winning score also made history. As NextGen stats noted, Allen bullied his way forward to the 1-yard line on a 4th-and-1 play, which gave the Bills a dramatic swing in win probability.
“Josh Allen’s 10-yard QB sneak on 4th & inches increased the @BuffaloBills‘ win probability by +49.9 percentage points (from 27.5% to 77.4%), the most win probability added on a QB sneak in the NGS era (since 2016),” the analysis outlet noted in a post on X.
Bills Snap Playoff Losing Streaks
The Bills won their first road playoff game since 1992, when they took to the road to beat the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. As ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg noted, the Bills also snapped a long losing streak when training at halftime of a playoff game.
“The Bills came into this game 18-0 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2024 season, including playoffs,” Getzenberg wrote.
“That trend continued despite a lacking start to the half, including falling behind in the fourth quarter, as the Bills remain the only team to be undefeated in that circumstance. The victory also broke a streak of eight consecutive road playoff losses for the franchise (1992 AFC Championship).”
The Bills advance to the divisional round and will need to wait to the final set of games to learn their next opponent. If the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, the Bills would head to Denver to take on the No. 1-seeded Broncos. If the Chargers win, then the Bills will face the winner of Monday’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans.
Bills QB Josh Allen Made Career History in Thrilling Playoff Win