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With little to no margin of error the rest of the regular season, Josh Allen knows it doesn’t matter how the Buffalo Bills look while winning.
The Bills struggled to take care of a wounded Los Angeles Chargers team on Saturday night, needing a late field goal to take home a 24-22 victory against a team missing their quarterback and top wide receiver and working with an interim head coach.
Though the win may not have been pretty, it helped the Bills take a big step forward and allowed them to control their own playoff fate.
“We found a way,” Allen told reporters after the game.
Josh Allen Called Chargers a ‘Dangerous’ Team
The Bills went into the December 23 game as big favorites, facing a Chargers team that the previous week fired head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco after suffering 63-21 rout at the hands of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Allen said he knew that after the big changes, the Chargers would be playing motivated football.
“It’s tough because when you’re playing a team with nothing to lose, that’s a dangerous team. We gutted it out and we found a way,” Allen said. “This is our playoffs. It didn’t matter how we get them done, just get them done.”
Allen accounted for three touchdowns, two on the ground and one touchdown pass to wide receiver Gabe Davis.
The Chargers, playing behind little-used backup quarterback Easton Stick, stayed in the game and took a late fourth-quarter lead before Allen drove the team for the winning field goal drive.
After the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott shared some praise for their preparation after a turbulent week.
“(The Chargers) were doing some things that they hadn’t shown (this season). They came in well-prepared,” McDermott said. “I thought our guys settled in and responded. We did a good job in the red zone and had some big plays on third down to help us out.”
Bills Have Chance to Avenge Loss to Rival
The Bills have another chance to move up in the playoff bracket and avenge a loss to rival New England Patriots. The Bills host the Patriots on December 31, and Heavy projections powered by Quarter4 give them an 81% win probability.
“Well it starts with this week and this week only,” Allen said. “We’ve got a few days to gameplan for them, learn from this one and just try to go win another one this week.”
The Bills lost to the Patriots 29-25 on October 22, with Allen scoring on a one-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining but now-benched quarterback Mac Jones leading the Patriots on a game-winning touchdown drive.
The Bills will not only have a chance to make up for the previous loss, but could also set up a showdown for the division in the season finale. If the Bills beat the Patriots and the Miami Dolphins lost to the AFC-leading Baltimore Ravens, then the Week 18 game between the Bills and Dolphins would determine the winner of the AFC East.
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