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After five straight seasons with the Buffalo Bills reaching the playoffs but falling short of the Super Bowl — painfully short, in some cases — quarterback Josh Allen knows what needs to happen for the team to finally get over the hump.
The quarterback spoke up this week about the team’s playoff failures, including three straight seasons of winning the division but failing to advance past the divisional round. The Bills fell short again this season, finally forcing the Kansas City Chiefs to travel to Buffalo for a playoff game but failing to knock off the Super Bowl champions.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated in an interview published on February 20, Allen made a strong statement on what the team would need to do in the future.
Josh Allen: ‘It’s Heavy on My Shoulders’
Allen said he believes there isn’t much separating the Bills from the Super Bowl. They have lost excruciatingly close games to the Chiefs in two of the last three seasons, including the infamous “13 seconds” game where the team failed to hold onto a late lead after Allen led them to a go-ahead touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, but Allen believes they can do what it takes to get past that.
Allen told Sports Illustrated that it’s only a matter of a few plays between winning and losing — and he feels much of the responsibility for it.
“We keep saying we’re close. We’re right there, you know?” Allen said. “It comes down to making one or two more plays. We need to. It’s heavy on my shoulders.”
Though Allen has struggled with turnovers during the regular season, he has become one of the league’s most efficient playoff quarterbacks. In 10 career playoff games, Allen has racked up 2,723 passing yards with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions, good for a 100.0 passer rating.
Allen has done a bit of everything for the Bills in the playoffs, adding another 543 rushing yards with five rushing touchdowns along with a 16-yard receiving touchdown.
Bills Quarterback Not Hung Up on Chiefs Rivalry
Though the Bills have lost to the Chiefs in three of Allen’s five trips to the playoffs — twice in the divisional round and once in the AFC Championship game — the Bills quarterback pushed aside the idea that he’s developed a rivalry with Patrick Mahomes.
“It’s another game for me,” Allen said. “Whether it’s him over there, whether it was (Baltimore Ravens quarterback) Lamar (Jackson), whether it was (Cincinnati Bengals quarterback) Joe (Burrow), you name it. … It doesn’t matter who’s over there playing. We get so caught up in the quarterback vs. quarterback controversy. I’m not playing him. I’m playing that defense.”
Allen tried to keep things in perspective after the latest playoff loss to the Chiefs, telling reporters in January that there are worse things than losing a football game.
“Losing’s never fun,” he told reporters. “It’s a part of the game. It’s the second worst part of the game, obviously injuries are the worst part. It’s the reason you play this game, because you don’t want to feel this way. But when you do feel this way, it makes winning all the more special and this isn’t something we’re going to run from. It’s not something we’re going to hide from. We’ve gotta take it on the chin, continue to learn and get better.”