Allen says his ‘bad decisions’ cost Bills in loss

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — In the bowels of MetLife Stadium, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen sat slumped back in his locker and looked straight ahead.

From afar, the only sign of him were his long legs sticking out from the deep cubby. His postgame news conference was over. Everywhere around him, teammates were either talking to media or getting dressed as the equipment was packed away after an upset loss to the New York Jets.

It’s a normal sight for the quarterback to spend time sitting in his locker after games, but not like this. Not so removed. Quarterbacks Case Keenum and Matt Barkley came by to talk to him as he continued to sit. He spent some time with general manager Brandon Beane, which also isn’t abnormal.

It was the long stare forward and level of frustration evident that were symbolic of the quarterback’s feelings.

“It’s tough to win in this league when you’re playing a good team and your quarterback plays like s—,” Allen said. “Made some bad decisions tonight, really cost our team. A lot to learn from, a lot to grow from. But that’s not, that’s not the standard we hold ourselves to. That’s not the ball that we play. So, a lot to look at, a lot to learn from.”

Allen had his worst statistical passing game of the season in the Bills’ 20-17 loss to the Jets that dropped the team to 6-2 and 0-2 in the AFC East. The MVP favorite for much of the season completed 18-of-34 passes (52.9%) for 205 yards and two interceptions. All his of five sacks came against four or fewer pass rushers, which is a career high.

The quarterback was seen holding his right elbow late in the game, which he appeared to injure on a strip sack by Bryce Huff (recovered by Buffalo) during the final offensive drive. Coach Sean McDermott said Allen was still being evaluated and that he was going to talk to the team’s head athletic trainer, Nate Breske.

“There’s some slight pain,” Allen said. “But we’ll get through it.”

How did the Jets limit the Bills’ passing game? By not blitzing. Allen was blitzed only two times, both of which came in the first quarter. He faced blitzes at the second-lowest rate of his career (4.8%) and is now 0-4 in his career when blitzed under 10% of the time. Instead, they focused on taking away his weapons, including Stefon Diggs, who did not have a reception in the second half. It was just the second time in the past two years he has gone a half without a reception. Diggs said the Jets played more man coverage in the first half and switched to two-high coverage in the second.

“[Allen] makes a lot of plays out there,” Diggs said. “So, rallying behind him at a time like this — I mean, turnovers are gonna happen. You hate ’em, but s— does happen. … He didn’t play like s— at all. He had a couple of bad plays. What’s a couple bad plays to 30, 40 good ones? He made some good throws. And we’ve just to continue to build off of it. Stay positive. I’m big on affirmations and positive energy. My quarterback is the best quarterback. He’s gonna come out on top, shake that.”

He had more success as a runner, finishing as the game’s leader on the ground with nine carries for 86 yards and two scores, including a career-long 36-yard touchdown.

“I mean, obviously, there’s some plays that he wants back,” tight end Dawson Knox said. “But I mean, he had a couple rushing touchdowns, he made some incredible plays with his legs, had some incredible passes that ended up getting called back, but we got his back through thick and thin. There’s no one in the league we would want more than that guy.”

Allen’s first of two costly interceptions came in the first quarter on a pass intended for Knox. Allen said that he did not see safety Jordan Whitehead, who picked off the pass, behind defensive end John Franklin-Myers and that’s why “he floated it” in Knox’s direction. The second came in the third quarter and was intended for wide receiver Gabe Davis, but there appeared to be a miscommunication and cornerback Sauce Gardner picked it off. Allen described it as a “brain fart.”

“We were in a Cover 2 concept, to my side. The receiver got outside of me, and they had a running back there sat in front of me,” Gardner said of the play. “It was a running back or receiver, I don’t know. I just, I felt like I had a feel for Josh Allen and the throws he likes to make.”

He has now thrown two interceptions in back-to-back games for the first time this year, but it was more than the turnovers that doomed the Bills. The offense struggled in the second half to capitalize on the one successful drive and to maintain possession, finishing with 63 net yards, the team’s fewest in a half since Week 17, 2019, against the Jets (a game Barkley played most of) and fewest in a second half since Week 4, 2018 (the only game an Allen-led team has been held scoreless in).

“They definitely gave their best effort, and we didn’t match,” center Mitch Morse said. “And that’s on the scorecard. So, we’ll have to come back and no panic, but we have to look at this constructively, accept the criticism, be a pro about it, see where we can get better, and then march on.”