One-Armed Bandit: Vikings Steal OT Win Over Josh Allen's Goal-Line Goof-Up Buffalo Bills
No, Josh Allen cannot beat opponents with one arm tied behind his back. Not literally. But figuratively? Nope, in the end, he and the Bills couldn't do that, either, dropping a bizarre "Game of the Year''-level outing by a 33-30 score in overtime against Minnesota.
What happened in NFL Week 10 in the Bills' meeting with the visiting Vikings was almost another wondrous chapter in the growing folk-hero legend of the Bills' 26-year-old MVP-caliber quarterback.
But instead, mistakes within the shadow of the goal line - and within inches of the goal line - drop the Bills to 6-2 and push one of the NFC's best in the Vikings to 8-1.
Were Allen's errors - including a needless interception thrown into the end zone in OT, ending the game - due to a ligament injury in his throwing elbow that sidelined him for most of the practice week?
"It's on me,'' said a solemn Allen in his postgame media address. "Can't have that.''
Some called it all "gamesmanship,'' especially when Allen was on the active list 90 minutes before kickoff ... and yet failed to spend pregame time warming up, as is the norm.
He was "milking'' the moment for drama, according to one report, which if true is the sort of cocky behavior that will only add to Bills Mafia's admiration for the tough-and-talented QB. ... or would've added to it, had Buffalo won.
Allen was hurt at the end of last week's 20-17 loss at the New York Jets, and the rest of the Bills were prepared to pick up the just-in-case slack ... and that readiness paid off as Buffalo constructed a 24-10 halftime edge on the strength of a pair of Devin Singletary TD runs and an Allen-to-Gabe Davis scoring connection.
But Buffalo failed to get much movement in the second half, and in fact, in the final seconds of the game, it was all about "movement,'' all about a few inches on one side of the line of scrimmage and the other, all within inches of an end zone.
First the Vikings accomplished a spectacular Justin Jefferson-keyed (10 catches, 193 yards) drive to the 1-yard line ... but eventually, Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins couldn't get across the goal-line on a sneak from inches away.
Game over? Bills win? Not quite ... because on the next play, Allen (29 of 43m 330 yards, two interceptions) was asked to sort of do the same thing, in the other direction - plow forward for a few inches to move the ball from the goal line and eat up the final seconds.
But somehow - maybe because Allen's arm is something less than perfectly healthy and perfectly powerful? - the QB fumbled at the bottom of the pile, the ball ended up in the grasp of the Vikings ... and the ball ended up in the end zone.
Minnesota 30, Buffalo 27.
Game over? Bills lose? Not quite, as Allen used the final tick-tick-ticks to move the Bills to within scoring range, and Buffalo sent it to OT, where Minnesota drove for a field goal that the Bills could not answer.
"Game of the Year''? "Gamesmanship''? All quite thrilling ... and all quite disappointing as well.
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