The Match a Success for Bills' Josh Allen, Even Though he Lost
The only guarantee Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen made leading up to The Match was that he would talk the best smack of the four superstar quarterbacks assembled for this year's made-for-TV charity golf event.
Turns out, that was a prudent approach, because he definitely didn't play the best golf.
He did put forth a great effort to fulfill his promise, however.
Allen teamed with Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes to face Tampa Bay's Tom Brady and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers in a classic battle of decorated youngsters vs. accomplished middle-aged men.
In the end, the veterans prevailed when Rodgers drained a birdie putt to break a tie on the final hole. It came after Allen left a long birdie attempt hanging on the right lip.
For Allen, it wasn't just words, it was actions: He revealed before the match that he would be using golf balls featuring the infamous photo of Brady's scrawny body at the NFL Scouting Combine in 2000.
Brady went on to be drafted in the sixth round (199 overall) by the New England Patriots and sat behind Drew Bledsoe until Bledsoe was injured the following year at age 29.
Brady later trumped Allen by revealing that his golf balls featured photos of the Lombardi Trophy.
Brady teased Allen with a question: "Have you ever seen one of these?"
Allen also promised Bills fans a week earlier that they would be happy with his golf bag.
They were. It was a Bills Mafia bag.
The 12-hole, match-play event featured a modified scramble format in which each team used the best tee shot. From there, each player finished out the hole, with the lowest score on the team being the one that counted.
Allen proved from the start that he isn't nearly as crafty with a golf club as he is with a football.
His drive on the first hole was pulled left and off the fairway. He sliced his second drive into the gallery on the second hole and also hit a fan with his second shot on that hole.
In the meantime, Brady and Rodgers won the first two holes with birdies.
Allen and Mahomes responded with a birdie to win the third, with Allen providing a biting commentary after Rodgers just missed a birdie attempt from long range that would have halved the hole.
"These guys are pretty good at golf," Allen said. "That's what happens when you don't go to OTAs, I guess."
Allen, of course, skipped out on Tuesday's and Wednesday's practice sessions in Orchard Park himself to be in Las Vegas.
Allen sunk a 5-foot putt on the par-3 fourth hole to keep his team just one down heading to the fifth.
But earlier, when Allen hit the big ball before the little ball on his tee shot, Brady remarked: "Little chunky. I call that one a little Josh Allen-y."
But the best zinger of all may have come from a non-competitor, when Sal Maiorano, Bills beat writer for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, tweeted: "The way Allen is playing, the Bills are gonna need their running game and defense to play well tonight. Ducking."
In the end, though, it was mission accomplished by everyone.
"It was nerve wracking for sure," Allen confessed, "and I didn't compete how I wanted this today, but Patrick played unconscious there for about five holes. But at the end of the day, we had such a good time, and for it to come down on 12 and missing a long one and Aaron walking [in] a long one, it was great.
Plus, the real winners were ... the Bills Mafia, called the top fan base by TNT reporter Amanda Renner and praised by Allen as "not only the the best fans in the NFL but maybe in all of sports."
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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
