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Josh Allen Had Brutally Honest Explanation for His Miss on Failed Two-Point Conversion

Andy Nesbitt

Josh Allen and the Bills lost to the Eagles, 13-12, on Sunday.
Josh Allen and the Bills lost to the Eagles, 13-12, on Sunday. / @NFL
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Josh Allen and the Bills rallied late at home on Sunday against the Eagles and made a daring decision to go for a two-point conversion with five seconds left that would have won the game if successful. But then the reigning NFL MVP rolled to his left and missed a wide-open Khalil Shakir in the end zone and Buffalo lost, 13-12, giving the Patriots their first AFC East crown since 2019.

The decision to go for two instead of kicking an extra point and sending the game to overtime was a bold one by Bills head coach Sean McDermott. Buffalo had the momentum, scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and its defense had shut down the Eagles' offense in the second half.

Putting the ball in Allen's hands with a chance to win the game, though, is a good spot to be in and he had a great chance to pull off a heroic victory. Instead, Allen threw a bad pass and then owned up to it after the game.

"Yea, I just missed," Allen said. "Rolling left, gotta give him a better ball.

Allen had this to say about the play call:

"Just get into a play that we like. Again, it was there and I’ve gotta make it."

Here's that two-point conversion attempt:

After the game McDermott explained his thought process about going for two instead of attempting an extra point.

"Wanted to be aggressive, going for the win,” he said. “It felt like we had a great call, great opportunity to go win it. Wanted to be aggressive so I’m not gonna sit back.

“I trust Josh Allen with the ball in his hands and I would do it over again. ... I’d take him 1,000 times out of 1,000 times to make that play.”

What's next for the Bills

The Bills fell to 11-5 with the loss and now sit in the seventh spot in the AFC playoffs. If the season ended today they would play at New England in the first round. The Patriots, meanwhile, clinched the AFC East title with Buffalo's loss. It's their first division title since 2019, taking it from Buffalo which had won it in each of the last five years.

Buffalo will close out the regular season next Sunday at home against the Jets.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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