Entering Tuesday, the Bills were 4-0 and being touted as one of the best teams in the league. As is often the case in the NFL, things changed quickly.
After suffering a brutal 42-16 loss at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, the Bills must refocus and regroup without allowing any sort of ripple effect to form. They don’t want this ugly loss to snowball and preventing that was exactly what was on quarterback Josh Allen’s mind immediately following the game.
“It is what it is,” Allen said. “We’re not going to let this game define us. You can’t win them all… we’re not going to make this a bigger thing than it needs to be.”
Allen, as has often been the case when the team faces adversity during his tenure as the team’s starting quarterback, took a bulk of the blame.
“We got punched in the mouth and didn’t respond like we should have… I didn’t play well enough for our team to win tonight,” Allen said.
Bills safety Micah Hyde had a similar view from his vantage point on defense as well.
“This isn’t going to define our season,” Hyde said. “When a loss like this happens, you have to look at yourself in the mirror. I have 100% confidence in the team…we’re not going to go undefeated now. Cool, on to next week.”
Towards the end of the game, the CBS cameras caught Allen walking down the sideline shaking the hands of all of his teammates, encouraging them in the toughest moment the team has had to face thus far this season, which showcased the young QB’s growth as this team’s leader.
Even at the end of a terrible game, Josh Allen walking around and shaking every one of his teammates hands. Leadership. #Bills pic.twitter.com/dtnkBbBZXN
— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) October 14, 2020
Talks of Allen being an MVP candidate will now soften, at least for the time being, and the Bills will likely revert back to an underdog role, which they have embraced in the past, but the team has no time to feel sorry for itself.
“We’re 4-1 and we have the defending Super Bowl champs coming to our house next week,” Allen said. “We have to defend our dirt.”
The Bills indeed have another big challenge on deck with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs coming to Orchard Park on Monday. The team must take the words of Allen and Hyde to heart and not let one bad loss define them immediately and put their minds… onto the next one.
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