The Bills topped the Dolphins 34-31 in Orchard Park during the NFL’s wild-card playoff weekend.
While there was plenty of scoring that incited Highmark Stadium fireworks in the sky above, there were some explosive moments on the field as well.
Including a skirmish between the Bills offense and Dolphins defense.
With around 6 minutes left in the first half. Allen threw a deep pass to the end zone for which wide receiver John Brown was the target. The ball was intercepted by Miami corner Xavien Howard who would run the takeaway back 49 yards.
During the run back, Dolphins defensive lineman Christian Wilkins had a late hit when he shoved Allen and then tried to block him from making any defensive play on the return. Allen didn’t back down, pushing back then going at him again in a shoving match until Bills center Mitch Morse came over to protect his QB.
Things are getting chippy as Josh Allen and Christian Wilkins go at it after the interception đź‘€pic.twitter.com/hHWfH2asft
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 15, 2023
Yellow flags were thrown after a scrum pile of Bills and Dolphins players converged around them, and Wilkins and Morse were each given penalties that offset one another.
“That’s your guy, that’s your quarterback,” Morse said. “You just want to be there for him.”
Morse’s fervor in defending his QB was such that it even got some good humor from his Wife.
The way the fired-up Morse came to his defense touched his quarterback’s heart as well, and he voiced his appreciation when he was asked if he ever sees Morse that heated.
“No I don’t, you don’t really see that,” Allen said after the game to the media. “But I love him, I really do.”
When he was also asked by the media if he’d ever been that heated before he said “No,” but also demonstrated veteran leadership and spoke about Wilkins and an interaction they shared after the game while putting the matter to rest.
“Let’s not make it anything bigger than it was,” Morse said. “We talked afterwards actually. I have a lot of respect for the way he plays. He is a competitive guy. Tempers flare in this game. You know, we had our moment, it was mitigated and we were able to continue playing. In the moment, you lose consciousness for a little bit. I mean, that’s your guy. That’s your quarterback. You just want to be there for him. It escalated like you saw, but I’m not going to make it too big of a thing.”
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