Tag: Bills QB

Bills vow to use AFC Championship loss to fuel them

Bills promise to use the pain of defeat to grow and improve next season.

The Bills’ magical season came to an end on Sunday, when the team lost 38-24 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Following the game, Bills players and coaches echoed a similar sentiment to one we heard last year when the team’s season ended in the Wild Card round against the Texans. That this loss and the pain the accompanies it, will only fuel them going forward.

“It’s not fun falling one game short of the Super Bowl,” Bills QB Josh Allen said via Zoom after the game. “It’s gonna fuel us. I’ve got no doubt in my mind that we will be back. This is a team that fought hard till the end. A team that loves each other. We’re still young and we’re only gonna get better. We’re close.”

It wasn’t a feeling used by young kids on the block, either. Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes, the longest-tenured player on the team, also spoke to using the loss as a means to propel this team in the offseason.

“This is a tough one to swallow, just because, you know, we got to where… we were so close,” Hughes said. “Climbing that mountain and to be so close and then to get knocked down sucks, but we got a great group of guys in the locker room and I know we’re gonna have a tremendous offseason where guys are gonna feel this feeling and know what it takes to get back here… We’re gonna remember this feeling in the offseason and it’ll be something that carries us through.”

Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who had some questionable decisions throughout the loss, spoke to what a moment like this can mean for a franchise moving forward.

“Give credit where credits due,” McDermott said via video conference. “They played a really good game… this is a learning experience for us. That’s how you have to look at it. We had a great season and came up a little bit short tonight and that’s a great football team on the other side. It stings to get this far… sometimes the further you go, the harder it is to lose. Again, it’s a learning experience for us as an organization and we’ve obviously got to get back to work.”

When asked specifically what the Bills can take away from this loss to improve going forward, McDermott spoke to his own experience having lost in the postseason back in Carolina and Philadelphia.

“Certainly wanted to win, but what you take from this as an organization of how you handle the week, how you handle the potential division of the next step, the speed and intensity of this game, in particular on somebody else’s field, home field… so all that, just having been here before myself, we as an organization, players, staff, coaches, all of us collectively, can learn a lot from this… At the end of the day, this is our measuring stick.”

While there are certainly no consolation wins on this stage, this Bills team should be awfully proud of what they accomplished. Ending many postseason droughts, shattering records and being one step away from the Super Bowl is nothing to hang your head about.
Couple that with the fact they did this all in a year when fans, perhaps more than ever, needed a distraction given all that is going on in the world. 
Losses, especially of this magnitude are never easy to swallow, but if last year’s playoff exit is any indication of what Josh Allen and this Bills team are capable of doing in the face of defeat… the NFL better lookout for the 2021 Buffalo Bills. They’ll be back.
[lawrence-related id=77610,77578,77595,77555]

Josh Allen recalls Broncos passing on him: ‘I’m where I’m supposed to be’

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen remembers Denver Broncos passing on him at 2018 NFL Draft.

While an elephant never forgets, apparently the same can be said about Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

During Week 15’s Bills vs. Denver Broncos game, NFL Network broadcasters Adam Admin and Mark Schlereth referenced their conversation they had with Allen prior to the game. In it they asked him about playing college football at Wyoming, which is only a two-hour drive north of Denver.

Allen’s response? “The Broncos had a chance to draft me at No. 5.”

The QB is, of course, referring to the fact that the Broncos chose to pass on him at the 2018 NFL Draft, instead opting to draft linebacker Bradley Chubb.

Allen ended up going to the Bills (11-3) two picks later and the rest is history.

While timing is everything, the QB was again asked about it following the Bills win in Denver (5-9).

“Yeah, I’m where I’m supposed to be,” Allen said via video conference.

Bills offensive lineman Jon Feliciano, was asked if this game meant more to Allen because of the Broncos passing on the QB in the draft.

The answer was short and sweet… “yes.”

While Allen can play it cool, it is only human nature to want to prove those who doubt you wrong. Saturday, Allen did just that.

Allen put out another strong performance, throwing for 359-yards and two touchdowns, while adding another two rushing scores. More importantly, the Bills’ win clinched a division title for the first time since 1995, a year before Josh Allen was even born.

“It’s great that we’re able to do it, for the first time in 25 years,” Allen said. “You know to be the team and to be the quarterback who does it, obviously feels really good. At the same time, you know that’s not our main goal. We set out to do this, in order to give us a chance to do what we really want to do… and that’s to win a Super Bow championship.”

By winning the division, the Bills are guaranteed a first round home playoff game, but there is still more that can be accomplished over the next two regular season games before then. At 11-3, the Bills are currently slotted into the third seed in the AFC, but are still very much in play for the second seed, with a long-shot at the first overall seed and a bye week in Round 1.

Saturday, the Bills left Denver with a division title and a franchise QB, something the Broncos organization played a part in with both.

Full circle, indeed.

[lawrence-related id=75028,74999,74989,74995]

Josh Allen shines on primetime: ‘He loves the big moments’

The Bills got their first win on Monday Night Football since 1999.

The Bills ended another drought on Monday Night Football against the 49ers in Week 13… Thanks in large part to quarterback Josh Allen.

Buffalo (9-3) took a 34-24 win over the Niners (5-7), and in doing so, won on Monday Night Football for the first time this century. That last win came back in 1999. Allen’s abilities easily led the way as he shined in front of the national audience, finishing 32-of-40 passing with 375 passing yards and four touchdowns.

During the lead up to the game, Allen commented that at this point, primetime football is just another game to him. That’s not how some of his teammates see it, such as offensive lineman Dion Dawkins. They’re saying Allen thrives on that spotlight, and that assessment sure looks right.

“I think Josh loves the hype,” Dawkins said following the game. “He loves to show people the truth. He’s one of those people that loves the big moments.”

However, like before the game, Allen still shrugged off the notion that such games mean any different than others. Do the Bills have something to prove on the bright lights of Monday night?

“No,” Allen said via his Zoom call after the game. “We know who we are as a team, that’s all that matters.”

Sean McDermott stated that this was the Bills’ most complete game of the season, but in a way, also downplayed things. You better believe McDermott wants his team to keep improving.

“I’m always looking for more and I love the fact that our players are as well,” McDermott said.

“All wins are good wins,” McDermott added. “I’m happy for our organization and I’m happy for our fans. I’m sure everyone in Buffalo stayed up late to watch it.”

McDermott made mention, in a bit of a behind the scenes look during his post-game speech shared by the team, that there’s still “more meat on the bone” for the team to get better. There’s a good opponent en route, too.

Next up, the Bills will face the 11-1 Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football, who are fresh off their first loss of the season. Allen knows the Steelers are going to want to get back on the right track.

“We’ve got a really tough challenge with Pittsburgh,” Allen said. “They’re coming off a loss, so they’re going to try to find ways to win this next game… so are we. We gotta put our best foot forward, go out there and have a good week of practice.”

Regardless of what happens on Sunday night in Orchard Park, Bills fans can sleep well knowing their team is back on the right side of the Monday Night Football win column and perhaps even more importantly, have a true franchise QB who helped them get there.

[lawrence-related id=74197,74229,74196,74186]

In the wake of grandmother’s passing, Josh Allen leads the Bills to win

While the mourning the sudden loss of his grandmother, Allen lead the Bills to 7-2.

Often times when watching professional athletes it is easy for us to lose sight of the fact that they are actual people, with feelings just like the rest of us. there are certain occasions that cause us to take a step back and remember.

Following the Bills’ 44-34 win in Week 9 over the Seattle Seahawks (6-2) Sean McDermott shared that quarterback, Josh Allen’s grandmother, Patricia, had passed away last night, unexpectedly, at the age of 80.

“I called Josh [last night] and asked where he was on it,” McDermott said to reporters after the game via Zoom. “He said he wanted to play and we just felt like he was going to have to compartmentalize for the better part of 24 hours and that’s what he did. Not an easy thing to play through.”

McDermott added, as one would expect, that Allen was rather emotional after the game and was, “mentally tough” for putting together the performance he did, despite all that was going on in his personal life. There have been many well documented moments in sports history where athletes use a loss, such as this, to motivate themselves to play and play well in a game to honor someone.

It appears Allen did just that.

The Bills QB finished the day 31-for-38 passing for 415 yds & three touchdowns in the air, while adding another rushing TD to his stat line.

“We took care of business today,” Allen said after the game. “We played complementary football. It was a complete, total win today.”

While winning a football game doesn’t equate to the pain one feels when losing a loved one, hopefully Allen can take comfort in knowing that he gave it his all today.

One would think his grandmother is looking down proud of what her grandson was able to accomplish, even while mourning her loss.

[lawrence-related id=72793,72789,72722,72719]

Josh Allen displays ‘ice in his veins’ with another comeback win

The third year quarterback led his team to yet another come from behind victory on Sunday.

Depending who you ask, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is either the greatest of all-time, or the most overrated. But one thing that is hard to argue, is his ability to takeover games in the fourth quarter.

Coming into Week 2 vs. the Dolphins, Allen had six-career fourth quarter comebacks and eight game-winning drives. With the Bills’ 31-28 victory over Miami, he added another one to each of those columns.

A year ago against the Dolphins, Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins called Josh a “mon-star” following a comeback victory. This year, the praise came right from the top. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was the one with the big hype for the QB.

“He’s got ice water in his veins,” McDermott said via video conference follow the win. “There’s no moment too big for him.”

While there still remains plenty of skeptics surrounding Allen and his ability to reach an “elite” level of play, it’s hard to not see improvement from the third-year QB, especially late in games. It’s even a trait he already had, having been tied for the NFL lead with five fourth-quarter comebacks in 2019.

With the Bills trailing for the first time this season, 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Allen drove the team down the field with several throws that showcase the QB’s growth. These are the type of steps you look for in Year 3.

The first of hopefully many fourth quarter, eye-popping catches from Diggs came at the expense of rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene:

That series was capped off by a sensational catch by rookie wideout Gabriel Davis, which gave the Bills the lead and they never looked back:

Once the Bills took the lead, they didn’t just sit back as we’ve seen in the past. Good thing too as Miami was able to get another score in the dying seconds that ended up having little meaning. Another one for Diggs in the dying moments:

Allen continued to lead this offense down the field and put up yet another touchdown that was unexpected. This time on a long throw to John Brown, which put Allen over 400 yards for the first time in his career, he showcased the confidence the QB is now playing with:

While there are certainly areas the Bills will attempt to clean up, given the absence of starting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano in this one, the Bills have to be pretty pleased with the end result.

For the first time in a long time, the defense leaned on the offense to put away a game, something Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane and McDermott had hoped for when continuing to invest in the Bills offense this offseason.

At the end of the day, despite all of the weapons on offense, comebacks start and end with your quarterback. Given the regularity at which they are occurring so far in his career, it might be time we anoint Allen with a new nickname… Captain Comeback.

[lawrence-related id=70115,70112,70093,69816]

Former Georgia QB Jake Fromm signs with Bills — contract details here

Former Georgia football QB and 2020 NFL Draft pick Jake Fromm signed his rookie contract with the Buffalo Bills. Here are the details…

Former Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm signed his rookie deal on Friday with the Buffalo Bills.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, it’s a four-year contract worth $3.7 million total, $899,490 guaranteed with a $302,960 signing bonus.

A pedestrian combine performance reportedly caused Fromm to slip to the fifth-round of the 2020 NFL Draft where the Buffalo Bills felt fortunate to select him with the No. 167 overall pick.

General manager Brandon Beane said that drafting Fromm was not meant to send a message to Bills starter Josh Allen, but rather to fill a “premium position” with a talented player.

Fromm will have an opportunity to compete for the backup position this off-season with fellow Bills quarterbacks Davis Webb and Matt Barkley. And as Georgia fans know well, don’t count Fromm out in a quarterback competition. He has beaten out a couple of 5-stars before and won a few games in between…

 

Josh Allen will use Bills’ playoff loss to ‘fuel’ him

Allen says the loss to the Texans will only make the Bills hungrier.

Following the Bills 22-19 playoff loss to the Houston Texans quarterback Josh Allen faced the media after a game that simply got away.

“It’s a game we should’ve won, could’ve won,” Allen said. “It sucks. This is a team that fought the entire game. I appreciate how the guys battled today… it’s going to be a long offseason, but we’ll learn from it.”

After coming out firing on offense, in a drive that concluded with Josh Allen catching a touchdown pass from wide receiver John Brown, the Bills offense was held out of the endzone for the remainder of the game.

Thanks to a perfect performance from kicker Stephen Hauschka, the Bills took a 16-0 lead into halftime, but the defense was unable to shutdown the likes of Houston quarterback Deshaun Watston in the second half.

Allen said repeatedly after the game that the offense not converting it’s opportunities was on his shoulders.

“It’s a bitter taste taste… we have to find a way to get six instead of three when we get down there and that’s on me.”

While the Bills season ends in Houston, there is a lot that can be learned from a tough playoff loss like this one and applied to the future.

“I am going to take this into the offseason… let it fuel me and take it from there,” Allen said. “This will hurt and sting for a while, but we’ll move on.”

Part of the Bills success this season has been attributed to the culture head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane are building in Buffalo. That closeness is something Allen feels will help propel them forward.

“I love my teammates, I love the energy they brought today and how they battled… it’s gonna make us hungrier, it sucks that we lost today, but life goes on… I expect this to make us hungrier and come out next year ready to go.”

While it is perfectly normal to feel disappointed in a game that as Allen put it, the Bills could have won, it is also OK to feel optimistic about this team’s future.

With strong leadership in McDermott, close to $90 million in salary cap space for Brandon Beane and several young building blocks in Allen, Tre’Davious White and Tremaine Edmunds (just to name a few,) unlike the last time the Bills made the playoffs, the growth should continue right on into next season. No rebuild, or teardown needed.

While today is undoubtedly painful for Bills fans, it is another step in the process and if Josh Allen and his teammates do indeed use it as fuel, we might all look back on this game one day and point to it as a large part of what ultimately pushed this franchise over the edge.

[lawrence-related id=52916,52878,52818]

Broncos’ Chris Harris no longer has ‘advice’ for Josh Allen

Following Week 12’s 20-3 Bills victory over the Broncos, cornerback Chris Harris no longer seemed to want to joke around when it came to discussing Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Despite Thanksgiving being only a few days away, one Denver player is eating a bit of crow rather than turkey on Sunday.

Following Week 12’s 20-3 Bills victory over the Broncos, cornerback Chris Harris no longer seemed to want to joke around when it came to discussing Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

On Monday, Harris chatted with local reporters and was all smiles talking about Allen and the Bills.

“If I can give him a little advice… I don’t want to actually,” Harris said with a grin and chuckle. “I’m going to say all positive about him today.”

Perhaps it was best that Harris kept that advice to himself, as he ended up getting beat on a 34-yard deep throw from Allen to wide receiver John Brown, that put the Bills up 20-3 in the third quarter:

After the loss, Harris was asked point blank what advice it was that he wanted to give to the quarterback.

“That [expletive] is over with now,” Harris said straight faced in front of his locker.

When asked about the throw that beat him, Harris dismissed it as more of his error, than it being a great play by Allen, or Brown.

“They had run that play like 10 times,” Harris said. “I was just pressing, trying to make a play for our team… so, that’s all it was.”

When John Brown was asked about the TD score, he seemed to sing a different tune.

“He’s a great DB, he reads concepts,” Brown said after the game.

“Every time we came to the flat, you know, he was jumping inside preparing for the slant, or the curl route. I went to the coaches and I told them, you know, double move and you know it was a great call, at the right time.”

While the win put the Bills at 8-3 for the first time since 1996, quieting a player that talked some smack before the game had to be the cherry on top.

As Jalen Ramsey learned first-hand last season, if you’re a DB going up against Allen and the Bills, you might be better off saving the trash talk for after the game.

[lawrence-related id=49338,49279,49278]

Josh Allen on John Brown: ‘I wouldn’t trade him for anybody’

Allen adds he thins Brown is a Pro Bowl WR.

Following a 37-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins, that saw the Bills improve to 7-3 on the season, there was plenty of praise for Buffalo’s offense.

One player in particular who was applauded, was Bills wide receiver John Brown.

Brown finished the day with nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

During Josh Allen’s postgame interview on CBS, the quarterback had high remarks for his top wideout.

“He’s unbelievable,” Allen said. “The things that he can do. How well he runs routes. How well he communicates… he’s the ultimate teammate too. He’s a Pro Bowler in my eyes. You know, I love having him and we’re lucky to have him.”

Allen was later asked by members of the media what makes John Brown special.

“He’s been fantastic for us. Just how he goes about each and every day,” Allen said. “He goes and attacks. All-time teammate. Guy that no one can say anything bad about. Just a guy that goes in and works and wants to get better. Doesn’t care about stats. Doesn’t’ care about touchdowns. He cares about winning and when you have a recipe like that, you’re determined for success. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”

John Brown himself was asked about the difference this week, for a Bills offense that has struggled throughout the season to put up points.

“We just knew what we had to do,” Brown told reporters. “We had to eliminate the mistakes we were making and we wanted to be more dialed in than we ever been. We haven’t played our best game yet…”

Brown also returned the praise for Allen, when discussing the 40-yard touchdown strike from his QB.

“He just made a perfect throw,” Brown told the media. “Most people don’t make that throw, so hey, he got a cannon.”

At 7-3, the Bills control their own destiny when it comes to making the playoffs, however the road ahead gets much tougher.

Over the next five games, the Bills will face the third-toughest schedule, based on opponent win percentage.

In order for the Bills to continue their march towards the postseason, the Allen/Brown connection and the offense overall, will have to continue to find a way to make plays, just like we saw today.

[lawrence-related id=48688,48653,48654]