The play heard ’round the word on Saturday was made by Buffalo Bills cornerback Taron Johnson. In the third quarter of his team’s AFC Divisional round meeting with the Baltimore Ravens, he scored.
Naturally, context is everything.
The touchdown for Johnson came moments after his team had just put up the game’s first touchdown on offense. The Ravens were successfully responding and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson was cruising. Then Johnson ended all that as he jumped in front of Jackson’s pass in his own end zone and took it 101 yards all the way to the other end of the field, putting Buffalo up 17-3.
That’s the way the game ended.
Johnson explained after the final whistle that he did consider taking a knee and decided against it. In doing so, Buffalo’s offense would’ve taken the ball after the touchback. Good thing he didn’t. Because not only did he score, he helped create what could go down as the most iconic photo in Bills history.
Johnson took off down the right sideline. He’s a fast guy, but Baltimore’s quarterback is, without a doubt, faster. But Jackson cannot go through people and cornerback Tre’Davious White, the cornerstone of Buffalo’s defense, blocked the QB trying to stop Johnson as the image shows.
However, the best part of the photo might be in the background. There we see Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the sideline. He looks stunned and jolted with excitement watching the play as he’s jumping up and down on the sideline cheering for Johnson.
An iconic snapshot. Look for the No. 17:
Allen’s excitement comes from a desire to win, of course. Whether it’s the QB scoring himself or his defense, he’ll take it. What perhaps really got him going was the roller coaster of emotions he went through. Allen explained following the game via video conference that he did not want Johnson to take the ball out of the end zone. He thought the defensive back was going to get tackled.
“I saw him come out of the end zone, usually when there’s a lot of bodies around you want to stay in [the end zone], so I was like ‘Dang it, he’s going to get tackled at the five or 10,” Allen said.
Good thing Johnson didn’t do what his QB wanted… and Allen’s happy he didn’t as well. Allen, like everyone, was thoroughly impressed by what went down. Not just with Johnson’s work, but what White did, too.
“I’ll tell you what, Tre White to go out and get a block on Lamar to spring (Johnson) free… I mean, it’s unbelievable,” Allen added. “Just an unbelievable play, just one of those plays that will be remembered for a really long time.”
As of now, the picture is an iconic snapshot. But exactly how iconic it becomes is still to be determined with how far the Bills keep on rolling.
Photo credit: Bills cornerback Taron Johnson. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
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