Josh Allen took a pounding, doled out punishment, and proved once again why he’s the reigning MVP. In leading the Buffalo Bills to a 27-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Sunday’s AFC Wild Card playoff opener, Allen carried his team to its first road playoff win in more than three decades.
Tough, tenacious, and unstoppable, Allen looked every bit like the quarterback who has become the face of Buffalo’s resurgence. Despite relentless pressure from Jacksonville defenders, he completed 28 of 35 passes for 273 yards and a touchdown, ran for two scores, was sacked just once, and played turnover-free football.
The game’s defining moment came in the closing minutes. With linebacker Devin Lloyd bearing down, Allen found Brandin Cooks for a 36-yard gain just before the two-minute warning, keeping the drive alive. On the decisive 1-yard touchdown run, Jacksonville defenders let Allen score after a gutsy 10-yard sneak on fourth down where he refused to go down, powering through multiple defenders to reach the end zone.
Khalil Shakir was Allen’s favorite target, hauling in 12 passes for 82 yards, a necessary contribution given that NFL rushing leader James Cook was mostly bottled up, finishing with just 46 yards on 15 carries.
Jacksonville had a chance to respond late, but Trevor Lawrence’s first pass on their final drive was tipped and intercepted by Tre’Davious White and Cole Bishop, sealing Buffalo’s historic victory. Lawrence finished 18 of 30 for 207 yards with touchdown throws to Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, and Travis Etienne. Washington had seven catches for 107 yards, while Etienne and rookie Bhayshul Tuten combined for 118 yards on just 14 carries, raising questions about Jacksonville’s play-calling against one of the league’s weakest run defenses.
For Buffalo, this win ends a long playoff road drought. Under head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills had been 0-5 on the road in postseason games, dating back to a 10-3 loss at Jacksonville in the 2017 wild-card round. The franchise had dropped eight straight road playoff games since its 1992 AFC Championship win at Miami, the NFL’s second-longest active road playoff skid.
Allen’s toughness was on full display. He twice left the field for medical checks in the first half but never missed a snap. On one play, he absorbed a brutal hit from Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker, leaving his left ear bleeding, only to return immediately. Later, Allen slammed his right hand into the helmet of guard O’Cyrus Torrence after a throw and endured a painful bend of his left leg on his 2-yard touchdown run, yet he powered through each injury.
With the win, Buffalo (13-5) advances to face top-seeded Denver on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s wild-card matchup, which the Bills won 31-7. Meanwhile, Jacksonville will regroup and look to bolster a roster that fell short against one of the league’s toughest opponents.
Once again, it was Allen’s night — and a historic one for Buffalo, ending a 33-year road playoff curse with style, grit, and MVP-caliber heroics.
