The Buffalo Bills found themselves in an absolute barn-burner of a game with the Los Angeles Rams in a matchup that saw the two sides combine for the most points in the NFL this season.
Quarterback Josh Allen, speaking with the media after the game, did what the quarterback and the leader of the team is supposed to do — take accountability and responsibility for the outcome.
For Allen, it couldn’t be more clear that this was not the game to try and take blame.
“I was just trying to go out there and execute the play call to the best of my ability, and we didn’t do that well enough tonight,” Allen said after the game. “I don’t know the stats. I don’t know how well we were on third down, or my completion percentage — I don’t know any that. I just know it wasn’t good enough to win a football game.”
“We’ve got to make one more play than they do,” he continued. “we feel like we didn’t play up to our standard, and it starts with me.”
Starts with you? Josh, buddy. You were so very clearly not the problem in this game. Allen finished with 342 passing yards, three passing touchdowns, 82 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, zero turnovers, and zero sacks taken. Allen had quite literally an all-time game, becoming the first player in NFL history with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in the same game to continue to add to his MVP resume.
He’s doing what he’s supposed to do, and it’s admirable. Allen throwing the defense under the bus would have been an atrocious decision, but there’s no chance that anyone in Bills Mafia will believe his words.
The defense was gashed all game long. While they started to tighten things up a bit in the second half against the run, the wide receiver duo of Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp went absolutely nuts, and the secondary couldn’t slow them down at all. Nacua finished with 12 catches on 14 targets for 162 yards and a touchdown, while adding 16 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground as well.
It’s leadership of the highest order, and personal accountability to a fault, to sit there and say “what can I do better.” Allen is the perfect leader, on and off the field.
