Josh Allen throws hand scare, Cam Lewis’ interception, other sightings in Bills win

On By Littum

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Josh Allen recovered from one of his standard scrambles in the fourth quarter. Allen has taken his fair share of hits on these pieces, but this one left a bit of an impact.

The Bills took a false start penalty between Allen’s 7-yard scramble and his upcoming throw on third down. It required a bigger move. And when Allen got back up to throw it down the field, the ball dropped from his hand like he wasn’t even holding it — a kind of pop fly that somehow fell harmlessly to the turf for an incomplete action.

Allen immediately shook his pitching hand as he walked off the field. And the coming moments on the sideline froze Bills fans more than the 5-degree weather they’d been standing in.

“I had no feeling in my hand,” Allen said after the game. “It’s hard to throw without feeling in the hand.”

When it comes to Allen, and the very arm that has catapulted the Bills into Super Bowl contention, it’s natural for fans, and even the team, to fear the worst — even in the midst of getting the game-winning score on defense to beat Patriots and improve their record to 12-3.

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The Bills beat the Patriots 24-21 to stay in the hunt for the AFC’s top seed: Takeaways

Allen spent several moments getting his throwing hand examined by team doctors. And while that was happening, backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky took several snaps from starting center Connor McGovern and even threw a few passes.

Allen, who is intent on playing every snap unless it’s garbage time, took off his overcoat and grabbed a football, intending to throw a few passes. Allen’s first throw was well off the mark. He shook hands vigorously. Second throw, high and wide. Third roll, more of the same.

At that point, if the Bills had forced a punt, there was a real chance Allen wouldn’t have re-entered the game.

At the same time, the Patriots fumbled the ball into the end zone, where nickel corner Taron Johnson pounced on it for a Bills touchdown. Not only did it extend the Bills’ lead to 24-14, but it bought Allen more time.

With these extra moments, Allen walked over to the heaters along the bench and warmed his hand. He started throwing again and started looking more like himself.

“It took a good five to 10 minutes,” Allen said. “Just make sure you try to get some blood flow back in there, some activation, you know, when it’s cold like that too, the more you leave it out, that number gets the whole hand.”

By the time the Patriots punted away the ensuing possession, Allen was ready. He later admitted that if it was a quicker change of possession, it probably would have been Trubisky going into the game. But in the end, no time was missed – as if it never happened.

The Bills announced it as a right elbow contusion and that Allen was cleared to return. Crisis averted.

“It was a strange feeling,” Allen said. “I’m just glad it’s gone now.”

What stood out during the Bills’ 24-21 victory? Here are more observations.

Even after slow start, O-line continues to drive James Cook-starring offense

The Bills certainly didn’t do themselves any favors in the early stages. As if hungover from going score-for-score in 40-plus point affairs over the last two outings, the offense couldn’t pick things up right away, especially after the Patriots had just turned their first possession into a touchdown. . The Bills barely mustered a first down on their first series. But after that, the offensive line continued to show why it is such a strong part of the Bills’ Super Bowl prospects.

On the next drive, the Bills opened with a 5-yard run by Ty Johnson, and with a Cook catch in between, the Bills’ offensive line opened a hole for Cook to run 46 yards for a rushing touchdown. Cook, who has home run speed when the offensive line gives him that space, gave the Bills the touchdown they so desperately needed while down two touchdowns. Even after the successful rushing touchdown on a first down, the rest of the first half was oddly spent getting Allen to drop back to pass. The Bills called 13 straight passes to end the half after the Cook run. The passing offense sputtered uncharacteristically. But once the second half started, the Bills made sure not to let the running game slip to the side anymore.

The Bills opened up with run plays on four of their first five plays, with Cook gaining 32 yards on those four plays alone. That helped create passing success throughout the rest of the game, helping the Bills hang onto the ball longer and set up potential scoring drives. During the second half, the Bills’ offensive line cleared the way for them to average nearly 5 yards per carry. carry. The Bills haven’t had to rely on their rushing attack like this in some time, but it’s a positive reminder for the playoffs that when the Bills need to turn to their ground game to bail them out, they can — with Cook leading the way.

Cam Lewis’ interception was a thing of beauty

As the Bills went through the game without four defensive starters, they had to rely on some players in unexpected roles to get them through. One was Lewis, who is a bit of a jack-of-all-trades type, but rooted as a nickel corner. Due to the double injury at safety Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin, Lewis had to start at safety. Despite Lewis having done it last week against the Lions, it was just his third career start at the position. The second was in 2022. And it was rough at the start of the game with penalties and missed tackles. But he erased it all with an excellent read of rookie quarterback Drake Maye.

Perhaps expecting his goal to go the other way, Maye stared down the end zone for far too long. Lewis, who read the quarterback perfectly and was initially positioned near the back of the end zone, broke hard toward the area before Maye finished his delivery. Lewis made the sliding play to stay in bounds and secured the catch for the huge change of possession with the Bills only up by 3 points. That type of play, even with the Bills down several starters, helped an overmatched defense put things together for their now-trademark bend-but-don’t-break style.

Amari Cooper’s Curious Use

When the Bills traded for Amari Cooper on Oct. 15, over two months ago now, the idea behind the deal was to have him slowly work his way up to a more significant workload and eventually become a lock-down piece for Allen to work with. A wrist injury midway through his onboarding process didn’t help, but Cooper has been back for several weeks now and his role has remained stagnant to what it was upon his arrival. By my unofficial count, Cooper had just 34 of the team’s 61 offensive snaps (including penalties) against the Patriots — and that was in a close game. Cooper’s 34 snaps ranked fourth among the five available receivers, trailing Khalil Shakir (46), Keon Coleman (42) and Mack Hollins (41). Cooper’s passing game involvement has also been relatively subdued. He was targeted 14 times against the Rams, but in his other five games Cooper has only had 15 total targets. It’s extremely unexpected for Cooper to still be behind in snaps to Hollins, given their two receiving skills.

Cooper has mostly been their fourth receiver by usage. Although they are still ahead of Curtis Samuel, with the rest of the room healthy, the Bills have prioritized having the trio of Shakir, Coleman and Hollins in the game more often than Cooper. While that fulfills their all-for-one, one-for-all mentality in 2024, it calls into question Cooper’s future in Buffalo earlier this season. Cooper will be a free agent in March and turns 31 in June. The longer his involvement remains as a bit player instead of high usage, the less likely he is back in Buffalo in 2025. There is still time for Cooper’s role to grow ahead of the postseason, but it may only be a week given the situation , they are in. With the Chiefs one win away from clinching first place and the Bills one win away from clinching at least the No. 2 seed, Week 18 could be completely meaningless for seeding when they get there. Cooper’s overall commitment, with 2025 in mind, will be something to keep an eye on next week and into the playoffs.

Bills MVP: RB James Cook – Cook was all over the offense on Sunday, recording 126 yards from scrimmage and both offensive touchdowns against the Patriots. He was the one player the Patriots didn’t have an answer for, and he put together several explosive plays en route to helping the Bills to a victory.

Bills LVP: CB Kaiir Elam – It was a tough outing for Elam, allowing several big plays on his guard and then taking defensive penalties along the way. It certainly looked like the Patriots targeted him on Sunday. The dropoff from one of the top two cornerbacks to him has gotten much steeper, which could change some offseason plans at the position.

Next: The 12-3 Bills will take on the 4-11 Jets in Orchard Park, with the chance to lock up at least the No. 2 seed in the AFC. If the Chiefs defeat the Steelers on Wednesday, the Bills will be unable to earn the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

(Photo by Josh Allen: Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)