Perennial AFC contenders the last six seasons running, the Buffalo Bills were once again sent home early after falling to the Denver Broncos in heart-breaking fashion.
Josh Allen, who had four giveaways in the 33-30 overtime defeat, was emotionally struck by the loss and shouldered the blame after Saturday’s Divisional Round exit.
“It’s extremely difficult,” Allen said with tears running down his face. “I feel like I let my teammates down tonight.”
There were a number of self-inflicted mistakes by the Bills, whose five total turnovers in the game led to 16 points for Denver.
Included in Allen’s four giveaways was an OT interception that transferred a next-score-wins scenario Buffalo had to the Broncos. Denver’s ensuing drive was then aided by a pair of Bills penalties, which set up the Broncos with a chip-shot field goal for the win.
“Can’t win with five turnovers; I fumbled twice, threw two picks,” Allen lamented. “When you shoot yourself in the foot like that, you don’t deserve to win football games.”
Allen’s mistakes mounted after fumbling the ball away just before halftime. With just 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Allen scrambled for 12 yards before losing the ball as he was swung to the ground by Nik Bonitto. With just one second on the clock, Wil Lutz nailed a 50-yarder on the very next play to give Denver a 10-point lead at halftime.
“Just trying to be aggressive,” Allen said of the fumble. “Can’t do that.”