With a scintillating second-quarter sideline sling, Josh Allen connected with Gabe Davis for an amazing 8-yard touchdown.
It was an astounding play that essentially put away Allen and the Buffalo Bills' fifth win in their last six meetings against the New England Patriots, as the quarterback tossed a pair of TDs Thursday in a 24-10 victory to continue his recent mastery of the Pats.
"I wasn't looking, I closed my eyes when he threw it," Bills head coach Sean McDermott said with a smile after the game. "That's a part of who he is. So, you know … bottom line is you can't put the ball in trouble in danger and I thought it was a well-calculated throw and he was open, and he got it to him. You never take away Josh's instincts and his gut feeling. He's got a great feel for things, but at the end of the day, he knows we got to continue to be smart with the football."
With this latest win, Allen -- in just his fifth season -- joined Peyton Manning and Ryan Tannehill as the only quarterbacks with five-plus wins (including playoffs) against Bill Belichick as Patriots head coach. However, he also made ąú˛úÍâÁ÷Ířhistory and turned in one of the more amazing plays of this season across the league.
Allen, whose Bills stand at 9-3 and as the No. 2 seed in the AFC, finished the evening with 223 yards on 22-of-33 passing, two touchdowns, no interceptions and 20 yards rushing. Those two TD tosses gave him 25 for the year, as Allen became the first player in league history with three seasons of 25-plus touchdown passes and five touchdown runs, per ąú˛úÍâÁ÷ÍřResearch.
Though Allen's had far better games statistically in his career -- and against the Patriots -- few plays rival the spectacular touchdown pass he threw to Davis.
With the Bills holding a 10-7 advantage with less than six minutes to go in the first half, Allen scrambled right on third-and-goal from the Patriots' 8-yard line. New England outside linebacker Mack Wilson had a bead on Allen, but the QB stiff-armed him to the ground with his left hand and then toe-tapped along the sideline as he rose up and delivered a laser into the hands of Davis for a touchdown.
As jaws dropped, the Bills pulled ahead by two scores and were on their way to a comfortable victory. Per Next Gen Stats, Allen scrambled 33.1 yards on the play, which saw him throw it while he was just 0.3 yards from the sideline -- the second-closest to the sideline on a completion in the NGS era, which dates back to 2016.
There have been four completions that were released within a yard of the sideline since 2016 and the amazing Allen has three of them.
With the highlight-reel heave, Allen earned his fourth game with multiple touchdown passes and no interceptions against the Patriots, which is the most of any QB against the team in Belichick's tenure (2000 to present). Allen has tormented many a team, but he's making a habit of it against the rival Patriots.
Though he leads the league with 15 turnovers after Thursday, Allen's proven once again he can make astounding plays that few others can and he can produce in dual fashion unlike few QBs before him.
"I thought we played really well tonight," Allen said. "Honestly, it's only 24 points, but our defense played fantastic ball. We didn't feel like we had to press and make any mistakes. There are a few plays we would like to have back, but again these are good wins in the division, away, it's hard to win in this league. We'll learn from this one and move on."
