The Buffalo Bills trailed at halftime and it was all their fault.
Specifically, Josh Allen had a lot of the blame.
Allen had a couple of interceptions into the end zone, but it was a mistake at the end of the first half is what had Bills coach Sean McDermott shaking his head.
With 11 seconds left in the half of a game that would determine the AFC East championship, the Bills kept trying for a touchdown from the Miami Dolphins’ 11-yard line. He threw underneath to Ty Johnson, who was met at the 1-yard line by linebacker Jerome Baker and stopped cold. The Bills didn’t have a timeout left so time ran out in the half. The Dolphins were happy to go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
McDermott was clearly frustrated when he was interviewed by NBC’s Melissa Stark coming off the field, and put the play on Allen.
“Can’t be throwing it in the field of play,” McDermott said. “It’s got to be thrown in the end zone.”
That wasn’t Allen’s only mistake of the first half. On the Bills’ first two drives Allen threw interceptions. One came when Allen tried getting a pass to Gabriel Davis in the end zone, but there was a miscommunication and Eli Apple had a pick. The other came when Allen forced a throw to the end zone on fourth-and-2 when he had no other great option, and that was picked off too.
“We’ve got to be smart, take what they’re giving us,” McDermott said to Stark. “He was doing that early, got a bit aggressive, too aggressive at times in the red zone.”
When you throw an interception from the opponent’s 5-yard line, another from the 35-yard line and gamble on a play that falls short of a touchdown and ends the half, you’ll have regrets. Allen is a fantastic quarterback and the Bills wouldn’t be where they are without him, but his trio of mistakes in the first half cost Buffalo dearly.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
