Josh Allen gave the Bills another one of those plays only he seems to pull off in Sunday’s win over the Raiders, turning third-and-8 into a touchdown with a backhand flip to Keon Coleman.
Allen was pressured midway through the third quarter, slid left and, instead of taking off, fired a flick about 15 yards into the end zone to Coleman for the score. It looked improvised because it was improvised - the kind of snap decision that has become part of Allen’s identity.
“It’s who he is,” head coach Joe Brady said in his postgame press conference.
Allen said he spotted Coleman open, but the reaction from the crowd made the moment even clearer. The game was in Las Vegas, but the building was packed with Bills fans.
"[O]nce it comes out, you kind of get hit and tumble around, and it’s so hard in these away games, which feel like home games, once you hear the crowd go crazy, you’re like, ‘I don’t know if it’s a touchdown, I don’t know if it’s an interception,’” Allen said. “So again, he finds himself in the right place at the right time and finds a way to get open.”
There was a split second before the throw where it looked like Allen might tuck it and run. Instead, he reset, kept his eyes downfield and made the throw while under pressure.
“Again, I was just trying to make a play,” Allen said. “They played really good defense. I stepped up in the pocket, felt somebody coming from the left side there, stepped back, and again, quick eyes, saw our guy open and gave him a chance.”
Coleman said he was working to find the space Allen could see, and the result didn’t shock him.
“I watched it, I was right there. I saw him flicking like that,” Coleman said.
“I might have robbed Skyler [Bell]. He appeared behind me.
He thought that ball was coming in when I just came out north. I just saw him in trouble, bro.
Trying to make a play.
“He threw it around the dude. It’s just him, bro.”
Coleman said the play wasn’t really over until the whistle, and that’s part of what makes catching passes from Allen different.
“Play [is] never dead until the whistle blows,” Coleman said. “With him, even if a guy comes free hard to get him down - you might get there, but attacking him is a whole different obstacle. So, my job is when I feel that’s going on, you have to get your eyes back to the quarterback and find what we’re doing.”
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