Josh Allen is headed back to the building where one of the defining moments of his career first took off.
When the Buffalo Bills meet the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night at U.S. Bank Stadium, Allen will be returning to the site of Buffalo’s 27-6 win in Week 3 of the 2018 season, when he was making just his second NFL start. The Bills entered that game as 17-point underdogs, but Allen helped flip the script in a way that stuck with the league.
That night produced the play that turned into a full-blown NFL memory: Allen’s leap over Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr. It became one of the first signature moments of his career, and the kind of highlight that still follows him around.
Allen didn’t spend much time dwelling on the return trip when asked about it.
“Honestly, not really,” he said when he was asked if it had crossed his mind that he’s returning to the scene of that first big play.
He did open up a little more when the conversation turned to the reaction that play created online and in the years that followed.
"Surprised me, too," he said. "I was a good athlete in college.
High school I was not. So as I got older and started to lift more weights, I guess I got a little more athletic.
But yeah, I think it was just kind of a surprising thing for me too of what I was able to do, especially early on in the career with the running stuff. I know I still run a little bit now, but that was I think the moment that I was like, 'You know what?
I do belong here.'"
Allen also pointed to the atmosphere he expects in Minnesota. The game will be indoors, so weather won’t be a factor, but he made it clear the crowd will be.
“They're going to be a loud fan base,” he said. “Them being what their record is and kind of rolling right now, and their defense is playing outstanding football, so we’re expecting an extremely loud crowd.
That's a really, really good crowd. That's what I do remember about being there, early in that game just how loud it was, and they've got their Skol chant, which is an awesome tradition.
It's going to be a fun experience.”
For viewers trying to find the game, Bills-Vikings will air on ESPN. On Spectrum, it will be on channel 24 in Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton, Utica and Elmira, and channel 30 in Buffalo.
The game can also be streamed through ESPN.com, the ESPN mobile app and ESPN Deportes with a TV subscription. It will be available on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app as well, and NFL+ subscribers can watch on a phone or tablet, though the games cannot be cast to a TV.
Joe Buck will handle play-by-play, with Troy Aikman as analyst. Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge will serve as sideline reporters.
On the radio side, the game will be available on SiriusXM channel 193 for the Bills feed and channel 192 for the Vikings feed, along with the Bills Radio Network. Chris Brown will do play-by-play, Eric Wood will be the analyst and Steve Tasker will report from the sideline.
The Bills Radio Network includes stations across New York and beyond: Rochester (WAIO 95.1 FM); Buffalo (WGRF 96.9 FM); Syracuse (WSKO 1260 AM); Albany (WOFX 92.5 FM); Utica (WKLL 94.9 FM); Dunkirk (WDOE 1410 AM); Hornell (WKPQ 105.3 FM); Elmira (WMTT 94.7 FM); Jamestown (WWSE 93.3 FM); Olean (WPIG 95.7 FM); Ogdensburg (WQTK 92.7 FM); Watertown (WOTT 94.1 FM); Bradford, Pa. (WBRR 100.1 FM); Cortland/Ithaca (WIII 99.9 FM); Auburn (WAUB 1590 AM); Geneva (WGVA 1240 AM); Binghamton (WENE 1430 AM); Newark (WACK 1420 AM); Cobleskill/Schoharie (WSDE 1190 AM); Williamsport, PA (WRAK 1400 AM); Erie, Pa.
(WRKT 104.9 FM); New York City (WEPN 1050 AM); West Palm Beach, Fla. (WESP 106.3 FM); Montreal, Canada (CKGM 690 AM); Ottawa, Canada (CFGO 1200 AM); and Toronto, Canada (CHUM 1050 AM).
Buffalo enters Week 9 at Minnesota with a 6-1 mark through the first eight games of its 2026 regular season. The Bills opened with wins over Houston, Detroit, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams, Las Vegas and Baltimore, with their only loss coming against New England in Week 4. After the Vikings, the schedule continues with the Jets, Dolphins, Chiefs, Patriots, Packers, Bears, Broncos and a final trip to Miami.
In Other News...
NFL Finally Responds To Roquan Smith Crossing The Line Vs Bills
Roquan Smiths Week 8 night against the Bills has now carried a price tag. The Ravens linebacker was fined a total of $35,822 by the NFL for two separate infractions in Baltimores game against Buffalo, including a facemask grab on Josh Allen and an unsportsmanlike conduct call tied to a hit on DJ Moore.
The facemask play drew attention because it was not flagged in real time, while the league still decided to act after reviewing the tape. Smith avoided a suspension, but the fines add another layer to a game that already featured plenty of physical edge and left Buffalo with reason to revisit how the matchup was officiated. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Fans Still Feel This Marshawn Lynch Trade Regret
The Marshawn Lynch trade still sits near the top of the Bills list of painful what-ifs. Buffalo dealt the bruising running back to Seattle during the 2010 season, and what followed only deepened the sting as Lynch became one of the defining backs of his era with the Seahawks.
For Bills fans, the frustration is not just what Lynch became elsewhere, but what Buffalo got back in return. The return was limited to late-round draft picks, while Lynch went on to earn multiple Pro Bowl nods and help Seattle win a Super Bowl, making the move look worse with each passing season. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Fans Are Starting To Believe This Team Can Really Contend
The Bills win over the Ravens did more than push them to 6-1 and keep them atop the AFC. It also seemed to sharpen the sense around the team that this start is real, not just a fast first month. With Joe Brady now running the sideline and Jim Leonhard coordinating the defense, Buffalo has given its fan base enough reason to believe the direction is sound, and Josh Allens status as the NFL MVP through Week 8 only adds to the feeling that the Bills are built to matter deep into the season.
The next question, naturally, is how Buffalo chooses to reinforce what it already has. A recent fan poll points to safety as the position supporters most want addressed before the trade deadline, a sign that even with the record and the first-place standing, there is still a sense the roster can be sharpened. For a team that has spent the early part of the year turning confidence into something tangible, the deadline now looms as the next chance to show how serious this contender really is. [Read more 🡒]