7:45 p.m. ET
Alaina Getzenberg ESPN
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — In the bowels of MetLife Stadium, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen sat slumped in his locker, looking straight ahead.
From afar, the only sign of him was his long legs sticking out of the deep closet. His post-game press conference was over. All around him, teammates were either chatting to the media or getting dressed while gear was packed away after a sad loss to the New York Jets.
It’s a normal sight for the quarterback to spend time in his locker after games, but not like this. Not that distant. Quarterbacks Case Keenum and Matt Barkley stopped by to talk to him while he continued to sit. He’s spent some time with general manager Brandon Beane, which isn’t uncommon either.
It was the long look ahead and the apparent level of frustration that were symbolic of the quarterback’s feelings.
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“It’s hard to win in this league when you’re playing against a good team and your quarterback is playing like an S—,” Allen said. “Made some bad decisions tonight that really cost our team. A lot to learn, a lot to grow. But that’s not, that’s not the standard we hold ourselves to. That’s not the ball we play. So a lot to see, a lot to learn.”
Allen had his statistically worst passing game of the season in the Bills’ 20-17 loss to the Jets, which put the team down 2-6, 0-2 in the AFC East. The MVP pick for much of the season completed 18 of 34 passes (52.9%) for 205 yards and two interceptions. All of his five sacks came against four or fewer pass rushers, which is a career high.
The quarterback was seen holding his right elbow late in the game, which he appeared to injure on a stripsack during Bryce Huff’s (salvaged from Buffalo) final offensive drive. Coach Sean McDermott said Allen is still being evaluated and he will speak to Nate Breske, the team’s head athletic coach.
“There’s slight pain,” Allen said. “But we’ll get through this.”
How did the Jets limit the Bills’ passing game? By not flashing. Allen was only blitzed twice, both in the first quarter. He faced blitz at the second-lowest rate of his career (4.8%) and is now 0-4 in his career for blitzing less than 10% of the time. Instead, they focused on taking the guns away from him, including Stefon Diggs, who had no reception in the second half. It was only the second time in the past two years that he went a half without a reception. Diggs said the Jets played more man coverage in the first half and switched to two-high coverage in the second.
“[Allen] making a lot of plays out there,” Diggs said. “So rallying behind him at a time like this – I mean turnovers are going to happen. You hate her, but s— happens. … He didn’t play like s— at all. He’s had a few bad games. What’s a few bad games against 30, 40 good ones? He made some good throws. And we just have to keep building on that. Stay positive. I love affirmations and positive energy. My quarterback is the best quarterback. He’ll come out on top, shake that.”
He was more successful as a runner, becoming the top player on floor with nine carries for 86 yards and two points, including a career-long 36-yard touchdown.
“I mean, obviously there are some plays that he wants back,” said tight end Dawson Knox. “But I mean he had some quick touchdowns, he made some incredible plays with his legs, had some incredible passes that ended up being called back but we put his back through thick and thin. There’s nobody in the league we’d want more than this guy.”
Allen’s first of two costly interceptions came on a pass intended for Knox in the first quarter. Allen said he didn’t see pass-pickup safety Jordan Whitehead behind defensive end John Franklin-Myers, and that’s why he “floated it” in Knox’s direction. The second came in the third quarter and was destined for wide receiver Gabe Davis, but there seemed to be a misunderstanding and cornerback Sauce Gardner picked it up. Allen described it as a “brain fart.”
“We were on my side in a Cover 2 concept. The receiver came out of me, and they had a rewind that sat in front of me,” Gardner said of the play. “It was a running back or receiver, I don’t know. I just felt like I got a feel for Josh Allen and the shots he likes to make.”
He’s now thrown two interceptions in consecutive games for the first time this year, but it was more than turnovers that doomed the Bills. The offense struggled to capitalize on the one successful drive and maintain possession in the second half, finishing with 63 net yards, the fewest in either half of the team since Week 17, 2019, against the Jets (a game , which Barkley played most) and least in a second half since Week 4, 2018 (the only game in which an Allen-led team was held scoreless).
“They definitely did their best and we didn’t match,” said center Mitch Morse. “And that’s on the scorecard. So we have to come back and not panic, but we have to look at it constructively, accept the criticism, be a professional, see where we can improve and then move on.”