Josh Allen is often highly critical of mistakes, and he was again following the 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots, calling his Buffalo Bills teammates’ performance “bad football,” particularly pointing to their three turnovers in a home defeat.
“We just played sloppy, not going to win a football game turning the ball over three times… Our red zone gave them one in their red zone… That’s just bad, bad football, and we just, did not play good tonight,” Allen said after the game.
The quarterback directly singled out the Bills‘ offense, which failed to score a touchdown until the third quarter. “Again, we shouldn’t have, shouldn’t even been in it with three turnovers, so that’s again just poor offense,” Allen stressed.
Allen’s performance not the problem
Despite the loss, Allen’s individual game against the Patriots wasn’t poor. Though he threw one interception, he tallied 2 touchdowns and was effective on the ground, rushing for 53 yards on 9 attempts—more than running back James Cook’s 49 yards. In comparison, Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye threw zero touchdowns and rushed for only 12 yards.
The game was tight, with 11 points from the Patriots’ kicking squad proving particularly painful for the Bills. Allen’s head coach responded to the close defeat, saying, “This is a pivotal learning moment right here — we gotta learn from ourselves and have honest conversations,” signaling their determination to avoid similar losses going forward.
Bills’ next game
Next week, the Bills will face the Falcons on the road. The teams haven’t met since January 2022, a game the Bills won at home 29-15. Prior to that, the most recent victory came in 2017. Historically, the Falcons lead the overall series with a 7-6-0 record.