Josh Allen: 'I Can’t Complain' About Overtime Rules After Bills' Loss to Chiefs
January 24, 2022
If anyone has the right to complain about the NFL's overtime rules after Sunday's memorable AFC playoff clash, it's Josh Allen. The Buffalo Bills quarterback put on a show in the fourth quarter of the 42-36 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs but didn't get to touch the ball in overtime because of a coin toss.
However, Allen wasn't in a complaining mood.
"The rules are what they are and I can't complain," he told reporters. "If it was the other way around, we'd be celebrating. We didn't make enough plays tonight."
The thing is, Allen did make enough plays. His defense didn't.
Buffalo got the ball with fewer than nine minutes remaining facing a 26-21 deficit and went 17 plays and 75 yards in more than seven minutes. The surgical drive ended with a Gabriel Davis touchdown and would have made Allen a Buffalo legend forever if the Bills defense could follow with a stop.
However, Tyreek Hill blew past Buffalo's secondary for a 64-yard touchdown that ended a 52-second drive with just more than one minute remaining to give the Chiefs a 33-29 lead.
Rather than fold, Allen responded with another touchdown pass to Davis on a drive that lasted 49 seconds and put the visitors ahead by three with 13 seconds remaining. It was the fourth touchdown connection from Allen to Davis and appeared to put the Bills in the AFC Championship Game.
But then Patrick Mahomes hit Hill and Travis Kelce on back-to-back passes to set up Harrison Butker's field goal that forced overtime. Kansas City won the coin toss and scored a touchdown on its first drive, ending one of the most memorable quarterback battles in NFL history without one of them even taking the field in the extra period.
While Allen might have the right to complain about the rules, Buffalo's defense doesn't.
It couldn't come away with a stop with 13 seconds remaining and the Chiefs starting the drive on their 25-yard line. That was the difference between victory and defeat and prevented an incredible victory on the road against the two-time defending AFC champions.
All that stands in the way of a third straight trip to the Super Bowl for the Chiefs is Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals.