Bills’ Allen: Young Josh would’ve tried wild lateral on key play vs. Ravens

For a split second, Josh Allen thought about making a wild play that could’ve sealed Sunday’s divisional-round game against the Baltimore Ravens.

“It may have crossed the mind but … I didn’t do it,” a smirking Allen said Wednesday.

The Buffalo Bills had the ball on a third-and-goal from Baltimore’s 2-yard line and were up 24-19 with 4:13 left in the fourth quarter. Allen unsuccessfully tried to run through the Ravens’ defensive line, but he thought about lateraling the ball to running back James Cook – who was a few yards behind – while being tackled.

Allen ultimately accepted the stop and the Bills had to settle for a field goal. They then held on for a 27-25 victory after Ravens tight end Mark Andrews dropped a game-tying two-point conversion.

“There’s a lot that goes through your mind in such a short amount of time,” Allen said of the play. “I felt like I was kind of being held up for five seconds, but I looked at (Cook) and I saw him in position, knew how far he was away, also felt someone to the right with his hand kind of in the window where I would have to pitch it, and the good guy won over here.”

However, Allen revealed the younger version of himself would’ve attempted the unexpected lateral toss.

The Bills scored one of the season’s best touchdowns in December after Allen received a lateral from receiver Amari Cooper.

Criticized for his decision-making earlier in his career, Allen did attempt an ill-advised lateral at the end of a fourth-quarter in his first playoff start during the 2019 season. The Bills went on to lose the game.

Allen’s incredible growth in the NFL has helped the Bills enter recent seasons with Super Bowl aspirations. The 2018 No. 7 pick completed just 56.3% of his passes with 30 touchdown passes against 21 interceptions in his first 27 starts. However, he’s accounted for at least 40 TDs in each of the last five seasons with a 65.2% completion rate.

With a win Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, Allen will lead the Bills to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1994.

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