DENVER — Josh Allen needed a moment to collect himself before walking through the press conference room door after the Buffalo Bills’ heartbreaking 33-30 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.
Allen stepped to the podium, took a deep breath, wiped tears from his eyes, and tried his best to provide answers for another heartbreaking playoff loss.
“It’s extremely difficult. I feel like I let my teammates down tonight,” he said. “Just missed opportunities throughout the game. It’s been a long season. I hate how it ended and that’s going to stick with me for a long time.”
The scene in the Bills’ locker room was heavy. Players were emotional, struggling to hold back tears after another close playoff loss.
Bills receiver Brandin Cooks arrived in Buffalo on Nov. 25 after spending most of the season in New Orleans. He quickly became one of the Bills’ most reliable weapons in the passing game and built chemistry with Allen.
In just 53 days, Cooks was already able to feel the weight that Allen carries for the Bills.
“At the end of the day, he’s been carrying us all year,” Cooks said. “The way I think about it is, somebody, step up, to be able to alleviate some of that from him. … He’s the greatest quarterback in this league. Everybody else around him gotta come up and be able to make plays, so he doesn’t always have to be the one to feel like man, I got to win this game.”
When Cooks was asked about what it felt like to watch Allen struggle so much emotionally with the loss after the game, tears started streaming down his face as he tried to explain what the loss meant inside the room.
“I think we all feel that way,” he said. “You work so hard. Personally so thankful to be a part of this. I look back and think–what could I have done to alleviate some of that pressure from him. You just love this game so much and when you come up short like this, it’s gonna sting for a long time. There’s no next week.”
Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins heard Allen’s quote about how he felt responsible for the loss. Dawkins said that it wasn’t Allen’s fault before tears started to fall, and he had to turn his head away and into his locker stall.
Allen’s performance was a roller coaster ride of emotions for Bills fans. The 29-year-old went six straight playoff games without a turnover and then committed four against the Broncos on Saturday. Allen’s two interceptions and two lost fumbles were four of the five total turnovers for the Bills.
“You can’t win with five turnovers,” Allen said. “You shoot yourself in the foot like that, you don’t deserve to win football games.”
Allen finished with 349 total yards and threw three passing touchdowns, connecting with receiver Mecole Hardman on his first, receiver Keon Coleman on the second, and tight end Dalton Kincaid in the fourth quarter to take the lead to erase a 23-10 third-quarter deficit.
The Bills faced a rough road to a Super Bowl this season after finishing in the No. 6 seed. Before beating the Jaguars last week in Jacksonville, Buffalo hadn’t won a road playoff game since 1993.
Despite Allen’s shaky play at Empower Field, the Bills still had a chance to win the game late in regulation and in overtime. A deep ball to Cooks in overtime was caught and then ripped away by Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian. It appeared that Cooks was down by contact with the ball before the defender took the ball away. The officials ruled that it was an interception and Bills coach Sean McDermott took a timeout hoping the crew would take another rule. He couldn’t challenge the call.
After the game, McDermott said he believed Cooks made the catch and was furious about how the officials handled the situation.
“We’re not just going to sit here and take it, is what I’m saying,” he said in a pool report. “I’m pissed off about it, and I feel strongly as I’ve looked at it in review in my own locker that it’s a catch, possession Buffalo, and that the process should have been (long pause) … handled differently. I don’t understand why the head official who is at the game does not get a chance to look at the same thing people in New York are ruling on.”
As for Allen, McDermott said the loss is not on his quarterback.
“We had opportunities, all of us,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of him. He’s a tremendous person, tremendous leader, tremendous quarterback. Yeah, there’s plays we all want back.”