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.
When Josh Allen was stuffed on that run, he was looking for the lateral/ offload to James Cook.
— Sam Monson (@SamMonsonNFL) January 20, 2025
I absolutely love that crazy bastard pic.twitter.com/Z7WGVpiWk4
"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.
I asked Josh Allen if he THOUGHT about pitching the ball BACK to James Cook in the game vs the Ravens
— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) January 22, 2025
Josh Allen: "No."
*smirks*
Me: Would young Josh Allen have done that?
"He would have done it yes. It may have crossed the mind... I didn't do it"#BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus pic.twitter.com/KLuJsj00Yo
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.
🚨EPISODE V ON THE WAY🚨
— Special Teams (@specialteamspod) June 13, 2020
24 more hours. Midnight tomorrow.
Sneak peak into a segment in the next episode, is this jackass Josh Allen the best QB in the AFC East? pic.twitter.com/lTTyT1qkRi
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.