The Buffalo Bills’ star quarterback, Josh Allen, had a few questionable plays in the Week 4 game against the New England Patriots. He attempted to sell a penalty call by flopping when Dre’Mont Jones nudged him in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. But the highlight moment came in the third quarter, when Allen threw the ball backwards to avoid pressure from the opponent’s defense.
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In the play, Allen was alone by the end zone as two defenders sandwiched him. In an attempt to save himself, the quarterback flipped the ball behind him, and it went back to the line of scrimmage. There were no flags down for intentional grounding. Instead, the officials ruled it as an incomplete pass. But for the Patriots’ safety, Kevin Byard, it was a weird play.
“Honestly, no. That was crazy,” Byard said of the controversial play on the Rich & Ken with Ted Johnson show. “First, it wasn’t even the fact was it legal or not. It’s one of those deals. So, a lot of quarterbacks nowadays, they don’t wanna take sacks, so they try to just get the ball out. And I’ve seen this happen with other quarterbacks, and like nine times out of ten, it normally ends up like an interception or something like that.”
Byard went on to take some examples, like Tennessee’s Will Levis, who threw the ball backwards a few times as well. But everyone bashed him and claimed that he was a “terrible quarterback” for doing so. And Levis was just one of the many quarterbacks who threw the ball backwards to escape a sack.
However, Byard noted that things were different when Allen did it. Of course, there were critics bashing the play online. But there were many fans who praised the quarterback for the high football IQ moment that kept the score at 21-17.
Nevertheless, for Byard, it was nothing but a bizarre play.
“I was more shocked that we didn’t intercept the ball because he kind of just threw it up there,” Byard continued. “Milton [Williams] was running, Spain was running to get the ball. But it was pretty crazy, ‘cause honestly, I didn’t even know what he did until I seen the film after the game. Because I knew he got rid of the ball. But I honestly didn’t know he literally just threw the ball backwards. I don’t even know what he was hoping for. It was actually pretty weird. It was bizarre, for sure.”
Well, it was as if Allen carried the team through sheer luck. But that didn’t last through the entire game. With about 74 seconds left on the clock, he spun out of Dre’Mont Jones’ sack attempt and heaved the ball to the left. However, Craig Woodson intercepted it, and the Bills never got the ball back. In the end, the game concluded with the Patriots leaving with a 29-26 win.
Allen ended the game with 23 completions for 253 yards and just one touchdown. He also attempted five rushing plays for four yards and one touchdown. But it wasn’t enough for the Bills to extend their win streak.
While Allen’s bizarre Houdini act saved the Bills a drive, the Patriots’ defense ultimately forced the game-ending mistake that mattered the most.