– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — A couple of weeks before Halloween, the ghosts of MetLife Stadium were on the precipice of haunting Josh Allen once more. Along with contact from a defensive end down at his feet, those apparitions (sent by Jimmy Hoffa, maybe?) swirled around and caused Allen to lose control of the football, ready to cause a back-breaking turnover before the end of the first half — and possible usher in more bad fortune that has seen Allen be a turnover factory almost every time he takes on Gang Green.
But tonight was different. Instead of the ball ending up in the wrong hands, it was consumed by Allen’s sprawling teammates after a couple of bounces. From there, Allen created his own luck, and finally broke the New Jersey hex that had hung over him and the Buffalo Bills over the past couple of seasons.
Allen was responsible for three touchdowns, including an end-of-half scoring pass to Dawson Knox from 12 yards out in lifting the Bills to a 23-20 victory over the New York Jets on Monday night in a match-up for first place in the AFC East. The Bills snapped a two-game losing streak, and Allen averted losing three consecutive starts at quarterback for the first time in his professional career.
In many respects, Allen was facing the worst matchup he could have been presented in trying to avoid his first-ever professional three game losing streak, as he had turned over the ball 18 times in games against the New York Jets since 2018, the most giveaways by any quarterback against any one team in the league during that span. Even with the Jets in disarray, with head coach Robert Saleh being fired earlier in the week and the hobbled Aaron Rodgers having to shoot down rumors that he had a role in his erstwhile skipper’s demise, the green and white still presented Allen with scar tissue that he had to overcome: Xavier Gipson’s overtime punt return in overtime that handed the Bills a stunning loss last season; a two-interception stinker in losing in Jersey in 2022.
Allen’s Gang Green ghosts were finally exorcised tonight. But barely.
“It was great. I wanted to come out and play a clean game, get through my reads quickly,” Allen said. “I’m not sure what I finished with, but felt like we were pretty efficient on the offensive side of the ball. There were a couple plays that I missed, that I want back.”
Follow @Koiki_Sport Follow @ALOST_Official
