Josh Allen Endures An Ass-Kicking And Gets His First Road Playoff Win

Everybody knows Josh Allen’s as tough as a fast-food steak. That’s how Tim McCarver once described a banged-up-but-game George Brett during a baseball broadcast, and that’s what I was thinking all Sunday afternoon as I watched a banged-up-but-game Allen and his like-minded, like-wounded Buffalo Bills overcome both the Jacksonville Jaguars and their own sorry playoff history with a 27-24 wild-card weekend win. Over the course of the game, the reigning NFL MVP spent enough time in the tent to earn a Boy Scout patch. 

This was a brutal affair. Buffalo safety Jordan Poyer left the game with a hamstring injury and didn't return. Allen's teammate Gabe Davis left the game in the fourth quarter when he tried to make a catch across the middle, and had his left leg bent in ways God didn’t intend. The Bills receiver was taken away on a cart. When Allen hit tight end Dalton Kincaid with a touchdown pass to take the lead, instead of celebrating the score, Kincaid needed a little help getting up.