It was a night to remember for quarterback Josh Allen as he delivered an impressive performance to help the Buffalo Bills beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-18 on Thursday Night Football.
There had been concerns around the 27-year-old’s fitness heading into the game – Allen was nursing a sore shoulder – but he banished such fears by throwing for two touchdowns and running for another.
His heroics came at the perfect time for Buffalo, which was coming off the back of a surprise defeat by the New England Patriots four days earlier. The Bills are now 5-3 on the season.
Allen appeared to aggravate his shoulder injury again during the second quarter but, despite a trip to the medical tent, he came up with some clutch moments.
“I mean, took a little fall on it, and just felt a little funky about it, but you know, just trying to keep it warm and keep it loose,” Allen told reporters, speaking about his shoulder after the game.
“I’ll be sore for a couple days, but we’ll be fine.”
The star quarterback finished the night having thrown for 324 yards on 31-of-40 passing. Allen’s 22 total touchdowns – 17 passing and five rushing – currently leads the NFL.
He was at the center of everything good the Bills did on Thursday, with the offensive line finally starting to click after a slow start to the season.
Despite Allen’s dominance, Tampa Bay Buccaneers almost came close to edging the game through pure resilience, at one point erasing a 10-point deficit in less than a minute during the second quarter.
Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield then connected with receiver Mike Evans in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 24-18 with less than three minutes remaining.
However, Mayfield’s attempt at a Hail Mary pass at the death fell to nobody as the Bucs slipped to a third consecutive loss.
The Bills will hope to continue their good form against the Cincinnati Bengals next time out, while the Bucs aim to snap their losing run against the Houston Texans.