Allen legs out a victory for Bills

After putting the Bills ahead with his arm, Josh Allen sealed Buffalo’s 14-13 victory over the Detroit Lions with his leaping legs.

All the rookie quarterback needed was a push.

That’s the way fullback Patrick DiMarco described Allen’s 2yard leap to convert a fourthand-1 at the Lions 41 with 1:47 remaining.

“He said, ‘Give me the freaking ball,’ and then he said, ‘Pat, push me,’ ” said the fullback, who provided Allen a nudge to get him over the top of the pile. “He’s competitive. He’s tough. He’s everything you want as a leader. This franchise is going to be good with him around.”

Allen hit rookie Robert Foster in stride for a 42-yard go-ahead touchdown pass with 10:26 remaining, and the Bills hung on to eliminate the Lions from playoff contention.

Allen improved to 4-5 in nine starts this season, and won for the third time with Buffalo trailing or tied in the fourth quarter.

The Bills (5-9) snapped a twogame skid and won despite finishing the game minus their top three running backs. Starter LeSean McCoy (left hamstring) and backup Chris Ivory (left shoulder) were inactive and then Marcus Murphy did not return after dislocating his left elbow in the second quarter.

The Lions (5-9) lost despite second-year receiver Kenny Golladay finishing with a career-best 146 yards receiving, and will finish with a losing record for the first time since going 7-9 in 2015.

“Yeah, it’s frustrating. You play this game for the opportunity to play in the playoffs,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “We had our chances. We had our opportunities, just didn’t make enough plays.”

The Lions’ special teams helped cost them.

Detroit opened the scoring on Stafford’s four-yard touchdown pass to Andy Jones, but botched the extra-point attempt on Don Muhlbach’s bad snap.

Then, following Foster’s touchdown, Stafford responded by marching the Lions 45 yards on the next possession only to have kicker Matt Prater miss a 48-yard field goal wide right.

Allen showed he’s capable of winning with his arm. He finished with just 16 yards rushing after becoming just the second quarterback in NFL history to top 95 yards rushing in three consecutive games.

“I don’t know if the stats are very good, I haven’t seen them. But I think it comes down to the team,” Allen said, providing credit to the defence. “It was a collective effort.”

Bills safety Micah Hyde made a point to head over to Allen’s locker and tap him on the back following the game.