USA TODAY International Edition
Bills QB Allen: 2022 ‘ null and void’ after loss
With the weight of an entire city and fan base on his shoulders, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen tried to muster together the right words for how he felt after his season came to an end.
In what seemed like a slow burn, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Bills by a 27- 10 final in the AFC divisional round. The game almost didn’t even seem that close.
For Allen, that lone loss wiped away everything else he and the Bills accomplished in 2022. It stung that much.
“You play to win. Our goal was to win a Super Bowl, a world championship, and we didn’t accomplish that,” Allen said in his postgame press conference. “So, everything that happened this season is kind of null and void in our minds. It sucks.”
Allen and the offense had their woes. Buffalo could only muster up 10 points, punted four times, turned the ball over on downs and eventually gave the ball away in the end.
Defensively, the Bills weren’t much better. Buffalo allowed points to the Bengals on five of eight drives. One of the three “successful” defensive stands ended with the conclusion of the first half, while another ended with a punt when things were all said and done.
All in all, changes will come for the Bills. They do for every team during the offseason, but some coming up for Buffalo might be drastic.
Important pieces are set to hit the open market, such as defenders Jordan Poyer and Tremaine Edmunds, and there are dollars and cents coming into the fold.
Namely, Allen’s extension kicking in. According to Spotrac, Allen’s cap hit jolts from $ 16.4 million to $ 39.8 million. That’s going to hamper the team much more.
Even for their shortcomings, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott stood up for his QB and their output on offense against the Bengals.
“Josh Allen is a heck of a competitor,” McDermott said after the game. “I’ll take him any day of the week. I love how competitive.”
“I thought Josh did some good things,” the coach continued. “We all want some plays back as well. Sometimes we try do just too much overall and we all have to grow from this.”