Alaina Getzenberg
Michael DiRocco
Michael DiRocco
ESPN Staff Writer
Michael DiRocco is an NFL Nation reporter at ESPN and covers the Jacksonville Jaguars. He previously covered the University of Florida for over a decade for ESPN and the Florida Times-Union. DiRocco graduated from Jacksonville University and is a multiple APSE award winner.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Buffalo Bills needed a touchdown. Down four points with just over four minutes remaining in the game, the ball was in quarterback Josh Allen’s hands, just as the team would like.
After Allen launched a 36-yard pass to wide receiver Brandin Cooks, he then brought the ball down to the 1-yard line on a tush push play to set up the game-winning score. The quarterback punched it into the end zone on the following play, with the Jaguars letting him score.
On the Jags’ ensuing drive with less than a minute remaining, the defense did its job to preserve a 27-24 win, as cornerback Tre’Davious White tipped a Trevor Lawrence pass and safety Cole Bishop came away with the game-ending interception.
Allen led the Bills once again, putting on his postseason Superman cape despite being banged up in the first half — requiring two trips to the medical tent, including one for a concussion test that had to be cleared — to aid a struggling rushing offense that put up its lowest total of the year.
He completed 28 of 35 passes for 273 yards, with one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. Wide receiver Khalil Shakir was his security blanket, catching all 12 of his targets (the second-most catches in a game in Bills postseason history) for 82 yards.
For the first time, the Bills won a playoff game after trailing in the final two minutes, following the script of their many comeback victories this regular season. And for the first time under coach Sean McDermott, the Bills won a playoff game on the road, keeping their Super Bowl ambitions alive.
Most surprising performance: Defense in the second half.
The final two quarters are when this Bills defense has usually thrived, but the opposite was the case against Jacksonville. After allowing only seven points in the first half, Buffalo gave up scores on the Jaguars’ first three drives of the second half, including consecutive double-digit-play touchdown drives. The Bills’ inability to stop the Jaguars continued to put the pressure on the offense.
But when the Bills’ defense needed a play most, it came away with a game-ending takeaway to seal it, just as it has in some of the biggest games this season.
Trend to watch: Injuries have been seemingly unrelenting for the Bills this season, and Allen was not immune to that trend. The Bills QB didn’t miss a snap, but the team continued to lose other significant players, and their absence was felt. Safety Jordan Poyer did not return after halftime because of a hamstring injury, and wide receiver Gabe Davis, a former Jaguar, was carted off the field with a left knee injury (he suffered a season-ending torn meniscus in his left knee last season).
Stat to know: The Bills are now 19-0 when leading at halftime since the start of the 2024 season (including playoffs) — the only team with a perfect record in that span. They continued that trend despite struggling early in the second half and falling behind in the fourth quarter. The victory also broke a streak of eight consecutive road playoff losses for the franchise (since the 1992 AFC Championship Game). — Aliana Getzenberg
The Jaguars’ season ended with a heartbreaking loss at home, but there’s optimism that the franchise is going to be a consistent playoff contender.
The Bills’ game-winning touchdown with 1:04 remaining and Lawrence’s interception off a deflected pass with 54 seconds to play will sting all offseason, but that shouldn’t put a damper on what Liam Coen did in his first season as a head coach at any level. The Jaguars won 13 games, which included an eight-game winning streak to end the regular season and secure the AFC South title.
The Jaguars also set a franchise record for points scored (474) and Coen seemed to unlock quarterback Lawrence, who had the best season of his career with 38 total touchdowns and more than 4,000 yards passing. But the Jaguars weren’t as crisply against the Bills as they were over the final two months of the season.
Lawrence (who had thrown just one interception in December) had two picks, kicker Cam Little (who hit 68- and 67-yard field goals this season) missed a 54-yard attempt at the end of the first half, and the defense just couldn’t put enough pressure on Allen (28-for-35, 273 yards).
What to make of the QB’s performance: An up-and-down day for Lawrence. He threw a first-half interception (his sixth in three career postseason games, tied with Patrick Mahomes for the most since 2021, per ESPN Research) and came up short on a fourth-down rush inside the Bills’ 10-yard line because he dove forward when he didn’t need to in order to get the first down. Lawrence rebounded for most of the second half with two touchdowns, including one to Travis Etienne Jr. with 4:03 remaining. But the game was sealed with a Lawrence interception with less than a minute to play in the fourth quarter.
Biggest hole in the game plan: The run game in the first half. The Bills’ defense ranked 28th in the NFL, but the Jaguars didn’t run the ball as much as expected in the first half despite having success when they did. They ran it 11 times and gained 99 yards, including 51 yards on four carries by Bhayshul Tuten. Despite their effectiveness on the ground, the Jaguars threw it 15 times in the first half, which ended with them trailing 10-7.
Turning point: The Jaguars allowed the Bills to move into scoring position on their final drive when Allen hooked up with Cooks for a 36-yard reception to the Jaguars’ 20-yard line just before the two-minute warning. Cooks was wide open behind CB Greg Newsome II, and S Antonio Johnson was unable to get to Cooks in time before the ball arrived. Linebacker Devin Lloyd hit Allen as he released the ball, but Allen was still able to get enough on the throw. The Bills scored the winning TD five plays later. — Michael DiRocco
