Buffalo Bills Beat Jaguars 27-24: Reactions

For the first time in 33 years, the Buffalo Bills have won a road playoff game. In what was a tight game to the finish, the Bills beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24 to move on to the AFC Divisional Round for the sixth straight season.

As Buffalo awaits their opponent next week---Denver, Houston, or Pittsburgh---it's time to look back at what stood out from the game. Here are the positives and negatives from the AFC Wild Card Win.

The Road Narrative: Zero road playoff wins since 1993 and 0-4 with Josh Allen and Sean McDermott leading the way. That's what Buffalo faced heading into the game against the Jaguars. Well, that narrative is officially dead and the weight is off their shoulders. 

Josh Allen: When he needed to be Superman, Allen was Superman. Allen finished the game with 273 yards and a touchdown on 28-of-35 passing. On the ground, he had 33 yards and two touchdowns. In Wild Card games, Allen now has 16 passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns, and one receiving score to go with just two fumbles and two interceptions.

Khalil Shakir: Talk about a performance for Buffalo's top wide receiver. Shakir was Mr. Safety Blanket for Allen all afternoon, finishing with 12 catches for 82 yards on 12 targets. 

Brandin Cooks: After a 101-yard game against the Eagles, Cooks came up big as well. He had 58 yards on three catches. No catch was bigger, however, that the 36-yard reception with 2:27 to go that put the Bills at the Jaguars 20-yard line.  The only blemish was a "drop" that stalled a Buffalo drive. 

Won The Turnover Battle: The Bills were 11-0 during the regular season when they won the turnover battle. In the playoffs, they're now 1-0. Buffalo forced two Trevor Lawrence interceptions while holding one of the league's best teams at taking the ball away to one on special teams. 

Anthony Mogelin's Prediction: During this week's episode of Bills Roundtable, co-host Anthony Moeglin correctly predicted that the Bills would win 27-24. For what it's worth, fellow host Mike Straw (me) said it would be 28-24 and likely come down to the last drive. Solid guesses from the crew.

Injuries: The Bills were banged up going into this one, and they left in a worse spot. The Bills lost both Gabe Davis (knee) and Jordan Poyer (hamstring) during the course of the game. For Davis, especially, it looks like it could be an injury that shuts him down for the season. He was also seen leaving the locker room with a brace on his left knee and on crutches.

Run Game: The Jaguars were the number one rusn defense in the league, and it showed on Sunday. Buffalo finished with 340 yards, but just 79 on the ground. James Cook, the NFL's leading rusher, finished with just 46 yards which was his lowest full-game performance since he ran for 44 yards in Week 1 against Baltimore. 

Run Defense: The Bills' run defense was one of the worst in the league all season, and it showed against Jacksonville. Despite the win, the Bills allowed 154 yards on just 23 carries. Bhayshul Tuten, especially, had a good day with 51 yards on four runs. You wonder how the game would've been different if they had him run more. 

Soft Pass Defense: Yes, they had two interceptions, but the Bills left a lot open in the field on Sunday. Parker Washington, Jacksonville's No. 3 receiver, had seven catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. He was a problem all afternoon. 

Jordan Hancook: When Poyer left the game with a hamstring, the rookie Hancook was thrown into a big spot. And while it was nice to see the Bills staff have faith in him, it often looked like the moment was a bit too big for the fifth-round pick out of Ohio State. With experience he'll get better, but it just wasn't his day today. He did have six tackles, though.