Josh Allen Says Bills Never Practiced Game-Winning Touchdown Play

Turns out, sometimes it's better for the Buffalo Bills to be lucky than good.

The Bills ended a 20-year drought on Sunday, beating the Houston Texans 36-31 in Houston for the first time since 2006. It took a full 60-minute effort that ended with a game-winning touchdown pass by Josh Allen, followed by a defensive stop in the final seconds. 

Allen, aside from slipping on the first drive on fourth down and nearly throwing a game-losing interception in the fourth quarter, was everything many have come to expect out of the 2024 MVP. He took advantage of openings in the Houston defense to rack up 334 yards passing and two touchdowns. He even ran for two scores.

And though it's important to talk about Allen's full performance, his final throw is the one people will be talking about most.

On 3rd and 11 with 1:36 to play, Allen found Joshua Palmer deep in the seem for a 34-yard touchdown. It was Palmer's only reception of the game, but it couldn't have come at a better time. But, as it turns out, the ball was never supposed to go to him.

Speaking with CBS' Evan Washburn after the game, Allen admitted that the play was designed to go elsewhere. In fact, it was never practiced with the intent of finding Palmer.

"You want the absolute truth? We call this a horseshoe," Allen said. "This is not where the ball is supposed to go. We have never once repped the ball going there. I just felt that those safeties started cheating to DJ (Moore) a little bit. Josh ran a great route, [and I] put it on the line for him."

Allen continued to praise Palmer for grabbing the ball and finishing off the play. While he's happy with how it played out, Allen added that he'd like the play to be a bit cleaner next time.

"We’ll take those when we get them, but we don’t want to make a living out of throwing it to those," he said.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how you get them; it's that you do. For Buffalo, heading back home 1-0 is sure to feel better than being 0-1, no matter how they picked up the win. But now it's time to prepare for a short week, with a visit from the Detroit Lions on Thursday night to open the new Highmark Stadium.