For the fourth straight year, the Buffalo Bills managed to beat their top rival, the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, in the regular season. The game was officially salted away when Josh Allen converted an incredible 26-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-short play late in the fourth quarter.
Beyond thinking about another potential classic playoff matchup between Allen and Patrick Mahomes this January, it was pretty weird hearing CBS announcer Jim Nantz call Allen’s touchdown run “the play of the year” in that moment.
While it was indeed the final turning point between two of the NFL’s very best teams, I don’t think anyone in their right mind would’ve called that run the best play of this entire NFL season. And Nantz’s explanation about the stakes doesn’t really track for me, either.
I think Nantz got a little caught up in the emotion of the moment:
"OOOH THE PLAY OF THE YEAR IN THE NFL!" – Jim Nantz on the CBS Call for Josh Allen's TD vs the Chiefs.
After the XP, Nantz explained why he called it the play of the year. 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/lsFunBoLAR
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 18, 2024
Look, in a year that featured a remarkable Hail Mary win from the Washington Commanders, it’s gonna take a lot to top that individual moment. For me, a play of the year should be unbelievable and have a lot of stakes. The Commanders’ Hail Mary slayed a then-good Chicago Bears team on the most unlikely play to score in football.
Allen’s run was a big moment for the Bills and the league, but it was otherwise a pretty standard run by a great athlete if you strip away its situational context. He found open space and made a good defense pay in a mostly standard fashion to win the game. I can usually imagine Allen making this run in a clutch situation. It’s not the play of the year.
It’s as simple as that.
