Josh Allen played a pretty solid first half in the divisional round against the Denver Broncos on Saturday—until the end of the second quarter.
After the Buffalo defense surrendered a touchdown with 22 seconds left, coach Sean McDermott opted to get aggressive on offense with no timeouts remaining to try and get into field goal range.
Allen, in the shotgun on a first down from Buffalo's 30-yard-line, took off downfield on a scramble and picked up 12 yards. But after failing to get down, Allen lost the ball as he was being wrapped up by Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto—and the Broncos recovered the fumble with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Broncos ball!
— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2026
What a break before the half 😳
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Allen didn't have a playoff turnover in his last six postseason games, but his fumble was a costly one, as it handed Denver three points when kicker Wil Lutz nailed a 50-yard field goal to end the half.
"We gotta take care of the ball." - Sean McDermott to @tracywolfson pic.twitter.com/H0AzZotxxB
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 17, 2026
“Yeah we tried to be aggressive,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “Get one shot ... If it wasn't there just throw it away. We gotta take care of the ball.”
But the turnover woes followed the Bills out of the locker room after halftime.
Bills fumble on second play from scrimmage in second half
On just the second play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Allen never saw Bonitto coming from the blind side—and the Broncos linebacker forced another fumble with a strip sack of Allen.
NIK BONITTO FORCES ANOTHER FUMBLE
— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2026
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While Denver's offense failed to capitalize on the turnover with a touchdown, Lutz tacked on another three points off of a Buffalo turnover to extend the Broncos' lead to 23-10.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Josh Allen Fumble With Two Seconds Left in Half Costs Bills Three Points vs. Broncos.
