ORCHARD PARK — Austin Johnson turned his head with eyes. A.J. Epenesa just shrugged.
In his first game with the Buffalo Bills, Johnson had never seen quarterback Josh Allen hurdle a player live. Veterans like Epenesa are used to it at this point, although some still hold their breath when he takes flight and crashes to the turf without a parachute.
Arizona Cardinals six-time Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker was Allen’s latest victim on a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of a 34-28 win. Allen banged up his left hand on the play and had to get X-rays after the game, but even coach Sean McDermott has given up on publicly admonishing Allen for those reckless plays.
For all the cringing when Allen takes a hit, the Bills know that’s what makes Allen one of the premier players in the NFL and it makes him beloved in the locker room. Allen wants to stick his nose into a fight, he’s willing to take a hit if it means getting a touchdown or a first down.
“I don’t even know if I was on the field, but I was just screaming,” Bills receiver Khalil Shakir said. “When you see him do things like that, I mean, he’s a true leader, true competitor, true warrior. He’s making plays like that and he’s pushing everybody else to be their best as well. … Follow that guy in the battle any day.”
On a day when Stefon Diggs caught six passes for 33 yards and two scores and Gabe Davis had three grabs for 62 yards, it didn’t look like the Bills missed them. Allen completed all but five of his 23 attempts, throwing for 232 yards and accounted for all four of the team’s touchdowns.
An offense with one returning wide receiver looked smooth, especially for Week 1. How much the Bills actually showed against Arizona remains to be seen, but it’s clear Allen can take Bills wherever they want to go if they trust him enough.
Down 14 points in the first half, the Bills’ didn’t panic, especially considering Arizona held the ball for 20 of the first 30 minutes. But aside from an Allen sack-fumble on the opening drive, the Bills didn’t face much resistance from the Cardinals, only facing two third downs in the first half.
The Bills overcame three false start penalties and Allen hit Shakir on a 19-yard catch-and-run before Allen finished the drive by running over Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting on a 7-yard run before halftime.
On the opening drive of the second half, a holding penalty put the Bills behind from the jump, but on third and 11, Allen bided his time, rolled right and threw a fadeaway pass to James Cook for a 25-yard gain.
The drive was capped when Allen saw the Cardinals were in man-to-man coverage on third and 10 and Baker was the lone player anywhere near the middle of the field. Allen told the Gazette he called an audible when he saw the coverage, Baker blitzed and receiver Mack Hollins ran a slant past safety Jalen Thompson for an easy touchdown. Tie game.
“They did a good job of holding on to the football and running the ball well and kind of controlling the game,” Allen said. “We felt like we barely touched the ball, but we felt like we were constantly in the green — we were ahead of the sticks. We’ve got the one fumble by me that can’t happen and then we got a few penalties that pushed us back there. … But we felt like we were rolling pretty well on offense.”
In leading the Bills to four consecutive touchdown drives, Allen went 14 of 18 for 174 yards — and ran for another 31 — and completed passes to seven receivers. Nine players caught a pass in the game from Allen, who never seemed rattled.
And so Allen’s hand needed X-rays. He didn’t seem distraught about it after the game and he’s shown it will take a serious injury to keep him out of a game. The Bills know the risk of Allen taking flight comes with his arm strength, accuracy and ability to manipulate a defense before and after the snap.
“(Allen) being willing to sacrifice himself to go score and put points on the board, it kind of has a trickledown effect,” Hollins said. “Everybody wants to fight and put themselves out there to get a win.”
It trickles all the way to the defense, because they now Allen can keep them in the game if adjustments need to be made. The Buffalo defense indeed struggled early, but having a player like Allen can keep players from feeling they need to erase the deficit on one play rather than taking the time to make the right alterations.
“It’s my first time seeing him play in person in a real game and he’s as advertised,” Bills rookie defensive tackle DeWayne Carter told the Gazette. “I’m so happy to have him on our side. Just his confidence in the defense, in the offense and in himself, it showed up.”