Tom Krasovic: Josh Allen wows with his arms, legs and head in Bills' playoff win

Tom Krasovic, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Jan 11, 2026

Published in Football

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Josh Allen came into this Super Bowl tournament as the most capable quarterback in the 14-team field. He showed it Sunday.

Allen made top-tier plays as a passer, rusher and thinker — none better than on a late-game touchdown drive for the lead, and the Buffalo Bills held for a 27-24 win against the Jaguars in Jacksonville, Fla.

The NFL is flexing its theatrical muscles in this wild-card round.

Saturday, league MVP candidate Matthew Stafford drove the Los Angeles Rams to a 34-31 road win after the Panthers, 10 1/2-point underdogs, took their second fourth-quarter lead. Hours later as the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers reprised their century-plus rivalry, QB Caleb Williams’ playmaking fueled a 25-point fourth quarter in Chicago’s 31-27 homefield win.

Allen’s performance stood as the best, though, and made it six straight years Buffalo (13-5) has won a playoff game.

Start with his rushing prowess.

At 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, bullish, quick and agile, the 29-year-old stands as the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing TDs by a quarterback.

He can’t be stopped short on most sneaks. Pass-rushers detest him, knowing he can break their tackles or get off passes in a blink.

Keep this in mind: if they charge at him too fast, he’ll sidestep them.

Allen’s rushing and rushing threat bled out the Jaguars.

Where the North Florida team couldn’t stop him from bulling for two 1-yard touchdowns and several other other successful sneaks, Bills defenders stopped quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s fourth-and-2 rush at their 8.

The Jags (13-5) found Allen too adept as a passer, too. He went 28 for 35 for 273 yards without a turnover. He hit former University of San Diego tight end Dalton Kincaid for a 15-yard touchdown — one of four TDs in the game’s fourth quarter.

The decisive 66-yard drive Allen that capped with his second rushing TD, putting the Bills ahead by four points with 64 seconds left, featured one of his best career throws, a 36-yard completion to Brandin Cooks.

A San Diego County product had a good look at Allen on that first-down play.

Though he got a free run as a blitzer, Chula Vista’s Devin Lloyd had to respect Allen’s evasivenes. The Otay Ranch High School alum raised his arms without jumping, nor could he approach at max speed.

Though Cooks hadn’t run past the man covering him, Allen chose to throw the ball downfield ahead of him. The QB was able to flick it some 45 yards, despite stepping back from Lloyd and lacking leverage.

Cooks ran under it and gathered it.

Nixing the Jaguars’ comeback bid on the first snap, Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White broke up Lawrence’s accurate pass and safety Cole Bishop caught the deflection.

It was Allen’s seventh win in 13 playoff games.

For many reasons, he hasn’t reached a Super Bowl. He was frenetic in his first playoff game, a loss at Houston five years ago. He was sensational a year later, only for the Bills to collapse on defense — the infamous “13 seconds” loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

The great Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have dealt him four playoff losses, and Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals got him en route to the Super Bowl.

With Mahomes and Burrow absent from this postseason, it’s tempting to say the door has opened wider for Allen — but that’s too simplistic. Allen outplayed Mahomes in one playoff loss. The Bengals ran for 172 yards at snowy Buffalo.

Though this Bills’ defense remains suspect against the run and lost a good safety Sunday in Jordan Poyer, Allen looks close to peak form, notwithstanding medical checks Sunday to his throwing hand, head and a knee.

49ers fallout

By beating the Philadelphia Eagles 23-19 on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers may have helped their top rivals.

The Seattle Seahawks will face a 49ers team hit hard by injury instead of drawing the healthier Los Angeles Rams.

Two weeks ago, the Seahawks smothered the Niners in Santa Clara, Calif., 13-3. George Kittle will sit out the rematch. An Achilles’ tendon injury has ended the All-Pro tight end’s postseason.

The Niners get an A+ for winning. Coordinator Robert Saleh’s defense allowed no second-half touchdowns.

Playcaller Kyle Shanahan’s gadget play went for a 29-yard, go-ahead TD to open the fourth quarter. Receiver Jauan Jennings threw to Christian McCaffrey after the fake suckered Reed Blankenship, a veteran safety.

The Eagles, my preseason pick to win the Super Bowl, got two interceptions from Quinyon Mitchell. But they scored just 19 points off 72 plays, a fitting end to the offense’s ugly season.

Eagles All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson didn’t play. Defensive star Jordan Davis went down late. But the defending champs couldn’t match the Niners’ resourcefulness. A shakeup within Philly’s offensive staff seems likely.

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