Bills' Josh Allen throws away best shot at Super Bowl with four turnovers in playoff loss to Broncos

For the seventh straight year, the Buffalo Bills reached the playoffs with Josh Allen, and for the seventh straight year, they didn't make it to the Super Bowl. The Bills are the Sisyphus of the NFL: They roll the boulder up the mountain every year and just as they're about to get to the top, it rolls right back down on them. 

But this year was supposed to be different. There was no Patrick Mahomes in the playoffs. Allen was the best quarterback in the 14-team postseason field, and if there was any season where he was going to be able to carry his team to the Super Bowl, this felt like the year it was going to happen. Allen put on his Superman cape, only to be stopped by a very unexpected form of Kryptonite: Himself. 

That's right: Josh Allen was his own worst enemy on Saturday. 

The Bills star quarterback played like he knew he had the weight of the world on him. Allen was trying to carry a Bills team that didn't have quite as much talent as its had over the past few years, and that weight proved to be too much. Allen turned the ball over four times in a 33-30 overtime loss to Denver and three of those turnovers came because he was trying to make something happen in a situation where he didn't need to do that.

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Robby Kalland

Let's rewind to the end of the first half where Allen made what was easily the most inexcusable mistake of the game and possibly the most inexcusable mistake of his career. With just 16 seconds to go before halftime in a game Buffalo was trailing 17-10, the Bills decided they wanted to try and get some points. That decision turned into a disaster when Allen did this: 

This was a mistake that was 100% on Allen. He was asking to be stripped on a play that just didn't need to happen. The Bills had no timeouts, so the half was going to end as soon as Allen was tackled. Instead, he fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the Broncos with two seconds left in the half. Denver ended up getting a field goal out of Allen's gaffe. 

Allen then opened the third quarter with another turnover on Buffalo's opening drive, but it's hard to blame this one on him. Broncos' star pass-rusher Nik Bonitto came in untouched from Allen's blindside and rocked him with a hit that caused a fumble. 

After turning the ball over twice, you'd think Allen would have been a little more protective with the football, but that wasn't the case. After the Bills defense picked off Bo Nix in the third quarter, the Buffalo offense was set up with good field position, but Allen threw that away with an interception that came on the second play after Buffalo got the ball back. 

The Bills had the ball at Denver's 40 and were essentially already in field goal range when Allen's interception happened. 

After six years of playoff failures, you know that Allen was desperate to get to the AFC title game and it showed in overtime. On a third-and-11 play from his own 36-yard line, Allen went for the jugular and came up empty: He threw another interception. 

If you watch the play, Cooks had several steps on his defender, but he had to slow up to try and make the catch. If he had come down with the ball, it would have been a spectacular catch, but instead, Ja'Quan McMillian made an even more spectacular interception. 

There was some controversy involved on this play, because it looked like Brandin Cooks might have caught the ball and been down before Ja'Quan McMillian made the pick, but according to CBS Sports rules expert, Gene Steratore, the officials made the correct call on the field. 

"I'm not sure that Cooks has possession coming to the ground," Steratore said.  

After getting the interception, the Broncos drove 75 yards down the field for the game-winning field goal. 

With his four turnovers, Allen became the first quarterback in 10 years to throw at least two interceptions while also losing at least two fumbles in a playoff game. The Broncos ended up getting nine points off of Allen's four turnovers, including the game-winning field goal from Wil Lutz. 

"I feel like I let my teammates down tonight," an emotional Allen said after the game. "Just missed opportunities throughout the game. It's been a long season. Hate how it ended. It's gonna stick with me for a long time."

It wasn't just the turnovers, though. Allen also missed several key throws, including one where he overthrew Dawson Knox on third down with under 20 seconds left to play that likely would have led to a game-winning touchdown. 

Let's be clear, Josh Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. No one is disputing that. 

He had to deal with several big drops and the Bills wouldn't even have been in this game if not for Allen, who threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his four turnovers. But on Saturday, Allen seemed to be playing with the weight of the world on his shoulders and that weight just got too heavy. 

The divisional round of the playoffs ended with a painful loss for a franchise that knows more about painful playoff losses than any other team in the NFL. For now, the Bills will continue to roll the boulder up the hill, but if it doesn't happen soon for Josh Allen, you certainly start to wonder if it ever will.