Josh Allen had a big game for the Buffalo Bills during Monday’s Wild Card Round win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Buffalo quarterback accounted for all four touchdowns in Buffalo’s 31-17 win, throwing for three touchdowns and running for the other.
Something he did during the touchdown run sparked debate.
Allen’s touchdown run was for 52 yards, the second-longest touchdown run by a quarterback in NFL postseason history. The run came on a third-and-eight. Allen scrambled and just after picking up the first down, he slowed down. The Pittsburgh defenders closest to Allen slowed down with him, seemingly expecting him to slide. Only Allen didn’t slide. The quarterback re-accelerated, broke one tackle and went in for the touchdown.
Josh Allen with a 52-yard TD run, and the Bills take a 21-0 lead. It's the second-longest TD run by a QB in postseason history.
Jim Nantz and Tony Romo have the call for CBS. 🏈🎙️ pic.twitter.com/9cS5mG5n3x
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 15, 2024
Interestingly enough, this is something that fans in Pittsburgh have familiarity with. While he was at the University of Pittsburgh, current Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett used a fake slide in the ACC Championship Game. Like Allen, he scored a touchdown.
There was no rule against a fake slide at the time so the touchdown stood. But the NCAA quickly made the fake slide illegal. It makes sense. If a defender contacts a sliding quarterback, it’s a penalty. So, when a defender sees a quarterback go into a sliding motion, he is naturally going to ease off.
But while the NCAA made the fake slide illegal, the NFL did not do the same. Allen’s touchdown run was legal. Noting the plethora of advantages offenses (and especially quarterbacks) have, NFL fans were calling for the league to disallow fake slides going forward.
Can’t blame the defender for going for the hit after Josh Allen did the fake slide.
NFL needs to fix this. pic.twitter.com/OBtTx1dqBb
— Playmaker TD 🏈 (@playmakerTD) January 16, 2024
It’s so hard to play defense now
Josh Allen fake slide leads to a TD
Josh Allen late slide leads to a personal foul#Steelers pic.twitter.com/fpmcqbgCKn— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) January 16, 2024
josh allen shouldnt get late hit flags if he's gonna score on a fake slide
— Motivational Pictures With Reality Deep Meaning (@doulbedoink) January 16, 2024
Josh Allen is a great football player, no doubt about it.
But the fake slide, freezing the defender from making a play really sucks.
This is squarely on the NFL.
How is a defender supposed to tackle Josh Allen in the open field????
— Savage (@SavageSports_) January 15, 2024
Josh Allen turns a fake slide into a 50 yard TD then slides LATE and STILL gets this call…
Friendly reminder that we wager actual dollars on this league. Unreal.
pic.twitter.com/uS2rwSfq90— Joe’s Picks (@Joes_Picks) January 16, 2024
As others have correctly noted, multiple defenders thought Allen was about to slide which he smartly used to his advantage. I don’t see the other QBs doing this nearly as much as Allen does. https://t.co/6GW9VRH5oQ
— jamie stuart (@jamiestuartTV) January 15, 2024
It will be interesting to see what the NFL does about this. This isn’t necessarily the first time it’s happened but the microscope of the playoffs frequently inspires rule changes. And while we can’t say this very often, in this case we can say that the NCAA model is a good one to follow.
