The Bills Fumbled A Snap In Their Own End Zone Leading To An OT Loss To The Vikings

The Bills and Vikings met in the game of the week for Week 10 in the NFL and for much of the afternoon in Buffalo it seemed like there would be little in the way of drama, as the Bills led 24-10 in the third quarter. However, the NFL has a way of delivering and the Vikings clawed their way back to within four, getting the ball back late in the fourth with a chance to win.

They would march all the way down to inside the Bills 1 — thanks to an unreal 4th and 18 catch by Justin Jefferson to extend the drive — but get stuffed on a sneak by Kirk Cousins inches shy of the goal line. On the first play for the Bills, needing to simply get a little room to take knees, Josh Allen fumbled the snap in the end zone as he got set for a sneak of his own, with the Vikings recovering for the go-ahead touchdown.

The reverse angle shows that the ball never got to Allen clean and stayed in the end zone for the recovery, putting Minnesota up by three.

However, the Vikings would proceed to play one of the worst prevent defenses you’ll ever see, allowing Allen to pick them apart down the sidelines for chunk play after chunk play, setting up a chip shot field goal to force overtime. The biggest play of the drive was a controversial catch by Gabe Davis on the sideline that wasn’t reviewed despite there being an a pretty clear bobble as he went to the ground.

Still, Minnesota was playing far too soft and was seemingly determined to let the Vikings move it with ease. In overtime, Minnesota would get the ball first and go on a march of their own, with Jefferson again making a tremendous catch on the sideline to get them into Bills territory and then one more to put the ball on the 2.

However, the Vikings could only manage a field goal from there and Josh Allen got the ball back with a chance to redeem himself. Unfortunately, after leading a march into the red zone, he would fire his second interception of the second half in the end zone (both to Patrick Peterson), as the veteran DB ended the game in style with Allen slamming his helmet in frustration.

That loss puts the Bills behind the 8-ball in terms of the chase for the 1-seed and the lone bye in the AFC, as they move a game behind the Chiefs in the standings after KC won against the Jaguars. It’s the second straight game where Allen has made some poor decisions with the football, after being incredibly clean with turnovers for most of the last two years, which is of some concern for Bills fans.

As for Minnesota, despite looking shaky for much of the day they somehow come away with the win and move to 8-1 on the season with yet another comeback win, firmly planted in the 2-seed in the NFC and just a game back of the undefeated Eagles.