Josh Allen turnovers: Bills QB overcomes two INTs, loses fumble to beat Dolphins in full 'Josh Allen Experience'

Edward Sutelan

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Josh Allen turnovers: Bills QB overcomes two INTs, loses fumble to beat Dolphins in full 'Josh Allen Experience' image

Josh Allen is almost always the most important player on the field in any game in which he plays. He can make the superhero plays to save the Bills. Or he can be self-destructive enough to cost them.

On Sunday, he was much more the latter than the former. The Bills climbed all the way back into the AFC East race to force a de facto division title game on "Sunday Night Football" with stakes for not only the division crown, but the No. 2 seed on the line.

The Bills wound up winning the game 21-14, and Allen was certainly a part of the victory with two touchdown passes and several impressive throws throughout the game. He was also often the biggest reason the game was as close as it was due to several costly turnovers. That list of turnovers also did not include a costly decision to end the first half for which his coach publicly called him out.

MORE: Bills seal AFC East title with late interception vs. Dolphins

How many turnovers did Allen wind up committing against Miami? Here's a look back at his performance.

Josh Allen turnovers

Allen finished Sunday's game with two interceptions and a fumble. Both interceptions came on throws to the end zone. The fumble came just outside the red zone.

The first interception was certainly a puzzling interception from Allen. The Bills were marching down the field after an opening-drive interception from Tua Tagovailoa. At the Miami 5 on a third-and-goal, Allen must have thought Gabe Davis would go left and instead, he went right. The throw went right to Miami cornerback Eli Apple, who made the wide-open interception.

The next Bills' drive, Buffalo went for it on a fourth-and-2 in the first quarter. Allen decided to heave a pass to the end zone for Davis, who tripped on his feet and DeShon Elliott wound up picking off the pass. A case could be made Allen saved the Bills' field position with his "arm punt" rather than turning the ball over on downs at the Dolphins' 35. Still, it was a second turnover nonetheless.

Allen won't get credited for a turnover for the play at the end of the first half, but it might as well have been considered a turnover. With no timeouts left, Allen threw a slant pass to running back Ty Johnson, who was tackled at the Miami 2-yard line to halt the Bills with 11 seconds left. Before Buffalo could spike the ball, the clock ran out and the end of the half ticked down, leaving the Bills trailing 14-7.

MORE: McDermott calls out Allen's goal-line throw

The play wound up leading to Bills coach Sean McDermott calling out Allen for throwing the ball in the field of play and not getting the pass into the end zone.

"We can't be throwing it in the field of play," McDermott said when asked about the half's final play. "It's gotta be thrown in the end-zone."

Allen's last turnover of the game was, actually, a turnover in the scorebook. The Bills had a third-and-13 from the Dolphins' 21, and Allen tried to evade pressure from defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, who would not be denied. He wound up ripping the ball from Allen's hands and grabbed it before it hit the ground, giving himself a fumble forced and recovered.

The Bills are used to pulling off wins in spite of turnovers. According to Stathead, the Bills are 15-19 in games in which they lost the turnover margin started by Allen. The Dolphins turned the ball over twice, with Tagovailoa throwing interceptions on his first and final drives of the game.

MORE: Deonte Harty sets Bills' PR record on touchdown

Josh Allen stats

Allen's overall line, despite the three turnovers, still had plenty to like. He completed 30 of 38 passes for 359 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed 15 times for 67 yards, leading all players in rushing yards. 

With his two picks, Allen finished the year second in the NFL in interceptions behind Washington's Sam Howell. Allen threw 18 picks to Howell's 19. It was a new career-high in interceptions for Allen, whose previous high was 16 thrown in 2022.

Year Age G Cmp-Att (Cmp%) Pass Yds Pass TDs Ints Rush Atts Rush Yds Rush TDs Fmb
2018 22 12 169-320 (52.8%) 2074 10 12 89 631 8 8
2019 23 16 271-461 (58.8%) 3089 20 9 109 510 9 14
2020 24 16 396-572 (69.2%) 4544 37 10 102 421 8 9
2021 25 17 409-646 (63.3%) 4407 36 15 122 763 6 8
2022 26 16 359-567 (63.3%) 4283 35 14 124 762 7 13
2023 27 16 385-579 (65.6%) 4306 29 18 111 524 15 7
Career -- 93 1989-3145 (63.2%) 22703 167 78 657 3611 53 59

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.