The Buffalo Bills lost a heartbreaker in Week 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.
In a rainy affair, the Bills (11-5) did more of the same we’ve seen recently against the Eagles (11-5). Buffalo crawled and willed their way back into the game after trailing 13-0 early.
With that same score on the board heading into the fourth quarter, the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen made their way back, bringing the score to 13-12 in the final seconds.
In the end, the chips did not fall their way.
With that, here are Bills Wire’s takeaways from the Bills’ loss to the Eagles:
Starts still stale
It was not back-to-back touchdown efforts by the Eagles to start the game. Just one and two field goals.
However, the Bills did begin this outing with 13-straight points allowed. It’s not as poor of a start to a game as recent weeks. Buffalo could still start a contest better… especially before the postseason.
Allen’s magic falls short
In the end, the usual magic from Bills quarterback Josh Allen was not there.
Not only did Buffalo’s two-point attempt fail at the end of this via a poor pass from Allen, the QB was stopped at the goal line earlier on in the second half on a fourth-down attempt.
Allen finished the outing 23-for-35 passing on a rainy day. He ha 262 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Cook bottled up
Despite Bills running back James Cook putting up 74 rushing yards… the Eagles mostly bottled him him. Cook averaged 3.7 yards per carry and in the comeback effort, it all clearly fell on Allen’s shoulders and his injured foot.
Buffalo’s offense is much better when Allen and Cook make the Bills offense two-dimensional.
Defense continues turnarounds
While the Bills did allow points early, the trend of tightening things up defensively continued in a big way.
After putting up 13, the Eagles had nothing because of Buffalo’s defense. Included in their shutdown effort was a series of four-straight, three-and-out drives by Philadelphia’s offense. Excellent effort by the Bills defensively in the second half once again.
The outcome
The Bills and the AFC East are no more. Buffalo’s streak of divisional titles will end at five-straight. The New England Patriots (13-3) will take that honor home in 2026 after this loss.
Hopefully the Bills use that as motivation going into the playoffs.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: 5 takeaways from the Bills’ 13-12 loss to the Eagles
Reporting by Nick Wojton, USA TODAY / Bills Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
