They went for it. And lost.
The Buffalo Bills lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 13-12 after scoring a late Josh Allen touchdown and failed in the two-point conversion to Khalil Shakir. This drops the Bills to 11-5 on the season and puts them at the seventh seed in the playoffs.
The way the Bills played, they didn’t deserve to win the game, but came within one catch of winning the whole thing. The way Michael Badgley played, going for two may have been their only option. You also go for the win and end the game. Sometimes you lose.
On top of the loss, the Bills suffered quite a few injuries coming out of Sunday’s loss. Read below for a full analysis.
In Game Injuries
LB Terrel Bernard (Right Calf)
Bernard quietly exited late in the second quarter with a right calf injury on this play below. He takes Dallas Goedert down and comes up looking at his right leg and favoring the right side.
He spent some time in the medical tent motioning to his right calf before he was listed as questionable and then downgraded to out after the half.
The calf likely tightened up on him and he couldn’t even warm up and sat down for the game. The Bills have had plenty of players play through calf tweak, but considering the playoffs are locked up, I don’t see how they let Bernard play next week.
Let him rest again and maybe he’s ready for the Wild Card round. It’s been a rough season for him.
Update: 12/29/25 Bernard has been ruled out for Week 18.
QB Josh Allen (Right Foot)
Allen aggravated his right foot injury on a sack with 8:07 left in the third quarter seen below. He twists his ankle and the movement seems rather benign. It’s also worth noting that his left foot was briefly stepped on before he tweaked the right foot.
He came up limping but did not have any immediate assessment of the foot in game. He was able to finish out the game on stubbornness and adrenaline. Allen came out and said that the foot had zero impact on his ability to play Sunday.
Despite that, he limped into the X-Ray room with Head Athletic Trainer Nate Breske and came out with nothing additional on his feet. He also didn’t have anything on either foot. The team later stated that imaging was negative.
Like I said prior to the game, this injury will linger for the rest of the season. The only way this gets better is if he rests. But he’s Josh Allen and he won’t. We may find out the severity of his injury at the end of the season but right now, we are left guessing.
My bet is that he gets his start next week against the New York Jets and then sits for the game in order to be ready for the playoffs. This injury will not be better until after the season despite what Josh Allen and Sean McDermott say.
Update: 12/29/25
C Connor McGovern (Right Shoulder)
On a failed fourth down run, McGovern fell and landed on his right elbow and then onto his shoulder, grabbing at the area moments after Josh Allen failed to break the goal line.
Despite the injury, McGovern didn’t miss a snap as he returned during the next offensive series. This is an injury that we may see on the injury report but it’s more likely that he has some type of bracing on the shoulder during practice this week.
This is a very similar mechanism that we saw him suffer in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Baltimore Ravens last year. He was on the injury report that week heading into the AFC Championship but had no designation.
TE Jackson Hawes (Left Ankle)
Hawes quietly left the game with 3:11 left in the third quarter after he was the victim of friendly fire when James Cook fell into his left ankle. By video, there is a high suspicion for a high-ankle sprain.
He was able to return late in the game at the 10:27 mark in the fourth quarter, missing one offensive series without any noticeable tape on the area, but if he had the ankle taped up and then put the shoe back on, the team could have hid the area. We need some more information on this one, but I would expect that he is at least on the injury report this week and an initial possibility that he misses Week 18 if this is indeed a high-ankle sprain.
RB Ty Johnson (Right Elbow)
Johnson appeared to tweak his right elbow after a pass that led to him running up the left side and was twisted down during the first play of the fourth quarter.
He is seen motioning to the elbow and does come off the field but this may have been more to play design than his availability. This may also be a more hurt than injured situation.
RB Ray Davis (Right Knee)
Davis hopped and skipped off the field with 10:27 left in the fourth quarter when he took a routine run up the middle. It’s not clear how he tweaked the right knee but we never got any reports as to his injury status.
This may have been a more hurt than injured situation as Davis was able to return later in the game for two more plays, 33 seconds left in the game and then on the field for the failed two-point conversion.
OT Spencer Brown (Left Eye/Throat)
Brown was forced to leave the game briefly after getting his left eye gouged and then popped in the throat by Jalen Carter.
He was able to return to the game but noted that after the game his eye was a little blurry.
Neither injury should prevent him from playing next week unless there is a corneal scratch or other damage but he may be forced to wear a visor for protection.
Other Observations
DT Ed Oliver (Left Biceps)
Sean McDermott added late in his press conference that Ed Oliver had a little setback in his rehab this week. They don’t quite know how this will affect his timeline, but considering the timeline was tight enough as it was, this pushes his return back at least a week. I had said the earliest his practice window opens up was Wild Card weekend. But that didn’t mean that he’d play in the first round.
My current expectation prior to this news is that he would return in the divisional round or AFC Championship game and with this setback, he could see a more realistic timeframe to return to either of those games with the AFC Championship more likely. The divisional round could be if Oliver is pushing and they need him due to injury.
What that setback was could have been soreness, pain, swelling caused by overworking, pushing through discomfort, performing too many reps, or an acute injury. Rehab is not a linear process even with the best rehab professionals. This is not an indictment of the training staff either. They are working with tight timelines with little room for error and pushing what is typically a six-month recovery down to just over three months, it’s aggressive.
He can still return but his return may be delayed a little bit despite what McDermott said Sunday. To read more about his injury, click below.
K Matt Prater (Right Quad)
On Monday, the Bills released K Michael Badgley a day after he missed another crucial extra point that ultimately was the difference between the game tying touchdown and having to go for two late in the game.
Sean McDermott did note that there was a possibility that Prater could be ready this past weekend. Badgley’s release at least tells us the team is comfortable with Prater’s progress at this time. They could still elect to bring in another kicker for Sunday or roll with Ray Davis, but this is more about Prater’s health.
Update: 12/29/25 Prater will return this week.
Final Thoughts
These kinds of games are won and lost with the difference being one or two plays. As a fan, I’m disappointed that they didn’t win, but this was the defending Super Bowl champs and they had a chance to win despite playing poorly nearly all game.
This team will either find a way to go on a deep playoff run or lose in the first round. I’m not sure which. Having a healthy team that shows up for four quarters, they could make a Super Bowl run. Having an injured Josh Allen along with inconsistent play from both sides of the ball could mean an early playoff exit.
We’ll see what happens later this week, but this is shaping up to be an interesting playoffs.
Top Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar
Discover more from Banged Up Bills
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
