During Monday afternoon’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown run to give his team a 21-0 lead in the third quarter, but a move he made during the play is causing a lot of controversy among fans.
During the long 52-yard touchdown run, Josh Allen could be seen hesitating and turning his hips sideways as if he was about to slide down and give himself up. As a result, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee seemed to slow down, presumably believing that Allen was going to slide and looking to avoid him.
The only problem is, Allen did not slide.
Getting cooked by this move is NUTS. What even is this dhrhxbdbxbd pic.twitter.com/T91375TGQk
— Southside Rabbi (@FlowsAndolini) January 15, 2024
Instead of sliding to the turf and ending the play as Steelers players seemed to expect, Allen continued running after his hesitation move and made it all the way to the end zone.
Obviously it was a big play from Allen, but it led to a lot of reactions from the NFL world with many people thinking that the move should be illegal as it puts defenders in an impossible position.
It’s a fake slide – QBs shouldn't get extra protection if they decide to run. Making tackles in the open field is already tough at high speed, the uncertainty of whether the QB will slide just makes it harder. Players don't want to risk losing money & getting penalized. https://t.co/gY5oBBNFiL
— Cookie Expert (@JeffAllen71) January 16, 2024
I think defenses need to start leveling QBs regardless of penalty. Self police the game like hockey. The QB got the yards needed, he can go down or get pummeled. https://t.co/seeIgapfTH
— Kevin (@kevinshreds) January 16, 2024
A fake slide. Mahomes does this next week vs. the Bills to win the game and it’ll get banned like it should be https://t.co/iLa9es4O5j
— Drew Clark (@DrewC1420) January 16, 2024
They should make hitting the QB legal again. If you’re gonna become a runner expect to get hit like one https://t.co/NbAxBTBBpe
— Kafka, esq. ⚾️ (@metalgearobama) January 16, 2024
https://twitter.com/tback15/status/1747077553230147981?s=20
Cuz it looked like a potential Slide https://t.co/j97ZB1ZHFB
— Fazo (@317Gee) January 16, 2024
This could certainly be a play the NFL looks at during the offseason when the league is considering potential rule changes.
