Facing a virtual must-win situation in their Week 13 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, the Buffalo Bills came through, winning 26-7 as they held the Steelers’ offense to just 166 yards on only 43 plays from scrimmage.
But through the first half, neither team looked like they had come to win the game. The Bills went into halftime trading 7-3, largely due to a pair of turnovers — an interception thrown by reigning NFL MVP quarterback Josh Allen, and a lost fumble by the NFL’s second-leading rusher (1,084 yards prior to Sunday) James Cook.
What sparked the Bills turnaround, when they scored 26 unanswered points, 24 in the second half? According to both Allen, the motivation came from his running verbal confrontation with Steelers’ four-time first-team All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Hayward.
“Sometimes you need fire like that to get you going,” Allen said in his press availability following the Bills’ victory, as quoted by Buffalo SI.com correspondent Alex Brasky.
But that same confrontation was ignited by an action by Allen that though it was not called as a penalty on the field could nonetheless bring a punishment from the NFL league office for the 29-year-old quarterback.
What Happened Between Allen and Hayward?
The game took a confrontational turn with about three minutes left in the first half, when Allen scrambled for a quick, one-yard gain, going into a slide just short of the first-down marker.
As Allen finished his slide, on his back flat on the turf, Steelers linebacker Patrick Queen drove directly into the defenseless quarterback — but the officials either missed the apparent violation or decided Queen’s action was not severe enough to merit a flag for a late hit.
“You hit our quarterback like that, you’re going to spark our team a little bit,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the game, as quoted by Brasky. But the Queen incident was not what set off the running confrontation between Allen and Hayward.
According to the Steelers’ 36-year-old six-time Pro Bowl pick, the conflict started even earlier, when after Hayward tackled Allen, the quarterback drove him off with a knee to the midsection — according to Hayward in statements to reporters later in the Steelers’ locker room.
Video appeared to show Allen raising his knee to repel Hayward off him.
“I was ticked off the entire game because, as a quarterback they’re protected and I’m not,” Hayward said to the assembled reporters.
Heyward Flagged for Taunting
Hayward claimed that Allen admitted to him that he had committed the kneeing intentionally, saying, “He even said after, ‘I had to do something to get you off me.’”
Allen has not confirmed that he made such a statement, however.
If the NFL determines that Allen did, in fact, intentionally knee Hayward in the stomach, he would be subject to a $12,172 fine for what the league categorizes as “Striking/Kicking/Tripping/Kneeing.”
That decision will be made by the NFL and conveyed to Allen in writing sometime mid-week. But a public announcement of any fine, if there is one, will be made on Saturday at 4 p.m. EST.
The “jawing back and forth,” as Hayward described his interaction with Allen, led to a 15-yard taunting penalty on the veteran defensive lineman with 8:53 remaining in the third quarter.
Hayward may also be facing a fine from the NFL for that penalty. In the first 12 weeks of the season, the NFL has handed down 23 fines for taunting.
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