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NBC Sports
a day ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Chris Jones: Losing the Super Bowl the way we did provides motivation this year
Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones says there's a bitter taste in his mouth, and his teammates' mouths, after getting blown out by the Eagles in the Super Bowl. Jones said he and many others in the Chiefs facility look back on their 40-22 loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX as a reminder that they have a lot of work to do to reach their ultimate goal. 'I think you can use a lot of things as motivation, especially this past season,' Jones said. 'The biggest motivation is making it to the big game and losing — not only losing, but losing the way we did. A lot of people in the building think we could have done better. We think we're better, and we're focused on getting back to the mountaintop now.' The Chiefs have had an extraordinary run of success over the last seven years, making it to the AFC Championship Game every year, making it to the Super Bowl five times and winning three of those Super Bowls. With that kind of success, nothing other than a championship feels acceptable, and Jones and his teammates aren't satisfied with how last season ended.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Josh Allen Offers Stunning Opinion on Eagles' Tush Push
Josh Allen Offers Stunning Opinion on Eagles' Tush Push originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Philadelphia Eagles' famous "Tush Push" play is returning for another season. The league's hopes of banning the play failed over a month ago. Advertisement Since then, players around the league can't stop debating whether or not the play belongs. Some defensive players see an unfair advantage, while other offensive players believe it is up to the defense to figure out a way to stop it. Now, the league MVP is getting involved. The Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback, Josh Allen, was the latest to endorse the play in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated. "I'm a big believer in if you can't stop it, keep running it, right?," Allen said. "I think that there's a few teams that do it better than others, but then you look at a few teams that try to do it, and it doesn't have the same success... I don't feel like it should be banned." Advertisement Allen's comments are surprising. Buffalo was one of the teams that voted to ban the play during the offseason. Outside of the Eagles, the Bills were among the other teams to run the variation of the quarterback sneak with frequency. Allen's use of the play to his advantage and desire for the Tush Push to remain might be stunning in that it is in conflict with his front office … But no matter.. Meanwhile. … Despite Buffalo's success last season with the play, the Kansas City Chiefs repeatedly shut it down when they ran it in the AFC Championship Game. Two weeks later, the Eagles didn't have that same problem. They converted the play into the game's first score in Super Bowl LIX. Advertisement The Tush Push is here to stay for at least another season. If you ask the league MVP, he feels the play should remain in the league forever. Related: Eagles Jalen Hurts Saved Key Super Bowl Contributor Related: Lane Johnson Poised To Join Elite Group of 'Eagles for Life' This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Sport
- Time of India
'I still didn't win': Josh Allen calls MVP award worthless—says it means nothing without a ring
Despite clinching the 2024 NFL MVP award, Josh Allen remains laser-focused on winning the Super Bowl (Image via AP) Josh Allen may have walked away with the 2024 NFL MVP trophy, but he isn't celebrating just yet. The Buffalo Bills quarterback, who led his team to a stellar 13-4 regular-season record, has made it clear that individual honors are not enough. For Allen, the only accolade that truly matters is a Super Bowl ring—and until that happens, the rest feels hollow. Despite MVP glory, Josh Allen remains singularly focused on a Super Bowl title Josh Allen may be the reigning NFL MVP, but he's not impressed. The Buffalo Bills quarterback says the award means nothing without a Super Bowl, reigniting debate over individual accolades. 'It is such a great honor, and I do appreciate being honored for my work,' Allen said. 'But at the same time, I still didn't win a Super Bowl. Didn't win a ring, and that is the only goal. It's the only focus that I've ever had going into this league", said Allen in an exclusive Sports Illustrated interview, which occurred as part of the quarterback's promotional campaign for Natrol. Natrol Sleep & Restore with Josh Allen, 30s "The one positive, I will say, about winning an MVP means that your team is in a good position. You're making the playoffs, you're playing well and you're doing whatever you can to help your team win football games," said Allen. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo His statement came months after a heartbreaking 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game—a defeat that has only added more urgency to Buffalo's mission in 2025. This offseason, the Bills have doubled down on their commitment to Allen. The front office retained 15 of the top 16 offensive players from last season and maintained coaching continuity—moves designed to keep momentum rolling into 2025. The additions of wide receivers Josh Palmer and Elijah Moore have also bolstered Buffalo's passing attack, complementing an elite offensive line that allowed only 14 sacks in 2024. With these weapons in place, the Bills' offense has been ranked No. 1 heading into the new season by signaling high expectations for Allen and company. Coach Joe Brady praises Allen's work ethic and team-first mentality Buffalo offensive coordinator Joe Brady echoed Allen's sentiments during a recent appearance on the Centered on Buffalo podcast, reflecting on how Allen viewed the MVP win. 'Look, the biggest gift for me was him winning the MVP... because I know how hard he works. And don't get me wrong—he would have much rather been, you know, playing a game the next day,' Brady said. Brady emphasized that Allen's mindset is all about team success. 'We're not in the business of individual recognition—we're focused on team goals. And when the team succeeds, the individual honors will follow.' As the 2025 season approaches, it's clear Allen isn't chasing headlines. He's chasing history. Also Read: Josh Allen drops dreamy honeymoon pictures with Hailee Steinfeld, calls her 'wifey' in sweet post Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik's inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 here
Fox Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Why the NFL's Two-point Conversion Rate Is At a 15-year Low
"Absolutely gutted." That was Mark Andrews' candid reaction after dropping a two-point conversion in the final two minutes of the Ravens' divisional-round playoff game against the Bills last season. Down 27-25 and with everything on the line, All-Pro quarterback Lamar Jackson rolled out on a snowy field and delivered a catchable pass to the three-time Pro Bowl tight end. His drop effectively ended Baltimore's Super Bowl hopes. A week later, in the AFC Championship Game, the Bills went for two twice — in the second and third quarters — and missed both times, ultimately losing to the Chiefs by three points. And there went Buffalo's Super Bowl hopes. In Week 18, two playoff teams lost on fourth-quarter two-point conversion fails. The Packers missed a chance to tie with 4:28 left against the Bears, and the Rams lost to the Seahawks. And Washington's surge into the postseason included a December win over the Saints in which New Orleans, down one after a touchdown as time expired, went for two and failed. Missed two-point conversions made an impact all over the 2024 NFL season, and the overall statistics show that it's a growing trend. NFL offenses converted on just 41% of two-point attempts last season, down from 55% the previous year and the lowest conversion rate in 15 years. Why the downturn? We asked the league's best defensive coordinators how they prepare for — and successfully stop — a play that happens less than once every two games. Eight teams went all of last season without converting a two-point attempt, and four teams went all year without giving one up. But the best defenses have a play or two at the ready specifically for stopping two-point attempts, knowing they're a little more likely to show up in today's NFL. "I think teams are starting to go for it a little bit more with analytics: 'Hey, we should go for two here. We should go for two earlier in the game,'" said Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, whose defense allowed just one conversion in five attempts last year. "So as defensive coaches, you're not just waiting for the end of the game, the last play. Are we going to win or lose on this? You're preparing throughout the game. In between series, you're thinking, 'I'd better have a two-point call ready.' You're putting more time into it, so there's more awareness, which probably leads to more success [stopping the play]." First, some basic numbers on two-point conversions: NFL teams went for two 9.8% of the time after touchdowns last season, and of those attempts, a large majority — 72% — came in the fourth quarter. A kicker might be injured, or struggling, but normally, going for two is a scoreboard decision. If you're down two late, of course you go for it for the chance to tie; if a touchdown puts you up by one, you go for two so an opponent's field goal only ties the game, and so on. Conversions take place from the 2-yard line, but teams don't treat them like a goal-line play. Goal-line plays usually feature heavy personnel on both sides of the line, with multiple tight ends and extra defensive linemen. A two-point conversion generally has the offense in "11 personnel," which features three receivers, one tight end and one back, a base look that brings the quarterback to the line with confidence. The two-point conversion is somewhat predictably a passing play. Last season, 73% of two-point attempts were passing plays, and if you pull back to the past 10 years and nearly 1,200 conversion attempts, it's a pass play 72.5% of the time. A third-and-2 play anywhere on the field is generally a passing down in the NFL — 61% were passing plays last season in that situation — but it's even more so in the close quarters near the goal line. "Most people aren't willing to run the ball in that situation," said Commanders defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., whose defense had more two-point stops than any other team last season. "So where are most people going to attack? They're going to try to attack your flats. Are they a flat left or flat right team? Are they going to try to move the pocket? Are they a crosser team? Once you realize that, there's only so many things they're going to do down there, so you rep it. ... Now, if they run the ball, that's what makes it a whole lot more difficult, but not a lot of people are going to do that." Though teams pass more than they run when going for two, there's a higher success rate when they run. Last season, teams were successful on 50% of rushing conversion attempts, still a 10-year low, but better than the 37% success when passing, the lowest since 2007. You might think the best two-point call has the quarterback rolling out for a pass/run option, but the threat of a quarterback scrambling for a two-point conversion is fairly low. In 135 total two-point attempts last year, only nine were quarterback runs, and only four of them succeeded — one each from Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels, Kyler Murray and Anthony Richardson. Traditional running back carries were more common and more successful, converting 14 of 26 attempts. "Everybody is now very leery of keeping these quarterbacks from being able to get out of the pocket," said Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, whose defense held opponents to zero conversions on two-point attempts all of last season. "That's when, oftentimes, conversions happen. I just think defenses have an idea of what it takes to stop them, and offenses maybe being a little pass-happy down there has caused it to go down a little bit." A defensive coordinator preparing a game plan can watch all the opposing playcaller's calls in a short amount of time. Plus, a two-point call often follows the lead of a team's third-down playcalling in the red zone. As Hafley points out, a single play has two points riding on it, but a third-down play in the red zone is essentially a four-point play, knowing a stop likely limits the drive to a field goal instead of a touchdown. "I think the importance is huge, because ultimately it could cost you the game, right?" Hafley said. "I usually have guys go way back in that coordinator's history and just pull up all the two-point plays, just like you prepare for anything situationally. We prepare for two-point the same way. Those are the most important plays, because you're shifting points and sometimes momentum." The closest parallel to a two-point conversion is a third down or fourth down from the same 2-yard line. There were 58 such plays in the NFL last season, and teams scored on 47% of those, slightly higher than on two-point conversions. On those plays from the 2, the pass/run split was even more pronounced, with 47 pass plays against 11 runs, an 81% passing rate, even though a conversion is again more likely to be successful on run plays. Though two-point attempts are still uncommon, they are more prominent than just a few years ago — and that's by design. In 2015, the NFL moved its extra points from 15-yard kicks to 33 yards, a shift designed to make PATs less of a foregone conclusion. That lowered the success rate for extra points and encouraged going for two more often. Teams went for two on 6% of touchdowns or fewer every year from 2003-14, but that rate has hovered around 10% the past seven years. It's somewhat counterintuitive, but when it comes to conversions, closer doesn't always translate to easier. When Buffalo went for two in the second quarter against the Chiefs in last year's playoffs, the Bills took a point off the board after an offsides penalty on the extra point. Going for it from the 1, they tried a Josh Allen keeper and were stopped short, and that miss was followed by another failed two-point conversion later in the game. In the regular season last year, NFL teams went for two from the 1-yard line 14 times but only converted on six of those, a 43% success rate that's barely ahead of the overall numbers from the 2. The 41% success rate on two-point conversions in last year's regular season was validated in last year's playoffs, when teams went 5-for-13, only 38% conversions, and two of those successful conversions came in the final three minutes of the Super Bowl, when the Chiefs were down by at least 20 points. Whitt said part of the Commanders' success against two-point conversions is that they rep it in practice every week. They had nine two-point attempts against them — allowing only one conversion — and lined up in the same defensive look on six of the nine plays. They install two two-point calls each week, but the second is just in place for if a team goes for two a second time, to give another look. "Those are game-winning plays," Whitt said. "DQ [Dan Quinn] does a great job of talking to the team about winning moments when it comes down to it. We rep it as part of our red zone defense when we get into the low red, and we talk about it once it's closer to the game: 'This is what we're going to go with.'" Even more than usual, NFL defenses will try to swarm an opponent's top offensive weapon at the snap on a two-point conversion, forcing a quarterback to look in another direction. Of the 12 NFL players to catch nine or more touchdowns last season, only Jacksonville rookie Brian Thomas Jr. was able to score on a two-point conversion. Taking away the most logical first target is only part of the challenge. "It's hard to defend," Hafley said. "They're bang-bang plays that could go either way. Sometimes, you're in the right call, and you have a guy sitting all over it and you cover it, but the quarterback scrambles around, things go off schedule and they make a play. "There's a lot that goes into it down there." Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman . Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Fox Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Bills' Josh Allen on Tush Push: 'If You Don't Like It, My Advice Is To Stop It'
Whether the Philadelphia Eagles' execution of the Tush Push should be allowed has been a topic of conversation in the NFL over the past three years, but Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has a blunt take on the matter. "I'm a big believer in if you can't stop it, keep running it, right?" Allen said when asked about his thoughts on whether the Tush Push should be banned in an interview with Sports Illustrated. "I think that there's a few teams that do it better than others, but then you look at a few teams that try to do it, and it doesn't have the same success because, one, they maybe don't practice it enough or, two, they don't have the guys to do it. And just because a couple teams do it better than others, I don't feel like it should be banned. "I understand the merit of what it brings, and so I don't really sway one way or the other. I try to play the game based on the interpretation of the rules. And if that was the rule that was passed, you know, we'll find a different way. But I feel like if you can use it to your benefit, use it to your benefit. If you don't like it, my advice is to stop it, you know? The Green Bay Packers led an effort to ban the Tush Push this offseason, but a vote on the matter failed to reach the required 24 teams voting in favor of a ban, meaning the play remains legal. As for the team that runs the play, Jalen Hurts and the Eagles just won Super Bowl LIX. Allen and the Bills are coming off a grueling, 32-29 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Individually, though, Allen won his first career NFL MVP Award en route to helping Buffalo go 13-4 and win the AFC East for a fifth consecutive season. In the regular season, the now-three-time Pro Bowler totaled 3,731 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a 101.4 passer rating, while completing 63.6% of his passes. He also rushed for 531 yards and 12 touchdowns. Allen ranked first among quarterbacks in rushing grade (94.4), fourth in overall grade (91.8) and ninth in passing grade (82.9), according to Pro Football Focus. In the postseason, Allen totaled 636 passing yards, four passing touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 109.6 passer rating, while completing 70.7% of his passes; he rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns. As a collective ground attack, the Bills averaged 131.2 rushing yards per game in the regular season, good for ninth in the NFL, and averaged 168.0 rushing yards per game in the postseason. Running back James Cook rushed for 1,009 yards and an NFL-high 16 touchdowns on 4.9 yards per carry. Allen signed a six-year, $330 million extension ($250 million guaranteed) with the Bills in March. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience Buffalo Bills Philadelphia Eagles Josh Allen recommended Get more from National Football League Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
