Josh Allen spent his postgame news conference in Las Vegas downplaying the throw everyone else wanted to talk about. With a Raiders rusher closing in on third-and-8, the Buffalo Bills quarterback ducked away, kept his eyes up and flipped the ball underhand into the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown to Keon Coleman, the score that put Buffalo ahead to stay in a 33-30 win on Sunday, October 18.
“I was just trying to make a play,” Allen said afterward, adding that he saw Coleman before he let go but lost track of the ball once he was knocked to the turf.
JOSH ALLEN DOING JOSH ALLEN THINGS!!!!
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/F0GGilwmd6
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 18, 2026
A cleaner day after a rough week
The touchdown was the loudest moment of a tidy afternoon. Allen finished 23 of 33 for 255 yards with two scores and no interceptions, a 112.6 passer rating that was his best since the second week of the season. He was at his sharpest getting rid of the ball early: on throws released within two and a half seconds, he went 13 of 14 for 128 yards. His first touchdown came the same way, a 9-yard screen to Khalil Shakir that made it 13-7 in the second quarter.
That efficiency mattered because of what Allen had said six days earlier. After the overtime win over the Rams in Los Angeles, he acknowledged he had been fighting his throwing mechanics, and he used the week the team spent practicing on the West Coast, at UC Irvine, to work on it. On Sunday he sounded satisfied with the result. “The ball was coming out really good,” he said.
He also credited the Raiders’ defense and said the Bills took the short throws Las Vegas offered early rather than forcing the ball downfield. Buffalo scored on seven of its nine real possessions and, after nine giveaways across its previous three games, did not turn the ball over once.
Level with Jim Kelly
The shovel pass, which made it 23-13 with about six and a half minutes left in the third quarter, was also historic. It drew Allen even with Jim Kelly for the most career touchdown passes in Bills history, a record Kelly has held since he retired after the 1996 season. Allen’s next scoring throw will give him the mark outright.
Coleman finished with four catches for 59 yards. Allen made a point of praising the third-year receiver for finding open space when plays break down, which is exactly what happened on the touchdown. James Cook carried 22 times for 95 yards, scored the go-ahead touchdown from 3 yards out with 4:43 to play and added 58 receiving yards, and Allen said the running back stepped up in a big way after a two-fumble game the week before.
We’re live after our Week Six win against the Las Vegas raiders.
Stay tuned to hear from HC Joe Brady, QB Josh Allen, and more. #BUFvsLV | #BillsMafia https://t.co/yV8GjvL7E9
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 18, 2026
Where the Bills stand
Buffalo is 5-1 and has won two straight, both on the road on the West Coast. The Bills have scored 30 or more points in four of their six games, and their 197 points through six weeks are the third-most in franchise history at this stage. The full result is in the Bills-Raiders recap.
What comes next
Buffalo has a Week 7 bye. Allen’s first chance to move past Kelly comes at Highmark Stadium against the Baltimore Ravens, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 1.
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