Sep 7, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills place kicker Matt Prater (15) is presented with the Sunday Night Football game ball along with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) after the game Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Ultimate Bills' teammate Josh Allen takes blame for Matt Prater's missed field goal

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI
By Ralph Ventre | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 7:19 PM ET

Matt Prater missed badly, but Josh Allen insists he shouldn't have been kicking from that particular spot in the first place.

With the Buffalo Bills looking to increase a 14-7 lead over the Miami Dolphins midway through the second quarter on Thursday Night Football, Allen and the offense faced a 3rd-and-8 at the opponent's 14-yard line. Instead of moving the chains or punching it in, Allen took a rare sack to force the kicking team onto the field.

“Just understand I can't take a sack there and move us backwards," said Allen after the 31-21 primetime victory.

Allen's mistake resulted in a seven-yard loss. It pushed the field goal back to a 39-yard attempt, and Prater just yanked it way to the left.

"There's a threshold where you're close enough, sacks don't really matter, but kind of in that mid-range, moving it back, it really puts our special teams in a tougher situation and that's on me," said Allen.

Although the redzone opportunity was squandered, Allen did not realistically put any additional pressure on Buffalo's kicking unit. For a man who has converted more 50+ yard attempts than anyone in NFL history, a 39-yarder is not an abnormal ask. Prater simply missed it, but Allen has made a habit of protecting his teammates.

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Arguably more unlikely than Prater missing from a reasonable distance is Allen taking a sack in a key spot. It was one of two times the Dolphins dropped the elusive quarterback behind the line on scrimmage during the primetime affair.

The Bills were the NFL's least sacked team in 2024, happening on only 2.69 percent of dropbacks. In other words, it's not often that Allen leaves points on the field because of a sack.

“I thought it should have been 17-7 at a minimum. We missed the field goal, and they went down and scored. So, 14-14 at the half, but our guys didn't blink. They were resilient," said head coach Sean McDermott.

Prater answered the bell in the game's final minute, nailing a 48-yard field goal that bumped the Bills' lead to 10 points.

Not only are the Bills resilient up and down the roster, they are team oriented, and Allen sets the tone.