Bills turnovers vs. Broncos: How Josh Allen, James Cook giveaways caused Buffalo's playoff loss

Daniel Mader

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Bills turnovers vs. Broncos: How Josh Allen, James Cook giveaways caused Buffalo's playoff loss image

Against a stingy Denver Broncos defense, the Buffalo Bills knew coming into Saturday that they would likely need a clean game to advance in the playoffs.

Offensively, Sean McDermott's unit fell short of that mark. Turnovers plagued Josh Allen and the Bills, with both Allen and James Cook losing the football in a 33-30 overtime loss.

Multiple Bills turnovers, including four by Allen alone, directly led to Broncos points, allowing Denver to score easily on several possessions — including the game-winning drive in overtime. In the playoff thriller, Buffalo managed to stay in the game deep into the extra period despite its struggles controlling the ball.

Here's a look at Buffalo's turnover issues in Saturday's playoff game and how they'll haunt the Bills heading into the offseason.

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Bills turnovers vs. Broncos

With a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line, each team got points on their opening drives. Allen's touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman gave Buffalo a 7-3 lead in the first quarter. But then, Denver's defense started to step up. 

Early in the second quarter, shortly after a Broncos punt, Alex Singleton rocked James Cook with a hit that pried the ball free from the running back's arms. Denver jumped on the ball, taking over at its own 31-yard line.

That Cook fumble led to a Broncos touchdown, as Denver took a 10-7 lead by taking advantage of the turnover.

A few drives later, the Bills had a chance to get into field-goal range with limited time on the clock before halftime. Trailing 17-10, Allen scrambled toward Broncos territory hoping to gain some ground. Instead, he lost the ball.

Nik Bonitto came up behind Allen, poking the ball out of the quarterback's hand. It's unclear whether Allen simply didn't see Bonitto or not, but regardless, the Bills star wasn't protecting the ball very well. Again, Denver took over.

Because there were still a few seconds on the clock, Allen's blunder allowed the Broncos to get another field goal on the board.

Early in the second half, Bonitto was right back to making big plays on Allen. Buffalo got the ball to start the third quarter, but for the second consecutive possession, he gave the ball away. As he was sacked on a 2nd & 10, Allen let the football go for another fumble. He had just been winding up to throw, but Bonitto got the ball to fall onto the ground right before Allen let it go.

Yet again, a Bills turnover led to Broncos points, as Denver put up a field goal on the following drive.

Allen, however, was not yet done giving the ball away. After the Bills put themselves right back in the game with a touchdown drive, then an interception on Bo Nix, they lost possession. 

Going for a big play, Allen went deep for Curtis Samuel on the second play of Buffalo's drive. It didn't work. P.J. Locke came over to the middle of the field and picked Allen's pass off to give Denver possession again.

Eventually, the Bills managed to force overtime despite the significant turnover differential. A Matt Prater field goal tied it at 30 before the end of regulation, meaning Buffalo had a chance to come back and overcome its turnover woes.

In overtime though, Allen had a fourth turnover, and it led to his team's loss. The interception wasn't entirely on him, as Brandin Cooks allowed the ball to be wrestled free from his arms, but it went down on Allen's box score nonetheless.

With Buffalo able to win the game with any points, Allen went deep for Cooks, who appeared to haul in the big catch. Instead, Ja'Quan McMillian fought with Cooks to rip the ball out as the two fell to the ground, and the Broncos got a massive turnover to prevent the Bills from winning the game.

Denver proceeded to kick the game-winning field goal on the following drive.

MORE: How Josh Allen's fumble before halftime changed game vs. Broncos

Bills turnover stats this season

The Bills ranked around the middle of the pack across the NFL in giveaways in the regular season. Allen didn't throw interceptions too often, as Buffalo's 10 picks were tied for the 11th-best mark in the league.

Fumbling, however, was a bit more prevalent for the Bills. They had nine lost fumbles in the regular season, which was tied for 10th in the NFL.

As a whole, Buffalo's 19 giveaways were tied for 17th in the league, but the team's defense helped cancel that out by forcing 20 giveaways for a +1 differential. Among 2025 playoff teams, the 49ers (-6), Seahawks (-3), Broncos (-3) and Panthers (-2) all had worse differential marks.

MORE: How the Broncos passed on chance to draft Josh Allen

James Cook 2025 fumbles

For Cook, his lost fumble in Saturday's playoff game was a continuation of his regular season performance. Despite leading the NFL in rushing, Cook had six total fumbles, three of which were lost. He led all running backs in regular-season fumbles, per StatMuse.

Cook, however, had never fumbled in the playoffs before Saturday's game. As a whole, the turnover against the Broncos represented his sixth career lost fumble.

Here's a look at Cook's career fumbles:

SeasonFumblesLost
202211
202331
202410
202574
Totals:126

Josh Allen career fumbles

As for Allen, he's dealt with regular-season fumbling issues throughout his career. However, his two lost fumbles against the Broncos were still the first of his playoff career.

In total, Allen came into Saturday with 41 career fumbles in the regular season, 16 of which were lost. In the playoffs, he had five fumbles, but the Bills retained possession on all of them.

Here's a look at Allen's career fumbles, with regular season and playoffs combined:

SeasonFumblesLost
201861
201972
202044
202152
202292
202363
202430
202562
Totals:4616

MORE: Meet the Broncos offensive lineman who scored playoff TD vs. Bills

Most turnovers in a playoff game

While the Bills struggled to take care of the ball on Saturday, they didn't quite come close to the record for most turnovers in a playoff game. That would be nine, which has happened to a total of four different teams, per StatMuse.

In the Super Bowl against the Cowboys in 1993, Buffalo gave the ball away nine times — five fumbles lost and four interceptions thrown.

The Oilers had nine turnovers in the 1979 AFC Championship Game as well. Five of those were interceptions for Dan Pastorini, and the other four were lost fumbles.

In a pair of NFL Championship games, going all the way back to 1954, the Lions had nine giveaways against the Browns, and in 1940, Washington had nine turnovers against the Bears. 

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