Chiefs had a key piece of info ahead of Josh Allen’s failed fourth-down sneak attempt
Fans have obsessed over the video of a failed quarterback sneak by Buffalo’s Josh Allen early in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.
The Chiefs stopped Allen and the play was upheld by replay, but that hasn’t stopped people on social media from sharing photos and videos of the play that they believe was incorrectly called.
Defensive back Nazeeh Johnson revealed Thursday that the Chiefs had a key piece of information before Allen took the snap. While on the SiriusXM show “The D.A. Show with Babchik,” Johnson said the Chiefs had taken note in film study that Allen always went left when running a quarterback sneak.
And that’s what Allen did on the failed attempt against the Chiefs.
“We practiced it a lot. I mean, from our defense side, he always QB sneaks to our right,” Johnson said. “So every time we see him in QB formation, we know he’s coming to the right side every time. It’s 100% going to that side.”
The Chiefs also stopped an Allen sneak on a two-point conversion attempt. He went to the left on that play, too.
“If he would have done something different, then we wouldn’t been prepared, because we’re selling that he was coming to that side every time,” Johnson said. “And if they would have self-scouted a little bit, then they would have went to the opposite side, and they probably would have had a little more of a chance.”
Interestingly, Allen did try something different just four plays earlier. This was also on a fourth-and-1 play, and Allen jumped over the top. He had been stopped one play earlier on a third-and-1.
This was CBS Sports’ Jim Nantz’s call: “Over the top. This time he said forget about the left side.”
Allen fumbled at the end of that play and that might have been in his mind on the next fourth-down attempt.
Johnson was interviewed on a SiriusXM show.
This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 9:50 AM.
