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<\/div>\nAlaina GetzenbergSep 7, 2025, 11:59 PM ET<\/span><\/p>\n
Close<\/a><\/p>\n- Alaina Getzenberg covers the Buffalo Bills for ESPN. She joined ESPN in 2021. Alaina was previously a beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer and has also worked for CBS Sports and the Dallas Morning News. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills<\/a> kicker Matt Prater<\/a> approached quarterback Josh Allen<\/a> in the locker room before the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens<\/a> on Sunday night.<\/p>\n
“[Prater] just said, ‘Hey, I promise you I’m going to give you everything I got tonight,'” Allen recalled after the game.<\/p>\n
Prater told Allen that though it might not be perfect right away, “I’m going to do everything I can to try to be perfect to help.” Prater, 41, joined the team Thursday morning after taking a redeye flight to fill in for Tyler Bass<\/a>, who was put on injured reserve because of left hip and groin issues.<\/p>\n
Perfect? The Bills’ performance was far from it.<\/p>\n
But Allen, the reigning NFL MVP, outdueled two-time MVP Lamar Jackson<\/a> and led the Bills back from a 15-point deficit in the final four minutes with Prater kicking the winning 32-yard field goal as time expired in a 41-40<\/a> victory.<\/p>\n
“It took everybody there. I’m just proud of our team for staying in it,” Allen said. “No one on the sideline blinked. I mean, down 15 points, whatever we were with five, six minutes left. Staying with it, fans leaving the stadium, you got to play this game for 60 minutes. And that’s a really good outfit that we just played, and God willing, we take care of business how we’re supposed to and how we think we will.”<\/p>\n
The Bills became the first team in NFL history to overcome a 15-point deficit in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to win a season opener, per Elias Sports Bureau. The team extended its 12-game home win streak and also won the turnover battle for the 23rd consecutive game, the longest streak in NFL history (including playoffs). Since 2000, teams have now won only three of 2,316 games when trailing by 15-plus points in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Allen led the effort. He threw the most passing yards in any quarter in his career (251) in the fourth and became the first player with 250 passing yards and two rushing touchdowns in any quarter since at least 1978.<\/p>\n