Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen did not search the film for a teammate to share the fault.

After Buffalo’s 29-26 loss to the New England Patriots, the Bills quarterback stood in front of reporters and assigned the play that ended the game to himself.

New England had just taken the lead with a touchdown inside the final two minutes. Buffalo still had the ball, three timeouts, and enough time to answer with a tying field goal or a winning score.

On second down of that last drive, pressure arrived and Allen forced a throw into triple coverage.

The interception effectively ended the afternoon. New England converted a first down on the next possession and kneeled out the clock.

“Should throw that one out of bounds, live to fight another day,” Allen said.

The regret was specific. He did not describe the play as a coverage bust or a missed assignment downfield. He treated it as a decision he could have reversed by putting the ball out of bounds and giving Buffalo another snap.

In a one-score game, that is often the whole margin: not the throw that has to be heroic, but the one that keeps the drive alive.

The loss cut deeper because Buffalo had briefly seized control. Earlier in the fourth quarter, Allen found Keon Coleman for a go-ahead touchdown that put the Bills ahead 26-21 after a missed two-point conversion.

New England answered with an eight-play, 73-yard drive against a defense already thinned by injuries. The sequence left Allen with a chance to rescue the afternoon, and a chance he did not take.

His production was not empty. Allen accounted for a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. The interception, though, was his third in two games, and that pattern followed him off the field.

Some called the late throw “hero ball” and noted Allen made numerous bad decisions. In fact, Patriots youngster Drake Maye looked like the more mature quarterback on the day.

Allen did not argue the point. His postgame comments were short and pointed inward, which is its own kind of evaluation. Buffalo had the ingredients of a finish — timeouts, time, and a quarterback capable of creating a play — and lost them on a throw he now says should never have been attempted.

For a team that has lived on Allen’s willingness to hunt the spectacular, the quote was a reminder that the spectacular is sometimes the wrong answer. Living to fight another down would have kept the game open. The interception closed it.