The Bills got a lot of their winning done the hard way Monday night in Minnesota.But it didn’t stop Buffalo quarterback Josh Allenfrom going to the air attack and making plays.Allen used his feet and maneuvering to connect on a play with rookie tight end Keleki Latu for a 25-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone late in the first half. It was Latu's first touchdown reception of his career.The QB broke down the play on the Bills bench afterward, which NFL Films captured:
On a night when the Bills deployed their four tight ends frequently as blockers to counter Minnesota's aggressive pass rush, Allen found a reliable target in Latu for the only passing touchdown of the game.Allen rolled out toward the right sideline, escaping the Vikings'
defensive pressure long enough to zip a dart from 25 yards out to find backup tight end Keleki Latu in the back of the end zone for a touchdown that gave them a 10-3 lead with 44 seconds left in the first half. “Of course my my coach has always been saying be prepared because anything will happen, something goes down or we need you for any case possible, then you're up,” Latu said to the press in the locker room after the game, where he received a game ball from head coach Joe Brady.“I just got ready and I got lined in the alley,” Latu said about what he saw from Allen and the Vikings defense on the play” Just saw the the front it was a cover zero and then I knew his man coverage and then I just ran my route and I looked back, and I knew he was scrambling I was like okay he's going right so I got to go right, get in the end zone and you know can I throw it up and I'm going to catch it using my length to the best of my ability”Late stepped up when his number was called and was ready for anything, and it turned into his first NFL touchdown.His quarterback spoke after the game about what Latu means to him and the team as well.“Come on. I mean, he if you talk to anybody on this team, ‘“Lucky Lu”’, especially when he's on that scout team, you throw it up to him, he's coming down with it,” Allen said during his press conference after the victory. “He's a young player that's just gotten better each and every year. He continues to work hard, doesn't complain ever, finds himself in a spot tonight, makes a great play for us, it's a huge play for us, and I’ve got a lot of trust in him. But again, just as a as a person, as a player, as a teammate, not many better than him.”For his part, Latu knows that playing with Josh Allen means turning broken plays into big completions.“I mean, he can make the craziest passes possible, so I was getting ready for anything,” he added about seeing the Bills quarterback extend the play to find him downfield. “Just be a be available, be open, and for me, I just want to, you know, be in a spot for him to trust me.”The young tight end’s readiness got the lone passing touchdown for Buffalo on the night, as the league’s best defense played them hard.“They were very sound and very, very aggressive,” Latu added about the Minnesota unit. “They played very well today. They're very talented and we it we knew going into this this game, it was going to be a hard game. They are very smart and we tried to game plan as best possible.”The experience was one he knows the Bills' defense can build on the rest of the season as well.“They definitely help us prepare for for us to get better in the long run in the future.”
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills' Josh Allen, Keleki Latu break down TD play vs. Vikings
