Still only 26 years old, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen is coming off one of the better two-year spans for a young quarterback in NFL history.
Seen as a project when Buffalo selected the Wyoming product No. 7 overall back in 2018, Allen’s ascension to stardom has mystified some. We knew he had the arm talent. But accuracy issues and a certain rawness led to group think that Allen couldn’t morph into the elite signal caller we see today.
Allen and his Bills took on the Denver Broncos in their second preseason game Saturday afternoon in Western New York. There was no real reason for head coach Sean McDermott to have Allen on the field. However, he just wanted to get QB1 some play ahead of Buffalo’s regular-season opener against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
In limited action, Allen showed himelf to be in mid-season form. The Pro Bowl signal caller completed all three of his passes for 45 yards en route to leading Buffalo on a six-play, 70-yard touchdown-scoring drive. Said drive culminated on a a 28-yard scoring strike to Gabriel Davis.
Every single aspect of this play was elite on Josh Allen’s part. From recognizing pressure and avoiding it to finding room in the pocket and unloading an absolute strike. It’s just an example of what we’ve seen from Allen over the past couple years.
Related: Josh Allen and the NFL’s highest-paid QBs
Josh Allen as the NFL MVP favorite?
“You can see it in the way he plays once he gets in a rhythm and understands what’s going on. He’s a man who can’t be stopped and again like I said, I got all the trust in the world when I have 17 on the same side as me on the field.”
Buffalo BIlls’ Gabriel Davis on Josh allen
A fourth-round pick out of Central Florida back in 2020, Davis is among the players who have benefited the most from Allen’s excellent play. That included the young receiver hauling in four touchdown catches in Buffalo’s epic AFC Divisional Playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s not a coincidence that Allen’s coming-out party in said game against former NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes has led to talk about him overtaking his counterpart. Allen completed 27-of-37 passes fo 329 yards with those four touchdowns. He also added 68 yards on the ground.
Buffalo ended up losing in overtime after Kansas City won the toss — leading to the NFL changing its overtime rules in the process. Think about that for a second. The league was forced to change longstanding playoff rules because it didn’t seem fair that Allen failed to have a chance to match his counterpart with a touchdown of his own.
With Davis, Stefon Diggs, Dawson Knox and the recently-signed Jamison Crowder as his top pass-catchers, Allen has the supporting cast to continue his dominance. He has the offensive line play. He has a nice mix of running backs. He has an elite-level defense to help Buffalo contend for the Super Bowl.
Related: Josh Allen and the top NFL QBs of 2022
Josh Allen looking to take his game to the next level
It’s hard to imagine Allen being any better than what we saw last season with the Bills. The dude threw for 4,407 yards while adding 763 yards on the ground and compiling 42 total touchdowns. However, he did throw 15 interceptions in the process.
- Josh Allen stats (2020-21): 66% completion, 8,951 passing yards, 1,184 rushing yards, 87 total TD, 25 INT, 99.2 QB rating
A lot of that has to do with Allen’s gunslinger mentality. It’s not too dissimilar to what we saw from Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre during his heyday.
But in order to compete with the likes of Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady for the NFL MVP award, Allen will have to limit his mistakes some more. That’s what we mean by saying that Allen needs to take his game to the next level if he wants to be considered a legit MVP candidate.