The 2020 NFL season is at the middle point and there’s no reason for us to tip-toe our way into this article. We’re halfway to the finish line and while there’s still plenty to discover about the 6-2 Buffalo Bills, we’ve already found out plenty of things about this team through eight games.
So let’s just jump right into the deep end: Here’s five takeaways from the first half of the Bills’ season:
Josh Allen has taken a step, but how big?
Following his second season in the NFL, Bills quarterback Josh Allen had 3,089 passing yards. There were notable guys who had more passing yards than Allen. Some include Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, Kyle Allen, Mitchell Trubisky and Gardner Minshew. Heck, even Daniel Jones and Sam Darnold were right on his heels.
We’ll put it to you this way, how crazy it is to think that Allen, who had the 23rd most passing yards in the NFL last season, was anywhere close to guys like that after seeing him play in 2020?
Buffalo’s QB is on pace to smash that total this season as he’s already at 2,172 passing yards. Now he’s around guys like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and MVP front-runner Russell Wilson. In fact, he’s fallen down the charts in recent weeks and still resides near the top.
Now just like this takeaway from the season, Allen’s tune has changed since his start to the year. After four games, Allen was in the MVP conversation. He’s out of that now because he simply hasn’t been at those elite levels. Against some tougher foes like the Titans and Chiefs, Buffalo struggled as a team leading to losses. Allen was among those who weren’t up to spat.
Has Allen been awful? Clearly not. He’s still sixth in passing yards in the NFL after all. But the question marks are up again, just a different variety.
After his first few seasons, those asking questions were wondering if this guy can cut it at all in the NFL. Those questions are gone. Now we’re wondering if he can play at an elite level. Currently the answer is no, but that’s not written in pen because he was at those levels and can still get back there.
So our key takeaway on Allen from the start of the season: Is Allen better? Yes. How better? We have another eight games to truly find out.