In retrospect, we should have seen this coming.
Josh Allen, the Jaguars’ edge-rusher selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2019 draft, had one of the most incredible and unrepeatable days any defender has ever enjoyed in pro football history on Sunday, as the Jaguars upset the Bills, 9-6. Why was this day so unique for the Jaguars’ Josh Allen? Because of all things he did against Bills quarterback Josh Allen, selected with the…
*re-checks Pro Football Reference*
…seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft. Yes, it was already weird before the game, and it was about to get weirder. The Jaguars’ Josh Allen had a great hat trick against the Bills’ Josh Allen — he sacked the quarterback, intercepted the quarterback, and recovered the quarterback’s fumble. The Jaguars’ Josh Allen had 17.5 sacks coming into this game, including two sacks against the Seahawks in Week 8, which matched his career high, but he had never recorded an interception or recovered a fumble before the Bills’ Josh Allen showed up at his doorstep. It was as if one Josh Allen had been waiting for the other all along.
The Jaguars’ Josh Allen was asked this week about the potential same-name storyline.
“I’m just looking forward to playing against this team and then looking forward to playing against him,” Allen said Wednesday. “He’s been playing at a high level of recent. He’s been evading sacks recently, he’s been getting out of the pocket, his O-line does a really good job of protecting him. I love this challenge. We’re going to get after them but we have to do it early and throughout the whole game.”
Had this Josh Allen received any of the other Josh Allen’s mail? Turns out, yes.
“I have. I actually got an email that was something—I’m not going to tell his business out there—but I got an email for him and I was like, ‘Oh yeah!’ Then, I looked at it and I was like, ‘I don’t think this was for me.’ So, that was all the hiccup I got, outside of just fans or whatever. So, I thought that was pretty cool.”
The whole day was pretty cool for the Jaguars’ Josh Allen. The Bills’ Josh Allen, who finished his day with 31 completions in 47 attempts for 264 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, didn’t feel the same.