Bills quarterback Josh Allen tossed his first interception in five games in a 20-3 win over the Denver Broncos last week. That’s a significant drop off from the early-season pace he set for himself.
In the Bills’ first four games, Allen tossed six interceptions and seven in his first five games. So what gives? What’s different?
That fourth game is the key, Allen said on Tuesday.
In that outing, Buffalo fell 16-10 to the Patriots. A close game, despite Allen turning the ball over four times, including three interceptions. The second-year QB said that was the key in unlocking some safer football in his game.
“It’s crazy to say it, but probably after the Patriots game. It was one of those games that obviously wasn’t pretty, but I think it was necessary for growth and for development there, and understanding what I can and can’t do on a football field,” Allen said. “I think after that week I just kind of thought to myself, ‘I need to be better. I need to do things different.’”
Since then, it wasn’t all gravy for Allen and the Bills offense. He still doesn’t put up massive passing numbers and he still had some yips in regard to fumbling the ball. But is Allen turning a corner there, too? With a fumble-less game on Thursday against the Cowboys, it will be the first time in his young career he’s gone three-straight games without fumbling.
If he reaches that milestone, he’ll do so on the national stage, too. Simply playing a game on primetime is something he’s never done in his young career, either. No big deal, he says.
“I don’t really think it’s different from any other game that we’ve played,” Allen said. “We’re going out there and we’re playing football how we know how to play. I’m going to trust the game plan that we put in, and just try to play like we’ve been playing the last few weeks.”
In regard to his QB potentially taking a step, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott said it’s rare a quarterback steps right in and has “it.” They have to learn on that job, and he sees Allen doing just that.
“That’s natural, that progression. Very few times do you come in and everyone’s got it just from the start. Josh has done just a heck of a job at just staying resilent, adjusting, growing, devloping. That’s what you want to see from young players, and in this case, from our quarterback,” McDermott told WGR-550 Radio on Wednesday. “He’s played extremely well over the course of the last few weeks. We have a lot of confidence in Josh.”
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