Josh Allen on stiff arm: ‘An example of what I’m willing to do to win a game’

Josh Allen on stiff arm: ‘An example of what I’m willing to do to win a game’

The last time the Rams played a game at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, things worked out pretty well for them, as they won Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Their 2022 home opener to the regular season went very differently, as the champs fell to the Bills 31-10.

Bills QB Josh Allen delivered a signature offensive performance in the win, throwing for three touchdowns with 297 total passing yards and an 83% CMP%, also adding a fourth TD on the ground to go with 56 rush yards.

While getting it done on offense with his arm and his legs is nothing new for Allen, occasionally he’ll extend an arm to hold a defender at bay and to extend the play to try to gain more yardage.

At 6’5 and 237 lb, he’s a big boy and hard to tackle, and it’s not uncommon on his runs that a defender finds themself on the receiving end of a stiff arm.

The latest recipient of a Josh Allen stiff arm is Rams safety Nick Scott.

The Buffalo Bills QB dropped back to pass while staring down a third-and-7 during the team’s opening offensive drive, when he took off towards the sideline for the first down, finding himself in a one-on-one matchup with Scott who came to meet him and try and make a tackle — who in turn then found himself on the wrong end of an Allen stiff arm that shoved him down on the turf.

After the game, Allen spoke about the play and how it fired up his team.

“Just trying to make a play for the team, just doing what I can do to try to get first down,” Allen said to the media. “That’s it. You know, guys appreciate that. I play hard. I want to win games no matter how I can do it. That’s just, I guess, an example of what I’m willing to do to win a game and just try to get a first down and allow us to keep moving the ball. It’s just all in the heat of the moment and I think guys appreciate that.”

After the game, Bills running back Devin Singletary confirmed something that could be seen in some angles of the stiff arm play- Which is Allen smiling and laughing while putting the outsized Scott on the ground.

“Of course,” Singletary said to Spectrum News 1 Buffalo reporter Jon Scott when asked if it provided the team with a jolt. “And while he’s doing it he’s laughing, so that’s going to turn you up even more. Yes, he’s laughing as he’s doing it, I’m watching him laugh as he’s doing it.”

Needless to say the Rams sideline may not have enjoyed it as much as the Bills as Allen and Scott came crashing into their area.

“They weren’t too happy about it, but it is what it is, they got to deal with it,” the RB said with a smile.

Allen is aggressive at the quarterback position in his playmaking abilities and in his desire to win games and advance offensive drives when carrying the ball. That can sometimes include trucking guys on the opposite side of the ball by laying an extended hand on them.

“I like winning. Whatever I’m asked to do, I’m willing to do,” Allen said of his running. “And again, limiting the hits, obviously sliding getting out of bounds. The utmost importance there, the best ability is availability. But again, when I’m called upon to do something for my team, I’m willing to do it.”

A native of Firebaugh, CA outside of Fresno, Allen had his family present watching from one of the SoFi stadium fieldside suites. The performance on one of the NFL’s newest and grandest fields made quite an impression.

“There have been a lot of great moments,” his father Joel said, via Sam Farmer and the Los Angeles Times. “But this is epic.”

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