Tag: Beane

Josh Allen displays ‘ice in his veins’ with another comeback win

The third year quarterback led his team to yet another come from behind victory on Sunday.

Depending who you ask, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is either the greatest of all-time, or the most overrated. But one thing that is hard to argue, is his ability to takeover games in the fourth quarter.

Coming into Week 2 vs. the Dolphins, Allen had six-career fourth quarter comebacks and eight game-winning drives. With the Bills’ 31-28 victory over Miami, he added another one to each of those columns.

A year ago against the Dolphins, Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins called Josh a “mon-star” following a comeback victory. This year, the praise came right from the top. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was the one with the big hype for the QB.

“He’s got ice water in his veins,” McDermott said via video conference follow the win. “There’s no moment too big for him.”

While there still remains plenty of skeptics surrounding Allen and his ability to reach an “elite” level of play, it’s hard to not see improvement from the third-year QB, especially late in games. It’s even a trait he already had, having been tied for the NFL lead with five fourth-quarter comebacks in 2019.

With the Bills trailing for the first time this season, 20-17 in the fourth quarter, Allen drove the team down the field with several throws that showcase the QB’s growth. These are the type of steps you look for in Year 3.

The first of hopefully many fourth quarter, eye-popping catches from Diggs came at the expense of rookie cornerback Noah Igbinoghene:

That series was capped off by a sensational catch by rookie wideout Gabriel Davis, which gave the Bills the lead and they never looked back:

Once the Bills took the lead, they didn’t just sit back as we’ve seen in the past. Good thing too as Miami was able to get another score in the dying seconds that ended up having little meaning. Another one for Diggs in the dying moments:

Allen continued to lead this offense down the field and put up yet another touchdown that was unexpected. This time on a long throw to John Brown, which put Allen over 400 yards for the first time in his career, he showcased the confidence the QB is now playing with:

While there are certainly areas the Bills will attempt to clean up, given the absence of starting linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano in this one, the Bills have to be pretty pleased with the end result.

For the first time in a long time, the defense leaned on the offense to put away a game, something Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane and McDermott had hoped for when continuing to invest in the Bills offense this offseason.

At the end of the day, despite all of the weapons on offense, comebacks start and end with your quarterback. Given the regularity at which they are occurring so far in his career, it might be time we anoint Allen with a new nickname… Captain Comeback.

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Josh Allen will use Bills’ playoff loss to ‘fuel’ him

Allen says the loss to the Texans will only make the Bills hungrier.

Following the Bills 22-19 playoff loss to the Houston Texans quarterback Josh Allen faced the media after a game that simply got away.

“It’s a game we should’ve won, could’ve won,” Allen said. “It sucks. This is a team that fought the entire game. I appreciate how the guys battled today… it’s going to be a long offseason, but we’ll learn from it.”

After coming out firing on offense, in a drive that concluded with Josh Allen catching a touchdown pass from wide receiver John Brown, the Bills offense was held out of the endzone for the remainder of the game.

Thanks to a perfect performance from kicker Stephen Hauschka, the Bills took a 16-0 lead into halftime, but the defense was unable to shutdown the likes of Houston quarterback Deshaun Watston in the second half.

Allen said repeatedly after the game that the offense not converting it’s opportunities was on his shoulders.

“It’s a bitter taste taste… we have to find a way to get six instead of three when we get down there and that’s on me.”

While the Bills season ends in Houston, there is a lot that can be learned from a tough playoff loss like this one and applied to the future.

“I am going to take this into the offseason… let it fuel me and take it from there,” Allen said. “This will hurt and sting for a while, but we’ll move on.”

Part of the Bills success this season has been attributed to the culture head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane are building in Buffalo. That closeness is something Allen feels will help propel them forward.

“I love my teammates, I love the energy they brought today and how they battled… it’s gonna make us hungrier, it sucks that we lost today, but life goes on… I expect this to make us hungrier and come out next year ready to go.”

While it is perfectly normal to feel disappointed in a game that as Allen put it, the Bills could have won, it is also OK to feel optimistic about this team’s future.

With strong leadership in McDermott, close to $90 million in salary cap space for Brandon Beane and several young building blocks in Allen, Tre’Davious White and Tremaine Edmunds (just to name a few,) unlike the last time the Bills made the playoffs, the growth should continue right on into next season. No rebuild, or teardown needed.

While today is undoubtedly painful for Bills fans, it is another step in the process and if Josh Allen and his teammates do indeed use it as fuel, we might all look back on this game one day and point to it as a large part of what ultimately pushed this franchise over the edge.

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