The Bills can win in the playoffs with the play they’re getting at quarterback
Thursday’s win in Dallas was in many ways a coming out party for Josh Allen on the national stage. It was Allen’s first game as a Bill in front of a national TV audience. While he wasn’t spectacular, he certainly didn’t disappoint during Buffalo’s 26-15 victory.
Allen posted his most efficient passing day of the season, going 19 of 24 for 231 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 10 times for 43 yards and another score. In addition, Allen avoided tossing an interception, the sixth time in seven games he avoided an interception after a rocky start to the season in that department.
Allen is starting to look like the real deal. He was in command of the Buffalo offense on Thursday, especially during the first half. He delivered several strong, accurate throws to get the Buffalo offense going. He had an impressive throw to Cole Beasley from his end zone to get the Bills out of a third down jam near their own goal line. He later delivered a perfect throw to Beasley for a catch-and-run touchdown.
Allen’s transformation in the past few weeks has been no small feat. There’s no better way to describe Allen the prospect from the 2018 draft than a project. He came out of college with impressive physical tools, but had struggled to put it together fully on the field at Wyoming. He also had major accuracy issues. It was accepted that he would need time to develop.
Allen has worked on his footwork, mechanics, and touch to become a better quarterback in 2019. But he still struggled early in the season with decision making and carelessness with the football. He also had problems delivering certain throws, which held the overall production of the offense back.
While some of these issues still persist, Allen has been able to take a major step forward in the month of November. He has been Buffalo’s best player on offense in the three wins against Miami, Denver, and Dallas. He’s also been able to eliminate turnovers. Allen has tossed just one pick in the last seven games. During that same time, he has found the end zone 16 (16!!) times.
In addition to the steps Allen has taken as a passer, he has continued to show off his skillset as a runner. He now has eight rushing touchdowns on the season, the second year in a row he’s done so. Allen’s most impressive play of the game Thursday may have been his shortest rush. On a 4th and 1 from the Dallas 30 with 2:17 left in the first half, the Bills decided to go for it and have Allen sneak for a yard. The problem was, Allen fumbled the snap. Still, Allen was able to rescue the play by picking up the ball, plowing through a defender, and reaching across for the first down. Allen pumped his fist after the play in a big show of emotion. One play later, the Bills had the lead for good on the reverse pass from John Brown to Devin Singletary.
Allen’s three-game streak doesn’t for sure mean that the Bills have found their franchise quarterback. There’s still a matchup with Bill Belichick’s defense coming up, which can humble any quarterback. Still, Allen’s recent play is good enough that you can feel comfortable about what the Bills have at quarterback, if not better. In fact, his play has been good enough that it perhaps can carry the Buffalo offense against playoff opponents.
We’ll see what happens when Allen has to play a playoff game on the road against a tough opponent in a few weeks, but if he continues his strong play, it should be good enough to give the Bills a chance to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 1995.
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