Defenses Are Frustrating Josh Allen Again
We all thought that Josh Allen had ascended to a higher level of play based upon the first four games of the 2020 season. We thought Allen had made his case to be considered among the best quarterbacks in the league. We had thought that the jokes and criticism of him had ended.
Maybe we thought wrong.
Allen looked like a rookie again in the Bills’ loss to Kansas City. Allen struggled to complete passes for most of the game and the ones he did complete mostly went for short gains. Allen finished with just 122 yards passing, a minuscule total that was reminiscent of the worst games of drought-era Bills quarterbacks like J.P. Losman, Kelly Holcomb, Trent Edwards, or Tyrod Taylor.
Allen’s performance on Monday was simply not good enough in a game where he’s matched up against Patrick Mahomes. The numbers were downright ugly. The Bills had just seven first downs through the air. They averaged just 4.5 yards per pass play. At one point in the fourth quarter, Allen was 9-for-21 passing for under 70 yards. This was a far cry from the Bills offense that looked unstoppable against the Jets, Dolphins, Rams, and Raiders. The Bills had a chance to stay with the Chiefs as the defense did hold them to under 30 points. But the Bills simply needed more from Allen and the offense. They didn’t get it.
What has happened to Allen and the Bills passing offense? In the last two weeks, the Titans and Chiefs have frustrated the Bills by playing a zone-based defense that has taken away the downfield passing game. Early in the season, the Bills were taking chunks of yards downfield on deep and intermediate throws. The Bills were excelling at deep crosser routes that were beating man coverage and getting receivers open downfield. Allen was also completing these passes with ease. Teams are now taking that away by playing a deeper, softer coverage and clogging the passing lanes by sitting back in a zone and keeping everything in front of them.
So while the opportunity for bigger plays down the field has started to disappear, there are still plays to be made in the short and intermediate passing game. On Monday, Allen was far too inaccurate to take advantage of what the Chiefs gave him.
Suddenly, Allen looks like the guy he was in 2018 and 2019 once again. Whatever magic Allen had in Weeks 1-4 has disappeared in the last two games. If Allen can only succeed against man coverage, that’s a major problem. Allen, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, and QB coach Ken Dorsey have to figure out a way to adjust and take advantage of these zone coverage looks. They can expect to see this every week from here on out.