Yesterday’s blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals marks the fourth straight playoff exit for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills without a Super Bowl appearance. Ever since the Bills breakout year in the 2020-2021 NFL season, where they lost in the AFC Championship, fans have been awaiting Allen to lead the Bills back and possibly to a Super Bowl. Yet two years later, things haven’t worked out as many predicted for the Bills, and this falls on the shoulders of Allen more than most think.
Will Josh Allen Ever Reach the Super Bowl?
The Bills offense feeds on the idea that no matter what we can score quicker than you and we will always score more than you. Much of this is credited to Allen’s cannon of an arm and ability to make plays with his legs. When this offense is on, man is it on. For example, the Bills vs the Kansas City Chiefs in last year’s NFL playoffs.
📝 start gabe davis against the chiefs pic.twitter.com/kLsHxlrLBZ
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) October 16, 2022
In this showdown, the Bills offense tallied five total touchdowns. Three of these touchdowns came on drives that took less than a minute and fifteen seconds. If Sean McDermott’s vision for Allen was to quarterback a virtually unstoppable offense that worked at mind-blowing efficiency levels, this was as close as it could get. Plays such as his 75-yard touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis before the half and his 49-second drive to put the Bills up three with thirteen seconds left truly exemplified how remarkable peak Allen could be.
2022’s Ending Doesn’t Follow Script
Fast forward to yesterday, Allen tallied one total touchdown and an interception against a middle-of-the-pack Bengals defense. This raises the question, how sustainable is the way Allen plays football?
As it turns out, not very sustainable. As seen in the Bengals game, Allen’s eagerness to create big plays can pose self-inflicted wounds. There were many instances of him taking a deep shot, rather than taking the check down or a short route. If he doesn’t hit these deep shots, this play style can cause an offense to come to a total standstill. The Bills had multiple early three-and-outs, which allowed Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense to jump out to a 14-0 lead, and really never look back.
Although the way Josh Allen plays football is incredibly entertaining, a change in game style may have to be made if the talented quarterback ever wants to string consecutive playoff wins together and make a Super Bowl.
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