{"id":128129,"date":"2022-01-16T11:30:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T16:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=128129"},"modified":"2022-01-16T09:00:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T14:00:06","slug":"josh-allen-playoff-performance-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/01\/16\/josh-allen-playoff-performance-patriots\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Allen Had Arguably the Best Playoff Performance Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Buffalo Bills have themselves a really good quarterback in Josh Allen. The former first-round pick absolutely destroyed the Patriots through the air and the ground en route to a 47-17 thrashing in the AFC Wild Card Round. Allen didn\u2019t make a single mistake all day and essentially got revenge on New England for their 20-year run of dominance. Josh Allen was obviously fantastic, but there is a strong case to be made that the quarterback had the best playoff performance of the modern era.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;18053&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Josh Allen Made History With Dominant Playoff Performance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h4><strong>Allen\u2019s Night, Contextualized<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you watched even one Bills drive from last night, then you know that Josh Allen was simply on another level of existence throughout Saturday\u2019s contest. The quarterback completed 21 of his 25 passes for 308 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions while adding another 66 yards on six carries. The Bills had seven meaningful drives, and each one ended in a touchdown. It goes without saying that finishing with more touchdowns than incompletions is a good thing, but the advanced stats show just how ridiculous Allen was.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to RBSDM.com, Allen finished with a 99th percentile EPA\/play, 99th percentile total EPA, and a 97th percentile completion percentage over expectation. RBSDM data goes all the way back to 1999, so it\u2019s safe to say that Allen\u2019s performance is one of the greatest of all time, regardless of opponent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">There\u2019s no defense for a perfect throw <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4nxTkYTk5p\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4nxTkYTk5p<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; LastWordOnNFL (@LastWordOnNFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LastWordOnNFL\/status\/1482524073414598659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He did all this with a 9.2 average depth of target, which goes to show that he wasn\u2019t getting by on short, easy throws. Allen was attempting ridiculous passes throughout the night, and he was completing them with ease.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to ESPN, Allen\u2019s 98.5 QBR was the best playoff performance since they started recording the stat (2006). Others came close, but nobody was quite able to match what Allen did yesterday. Tom Brady put up a 98.0 QBR against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/jaguars\/\" target=\"_self\">Jacksonville Jaguars<\/a> in 2008, while Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes posted identical 97.7 QBR\u2019s in 2010 and 2020, respectively. QBR only goes back to 2006, so it doesn\u2019t know about Peyton Manning\u2019s dominant performance over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/broncos\" target=\"_self\">Denver Broncos<\/a> in 2004.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Which Playoff Game Was the Best?<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Based on the above, we\u2019ve established five games that could be considered the best playoff performance of the modern era. Allen narrowly has the lead statistically, but it\u2019s close enough to fall within the margin of error. Let\u2019s take a closer look at each one of those games and see which performance truly was the best.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quarterback<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EPA\/play<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CPOE<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ADOT<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Josh Allen<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0.86<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">17.8<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9.2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tom Brady<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0.66<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">25<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4.2<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peyton Manning<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1.15<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N\/A<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">N\/A<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Drew Brees<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0.45<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9.3<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8.8<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patrick Mahomes<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">0.57<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6.1<\/span><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7.6<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The table above shows that Allen has the statistical edge on everyone except for possibly Manning. While Brady had the better CPOE in his 2007 domination, Allen\u2019s advantage in EPA\/play and ADOT gives him the edge there. It\u2019s hard to contextualize how good Manning was, as we don\u2019t have ADOT or CPOE data from the 2003 season. However, a 1.15 EPA\/play is just ridiculously good and is the only game that, on paper, could match what Allen did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">2007\/08  divisional playoffs.patriots vs Jaguars. Tom Brady  breaks record for highest completion percentage. 92.9 26\/28. Only two incompletions ok drops. Patriots beat jaguars 31-20. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/patriots?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#patriots<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/jaguars?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#jaguars<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/nfl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#nfl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jyPAY9k1UM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/jyPAY9k1UM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Martin Brian Ansah (@DaAnsahonSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DaAnsahonSports\/status\/954176972816560129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 19, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, these metrics don\u2019t know about the opposing defenses. New England finished the season as a top-five defense by just about every metric, so Allen deserves some bonus points for shredding an elite unit. The 2003 Denver Broncos, meanwhile, ranked 10th in dropback EPA\/play allowed. So while Manning destroyed a good defense, Allen obliterated a great one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, it\u2019s too close to say if Manning or Allen had the better day. So, at worst, Allen had the second-best playoff performance in the modern era.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"zvV1aU_dRUJm5Wf1Qhi4EQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1361644181\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'zvV1aU_dRUJm5Wf1Qhi4EQ',sig:'hMPT5n3CD8jtAnQawdBZYsBe-iYRHl2yBBkMbxXw-bY=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1361644181',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen had a historic playoff performance against the New England Patriots that could be the best ever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":128130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7702,7705,2599],"class_list":["post-128129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bills","tag-bills-featured","tag-buffalo-bills-news","tag-josh-allen"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}