I was worried about how Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen would perform under the biggest lights of his life on Thanksgiving against the Dallas Cowboys. I thought he might be a little bit too amped up and excited. If he was, he didn’t show it.
Right out of the gate, Allen looked calm and collected in the pocket against the Cowboys’ pass rush. Yeah, he took an occasional sack, but he also avoided pressure while keeping his eyes down the field and throwing absolute daggers when he may have scrambled in the past or thrown a pick.
Not only did Allen have the best game of his young career, he did it on the grandest stage in all of the regular season. So what does it mean?
To me, it means there is hope for a playoff win in 2019. I’m allowing myself to hope for that.
When the Bills made the postseason in 2017, the only reason you thought they might win the game was how bad Jacksonville’s offense was. You didn’t think the Bills’ offense was capable of making a run in the postseason—but that feels like the distant past. When you look at this Bills offense and this Bills quarterback, you feel like they could compete with anyone on any day.
Against the New England Patriots early in the season, Allen was leading yet another late-game charge and trying to score the go-ahead points against the AFC East leaders when he was knocked out of the game. Against the best team of the last two decades, he threw multiple interceptions, sure, but he also had the Bills in position to score points that could have won them the game. There doesn’t seem like a hopeless match-up for Buffalo and a lot of that comes from the fact that the second-year QB has looked like he belongs.
This week, some in Baltimore have questioned Allen’s ability to keep up with the high-powered Baltimore offense. Only twice in his career have the Bills asked him to throw more than 40 passes. This seems like it could be the third time as Buffalo tries to score as many points as MVP front-runner Lamar Jackson. I’m through doubting Allen. If the Bills need him to throw 45 times for 300+ yards, I’m here for it.
For the first time in a long time, there are whispers among Bills fans that they might actually have a legit quarterback of the future—a guy who could become a franchise quarterback. He can make all the throws, rally the team and be the heart of the offense, read the defense and get guys into good positions, and be a conduit between the coaching staff and the players around him.
He hasn’t thrown for 300 yards and he hasn’t outgunned another young stud in a back-and-forth contest. But I’m not betting against him anymore.