One-Stat Recap: Josh Allen goes big-play hunting

Early on in the Buffalo Bills’ Super Wild Card Weekend matchup with the Miami Dolphins, it looked like Vegas and most analysts would be right, with Buffalo rolling over Miami at Highmark Stadium. Unfortunately for us, the Dolphins staged a minor comeback, and the game was much more stressful than necessary.

Part of the reason the Bills jumped out to that early lead, and part of the reason the Dolphins were able to come back, was the fact that Josh Allen was big-play hunting on Sunday — possibly inspired by a recent addition to his basement. Buffalo’s average depth of target (ADOT) on Sunday was 15.2 yards — the third-highest of Allen’ career and the ninth-highest of any team since 2018. This seems to have been a part of offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey’s game plan to deal with Miami’s aggressive defense. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, on Sunday the Bills faced the highest blitz rate in the last two seasons, and Allen threw the most deep passes of any quarterback this season. Thankfully, Allen was able to complete enough passes like the 52-yard bomb to Stefon Diggs (the most improbable pass of his career, also according to NFL Next Gen Stats) to give the Bills the edge and the win.