Even the most loyal Patriots fan has to be impressed with the development of Josh Allen. The once raw rookie has transformed himself into one of the game's elites, and he appears ticketed for his first MVP award as he has theBuffalo Bills once again in contention in the AFC.
Consider that the Bills underwent an offseason reset, jettisoning several prominent veterans such as Stefon Diggs, Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Gabe Davis and Tre'Davious White. The moves put a lot of pressure on Allen to deliver, and to this point he's done just that.
Buffalo has topped the 30-point mark in eight consecutive games, which ties an NFL record shared by the 2000 Rams, 2007 Patriots, 2010 Patriots and the 2013 Broncos. The Bills hit the 40 mark in back-to-back games as well. All of this while Allen is working with an almost entirely new set of characters, led by former fifth-round pick Khalil Shakir, who is the Bills No. 1 wideout. Allen is also integrating newcomers like Amari Cooper (acquired in a deadline deal) and Curtis Samuel while dealing with injuries to Dalton Kincaid and rookie wideout Keon Coleman.
Some feared the added burden would force Allen to try to do too much and would lead to mistakes. Allen's biggest shortcoming as a quarterback has been his occasional lapses in judgement, which frequently come when he's pressing to try to make plays.
Instead, Allen is making fewer mistakes than ever while picking his spots to carry the team. He has just five interceptions and two lost fumbles this season, putting him on pace for the fewest turnovers of his career. But he's still impacting games as much as ever, wisely identifying the right time to take over games, as he did with a memorable fourth-down touchdown run to clinch a win over Kansas City last month. He has 11 rushing touchdowns, just four short of his career best set last season.
Through it all he continues to produce while keeping the Bills in the running for the top seed in the AFC with an 11-3 record. Buffalo clinched its fifth straight division title and now dominates the AFC East like the Patriots once did.
But unlike the Patriots, Allen's Bills have yet to get over the hump and make it to the Super Bowl, let alone win it. Which brings up an interesting comparison to consider, one brought up recently by Patriots Pre- and Postgame Show host Matt Smith: Is Allen the modern-day Dan Marino?
While there aren't many similarities between the Hall of Famer's style and that of Allen, both have enjoyed tremendous production while falling short of the ultimate team success. Taking it a step further, might Allen be losing to Patrick Mahomes, this era's version of Joe Montana?
Allen still has plenty of kicks at the can left to change that narrative, but the analogy is pretty sound. The one major difference in my view is Allen has typically played at an incredibly high level in the postseason, even in defeat. Marino's Dolphins teams often came up short because he didn't play as well in the playoffs. In 18 career playoff games, Marino threw 32 touchdowns and 24 interceptions for a 77.1 passer rating while compiling an 8-10 record. Considering his record-setting performances in the regular season, those numbers don't measure up.
Allen has actually elevated his game when the spotlight is on despite sporting just a 5-5 mark. He's thrown 21 touchdowns against only four interceptions and has a passer rating of 100. Allen's Bills averaged 23 points per game in the five postseason losses while Marino's Dolphins averaged only 15 in their 10 defeats. One of Allen's losses came in Kansas City when he threw two go-ahead touchdown passes in the final two minutes, only to lose 42-36 in overtime when the defense couldn't protect a lead in the final 13 seconds. Conversely, Marino was held below 17 points in six of those 10 losses.
It's certainly possible that Allen and the Bills won't ever break through and are destined to finish without a title, making him another great quarterback who finished his career without a Super Bowl ring. But if that happens the Bills won't be able to point the blame at their quarterback.
Rare treat
A pair of great matchups for the late window in Week 15 as Buffalo took down Detroit and Philadelphia got the better of Pittsburgh. Those four teams entered the weekend with a combined record of 43-9, and the two games unfolded in vastly different ways.
The Bills immediately jumped on the Lions and forged a quick 14-0 lead and never looked back on the way to a 48-42 victory that really wasn't that close. Detroit's offense gamely fought to keep up with Allen, but the visitors made plays every time they needed to and held a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter while posting the victory.
The Steelers defense tried to keep the team in the game, but it was the Eagles defense that dominated. Philly limited Russell Wilson to 128 yards passing and the Steelers to just 163 total yards and won 27-13. Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown got past their differences, perceived or otherwise, and racked up 401 total yards, 290 of which came through the air. All four teams figure to factor into the postseason picture, but Pittsburgh appeared to be in a class below the others. Still, as far as regular-season Sundays go, the matchups were about as good as it gets.
A matter of timing
It looks like interim Jets coach Jeff Ulbrich didn't learn much from his team's Week 14 loss in Miami when it comes to clock management because he was guilty of similar mistakes in Jacksonville on Sunday. In the loss to the Dolphins, Miami had the ball at the Dolphins 38 with the score tied and 1:02 left. New York faced a third-and-21, but Miami was out of timeouts, so the Jets needed only a few yards to make it a more manageable field goal. A run likely would have picked up at least a few yards, but even if it was limited to no gain they would have had a 56-yard attempt with roughly 20 seconds left. Instead, Aaron Rodgers threw an out to Davante Adams for a 14-yard pickup and the receiver went out of bounds to stop the clock with 56 seconds left. That gave Miami plenty of time to drive to a tying field goal and eventually win in overtime.
Adams was involved again in Jacksonville, and this time it appeared as if the veteran had the clock in mind. He caught a short pass with the score tied and turned up the sideline for a 41-yard gain that easily could have been a touchdown, but the wideout wisely slowed down and went down at the 1 with 1:08 left, forcing Jacksonville to use its first timeout.
Ulbrich should have instructed Rodgers to take a knee three times, the last of which would have run the clock down inside 20 seconds or so since the Jags could only stop the clock twice. Then a chip shot field goal would have all but sealed the win. But Ulbrich sent Breece Hall up the middle and the Jags wisely let him score, preserving as much time as possible.
Mac Jones then tossed an interception, but Jacksonville did not run out of time as they were at the Jets 47 with 44 seconds still on the clock. It was a strange choice by the Jets, especially after Adams appeared to make sure he stayed out of the end zone on his long catch and run.
Power 5
1. Philadelphia (12-2) – The Eagles are riding a 10-game winning streak and the defense looks dominant.
2. Buffalo (11-3) – The offense is as good as there is and Allen looks like he's on a mission.
3. Detroit (12-2) – The 11-game winning streak is over, and the injuries are really piling up.
4. Kansas City (13-1) – The best record in football is only worth the fourth spot? Yup, and Mahomes' ankle is a concern.
5. Minnesota (12-2) – Sam Darnold's incredible season continues.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
