Josh Allen is coming of age as an NFL quarterback. It will be interesting to see if he can break into the conversation about NFL MVP. For this fan, at least, Allen is already there.
The Buffalo Bills are back! And Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen is one reason why. At season’s midpoint, the Bills are 6-2, leading the AFC East.
Still, though, it has been an up-and-down year for the Bills–a team that started 4-0 but had gone 2-2 since. Allen got off to a great start but, since Week 5, he has had just one game with two passing touchdowns (against the Chiefs) and has reached 200 total yards only once (against the Jets).
But I still believe that Allen belongs in the MVP conversation. His contributions involve much more than what the numbers tell us.
For example, against the Patriots last Sunday Allen’s development in dissecting defenses was clearly evident. Bill Belichick is a defensive genius who employs defensive strategies designed to confuse quarterbacks. But it didn’t bother Allen. He had fantastic pocket presence, avoided pressure, and repeatedly made the right reads.
Allen is also looking more comfortable in the pocket, displaying a veteran-like composure that wasn’t visible in his first two seasons. In 2019, for example, Allen had a disappointing touchdown-to-interception ratio of 20-9. That’s improved this year to 16-5. On Sunday, an interception against the Patriots resulted from a miscommunication with his receiver, not from a bad read or throw.
With a rocket for an arm, Allen’s development has catapulted the Bill into a pass-first offense. Over the first eight weeks of the 2020 season, Allen has thrown fewer than 30 times only twice–and one of those games was last Sunday against the Pats because New England often had seven defensive backs on the field simultaneously. That meant the Bills had to rely more on the running game, and Zach Moss had a great game as a result.
Another thing has improved in Allen’s game–ball security (14 fumbles in 2019). A power-runner, Allen, is a threat near the goal-line, and he’s even effective even when teams use a spy-defense. Last Sunday, the Pats tried it with their middle linebacker, but that strategy created a hole for Bills’ running backs. And Allen ran it in for a TD when the Bills called a quarterback draw play with an empty backfield.
Allen ranks #4 so far this year in passing yards (2172) and has a total of 20 touchdowns (16 passing/4 rushing). With eight games left in the season, it will be interesting to see if Josh Allen can break into the national conversation about NFL MVP. For this fan, at least, he’s already there.
