Bills are what Giants, Jets haven’t been but strive to be
NEW YORK — The best quarterback in New York is still playing in the NFL’s Championship Sunday: Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.
The Giants had the second pick. The Jets had the third pick. The Bills had the seventh pick in 2018. All three teams needed a quarterback.
The Giants didn’t think they did. They took Saquon Barkley. Since, they drafted Daniel Jones, fired a coach, and went 15-33 with no playoff appearances.
The Jets took Sam Darnold. Since, they fired a GM and a coach, and went 13-35.
But the Bills took Allen. Since, they are 29-19 with two playoff appearances, and now they’re threatening the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium for a possible berth in Super Bowl LV.
Allen, 24, most importantly, blossomed into an MVP candidate in Year 3 this fall, coinciding with GM Brandon Beane’s aggressive trade for the Vikings’ Stefon Diggs, a true No. 1 receiver.
He jumped from a 58.8 completion percentage in 2019 to 69.2% in 2020. His touchdowns skyrocketed from 20 to 37, but his interceptions stayed nearly even: nine in 2019 and 10 in 2020.
Beane had the Bills in the postseason in his first season as GM in 2017 before Allen got here. But the roster needed more talent and depth, and Buffalo needed its quarterback above all — as any franchise does — to take the next step.
Beane got him. The GM and coach Sean McDermott continued to believe in and build around Allen after their 6-10 season in 2018. And look at the Bills’ offensive ranks in Allen’s three years at QB: 30th in scoring in 2018, 24th in 2019, and second in the NFL in 2020.
Just like that.
Allen hasn’t been perfect. He was part of coughing up a 16-0 third quarter lead in a 22-19 overtime Wild Card playoff loss to the Houston Texans just one year ago.
But he has kept getting better, to the point where it would not surprise anyone if he beat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs on Sunday.
“You try not to make it a bigger deal than it needs to be,” Allen said of how he intends to handle the biggest stage he’s played on yet. “That just comes from the coaching staff here, (offensive coordinator Brian) Daboll and (QB coach Ken) Dorsey, they’ve been in situations like this, and (they’re) just telling me what to expect, how to handle myself. I’ve played in a few big games and as we go on here, every game’s bigger than the last one. But it’s still the same game of football. We don’t need to reinvent anything on our offense. We just gotta go out there and try to be the best versions of ourselves we can be.”
Like Allen, the Giants are hoping to see Jones take a massive step forward in his third NFL season, as well. (Although they should be picking up the phone and calling the Houston Texans like everyone else about Deshaun Watson, though Watson has a no-trade clause.)
Co-owner John Mara, who authorized the 2019 trade of Odell Beckham Jr., also has pinpointed adding offensive talent as a priority to help Jones improve.
The rest of the Giants’ roster needs upgrades, too, but everything is riding on Jones’ ability to be a different quarterback than he has been most of his first two seasons.
The Jets, meanwhile, are on the verge of possibly moving on from Darnold and restarting at quarterback, aiming for a new culture and path to success under new coach Robert Saleh.
Darnold’s third season was a catastrophe in stark contrast to Allen’s. So was the Jets’ entire season as a team, with a bad roster and a pitiful offense in Adam Gase’s final year.