Allen and his offence seem to fit the Bills
Instead of leaning on defence, Buffalo forces opponents to keep pace
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.— The way Josh Allen and the Buffalo offence are humming, the Bills appear better equipped to overcome the deficiencies in their two most recent one-and-done playoff exits.
Allen is fifth in the NHL with 3,403 yards passing, already the eighth-best mark by a Buffalo quarterback. And the Bills have scored 333 points scored through 12 games, matching their total in 17 games, including playoffs, last year.
Allen, in his third year, continued his upward trajectory during a 34-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. He finished 32-of-40 for 375 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions, wowing teammates and opponents alike.
“You’ve got to give him credit, man,” 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman said. “He played a freaking fantastic game.”
This certainly isn’t the plodding Tyrod Taylor-led offence that produced 263 yards and crossed midfield three times in a 10-3 wild-card playoff loss at Jacksonville in January 2018.
And it doesn’t resemble the Allen-led hot-and-cold attack that managed just two field goals on its final seven possessions and squandered a 16-0 third-quarter lead in a 22-19 overtime wild-card loss at Houston this past January.
Rather than having to lean on its defence to limit scoring opportunities, the offence is forcing opponents to keep pace.
From 2012 through last season, the Bills were 8-58 when allowing 21 or more points. They’re already 6-3 this season, and scored 30 or more points six times, the same number Buffalo managed in its previous three years combined.
It’s much the result of Allen. He’s topped 300 yards passing six times, one short of matching the team’s single-season record. And he’s accounted for 33 touchdowns (26 passing, six rushing and one receiving), one short of matching Hall of Famer Jim Kelly’s franchise record set in 1991.
The offensive eruption is a testament to a defensive-minded coach in Sean McDermott placing his trust in the strongarmed quarterback, who has been let loose by co-ordinator Brian Daboll’s innovative attacking approach. And it’s a credit to general manager Brandon Beane, who refused to sit still this off-season in addressing what he considered to be the Bills’ biggest flaw in saying they needed to score more points.
Beane boldly delivered by giv
ing up a first-round draft pick to acquire Stefon Diggs in a trade with Minnesota to provide the Bills a trio of established receivers rounded out by John Brown and Cole Beasley. Beane didn’t stop there and selected Gabriel Davis in the fourth round.
Diggs is tied for the league lead with 90 catches and ranks fifth with 1,037 yards receiving. Beasley is coming off a careerbest outing with nine catches for 130 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers. Davis, who has taken on a larger role with Brown on injured reserve (ankle), now leads Buffalo with five touchdowns after scoring on Monday night.
Add it up, and Buffalo has finally entered the NFL’s modern-day era by playing an entertaining and, more important, winning brand of football that has the team in position to clinch its first division title since 1995.
Allen brushed off the attention and references to Kelly.
“It’s obviously cool to be mentioned in the same sentence, but my focus is doing what I can do to put this team in the best situations to win football games,” Allen said. “That’s all that matters to me.”