Only a few months ago, Josh Allen was voted the most overrated NFL player.But never underestimate the Bills’ star.
Allen is the hottest property in the NFL right now, thanks to his Hollywood fiance and MVP-worthy performance on the field. He is the only player in NFL history to score rushing, passing, and receiving touchdowns in the same game.
He is also only the second quarterback in history to record three rushing touchdowns and three passing touchdowns in the same game, and the first since 1954, as he accomplished his accomplishments in consecutive games. Keep in mind that his performance in Monday’s 44-42 loss to the Los Angeles Rams extended his NFL record to 10 games with at least 300 passing yards and 50 rushing yards.
Remarkably, Allen is now tied with the great Tom Brady and Drew Brees (at 9) for the most games with at least three passing and one rushing touchdown – and those two spent 23 and 20 years in the NFL, respectively, to reach those milestones.
It’s been a phenomenal journey for the former farm kid who, despite sending 1000 emails to US institutions in the hopes of having a shot on America’s biggest stage a decade ago, was passed over by Division 1 teams.
The 28-year-old quarterback, considered a “boom or bust” draft pick, continues to defy the odds in the hopes of adding a Super Bowl championship to his already stellar resume.
The naysayers were there moving into 2024: could Josh Allen manage a Bills team without Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis, and a slew of defensive stars who left the club? Many experts felt the bills were finished.
But they hadn’t counted on Allen rising once again to a challenge. The biggest knock on the star quarterback has always been his turnover rate and lack of finish on clutch plays.
Currently in 2024, Allen sits tied with Joe Burrow and Jalen Hurts with just five interceptions. Yes, FIVE after coughing up 18 in the 2023 regular season.
In 2024, only Hurts has more rushing touchdowns than Allen, while Jordan Love has been sacked less than any other quarterback who has played 10 games or more. Allen is a difficult person to stop. Mahomes, Hurts, and Burrow are all projected to have 30 or more sacks in 2024, with Allen at 13. Rich Eisen, an American sportscaster, was among the first to confess he was incorrect about Allen and the Bills in 2024.
“I’m going to raise my hand and say my bad,” he recently stated on his TheRich Eisen Show. “I thought to myself, now is the time for the Buffalo Bills to get it. I picked the Dolphins to win the division. “That was wrong. Not just wrong, but dead wrong. Absolutely, way off the mark, and awfully wrong.”
The Bills had been so dominant that by Week 13, they had become the first to clinch their division, and only the seventh team in history to accomplish it with five or more games left in the season. It is worth noting that five of the other six teams advanced to the Super Bowl. Josh Allen’s 2024 version is fully beast mode, which is why NFL gurus and greats alike are lining up to support him for MVP.
“He is the MVP right now. “There’s no way around it,” First Take’s Steven A Smith stated. “The Buffalo Bills have exceeded expectations, as evidenced by their current performance.” In the last five years, they have won five AFC East titles. “In the NFL, 58 wins and 20 defeats are just second to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“The Buffalo Bills appear to have not missed a beat. Look at Josh Allen right now; he is clearly the team’s leader. “Josh Allen, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter where he is, no matter what adversity he has faced, he has shown up – that is what a league MVP is currently built of. “I don’t think it’s possible to deny that Josh Allen has proven to be the MVP right now.
“He doesn’t deserve that kind of label of being overrated.” Josh Allen’s fan base is clearly expanding, with former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky leading the battle against the “anonymous NFL executive” who claimed Allen was “one of the more overrated players in the NFL” who “makes a lot of mistakes”. “He’s an idiot, that source respectfully,” he stated on Get Up.
“That’s ridiculous to say…” Patrick Mahomes is the only quarterback in the last four seasons with a higher plus-minus turnover to touchdown ratio. The only guy. He’s the only guy you’d choose above Josh Allen.”
Mina Kimes, a First Take expert, did not believe the idea that Allen is overrated. “He’s kind being misrepresented as this boom or bust quarterback. “The reality is that he has been ruthlessly efficient,” she stated. Over the last three seasons, based on success rate, he has outperformed Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrows. The Bills’ offense has been the most efficient in football. “While he is sometimes reckless with the ball and throws interceptions … he has been not only incredibly explosive, he has the big plays, he has been efficient too and I think that gets lost in the shuffle.”
Shannon Sharpe, a fellow NFL analyst, joined Allen’s team. “He doesn’t turn the football over (in 2024),” stated the coach. “We’ve always said, ‘Josh, if you just stop throwing interceptions in the end zone and fumbling in the red zone, taking points off the board, do you realize how terrific you could be?’ “Now he has basically eliminated turnovers. He has always been able to run the football and throw it in the eye of a cyclone. But now he’s in charge of the football. “He’s allowing his squad to complete drives with touchdowns and field goals.
“Now Josh Allen is the leader of that offense and the squad. “He let the game come to him. “Getting to him is the easiest part. Getting him to the ground, dude, when he takes off running, good luck catching him. “He’s the MVP.”
While Allen and his Bills are on a roll, they must still defeat AFC rivals – and back-to-back Super Bowl champions – the Kansas City Chiefs if they are to reach the last day in February. According to statistics, the Chiefs have eliminated Buffalo THREE times in the last four years (the other being Cincinnati). While Buffalo has the upper hand in regular-season games against Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes and his men in red have often shattered the hearts of Bills fans in the postseason. Despite winning the AFC East division for a franchise record five consecutive seasons, the Bills have nothing to show for it.
Under coach Sean McDermott, the Bills are 5-6 in postseason games, with only one trip in the AFC Championship Game, a 38-24 loss to the Chiefs in 2020.
And it’s not just Allen’s Bills that appear to be cursed, with Buffalo eternally remembered as the team that lost FOUR consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s, including back-to-back to the Dallas Cowboys. The Buffalo Bills are one of only 12 NFL clubs that have never won a Super Bowl. However, Orlovsky believes that cursed past will have minimal impact on the 2024 playoffs.
“They have lost to Kansas City three times in the playoffs. “But Josh Allen is two or three plays away from being a multi-Super Bowl quarterback and possibly a Super Bowl winner,” he remarked. “He lost to Kansas City in the playoffs due to freak defensive efforts and a missed field goal.” “It is clear he is the quarterback you want right now heading into the playoffs.” Rex Ryan, another NFL expert, believes Allen has the capacity to take the game away from the opposition. “This team doesn’t win five games without this quarterback,” he joked. “He can throw as well as anyone. In addition, he is a top five football runner right now.
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