'The Greatest:' Josh Allen's 6-TD outburst a message to the NFL... and the Bills
The Bills have issues. But they also have the ultimate solution — dare defenses to punt the ball back to Josh Allen in the fourth quarter. The MVP is back.
Isolate on Josh Allen when things go haywire and you’ll pick up on a theme. After dropped passes, wrong routes, missed blocks — mayhem to any degree — and the Buffalo Bills quarterback expresses zero emotion. It’s strange. Quarterbacks of his competitive breed typically cannot help themselves. Brady and Rodgers and Manning chastised teammates. Even his equals today, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow, have been caught on camera completely fed up.
Allen’s refusal to ever show up a teammate or a coach is admirable… about 99 percent of the time. Because let’s face it. There’s been times Allen shouldn’t play Mr. Nice Guy. Through all the playoff defeats, one teammate who’s close to the quarterback lamented the reality that Allen would never, ever go to Terry Pegula’s office with demands. Simply, it’s not his nature to wield his power as the most important person in the entire building.
The reigning MVP didn’t do anything demonstrative behind the scenes in the wake of a humbling loss to the Miami Dolphins.
And on Sunday, all Allen did was resemble an all-time great.
Again.
His way.
Afterward, wide receiver Khalil Shakir called his quarterback “one of the most positive dudes” he’s ever met in his life. Year to year to year, he sees him smile through the hard times.
“For all of us to be around him and see him with a smile on his face,” Shakir says, “it’s contagious. It brings the rest of us along. He has the best attitude ever.”
Allen, 29, is exactly 134 games into what should be a Hall of Fame career. This is Season No. 8. Fans begging for a pit bull will forever get a golden retriever. He’s not going to change. Nor does anybody inside this locker room want him to change.
“He’s the best leader I’ve ever been around,” Shakir says. “His contagious energy brings everybody along. It’s unreal how he leads. I’m blessed.”
The takeaway from this 44-32 shootout win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Never try to make your best player somebody he is not. That applies to personality and that absolutely applies to play style. If the Bills embrace this simple truth as an organization, they’ll stay firmly in the Super Bowl mix this season and beyond. Highmark Stadium was the site of vintage Josh Allen in Week 11. He threw for 317 yards, ran for 40 more and scored six total touchdowns.
Through all of NFL history — including the playoffs — a quarterback has had three passing and three rushing touchdowns in a game only three times. Allen has now done it twice. Otto Graham (1954) is other.
Buffalo’s run defense is still a mess. The wide receiver drafted in 2024 to elevate this passing game blew off a Friday meeting — Strike 3 — and was promptly benched. Nor did Keon Coleman seem to care much about his demotion. Nobody at One Bills Drive knows for sure if he’ll grow up. The team’s No. 1 pass catcher (Dalton Kincaid) was out with a hamstring injury. The team’s workhorse back (James Cook) averaged only 3.0 yards per carry. Hell, the receiver Buffalo handed a four-year, $53 million this offseason (Shakir) finished with minus-3 yards on one catch. But none of it matters when Allen goes full psycho mode. There are more complete teams in the AFC: the Colts, Broncos, Patriots, even the Ravens. This game was a loud reminder that Allen is the rare quarterback who can serve as a human eraser to all problems on a roster.
He’s fully capable of throwing a team on his back.
The first 2 ½ months of the season, the Bills have resisted the urge to let him do so.
I get it to an extent. The season is a marathon. It’d sure be nice if the defense could carry Buffalo through a stretch of victories. The sight of Bijan Robinson and De’Von Achane and, uh, Sean Tucker dashing to daylight no doubt made it clear that the Bills must unleash their Spanish Fighting Bull of a quarterback.
It’s as true now as it’s been since 2020. Through Allen, the Bills must dictate the terms. Afterward, I asked players what this quarterback can do that others cannot.
Tyrell Shavers speaks with emphatic pauses for effect.
“The greatest. To Ever. Play the position.”
I give him a chance to soften his stance.
Ever?