By Luis Díaz-Trujillo (@eledetepe)
The Buffalo table Bills was set so that the QB Josh Allen broke it completely this Sunday in the game of week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was betting on Allen’s return to the MVP race after an otherwise chaotic performance the week before, in which he suffered too much to move his offense against the Miami Dolphins.
However, the expected rebound of the QB did not turn out as expected, because despite facing one of the worst defenses in the league in yards and points allowed, the team in general and Josh Allen in particular, were not able to exceed six points on offense, the product of a pair of field goals by Tyler Bass in the first half, and that was it.
The Bills lost “the battle of the Josh Allen” and doubts about his power did not wait, although this disastrous performance only magnified what we had been knowing for weeks: QB Josh Allen is not being the NFL boss that we all imagined .
Josh Allen won the Josh Allen Bowl ????????
The @Jaguars they surprised the Bills and took the victory in week 9⃣#NFLEspañol pic.twitter.com/nmCK1gIH0Q
– NFL in Spanish (@NFLEspanol) November 7, 2021
Buffalo started the week as a powerful contender to represent the American Conference in Super Bowl LVI, more because of the injury to RB Derrick Henry, which put the aspirations of the Tennessee Titans on hold, than because of the dominance shown by themselves. But after Sunday’s game is over, it looks like the Bills will have to regroup to maintain favorite status.
Josh Allen: Maybe it’s time to talk about regression
The 2020 NFL Season was nothing short of stellar for Josh Allen, leading the team to the conference finals and being selected to the Pro Bowl and second-team All Pro, and while it looked like the sky was the limit for the fourth-year QB, the NFL defenses adjust faster than an offensive system improves, so the issue of possible regression has been around since the offseason.
The Bills brought in veteran WR Emmanuel Sanders to expand their aerial weapons, alongside Superstar Stefon Diggs and the achievers Cole Beasley, Isaiah McKenzie and Gabriel Davis, in addition to the emergence of TE Dawson Knox. However, they did not address the problem that the running game represented in 2020, with the RB committee of Devin Singletary and Zack MossIn reality, the weight of Buffalo’s rushing attack was on his quarterback’s legs.
The first half of this season has been no different, with Allen being the second best running back on his team, but only 36 yards behind Singletary. Josh Allen is running more and passing more than last year, He is the man band of the team on offense, but the workload is noticeable, because although he is likely to finish with more yards and even more touchdown passes than in 2020 , his percentage of completions and especially his QB rating -Until now- yes they are having a considerable decline.
The Bills’ relative success in 2021 is supported by their defense, which is now ranked number one in yards and points per game allowed. However, if you read the schedule, two shutouts against Houston and Miami, as well as games in which they allowed 11 and 9 points from the Dolphins and Jaguars, respectively, help enormously to remain the best defense in the league.
Yes, the defense is good, but they were already overwhelmed at the time by the Titans and the Steelers; the running game is of no concern to anyone, and the passing game relies on the immense volume of passing Josh Allen throws. It seems to me that the Bills are reaching a plateau where it is no longer enough to just execute the game plan correctly. The HC Sean McDermott He has to find a way to boost the performance of each of his players if they don’t want another perfect storm to form like this Sunday.
Will there be an alert in Buffalo?
The catastrophe in Jacksonville It couldn’t be read as a one-man regression, even if I’m the top MVP candidate of the season. The Bills jumped onto the field with an unprecedented offensive line, without two of their starters, OT Spencer Brown and OG Jon Feliciano; with Dawson Knox still out with his hand injury, as well as sustaining Zack Moss’ injury in the third quarter, not to mention the outstanding work of the Jaguars defense, capped off by LB Josh Allen’s historic day.
When someone says “the other Josh Allen”#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/cjWgbsW8bj
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) November 7, 2021
The Buffalo Bills were victims of “any given Sunday” and will travel to New York with doubts to face the Jets, who despite having their own injury and performance problems, have surprised more than one division leader this season. . However, the game looks like a favorable scenario for Josh Allen to clear any questions about his game and get back on track to fight for the league MVP.
Now, if you have two “any Sundays” in a row, there could be warning sirens for the HC Sean McDermott team.
Do you think Josh Allen will rise to the heights that the NFL world expects? Was it just one of those days when nothing seems to work for him? We read you in the comments of this article and on our social networks.
