Can Josh Allen Go All the Way?

Zach Collins: Super Bowl Bound

We all know Bills quarterback Josh Allen. He’s the best quarterback the Bills have ever had since Hall of Famer Jim Kelly. You may know Allen for his incredible arm strength, his impeccable running capabilities, and how he sometimes likes to jump over defenders! However, the biggest question asked about the #17 quarterback is: Can he win the Lombardi? After seeing Allen’s impossible feats, I have full reason to believe that this quarterback has the full capability to take the Bills to their first-ever Super Bowl Title.

Ever since Josh Allen joined the League, something was already up with him. Something about him was different from the other quarterbacks the Bills have had in recent years. After a forgettable first season for Josh, something snapped in him. He proceeded to take the Bills to the playoffs for five years in a row and win the division for four years straight! On top of that, the Bills have always gone to the Divisional Round or higher for the past four years under the helm of Allen.

Josh Allen has played 10 playoff games in his career and has a record of 5-5. He’s thrown for a total of 21 touchdowns, and only 4 interceptions out of those 10 games, making his touchdown to interception ratio about 5:1. You might be wondering why I’m bringing these stats up, well let’s compare these to the League favorite to go to the Super Bowl: The Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson. 

Lamar has played in a total of six playoff games and has a record of 2-4. Not only has he played in fewer games, but has lost more than he’s won. He threw for a total of 6 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He’s thrown an interception in all but one postseason game, making his touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio 1:1. The funniest part about all of this is Lamar Jackson won the MVP title when his performance when it matters is average at best. Allen has not only played more playoff games, and won more playoff games, but threw fewer interceptions than someone who’s played less and was considered the most valuable player of the year.

Along with this, something noteworthy to shoot down is the level of competition in the AFC, specifically in the Bills’ division, the AFC East. We all know the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes are a huge challenge for Josh Allen, along with Joe Burrow and the Bengals. However, teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and New England Patriots should not be teams for Allen to worry about. Josh Allen has a 7-4 record against the Jets, and a 6-5 record against the Patriots, with 3 of those losses against Tom Brady. If you take away those three losses, Josh Allen has a 6-2 record against New England. Allen is also split against Baltimore, with a record of 2-2 including the Playoffs. However, those two losses occurred in his first two years as a quarterback. Ever since then, he’s beaten Lamar every time.

Most impressively, however, is Josh Allen’s record against their biggest competitor in their division, the Miami Dolphins, is 10-2. The first loss was in his rookie season and the other occurred in Miami when the temperature forced multiple players to sit out in the scorching heat, some with heat exhaustion. Every other time though, Josh Allen has dominated the Dolphins in the regular season and postseason.

If you look at these statistics alone, you can see that Josh Allen is way more qualified to play consistently in the postseason compared to what was considered the best team in football at the time. Josh Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in the league at the moment and could bring the Bills all the way home. The only two things that are stopping him are Patrick Mahomes–and himself.

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There is no question that Josh Allen is the best quarterback that the Bills have had since Jim Kelly. Josh Allen has been a top 3 quarterback in the NFL for many years now. In his career, Josh Allen has 22,703 passing yards and 167 total touchdowns. He has set the record for most passing yards in a single season for the Bills. However, I do not believe that Josh Allen could take the Bills to the Super Bowl. There are many reasons, including his turnovers, the competition level in the AFC, and the lack of depth that the Buffalo Bills have at wide receiver.

First, let's talk about the depth the Buffalo Bills have in their receiver room. It's definitely not as good as last year. The Bills lost their two best receivers, Gabe Davis and Stefon Diggs. Stefon Diggs is arguably a top 5 receiver in the NFL. Since joining the Bills back in 2020, Diggs had at least 1,000 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns in each season. The Bills are not going to find a better receiver than Diggs anytime soon. Gabe Davis has also been a great number 2 receiver for the Bills. He is usually best in the playoffs, so even when Diggs didn't have a good game, Davis could step up and have a great game. Rookie Keon Coleman is going to need time to develop, seasons maybe, into the receiver the Bills need him to be in order to go to the Super Bowl.

Allen has a glaring turnover issue. In his 6-year career, he has had 102 turnovers. This last season: 22 more. That is not going to win the Super Bowl. One singular turnover can cost the team a game, even without the Super Bowl pressure on your shoulders. Josh Allen can not continue these actions if the Bills want to win a Super Bowl. Allen has tried to be a hero time after time, and sometimes he looks great and other times the ball just slips through his fingers. The Bills will not win a Super Bowl if Josh Allen keeps turning over the ball the way he has. Improvements must be made during the off-season to keep this from happening.

The Buffalo Bills have tough competition playing in the AFC. They have last year’s Super Bowl champs: The Kansas City Chiefs; the 2021- 2022 Super Bowl runner-ups, the Cincinnati Bengals; and they have the MVP from last season Lamar Jackson all in one conference. On top of that, the Miami Dolphins are still a very good team and the Houston Texans shocked everybody last year by making the playoffs and winning a playoff game. To win the Superbowl they would have to get through two or three of these teams. If all teams are working as hard as the Bills during the post-season, this season we will have stiff competition. There is too much competition that the Bills would have to beat to win a Super Bowl.

This is not to discredit Josh Allen.  He is an amazing quarterback. However, I believe that if the Bills could not win the Super Bowl with Josh Allen and the amount of talent they had over the last couple of years, I don't think they will this coming season. Teams in the AFC are only going to get better and I believe that Josh Allen is past his prime.