Josh Allen Finally Delivers When It Matters as Bills Advance in AFC Playoffs

One has to imagine Josh Allen heard the noise entering this year’s postseason.

Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are all watching this year's playoffs from home.

The quarterbacks of the top two teams in the AFC standings had played a combined one postseason game entering this past weekend.

The Bills quarterback has the best mix of experience and current talent on his side of the bracket.

If this isn’t the year he leads Buffalo back to the Super Bowl, does it become a conversation about Allen?

It’s a silly sentiment for a variety of reasons. The Bills were the sixth seed in the AFC because the pieces around him struggled at times, notably an inconsistent receiver room and a defense which ranked 12th in points allowed (21.5 per game).

And yet, it’s a narrative that loomed over his head entering Sunday's wild-card game at Jacksonville.

Allen took a step — just the first one but a very significant one — towards putting that to rest when he led Buffalo to its first road playoff game in 33 years against the Jaguars.

He was less than 100% coming in with a foot injury. He then made two first-half trips to the sideline injury tent, first to be evaluated for a concussion and then after sustaining injuries to his throwing hand and left knee on a touchdown drive.

And yet, the standout signal-caller did what he’s consistently done in the postseason throughout his career: raised his level of play.

“He is a warrior,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said of Allen.

Allen entered the weekend as the top quarterback in NFL postseason history (minimum eight starts) in total yards per game (311.0), rushing yards (668) and touchdown-to-interception ratio (6.3).

He was pretty close to perfect against Jacksonville, completing 28 of 35 passes (80%) for 273 yards and a touchdown, adding 33 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground.

Allen was at his very best when the game was on the line. In two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to take the lead, he was 9-of-11 passing for 103 yards and ran for 21 yards, throwing and rushing for a score.

The Bills converted 2 of 4 third downs on their final two drives and picked up both fourth downs after the failed thirds. Three of the four were converted by Allen runs, putting his body on the line and using his 6-foot-5, 237-pound frame to his advantage even in its diminished state.

In 14 career postseason games, he’s now thrown for 26 touchdowns, rushed for nine more and has just four interceptions.

Buffalo’s receiver corps got depleted to just four active players Sunday due to Gabe Davis’ injury.

The Bills got just 46 rushing yards on 15 carries from this year’s NFL rushing leader James Cook III, while their 31st-ranked rush defense allowed the Jaguars to amass 154 yards at a rate of 6.7 per carry.

But at the end of the day, none of that mattered because they have Allen. And as long as that remains the case, they have a shot.

That next shot, as it turns out, will come on the road Saturday against the top-seeded Broncos and Bo Nix, one of a few young QBs making a claim for Allen’s place near the top of the NFL QB pecking order.