Getty Buffalo Bills wide receiver spikes the football after scoring against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
It’s no secret that the Buffalo Bills offense has been operating at a completely new level this season compared to years past.
Third-year quarterback Josh Allen has taken his game to a completely new level and has improved his completion percentage by an astonishing 16 points compared to his rookie season. So far this year, Allen has thrown for 3,641 yards, 28 touchdowns, and has tallied 35 total touchdowns this season, which is a Bills single-season franchise record.
A lot of that improvement can be attributed directly to Allen and the work he put in throughout the offseason, but it can also be attributed to the weapons that Buffalo was able to acquire during the offseason.
Among them was wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who currently leads the NFL in receptions (100), is the third in the league with 1,167 receiving yards, and has 17 catches of 20 yards or more.
Although he’s been big on the field for the Bills, Diggs has been just as important in the locker room, helping his fellow receivers and aiding the culture change in Buffalo.
What he has displayed in Buffalo is the complete opposite of what was said about him leading up to his trade from Minnesota. He was reported to be a ‘diva’ and several other things, but, according to Allen, Diggs has been nothing but a team player in Buffalo.
“When we first traded for him and the whole media talking about him were so negative and it blows my mind how people can get that so wrong,” Allen said during his post-game video conference call on Sunday. “He’s been nothing but great for us, nothing but great in the locker room, nothing but great on the sidelines and all he wants to do is help this team win. He’s a competitor. We have very similar mindsets. I love the guy. He just goes out there and competes his tail off and I’m just blessed that we traded for him.”
Diggs’ attitude change from his time in Minnesota has shown plenty this season as he and the Bills have climbed to the top of the AFC East standings. It showed the most during their most recent win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
After the Bills got off to a slow start, Diggs took over for the Bills and was crucial to Buffalo’s four scoring drives. He finished the game with 10 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown in one of his biggest games of the season. But in those moments, Diggs wasn’t thinking of himself, he was thinking of his quarterback and thinking of his team.
“For me, I’m not necessarily trying to have success,” Diggs said during his post-game video conference call on Sunday. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to put Josh in the right mental space, making plays for him and just getting open.”
So far, the relationship that Allen and Digs have built has paid off and has been instrumental to Buffalo’s success this season.
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A Relationship That Goes Beyond Their Play on The Field
Since they first met in Miami in the offseason, Allen and Diggs have developed a well-documented bond this season and it has shown both on the field and during their media availabilities.
Allen has said multiple times that he loves throwing the ball to Diggs and he really can’t say enough about him. But Diggs gave a little more insight into that relationship when the Bills found themselves in a tough spot on Sunday. The Bills struggled early on in the game as they dealt with Pittsburgh’s non-stop pass rush and although Allen was struggling, Diggs was never worried about his quarterback.
“Na, Hell no, I know what kind of player he is, he’s a tough quarterback, he’s a mentally tough quarterback,” Diggs said during his post-game video conference call. “I check on him throughout the game periodically. He’s never too high, He’s never too low and I always just let him know that we have his back on the outside. If we can’t make plays for him we will.”
The former Wyoming quarterback said that he’s appreciative of what Diggs has brought to the team in more ways than one and it’s been evident in their play as Diggs has the second-most targets (134) in the NFL.
“The dude can flat out play, I love throwing the ball to him, and he’s just a great dude,” Allen said in his post-game video conference call on Sunday.
Bills Wide Receivers Setting Career Highs
Last season, in his first year with the Bills, wide receiver John Brown set a new career-high of 1,060 receiving yards on 72 receptions, another career-high. That trend has continued this season as both Diggs and Cole Beasley have set new career highs for receiving yards in a season.
Through 13 games, Diggs reached his new career-high on Sunday and Beasley has 838 receiving yards and four touchdowns while averaging 64.5 yards per game.
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