The Buffalo Bills got a big win in the season-opening game against the reigning Super Bowl champions, but they haven’t escaped criticism for Josh Allen’s risky play style.
Allen threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the team’s 31-10 drubbing of the Los Angeles Rams. The Bills quarterback finished the night 26-of-33 (83.9%) for 297 yards and added a game-high 56 rushing yards, many of them on bruising runs into the heart of the Rams defense.
But after the game, some fans and insiders questioned why the Bills are still calling on their franchise quarterback to run so often, subjecting him to plenty of wear and tear early in a season where the Bills hope to finally win a Super Bowl.
Allen’s Rushing Pushed Bills to Victory
Allen’s legs helped to set the tone in Thursday’s win over the Rams, including a memorable run in the third quarter. With the Bills facing a 3rd-and-7 on their opening drive of the half, Allen scrambled toward the sidelines and gave a stiff arm that sent Rams safety Nick Scott crashing to the turf. The stiff arm allowed Allen to get the extra yards needed to convert the first down, and the Bills would go on to score the go-ahead touchdown on that drive.
Still thinking about this absurd stiff arm from Josh Allen last night 😤
📹: @NFL
Allen said after the game that the play was part of his do-whatever-it-takes play style, which often means running through or over defenders to make a first down.
“Just trying to make a play for the team, just doing what I can do to try to get first down,” Allen said of the stiff-arm, via NFL.com. “That’s it. You know, guys appreciate that. I play hard. I want to win games no matter how I can do it. That’s just, I guess, an example of what I’m willing to do to win a game and just try to get a first down and allow us to keep moving the ball. It’s just all in the heat of the moment and I think guys appreciate that.”
Bills Criticized for Allen’s Play in Win
While the Bills are happy with the win, they may not be thrilled with the hits that Allen took along the way — especially those late in the fourth quarter, when the team was putting the finishing touches on the victory. Buffalo News reporter Jay Skurski wrote that if the Bills’ coaches were smart, they would take the designed runs out of the playbook for those late-game scenarios.
“Under no circumstances should Allen have been running the ball with his team leading by 21 points and less than 10 minutes to play,” he wrote. “That’s simply inviting trouble. We’ve gone over Allen’s running a million times in the mailbag and everywhere else, but it bears repeating: It should never be totally taken out of his game because it is such a big weapon for the offense, but the Bills – and Allen – need to be smart about how, and how much, he runs. He took a lot of big hits against the Rams, and I would say some were avoidable.”
Dunked on, Touchdown Josh Allen! #BillsMafia
The Bills could lessen Allen’s load with a stronger running game, which was not always the case on Thursday. While lead running back Devin Singletary had a strong performance with eight carries for 48 yards, an average of six yards per carry, fellow running backs James Cook and Zack Moss each had a fumble.
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Bills Come Under Fire for Josh Allen’s Risky Play Style