During his first three seasons in the NFL, Buffalo Bills fans have been enamored by franchise quarterback Josh Allen and rightfully so.
The former Wyoming signal-caller has passed for 9,707 yards and 67 touchdowns during his first three years in Buffalo. He’s improved his completion-percentage by an eye-popping 16 points and his decision-making has drastically improved since his rookie season.
Allen has brought the Bills back into the spotlight and fans are excited by it, but the feeling is also mutual.
Allen has completely bought into the fan base in Buffalo and it’s shown on multiple occasions, especially this year. Earlier in the season, when Bills Mafia started donating to Oishei Children’s Hospital in memory of Allen’s grandmother, he said that he wanted to stay in Buffalo for the rest of his career.
Before the Bills took down the Indianapolis Colts in their AFC Wild Card matchup, Allen made an appearance on The Adam Schien podcast to talk about the matchup. Towards the end of the episode made a promise that he would jump through a table if the Bills win the Super Bowl this season.
“Tables, plural,” Allen said. “Light them on fire too, let’s do it.”
After that episode, Buffalo went on to earn their first playoff win in 25 years and now they are on track to take on the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the AFC playoffs and they have quite the challenge ahead of them.
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Ravens Defensive Coordinator Compares Allen to Ben Roethlisberger and an NFL Hall of Famer
As Allen has arrived into the spotlight this season, he’s received more and more comparisons to current and former quarterbacks in the NFL.
Ahead of their Monday Night Football matchup earlier this year, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh compared Allen to Cam Newton, because of his size and mobility, and Patrick Mahomes, because of his arm strength. Earlier this week, Ravens defensive coordinator Wink Martindale pulled a new comparison out of the hat.
“To paint the picture for you all, it’s like a young Ben Roethlisberger, because of his size and how he extends plays with like (Dan) Marino’s arm,” Martindale said during a video conference call. “That’s what I told the secondary coaches and the defensive staff.”
Allen has drawn the Ben Roethlisberger comparisons before but a comparison to the former Miami Dolphins quarterback is a new one but still a compliment nonetheless.
Baltimore Will Be The Best Defense Buffalo Has Played Yet
The Bills offense has been almost unstoppable all season long as they scored 31.3 points per game during the regular season, which was the highest in the AFC. They also averaged the second-most yards per game (396.4) in the NFL behind the Kansas City Chiefs. But the Bills will have a new type of challenge on Saturday as Baltimore’s defense is one of the best in the league.
“They’re the top defense that we’ve played all year,” offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said on Monday during a video conference call. “That’s what the playoffs are. Those are the moments that you live for. Highly competitive individuals playing in tough games that are meaningful games, and it will be a challenge.”
Part of the reason the Ravens have been so successful on defense is because of the pressure they bring. According to buffalobills.com, when the two teams played last season the Ravens blitzed Allen 31 times. He only threw for 146 yards and a touchdown, but Allen has improved a lot since last season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Allen has been one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL against the blitz this season. He’s thrown for 19 touchdowns and 1,850 yards, which both rank first in the NFL.
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Josh Allen Makes a Promise to Bills Mafia