There’s no denying the fact that Josh Allen has struggled this year. Since the Buffalo standout burst onto the scene in 2020 with a staggering 37 touchdown passes to just 10 interceptions, he has developed a propensity to give the ball to the other team.
Allen leads the entire NFL with 91 turnovers since he was drafted. While this has always been one of the knocks on him, the interceptions have been what’s really killing him.
The Buffalo signal-caller has completed 38 passes to the other team in the past two and a half seasons with the next closest number being 33. Football fans have more than enough right to be alarmed by this trend, but it can easily be explained.
Former Buffalo Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll spent the first two seasons of Allen's career meticulously building the offense around his strengths. Thanks in part to the acquisition of star receiver Stefon Diggs, Allen and the offense were transformed into juggernauts in the third year of the regime.
With sensational playoff performances in back-to-back years, the uptick in turnovers from the Bills’ standout in 2021 wasn’t a cause for concern. Little did Buffalo know; things were going to change really fast.
Just a few weeks after losing a heartbreaker to the Chiefs in the 2022 playoffs, Daboll would be hired as the Giants next head coach, ending his four-year attachment to Allen.
I like to compare the coach and coordinator tandem to Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams, who were simply a match made in heaven that knew what the other was thinking without even having to communicate.
The star quarterback has long been compared to the likes of Brett Favre and Dan Marino with his wild, gunslinger mentality. He believes he can make every throw, causing him to live on the edge making amazing throws, and similarly head scratching throws.
Allen’s coordinator had the ability to get the best out of him. He was able to balance letting the quarterback use his supernatural talents to make sensational throws, while also limiting the number of turnovers.
Daboll spent years carefully crafting an offense tailor made for Allen which allowed him to orchestrate the offense in perfect harmony. Since his departure, Allen is to be playing all the wrong notes.
When Daboll took the coaching job in New York, Ken Dorsey was promoted from quarterbacks coach to coordinator. Ever since, the offense has struggled to find its footing.
The main problem is that Allen is simply expected to do way too much within the offense.
In the past two and a half seasons, he has the third most pass attempts in the league, just 100 attempts behind league leader Justin Herbert. Most teams who have potent offenses are able to find a balance between the run and the pass.
Because Allen is only third in the league in passes in this time frame, this argument may seem arbitrary. However, the rushing attempts are what is really the killer. Allen is third in the league in QB rush attempts in the same two-and-a-half-year span with nearly 300 carries.
Eagles Quarterback Jalen Hurts has the most carries in this span of time with nearly 100 more than Allen. However, the problem lies in the fact that Hurts and the rest of the top five besides Allen are not even in the top ten in pass attempts. Conversely, the rest of the top five passing attempt leaders besides Allen are not even within 100 carries of him.
Josh Allen simply has way too much on his plate. He is the entire Bills offense.
Due to Buffalo’s inability to surround him with a viable run game, Allen is forced to throw the ball at the volume as other elite passers, while simultaneously carrying it as much as the elite quarterback runners.
With all the pressure he is put under, it is no wonder Allen has become a turnover machine. He has to be perfect nearly every game for his team to even have a chance to win.
Comments