National Football League

Josh Allen steps aside, and Bills are more dangerous for it

Updated Dec. 2, 2022 7:39 a.m. ET

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Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — This wasn’t a statement game from Josh Allen. It was a statement game from offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. The Buffalo Bills finally allowed Allen a moment to relax — something they’d struggled to do so far this season.

Outside of the Bills’ 24-10 win over the New England Patriots on Thursday night, Allen has needed to do everything for his team. He has thrown them on his back, for better or for worse.

But not in Week 13. He didn’t have to recreate his sensational performance from the playoffs when he trounced Bill Belichick’s Patriots.

"Josh is a guy that could and does carry this team," running back Devin Singletary told FOX Sports after the game. "We definitely let him know, like, ‘Bro, you’re not here alone. We've got you. We want to win as bad as you, so let us help you in any way we can, just take some of this pressure off you, so you don't have to play hero ball.'"

It was interesting to see the Bills go away from Allen in this game — and against Belichick, who is famous for taking away the thing he anticipates hurting his defense the most. Belichick took away Allen’s mobility. The quarterback had led the team in rushing on seven of its 11 outings, with countless crucial first downs and touchdowns along the way. So Belichick forced Allen to sit in the pocket and beat him with his arm. That’s what Allen did for the first quarter, with a pair of touchdown passes in the first 20 minutes.

It wasn’t like Allen was boring — or average. In the 20 minutes when the Bills let Allen cook, he did Josh Allen things. There was a push pass on the opening drive, when Allen looked like he was impersonating Brett Favre. Allen scrambled and tossed the ball forward to Nyheim Hines for a modest gain — but it was the kind of how-did-he-do-that play that makes Allen so much fun to watch.

And then there was the stiff-arm to a touchdown pass. From the 8-yard line, Allen scrambled and fended off linebacker Mack Wilson, who had fired off the left side of the offensive line for what seemed like an obvious sack. Allen pushed Wilson to the ground and set his feet in bounds before floating the ball to Stefon Diggs.

"That's part of who he is," coach Sean McDermott said postgame when asked about the TD throw to Diggs. "You know, the bottom line is you can't put the ball in trouble, in danger. I thought that was a well-calculated throw. It was open and he got it to him. You never take away Josh's instincts and his gut feel. He's got a great feel for things."

After that, the Bills let Allen chill. On this night, he didn’t need to do everything, and they didn't have to live or die in his chaos. 

Instead, Buffalo's first-year OC called 37 run plays and 35 pass plays.

"Coach Dorsey did a really good job of changing it up," McDermott said. "When the run is working like it was at times, just being able to stick with it, and sometimes it wasn't, but it's going to happen like that, and just being able to stick with it, I thought he was very patient in that regard."

It suited the Bills in a number of ways. First of all, Allen is nursing an elbow injury (UCL) that is clearly impacting his play. He won’t admit it. McDermott won’t admit it. But if you look at the film, you see him making more mistakes. His timing is off. He’s short-arming passes. He’s not himself. He needs rest, but he won’t take the time away, because his team needs him so much. That’s what made this kind of night a delight for Buffalo.

Allen was 22-of-33 for 223 yards and two touchdowns. He ran eight times for just 20 yards. Meanwhile, James Cook had 14 carries for 64 yards and Singletary had 13 rushes for 51 yards and a touchdown. 

"The big guys up front [on the offensive line], they was moving — they was moving guys," Singletary said. 

It wasn’t a brilliant rushing performance, but it was an efficient one.

It was so efficient that I had a mind-numbing revelation at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

The Bills stepped up to the line of scrimmage on third-and-1 from the 1-yard line. Pats fans were cheering at Gillette Stadium, but they seemed to lack some luster. And while — on paper — the play was a massively consequential one, there was also a sense of hopelessness for New England. The play didn’t feel important. Its offense couldn’t move the ball, let alone score. So what did it matter if the Bills scored on this third-and-1? Because Buffalo already had a 10-point lead. A safe lead. The Patriots didn’t seem capable of scoring anymore. (They did score three more points in garbage time.)

And the Bills did score a touchdown with Singletary on that third-down play. They built their comfortable lead in the game and, when it finally ended, were back on top in the AFC East. 

Buffalo's defense deserves as much credit for what transpired in Foxborough — and for alleviating Allen — as the ground game. The Pats finished 3-of-12 on third down. Offensive assistant Matt Patricia had his worst night as a playcaller, one that will have sports radio show hosts calling for his job for the next 10 days. Mac Jones had his worst night as a signal-caller, one that will have fans calling for Bailey Zappe, who provided a spark to the offense (albeit against lesser defenses) in October. New England simply had no answer to beating the Bills' defense, which was without arguably its best player, Von Miller.

How did the Bills exacerbate the Patriots' problems?

"Honestly, we didn't do anything different," defensive end A.J. Epenesa told FOX Sports after the game. "We didn't do our blitzes. We didn't do anything extraordinary. We just kind of did what we do. … We believe in men and not schemes. And men win games."

It feels more and more likely that the Patriots (6-6) finish at the bottom of the division. But Thursday also showed what the Bills (9-3) can do against a middling team — they can let their MVP rest. They can use their outstanding roster depth to grind away at a lesser opponent. That's not to say the Bills couldn’t use Odell Beckham Jr. They absolutely could, and I think they'll do what they can to pitch him during his visit this weekend. But Buffalo didn’t need Beckham or Miller — or Allen’s Beast Mode. The Bills played good defense. They ran the ball well. They let Allen chill and pummeled the Patriots.

All of which proved yet again the AFC East is no longer Bill Belichick's. It’s the Bills’.

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Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.

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Henry McKenna