National media is hitting Josh Allen with dose of disrespect
The Buffalo Bills are no strangers to being constantly disrespected and undermined. It comes with the territory. Perhaps it has to do with the Four Falls of Buffalo or maybe it's just based on what has happened over the last few years. But they will rarely get the respect they deserve, even with one of […]
The Buffalo Bills are no strangers to being constantly disrespected and undermined. It comes with the territory. Perhaps it has to do with the Four Falls of Buffalo or maybe it's just based on what has happened over the last few years.
But they will rarely get the respect they deserve, even with one of the best teams in the league.
That's true even for Josh Allen!
The same guy that has solidified himself as one of the very best, elite quarterbacks of the NFL is suddenly getting doubted. Never mind his poor offensive line or lack of weapons at wide receiver, nor the fact that his offense was the second-best in many categories throughout the 2022 season, mainly because of him.
Some are already calling him a choker, for example. Or not "enough to be elite."
To be honest, it's all lazy QB evaluation based on whether or not he made it to the Super Bowl. But Allen's arm talent remains one of the best in the league and has way better pocket presence than given credit for.
But national analysts will drive Allen's perception down this offseason. And Colin Cowherd is getting it all started by dropping the Bills quarterback to No. 5 in his QB rankings.
Before him, he ranked Patrick Mahomes (totally fair), Joe Burrow (we'll allow it, the kid is real), Trevor Lawrence (recency bias much?), and Justin Herbert (highly debatable).
"He regressed, there are too many mistakes," says Cowherd, master of hot takes, in his show. "He can go uptown and give you the greatness of Mahomes but he simply isn't as good situationally."
Listen, it's a league with MANY great quarterbacks. So it's hard to get all up in arms about guys like Lawrence and Herbert being ranked above Allen. But it does seem like the national media solely blames the quarterback for the Bills' latest shortcomings.
In reality, the Bills offense is designed for Allen to be a superhero. Perhaps it's not right, but everything falls on him to work. It's almost as if his scrambling and throwing on the run is the way the scheme is designed. They choose to live in that chaos. And when it goes wrong, the finger-pointing is directed right at Allen.
Simply put, few quarterbacks have as much on their plate as Allen does.
And no, he didn't play well in the Bills' loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. But he certainly remains the #1 strength of the team and is one of the few elite QBs in the NFL. Even dropping him to #5 in the NFL QB rankings seems like a disrespectful slap to the face.
Featured image via JAMIE GERMANO / USA TODAY NETWORK
