Henry McKenna
NFL reporter
Josh Allen was bleeding from the mouth. That was very clear to his teammates because the Buffalo Bills quarterback had a big smile on his face – although maybe not as bright because the blood was dripping down to his teeth.
It was the fourth quarter against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10, and Allen had just been hit in the face after completing a third-down conversion pass. The Bills were the better team, but the score line didn’t show well – yet. In the huddle, Allen called the next play. Then he gives a simple message.
“Let’s go do this,” Allen said, licking the blood from his lips.
The Bills scored a touchdown a few plays later and put the game away.
That’s what Spencer Brown considers Allen’s MVP moment.
When he talked to nine different Bills players, each of them had a different MVP season since 2024. Actually, safety Damar Hamlin didn’t bother to point out any one moment.
“Every day f—ing. Every Sunday. Every Sunday f—ing. Like, it’s not a specific time. Every Sunday f—ing he goes out there, hits the line and proves. Just turn on the tape. It’s on,” Hamlin told FOX Sports.
Running back Ty Johnson, however, chose the obvious choice: Allen’s fourth-down, game-winning touchdown run against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11.
Bills players, of course, are biased. If we talked to nine different Ravens players, they would assure us that Lamar Jackson also had an infinite number of MVP seasons. Because you do. No matter who wins the award, it will be well deserved.
It is a question of taste.
Jackson was electrifying in leading an extraordinary offense, where he threw for 4,172 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also rushed for 915 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers make a pretty good case on their own.
Hamlin’s message resonates with MVP voters: Turn on the tape. Because Allen’s stats pale in comparison (3,731 passing yards, 28 passing TDs, 6 INTs; 531 rushing yards, 12 rushing TDs). But his tape shows a much, much more important player than Jackson. Allen lifts up his teammates in a way that Jackson doesn’t.
“When the season started, everyone counted on our team and our organization,” Brown said. “They said we’re not going to make the finals. We’re going to have the worst record we’ve had in the last five years. We’re going to be last in our division, because everyone left.”
This talent pool is very small compared to what the Bills had last year. That’s a big part of Allen’s case as MVP.
Receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis left this offseason, and were the team’s No. 1 quarterbacks. 1 and No. 2. That forced Khalil Shakir, the slot receiver, into a role as the first option. And it’s not like it was a plan. Buffalo may have wanted Dalton Kincaid, receiver Keon Coleman or receiver Amari Cooper to take that alpha role. None of them did.
Still, Allen made the best of what he had. The Bills marketed this offensive identity as “everyone eats,” which is good. But that doesn’t work for everyone. The Chiefs have unleashed that identity — and it’s actually working because of Patrick Mahomes. New England tried who he is, and it only worked with Tom Brady. The Patriots went humpty-dumpty after Brady left – for a number of reasons, one of which is that New England never got quality playmakers to back up their post-Brady QBs. No one ate.
The dirty little secret about “everyone eats” is that you have to have a chef who can handle the rigors of feeding everyone. That chef is Allen.
“He put on film, you’d say he’s the best player in the NFL right now,” backup QB Mitchell Trubisky said. “As you grow in this league, you figure out how to play well, and then play well and win. … It seems like he’s in total control.”
Allen is a master of the art, with a unique ability to patiently execute his progressions in the pocket – while recognizing that he needs to act when those forwards fail him. How many times do we see Allen roll right, touch the receiver to a certain direction and the QB hit the guy with a dart?
(A lot.)
Allen isn’t just converting these explosive plays. He also avoids the volatility that plagued him last year. He has only hit six caps this year despite targeting 18 in 2023.
Allen is so good at converting improbable third downs that it has become a running joke for safety Cole Bishop, who is on the punt coverage team.
“[We] get ready to go out. Then he does something amazing. [It happens] a lot. It will be the third and 15th and you will do something good. Then we’ll sit down,” said the Bishop. “So that was one thing that was cool.”
These types of games require unspoken communication — anticipation and communication. And Bills players were quick to talk about Allen’s value as a key piece in the locker room, not just the offense. It is Allen who organizes the golf meets during the season and during the off season. Allen hosts major tournaments for “Settlers of Catan,” a high-pressure and highly competitive board game. He organizes cornhole matchups inside the quarterback room to help lighten the mood after stressful days. Allen is a great host.
Allen is the Bills’ MVP. But they think he is more than that.
“He’s the best player in the league,” Hamlin said.
Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots at USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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