Dion Dawkins couldn’t believe it.
After the Buffalo Bills’ dominant win over the New York Jets on Sunday, the star left tackle was informed by a reporter that Josh Allen had neither thrown for a touchdown or ran for a touchdown (or caught one, for that matter).
Dion’s reply, via The Athletic: “Josh didn’t score? Damn.”
That’s right. Josh didn’t score, and the Bills won 30-10.
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It’s all part of the continued evolution of the guy who very well may be the best football player on the planet.
Allen has made a name for himself in Western New York by being Superman.
But these days, he recognizes that it’s sometimes OK to be Clark Kent.
“Although it's sometimes necessary for Allen to put the Bills on his back, he had issues early in his career of trying to do too much on his own,” ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg wrote. “That still comes up sometimes, but the Bills have shown that they don't have to rely solely on Allen's arm and legs. That was on display versus the Jets, as Buffalo's dominant rushing attack led the way. James Cook finished with 132 yards and two touchdowns, and Allen didn't score in a start for just the eighth time in his NFL career.”
Allen is the guy who leaps over defenders in a single bound. They make shirts with images like that, dubbed Air Allen.
But aside from an epic 40-yard scramble on Sunday that Allen ended with a fierce stiff-arm that he threw pretty much just for the fun of it, Allen had a pretty uneventful day.
(Well, aside from that whole sprint to the sideline with his nose bleeding heavily moment that scared the bejeezus out of Bills Mafia for a few minutes, but that was all resolved just fine.)
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The Bills needed every bit of Superman Allen in Week 1 to rally in epic fashion past the Ravens in a 41-40 win.
But their defense and running game proved on Sunday that Allen doesn’t always need to do everything.
It’s not that Allen was bad and needed his teammates to pick it up for him. He just got the chance to take off his cape for a little while.
The big red ‘S’ will surely be called upon before too long, and Allen will answer that call, because that’s what he does.
But the more the Bills can keep Allen in his metaphorical street clothes and glasses, the better. It means they’ve got a team capable of beating anyone, in any way they want.
And when you’ve got Superman to close it out and soar to the highest heights, it doesn’t get much better.
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