Josh Allen Throws Game Away vs. Jets Despite Aaron Rodgers’s Season-Ending Injury
The Buffalo Bills, and especially Josh Allen, simply did not show up to play for their season opener at MetLife Stadium on the first Monday Night Football game of the 2023 season.
Allen was a turnover machine, the Bills’ run defense was weak throughout the game, and clock management was also lacking at key moments in the Bills’ 16-22 overtime loss.
The NFL is extremely judgmental, and people are already giving Allen a very hard time, and rightfully so, for his league-leading turnovers since he entered the league in 2018. He is still a star quarterback in the NFL, but it is hard to trust him in key moments, backed by a 0-5 record in overtime throughout his career.
Despite this, I bet that he bounces back big time in Week two vs. the Las Vegas Raiders and will continue to rebound into his Top-5 form throughout the rest of the season. The hope is that the Madden curse does not prevail once again. Heck, no matter what, he is still arguably the most entertaining player to watch in the NFL right now.
As an avid Bills fan myself, I have to give credit to where credit is due in the New York Jets performance. Jets running back Breece Hall was explosive, rushing for 127 yards on only ten carries, and defensive back Jordan Whitehead had three interceptions, yes three, of Allen, an incredible feat.
The story of the game, although, is the season-ending Achilles tear of veteran star QB Aaron Rodgers, which is a devastating blow to a franchise that built their two-year plan around him being healthy.
Despite this, Zach Wilson did enough to beat the Bills for the second time in a row, throwing for 140 yards, one interception, and one touchdown, which was a spectacular bobbling catch from second-year wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
It will be fascinating to see if the Jets quickly address their quarterback situation due to the Rodgers injury, which I think they should.
Veteran quarterbacks available include Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and Jacoby Brissett, and I would not entirely rule out a second Tom Brady un-retirement push from the Jets front office.
In the overtime loss, Allen threw for 236 yards and one touchdown with four turnovers, Stefon Diggs caught ten balls for 102 yards with a TD, and Tyler Bass hit the left upright and through on the OT, sending a 50-yard field goal.
The Buffalo Bills will look to use this shocking loss, given the game circumstances, as motivation to beat the Raiders at home and right the ship for the rest of the season.
Next week’s game vs. the Raiders almost already feels like a must-win for the Bills to avoid an 0-2 hole, given the lofty team expectations this year and, more importantly, the extremely competitive AFC division.