Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been dealing with a foot injury sustained in the narrow Week 16 victory over the Cleveland Browns. He has not missed any time, but his touchdown in the final seconds of this Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was the only time his offense got into the endzone the entire day.
Perhaps now, offensive coordinator Joe Brady has provided some insight into why the Bills’ offense struggled so badly against the Eagles.
“I think yesterday was a little different,” Brady said when asked if he had to adjust his play calling to account for quarterback Josh Allen’s injured foot. “He was hobbling a little bit, but once the adrenaline got going a little bit — I mean, you can look at the last drive of the game, he’s running away from Jalen Phillips — so it was just constant communication with him about how he’s feeling.
“Once Josh is out there, I have to just trust that if he’s out there, he’s 100% and good things will happen.”
Despite what the offensive coordinator had to say, there was one glaring statistic that stuck out in Allen’s performance.
Josh Allen Didn’t Throw Outside The Pocket Once
The reigning MVP’s game is built on the utilization of his legs, both on and off script.
Allen leads all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards with 579, the only gunslinger over the half-century mark. But on Sunday, for the first time in his career, Allen did not attempt a pass from outside of the pocket.
According to ESPN’s Buffalo beat reporter Alaina Getzenberg, this was the first time in the 29-year-old quarterback’s career that he has finished a game with at least 20 pass attempts coming all from inside the pocket.
Allen averaged 3.9 yards per carry on Sunday, the fifth-lowest mark of the season. One run contributed 17 of his 27 yards, meaning the remaining of his six rushing attempts ended up with a gain of less than two yards on average.
The week prior, when the injury was sustained, was the same story. He had just seven carries for 17 yards with a long of seven in that win over the Browns.
Despite his 262-yard passing performance, it is clear that the injury is playing a factor in the quarterback’s performance during a crucial stretch of the season.
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