Buffalo Bills: Can Josh Allen rise to the occassion against Lamar Jackson?
The Buffalo Bills look to continue their recent streak of strong play as Josh Allen goes up against MVP-candidate Lamar Jackson.
Lamar Jackson continues to take the NFL by storm this season and his latest test against the Buffalo Bills will be one a big one not only for their defense but for quarterback Josh Allen.
While there is no doubt about Jackson’s ability, Allen has slowly been establishing himself and this will be a good test for him to prove himself. There were five quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft but only one outside of the top 10 and right now, Jackson has outshined every QB from that draft this season.
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The opportunity Allen has in front of him is similar to the one he had going up against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day and he passed that pretty handily. Of course, the Baltimore Ravens present a tougher test than the Cowboys but at least the Bills will be at home.
According to Jeff Kerr of CBS Sports, Allen is treating this game unlike any other one and isn’t buying into the hype.
"“I wouldn’t consider it a huge game,” Allen said on the NFL Network. “Everybody wants to make a big deal out of it. Obviously we’re going against a great team and obviously it’s going to be a four-quarter grudge match, it’s gonna take 60 minutes to go get this thing.“But it’s just another one on our schedule. We’re not trying to make one game any bigger than the rest.”"
This might just be a way for Allen to remain in the right mindset considering the Bills still have a legitimate shot of catching the New England Patriots for the AFC East division lead. Buffalo can also pick up their 10th win of the season which they haven’t done in almost 20 years.
As Kerr pointed out this has been a big stretch for Allen who has completed 2.1 percent of his passes for 1,688 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions. What’s more impressive is the fact that he also has five rushing touchdowns which has put him in a similar position as Jackson when it comes to his ability to run with the football.
If he can do that against the Ravens defense which is allowing 94.9 yards per game (sixth-best in the NFL), it could open things up in the passing game. Win or lose, this game has the potential to be a great matchup with two emerging quarterbacks.
For the BIlls’ sake, they better hope their seventh overall pick from 2018 can rise to the occasion.
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Do you expect Allen to step up and play to Jackson’s level or will the task be too tough for him? Let us know in the comments below.