Why can he afford to lose? He's 2-4 in the playoffs and has his worst games of the season in the playoffs
If he plays well and loses he'll be fine. He can't suck anymore. He at the stage where we only judge what he does in the playoffs, he's clearly one of the greatest to ever play his position in the regular season...
His career thus far has been Manning in an athletic, swaggy, black man's body
he'll be fine if he plays well, regardless of outcome...
Lamar Jackson and it's not close. The people saying Josh Allen are Lamar diickeaters and part of the reason why Lamar has the most pressure.
Hurts is a distant 2nd
Lamar is definitely #1, there's no real argument for anyone there besides him...
But Allen is definitely #2, and there's no real argument for anyone there besides him...
Just consider this for a second, what are the hallmarks of an elite quarterback, besides physical tools? What are the tangible metrics?
They win alot, in all facets. They win championships, they win awards, they win divisions, they win games...
Last year a groundswell started of calling Allen a lock Famer and one of the greatest QBs ever, and that narrative has grown louder this year. The problem with this is, if we're only grading the metrics, here is where he is as we currently stand today, among the guys of his generation:
•tied for 2nd in championship count, with 0;
•t-3rd in SB appearances, with 0;
•t-4th in playoff record, at .500;
•4th in regular season win percentage, at .691;
•2nd in division championships, with 5;
•t-6th in trophies collected, with 0;
•t-4th in Pro Bowl selections, with 3;
•3rd in All-Pro selections, with 2;
•never led The League in any statistical category, t-4th;
We have a guy who everybody wants to tell me is one if the greatest players I've ever seen, but he's not #1 in anything. He's never led The League in anything. On aggregate, if you balance out all these categories, he comes out as, on average, #4 of his generation. Which tracks, given that we know he's not better than Mahomes...
The argument could be made but he's on the lesser side of an argument vs Lamar, who has led The League in multiple categories and has been #1 in multiple categories...
The argument can be made that Burrow is better than him, though I'd say Allen is on the winning side of that argument. Still, Burrow is the better pocket passer, outplayed and beat Allen in their only playoff game, has been to more AFC Championships, has been to a Super Bowl, and has beaten KC...
So if you are on the Burrow side of Allen/Burrow, that puts Allen as the 4th-best QB of his era...
If you think he's higher than the 4th best QB of his era, you're making my central point which is that a guy, this good, allegedly, cannot keep losing to The Dynasty...
Manning got one on The Dynasty in '06...
A guy this great can't keep not winning MVPs, not leading the NFL in any passing category, etc, so he's gotta do something in the playoffs...
I've heard for weeks now that, he's the only guy to beat both #1 seeds, and to be very clear, Allen was PHENOMENAL in both games...
So what will he look like in this second season? He's purportedly one of the greatest players ever, it's time for it to show in the results, not simply the physical gifts, not simply the, "I like him better than the other guy"...
I don't have a single thing to point to, to tell me Allen is the best at anything. He's not really second best at anything either, a SB run would change alot for him, but anything less, especially if he's bad? I don't wanna hear anything else about Allen again...