At midseason, the Buffalo Bills were struggling to stay over .500 and had trouble stringing together any real momentum. As a result, many felt there was a good chance they would miss the playoffs even though they possessed plenty of talent.
Even worse, there were rumors that star wide receiver Stefon Diggs was unhappy, and that the reason for his discontent may have been quarterback Josh Allen.
But the Bills have ended the 2023 season with a brilliant spurt by winning each of their last five games. With a clutch, come-from-behind 21-14 win on Sunday night over the Miami Dolphins, they clinched the AFC East title with an 11-6 record thanks to Allen’s 359 passing yards on 30 of 38 completions.
Recently, injured New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show” that if the Bills end their season with a winning streak, Allen deserves to get some serious MVP consideration.
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Allen almost certainly won’t win the MVP, as Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has had the award sewn up for the past couple of weeks. It is also almost a certainty that San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill will get more consideration than Allen.
The big blemish for Allen is the fact that he finished the season second in the NFL with 18 interceptions, including two on Sunday versus Miami. However, the rest of his stats — 4,306 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns on a 66.5 percent completion rate — are excellent.
What has made Allen an MVP candidate over the past couple of seasons is his dual-threat ability. He finished 2023 with 524 yards and a career-high 15 touchdowns on the ground, and at 6-foot-5 and nearly 240 pounds, he’s arguably the game’s most physically imposing QB.
Buffalo has some deficiencies, but it has to be considered the most dangerous team going into the playoffs. It will face the seventh-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in the wild-card round at Highmark Stadium.
