NFL Buffalo Bills news: Josh Allen AFC player of the week, Micah Hyde and Dawson Knox sit out
ORCHARD PARK - There have certainly been more dynamic performances on Josh Allen’s impressive resume than last Sunday’s against the Las Vegas Raiders, but that one was still good enough to earn him his 11th AFC offensive player of the week award.
Allen completed 31 of 37 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns in Buffalo’s 38-10 victory. Obviously, that’s a heck of a day, but there have been times when Allen won this award where he was putting up 400 yards passing and four or five touchdowns.
“It means typically they give it to the team that wins the game, so it was a win,” Allen said Wednesday. “I was surprised. I didn’t think my stats were that great but again, I was talking to (trainer) Nate Breske and he said imagine that kid from Firebaugh High School getting one of these. Thinking about that, just putting it in perspective. But it doesn’t mean a whole lot except we won a game.”
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The first time he won this award was Week 17 of his rookie 2018 season when he lit up the Dolphins for 224 yards passing, 95 yards rushing and five total TDs. He won it four times in 2020, including a 415-yard, four passing TDs game in Miami, and a 415-yard, three passing TDs game against the Seahawks.
In Week 3 of 2021 he threw for 358 yards and four TDs against the Commanders who he will face Sunday, and last season he won it in back-to-backs weeks against the Steelers (424 yards) and Chiefs (359) where he totaled seven touchdowns.
But this was a different style game for Allen as he reeled in his sometimes reckless nature - such as we saw in the opener against the Jets - and just picked apart the Raiders with smart decisions and accurate passes.
“I don’t know if the word is just solid, right; just a solid performance,” coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday. “He made his plays that he needed to make where he really was spectacular, call it. But overall, for the bulk of the day he played really good, solid football.”
Allen spent a difficult week leading up to the Raiders game trying to put behind him the four-turnover meltdown that handed the opener in New York to the Jets. He looked like rookie year Allen in terms of some of the decisions he made, but against Las Vegas, he looked every bit like the top 5 quarterback that he is and McDermott thinks it’s a well-learned lesson.
“I think that’s the thing he needs to, and we need to, take out of that game and perhaps even refer back to from time to time as a good, you kind of put it on your shelf and it’s a good trophy to have up there because it’s a good reminder that you can do it when playing a certain way,” McDermott said. “You can still be in some ways, spectacular, but also play really high-level winning football.”
Allen established a new Bills’ record for most AFC offensive player of the week awards, surpassing the 10 earned by Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly across his 11 NFL seasons. Allen has just started his sixth year in the league.
Since Allen joined the Bills in 2018, his 11 awards are the most of any offensive player in the AFC, two more than Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes and three more than Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.
Through two weeks, Allen leads the NFL with a 76.1 completion percentage.
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“I think he just did a great job of working progressions and making good decisions,” offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey said. “We called some downfield stuff and they were getting soft, and he did a great job taking the underneath throws when they did. We want to be able to attack all areas of the field and I think it's important, too, so the (defense) can't just come up and play tight or just sit back and know you're not going to work underneath.”
Buffalo Bills injury list a little longer
The Bills listed just one player on their injury report in each of the first two games, but now that we are moving into Week 3, the aches and pains have begun to mount.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard was limited with a knee/quad problem, while four players did not practice at all. Edge rusher Leonard Floyd has an ankle injury, safety Micah Hyde a hamstring, tight end Dawson Knox has a cranky back, and defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was sidelined with an illness.
It doesn’t appear that anyone will miss Sunday’s game, but it will be something to monitor as the week goes on, particularly Floyd’s ankle injury.
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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Josh Allen named AFC offensive player of the week for 11th time
