Josh Allen's Biggest Issue is Starting to Become Clear

Few, if any, expected the Buffalo Bills to be 9-4 entering Week 15. Much of Buffalo's success has come against weaker teams though, as the Bills only have one win against a team that currently has a winning record.

And when they've faced a top-tier defense, the results haven't been pretty. Josh Allen has made serious strides since his rookie season, but Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens proved Buffalo won't be a legitimate contender unless the second-year passer can take his game to the next level.

Josh Allen was:
- 1-of-11 passing 15+ yards downfield
- 0-of-11 from outside the pocket (all under duress)
- 1-of-16 when under duress
- Blitzed 30 times & completed 29% of his attempts against it (7-of-24)

And the game *still* came down to the final minute
(h/t @ESPNStatsInfo)
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) December 8, 2019

Buffalo's defense certainly did its part, holding Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to just 24 points on Sunday – their third-lowest scoring output of the season.

But Allen's inaccuracy issues doomed the Bills' offense. Allen was 1-of-11 on passes that traveled at least 15 yards downfield and 1-of-16 when pressured. In total, Allen finished 17-of-39 for 146 yards. He was neutralized on the ground as well, rushing for just nine yards on six carries.

Allen was similarly ineffective when he faced the New England Patriots' elite defense in Week 4. The Patriots held Allen to 153 passing yards, and picked him off three times before he ultimately left due to a concussion.

The two games against New England and Baltimore are the only times Allen has faced a top-10 pass defense in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric this season. It's safe to say the results have been far from encouraging.

Allen has the chance to flip the script on this narrative in the coming weeks though, as the Bills take on the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 4 in Football Outsiders' DVOA metric) and Patriots (No. 2) in the next two games.

Josh Allen and the @BuffaloBills head to Pittsburgh to take on T.J. Watt and the @steelers under the Sunday Night lights.

Oh yeah, this one is gonna be good. pic.twitter.com/ooSwtQHMoe
— SNF on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 9, 2019

While the Bills have the league's second-best scoring defense, and average the fifth-most rushing yards per game, Buffalo won't be a legitimate contender until Allen proves he can hang with the NFL's elite.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.