If Burrow Brutalized by Chiefs Again, Allen More than Capable of Sending Mahomes Home with L Again

Former Hog has mental toughness, discipline to close out Kansas City for second time this season if called upon to do it again

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is truly a man of miracles. 

He somehow managed to get the infamous Ed Orgeron a national championship down at LSU.

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LSU head coach Ed Orgeron hugs quarterback Joe Burrow (9) after defeating Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

He has brought moxie back to the Bengals franchise for the first time since the 80's when Ickey Woods shuffled his team to a Super Bowl showdown with Joe Montana.

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Cincinnati Bengals running back Ickey Woods (30) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during Super Bowl XXIII at Joe Robbie Stadium. The 49ers defeated the Bengals 20-16.

But perhaps the biggest miracle of all has been keeping former Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen off the field.  

It's no secret that the Bengals' offensive doesn't do the best job of protecting its prized quarterback.

Heading into last weekend's playoff game, Burrow had been sacked 53 times, and that's without playing the final game of the season. Then Tennessee Titan defense played Ivan Drago to Burrow's Rocky by pounding him to the turf nine times only to have Burrow get up asking for more.

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) is sacked in the fourth quarter during an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Tennessee Titans, Saturday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. The Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Tennessee Titans, 19-16, to advance to the AFC Championship game. 

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Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons (98) sacks Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) during the second quarter of an AFC divisional playoff game at Nissan Stadium Saturday.

The last time Burrow had to come out from a beating was against Kansas City with 46 seconds left in the middle of a potential game-winning drive. Having already been sacked four times, Burrow was blasted on a 4th down play that ended in a Chiefs penalty that handed the Bengals a first down while also putting the game in Allen's hands.

With the ball moved down near the goal line, Allen would need to execute two clock plays to perfection. It seems simple enough, but as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott can attest, doing so with no timeouts, as was the case, can lead to disaster even for veteran starting quarterbacks.

Allen needed to take a knee to run time down, and then spike it to kill the clock with just enough time to make sure Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes wouldn't have a chance to, well, Mahomes this thing.

Bringing in a new quarterback with a new cadence is almost a guarantee for a false start, which Allen had to be careful to not let happen because of the 10-second run-off rule.

In the midst of all the chaos, he also had to avoid the natural instinct to want to fall back on calling a timeout and blowing a key win.

But the six-year vet with more playing experience than most back-ups calmly stepped in and mounted the stake that kicker Evan McPherson would later drive through the heart of Kansas City.

Should Burrow's line give way again this weekend and subject him to another brutal beating, Allen is more than capable of stepping into a potential shootout. While Burrow rehabbed an ACL injury during the final six games of 2020, Allen carried the load at quarterback.

During that stretch he threw for 371 yards and led the Bengals to the most points they had scored since 2018 in a blow-for-blow match-up against a Deshaun Watson led Houston Texans team where Cincinnati came out on top 37-31. 

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen (8) runs the ball against the Houston Texans during the fourth quarter at NRG Stadium.

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Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson takes part in a shootout against Cincinnati quarterback Brandon Allen. The Bengals pulled out the win, 37-31.

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Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen warms up before the final game of the regular season against Cleveland. The second Battle of Ohio featured neither starting quarterback as Cleveland's Baker Mayfield was out recovering from surgery while Cincinnati chose to protect quarterback Joe Burrow who was sacked 53 times in the regular season.

His 78% completion percentage in that game would be the second 70+% performance during a time where the team was without running back Joe Mixon, left tackle Jonah Williams was out, his main receivers were banged up or gone, and Jamar Chase hadn't even made the team yet.

In his first NFL start back in 2019, Allen stepped in for an injured Joe Flacco and led the Denver Broncos to a 24-19 win over the Browns while throwing for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. That day's success involved leading a 95-yard touchdown drive and also hitting tight end Noah Fant for 75-yard touchdown.

Injured starting quarterback Joe Flacco advises Denver Broncos quarterback Brandon Allen between drives during an early November game against Cleveland. Allen led a 95-yard drive and threw two touchdowns in the 24-19 victory.

Denver Broncos quarterback Brandon Allen scrambles around the right end of the Cleveland defense for a first down in his first-ever NFL start.

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Denver Broncos tight end Noah Fant (87) celebrates with quarterback Brandon Allen (2) after the win over the Cleveland Browns at Empower Field at Mile High. Allen found Fant for a 75-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Allen has a mental toughness that keeps him calm under pressure. While at Arkansas he trudged his way through Bret Bielema's three-play playbook, none of which involved a pass. 

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Bret Bielema during a Razorback game against South Carolina in 2017. The former Arkansas head coach's passion for running the ball over passing during quarterback Brandon Allen's tenure was no secret.

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Baltimore Ravens running back Alex Collins (34) stiff arms Detroit Lions linebacker Jarrad Davis (40) in the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Collins led the Razorbacks in rushing during Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen's last three years in former Arkansas Razorback head coach Bret Bielema's run-heavy offense.

Yet, he managed to squeeze out an extra 1,000 yards of production over the previous season in all four years at Arkansas, throwing for nearly 3,440 yards with a 66% completion percentage against SEC defenses his final year while also handling getting his truck egged by Razorback fans after a loss one year, only to have it torched the following year, as well as any college-aged young man ever could.

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He's not going to rattle. The noise in Kansas City isn't going to bother him since no NFL team with its 75,000 fans can match the rabid passion of one of the many 100,000+ seat SEC cathedrals packed to the gills with rabid fans armed with mustard bottles should anything go awry. 

Should Burrow fall to the Chiefs defense once again, the Bengals will be in better shape than any team could hope in that position thanks to Allen. 

But just in case that scenario plays out and Mahomes Mahomes  this thing for a second week in a row, please don't torch Allen's ride. 

There's only so much mental toughness a man needs to develop.