Despite individual accolades, Bills QB Josh Allen is better than Lamar Jackson

Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson will clash in the Buffalo Bills' Week 4 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. Here's why the Bills' quarterback is the better player.

Anthony Miller | Sep 28, 2024

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The Buffalo Bills are set to face off with the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 4 Sunday Night Football clash, and while they won’t ever share the field with each other, the quarterback battle between NFL MVP frontrunner Josh Allen and two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson is one that football fans are hotly anticipating.

Allen and Jackson have been the subjects of comparison since their rookie years, which is only natural given that they were both selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft (seventh and 32nd overall, respectively). They’re both among the best signal-callers in football, dynamic weapons whom Buffalo and Baltimore have each centered their offenses—and franchises—around; opinions regarding which quarterback is better often come down to preference, but from a 30,000-foot view, it may be time to give the nod to Allen despite his comparative lack of individual accolades.

Starting with the numbers, Allen has Jackson beat in most career passing statistics, including passing yards (23,337 to 16,589), passing yards per game (240.6 to 186.4), and passing touchdowns (174 to 128). Jackson might top Allen on the majority of rushing numbers (5,512 rushing yards to Allen's 3,696), but Allen leads in the paramount stat of rushing touchdowns (55 to 30).

And even if you want to omit Allen's rushing touchdowns from the equation (for some reason), he still leads Jackson in total scores with his passing touchdowns alone (174 passing touchdowns to Jackson's 158 total).

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Turnovers are inevitably going to be brought up in this debate, as Jackson has protected the ball better than Allen throughout their respective careers (68 turnovers compared to Allen's 103). While this is a fact, we also need to look at their respective sample sizes; Allen’s combined career passing and rushing attempts total (and, thus, the number of plays on which he could have turned the ball over) is 3,891, this compared to Jackson’s total of 3,112. Looking back at their turnover totals, Allen has turned the ball over on 2.6% of his quote-unquote plays with turnover potential, this compared to Jackson’s 2.2%; Jackson’s percentage is still superior, but it’s not as stark of a difference as 103 to 68. We should also consider that Allen has totaled 230 touchdowns throughout his career; fans can live with the occasional turnover when he’s scoring at more than double that pace.

The two are tied in head-to-head matchups with a 2-2 record against each other, including the playoffs. Allen has the advantage in the playoffs as the Bills beat the Ravens 17-3 in the AFC Divisional Round in 2020, throwing a touchdown in that game while Jackson completed less than 60% of his passes and threw a 101-yard pick-six before departing after the third quarter with a concussion.

General postseason success plays a big factor on a resume, and Allen has the edge there, as well; he's 5-5 in the postseason while Jackson is 2-5. People will inevitably bring up Jackson's individual honors, but let's focus on his 2023 MVP Award; he threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2023 while rushing for 821 yards and another five scores, good for 29 total touchdowns. Allen posted far better numbers in all of these categories sans rushing yards, his 44 total scores good for most in the league by a considerable margin (Dak Prescott was in second with 38). Jackson was stellar and was a justifiable MVP choice, but it’s not as though he was leaps and bounds better than Allen, if he was better at all.

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Turning focus to this season, Allen has had the better start, leading Buffalo to a 3-0 record while the Ravens just picked up their first win against the Dallas Cowboys last week. Allen hasn't thrown an interception yet this season and has Jackson beat on completion percentage by nearly 10%. Allen's currently ranked second among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 50 passes in completion percentage (75%), second in passing touchdowns (seven), and first in total touchdowns (nine); these are major reasons why he's already been circled as the clear leader for NFL MVP through three weeks.

Much was made in the offseason about Allen losing weight and getting faster because of it. While he wouldn't beat Jackson in a 40-yard dash, Allen has a rare combination of size and speed that make him a wholly unique weapon, a dangerous rusher who can run past, around, through, or over defenders. This isn't to discredit Jackson, as he's one of the league's best players; Allen is simply the more complete player.

Allen and Jackson are both chasing their first Super Bowl appearance, but it appears Allen is a step closer than Jackson with his 3-0 start this season. This is a defining year for both quarterbacks, with this week's primetime clash potentially having major impacts on each team's campaigns.

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