Josh Allen stats that will irritate non-Bills fans

Josh Allen hate is a big business on social media. We put the nonsense to rest with these stats.

Greg Vorse | Jun 28, 2024

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates with fans after his 81 yard touchdown pass to Buffalo Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir (10). / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and

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One of the easiest ways to earn engagement in the NFL sphere in 2024 is to fire up Bills Mafia, and the easiest way to do that is to pour Haterade on Josh Allen. To steal a line from the great American philosopher Antonio Brown, “business is boomin’” when you attack Buffalo’s quarterback. However, a lot of that engagement farming isn’t based on reality, so let’s take a few minutes to dispel the anti-Allen claims with facts.

Let’s start with the most important thing a QB can do: score points. For starters, Allen has the most total touchdowns since 2020 with 174. His closest competitor is Kansas City Chiefs passer Patrick Mahomes at 151, and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is third with 125. The Bills’ gun slinger has four consecutive seasons of 40+ TDs; that’s an NFL record.

The easy and incorrect rebuttal will be “But Greg, he is padding stats.” In 2023, Allen had the most touchdowns against the top 10 defenses. His 20 total TDs vs. elite competition were two more than the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts and five clear of the Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa. Lastly, in this category, he’s first in points added at 3.8 per game, per NFELO. The Ravens’ Lamar Jackson was second at 3.3, the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott was third at 3.1 per game, and the Vikings’ Cousins and Chiefs’ Mahomes are tied for fourth at 2.5 per game.

All that scoring is nice, but Allen is a “turnover machine.” I think we’ll all agree that the most important games are those played in the postseason, where Allen has the lowest interception percentage of all QBs with at least 350 playoff attempts at 1.1%. He is followed by Mahomes at 1.2% and the Jets’ Aaron Rogers at 1.7%. I know he turns the ball over via fumbles all the time, right? No! Allen has two lost fumbles in 10 career playoff games.

Another misconception is that Allen’s stats are padded because he takes too many deep risks. He finished eighth in aDot (average depth of target) in 2023 at 8.7 yards per attempt of QBs with 100+ passes, per NFELO. That is slightly ahead of Hurts at 8.6 and the Packers' Jordan Love at 8.5. Now, this isn’t to say he isn’t pushing the ball downfield. Allen was fifth (QBs with 300+ attempts) in “air yards to sticks,” which measures how close to a first down a QB is on his average pass attempt.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) celebrates his second touchdown against the Chiefs. / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and

For perspective, Texans passer CJ Stroud was first at +.3 and Mahomes came in 29th at -2.4, all per NextGenStats. Lastly, in the risk-taking world, completion percentage over expected, another NFELO statistic. Here, Allen was second for QBs with 100+ attempts at a +5% rating. Oddly, he was just behind someone who is seen to be too safe in Brock Purdy at 5.3%, and a guy knocked too much for being safe in Tagovailoa at 4.4% was slightly behind him.

Here are a few more stats to put in your Allen holster should you get caught in one of these endless arguments with the Haterade drinkers. Allen is the only human to finish in the top five in MVP voting each of the last two seasons. If you’re into fantasy football, Allen has finished in the in the top two in each of the last four seasons. He was first in 2023, 2021, and 2020. Finally, Allen’s contract with the Bills is a steal. He is currently the 11th highest-paid QB on an average annual value basis, at $43 million per year. At the top of the list are the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence, both at $55 million per year.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) is caught from behind by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95). / Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and

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