The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens tie Sunday in Sharm City, and both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are required to hold their teams.
In the modern NFL, quarterbacks are required to be the sun of the solar system for their team.
In Baltimore and Buffalo, they are the entire galaxy.
Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson run at all times in terms of percentage of yardage calculated. Through three games this season, Allen has captured 83.4 percent of the Bills’ total yards. Jackson somehow records access with an even higher rate of 85.9 percent.
For comparison’s sake, here’s how recent Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks have measured on the same stat.
Tom Brady, 2020: 73.7%:
Russell Wilson, 2013: 68.4%
Aaron Rodgers, 2010: 71.8%
Peyton Manning, 2006: 73.0%
Kurt Warner, 1999: 69.3%
Steve Young, 1994: 70.3%
Over the past 30 years, quarterbacks tend to be close to the 70 percent threshold. However, Jackson and Allen, who have the combined skills of formidable passers-by and talented sprinters, are trying to change what a winning quarterback could be.
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson change what it means to be a QB winner
For years, groupthink in NFL circles has been running a quarterback who could win games, but not championships. One must win out of pocket first, and use one’s legs second. Jackson and Allen began their careers as talented shooters who were more dangerous on the go. Now, both of them had turned into complete rear players who could also take off and win on the ground.
He’s turned that conventional thinking to his proverbial ear, but it makes sense to wonder if Allen and Jackson could keep up with their scorching strides without slumps and injuries.
Last year, Jackson Missed five matches He ended the season with an ankle injury, the first time he missed playing. In the unanimous 2019 MVP season, Jackson was brilliant, but only 65.2 percent of his team’s offensive yardage. Allen’s best campaign was 2020, and she earned a Second-Team All-Pro Team Honor along with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. That year, Allen went to 76.3 percent of Buffalo yards.
So while Jackson and Allen are a new breed of quarterback — far from their steady Manning and Warner days — this is new territory even for them. Both the Bills and Ravens are 2-1 and have the appearance of contenders, but it’s clear that both need to be signal callers in the yardage stake to win it all.
This is made even more difficult by the lengthy 17-game schedule, along with only one team getting a farewell week in the post-season. One of these players will need to travel the route of 21 games if they win the Super Bowl.
Of course, it also appears that at some point the teams will start forcing everyone else to defeat them.
Against Baltimore, opponents will eventually attempt to stack the box, pulling Jackson’s running ability and challenging a questionable set of targets to outsmart them in the men’s cover. This could be a tough adjustment for the Ravens, as Jackson’s 243 yards tied him to fifth in the NFL, along with Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers.
With the Buffalo, the Bills ensure that you start getting an increasing amount of two-height projectiles, forcing the ball to continue under them. Allen has shown a willingness to play this way, but it’s hard to be patient for an afternoon. However, with Stefon Diggs, Gabe Davis and Dawson Knox, Buffalo has the knack for the scrolling game of winning in a variety of ways.
On Sunday, we will see the two best quarterbacks so far in 2022. The quarterbacks are not only required to be great, but be everything for the competing teams.
The question is not about their individual greatness. It comes down to how far their galactic talents can go before they finally reach the limit.
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