Jonathan Allen was true to form Saturday night postgame; he said little.
Allen was not happy with the Commanders starting defense permitting two lengthy Kansas City scoring drives in the first half. The Chiefs drove 87 yards in 12 plays for a first-quarter touchdown. Then turned around and completed another 12-play drive, this time for 82 yards, finalized by Patrick Mahomes’ second touchdown pass.
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Allen was recently voted by NFL players as one of the top 100 performers, coming in at number 88. But Allen is typically letting his play do his talking and is already looking forward to next week and then the season opener against the Jaguars, September 11.
“For the Ravens, it’s a great opportunity for the young guys to show what they can do to help make this team better. For us getting ready for the Jags, I got to watch the film. It’s hard for me to identify that right after a game.”
Allen is thinking big picture. He is looking each preseason week at how he can best prepare for when the games start to count.
“I use it (preseason games) as reps up here. Got to get ready for week one. I came out of here healthy. There’s some things I want to do better, and we’ll do that.”
On the following play, Allen was double-teamed. He also appears to be gassed, with it being the 12th play of the drive. Montez Sweat nearly made the sack on Mahomes. It was third-down, and a sack would have meant a field goal attempt. Notice also Casey Toolhill goes too wide continuing up the field, not setting the edge, and Mahomes steps right into the vacated area, avoids the sack, completing the touchdown pass.
Mahomes + Fortson = 6️⃣
That's @JodyFortsonJr's second TD of the day! 😤
(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/pNm2XV7ScB
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) August 20, 2022
Allen was clearly the best defensive player for the Commanders in 2021. Starting all 17 regular season games, Allen produced 31 solo tackles and 31 assisted tackles while often seeing double teams. He also produced 10 tackles for a loss, 9 quarterback sacks and an additional 30 quarterback hits.
