Josh Allen has a (mostly warranted) reputation for being reckless.
This trait serves him well as a bona superstar quarterback taking the Buffalo Bills on deep playoff runs every winter, but it’s still a part of his make-up. It’s what makes Allen special. He is going to launch bombs to his playmakers in triple coverage if he thinks he can make the play. On runs, he will get the extra yards by barreling through defenders. He is the last quarterback any defense should expect to surrender and slide in the open field.
Someone did not pass along this memo to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday afternoon.
On a third-and-long late in the first half of this Wild Card matchup, Allen found a lot of running room. When he crossed the first-down marker, Allen slowed down and feinted that he would slide. This got all the Steelers defenders in front of him to stop and relax.
Big mistake. This Terminator of a quarterback was never, ever going to slide, and 52 yards later, he had himself a ridiculous touchdown run.
.@JoshAllenQB turned on the BURNERS for the 52-yard rushing TD 🗣️
📺: #PITvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/rnjmj1Pg4j pic.twitter.com/WUzjBV8d99— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2024
I feel like this probably should’ve been in the Steelers’ defensive scouting report. Allen will do whatever it takes to help his team win. He will never give up on a play, and he will sacrifice his body without hesitation if it means more yards for his team.
Oh, well. It’s not like this happened in a sudden-death playoff game. Oh … right.