The Buffalo Bills have won four games in a row and are surging toward the playoffs, but quarterback Josh Allen may not be 100 percent healthy going into the season finale.
On Monday, Bills head coach Sean McDermott said that Allen is dealing with some neck soreness after he suffered a stinger late in Buffalo’s win over the New England Patriots this past weekend, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
McDermott added that he does not believe the issue with limit Allen’s practice participation but that the team will take it one day at a time.
Regardless, this is obviously not want Bills fans want to hear heading into the team’s pivotal Week 18 matchup with the Miami Dolphins that will ultimately determine the AFC East division champion.
If Buffalo beats the Dolphins next Sunday, the Bills will complete the season sweep of Miami and thereby capture the division crown by way of the tiebreaker. However, if the Dolphins win, they will win the AFC East, and depending on what other playoff contenders in the conference do, Buffalo could find itself out of the postseason picture entirely.
So, clearly, the Bills need a healthy Allen to take the field next weekend.
Even though Buffalo came away with a win against the Patriots, it wasn’t pretty for Allen, who went just 15-for-30 with 169 yards and an interception. He did carry the ball 11 times for 44 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but his 53.3 passer rating was his worst of the season.
On the 2023 campaign overall, Allen has thrown for 3,947 yards, 27 touchdowns and 16 picks while completing 65.6 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 91.5. He has also rushed for 457 yards and 15 touchdowns, tying Jalen Hurts for the most rushing scores by a quarterback in a single season.
It has been a wildly inconsistent season for Allen as a whole. He has thrown an interception in all but three games this year and has done it in 11 of his last 12 contests.
Josh Allen’s struggles have been a microcosm of the Bills’ season, as they went into the year with Super Bowl aspirations but instead found themselves at 6-6 going into December. Now, they will be fighting for their playoffs lives in the regular-season finale.
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