Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) celebrates a catch that was ruled incomplete with teammate quarterback Josh Allen (17) against the New York Jets during the first half at Highmark Stadium. Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

With QB Josh Allen, WR Stefon Diggs, Bills always have a shot

By Andrew Marshall | Last updated 9/26/22

It's good for Bills fans to keep perspective after Buffalo's tablet-breaking loss to Miami on Sunday.

In 2018, QB Josh Allen's rookie year, Buffalo rolled out Robert Foster, now out of the league, as WR1 for most of the season on a roster that had lost its three best offensive linemen from the previous season. This season, Buffalo has stellar WR Stefon Diggs, obtained in 2020, and a 2022 otherworldly version of Allen.

Their performances so far bear out why Buffalo (2-1) should be in every game.

Diggs is a historically a slow starter, with only six career first-quarter touchdowns through 106 games. In Buffalo, he averages 5.6 yards/target in first quarters, but catches just about everything (80 percent of fourth-quarter targets) when Allen needs him most. He averages 11.7 yards per target in fourth quarters with the Bills. (All stats are from Pro Football Reference.)

As this clip demonstrates, Diggs' football game has basketball influences. Rhythm is a huge part of the game for Diggs, who leads the NFL with 344 yards receiving.

Stefon Diggs with a crazy release pic.twitter.com/hJm86aO5a4
— Receiver Life (@ReceiverLife_) October 6, 2018

Allen found his own rhythm in 2020 and never looked back. One of the more polarizing prospects in recent history, he's a good lesson that rare competitive and physical talents don't always follow conventional rules. For the most part, rules don't seem to apply on a football field to Allen.

In the loss to the Dolphins, he threw 63 times and led the team in rushing (47 yards), which is crazy.

Allen is 26-10 in the regular season since the Diggs trade. He played nearly perfectly in last year's playoffs with a 9/0 TD/INT ratio and a 149 passer rating (158.3 is statistically perfect by this metric). He's off to an impressive start this season, completing 71.2 percent of his passes for a league-leading 1,014 yards.

He has unique trump cards. Pressures don't turn into sacks with him. Seemingly every throw is available to him, and he can put the team on his back.

#Bills

Tight copy view on Josh Allen’s TD pass to Jake Kumerow.

Need high-level arm talent to make this throw (with the Quarters safety trying to close the window). @NFLMatchup pic.twitter.com/9KyNoKU38T
— Matt Bowen (@MattBowen41) December 20, 2020

Losing control of the divison to the Dolphins early isn't good. Neither is losing safety Micah Hyde for the season. But as long as Allen and Diggs are playing, the Bills have a shot.

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