Josh Allen's Story Still To Be Written

Another mid-to-late January of agony for Josh Allen & the Buffalo Bills is upon us. Just when you thought there couldn’t be another way to see one of sports’ top athletes of all time have his heart ripped from his chest… a new level has been unlocked. For Allen, you can’t help but feel gutted whether you’re a Bills fan, a football fan, or just a casual observer. He is, across the board, one of the most likable yet scrutinized QBs of this generation. But today, instead, my question is what will be his final story when it's fully written?

Though not the only elite QB in the game today without a Super Bowl ring... yes, I’m looking at you Joe Burrow & Lamar Jackson. Allen seems to feel the weight of it the most over the past decade. Even with critics & fans saying there are no excuses this year with no Mahomes, Jackson, or Burrow to worry about. As he plays with a weekly revolving door receiving core & at times a subpar defense, all while still managing to get a playoff win on the road. Yet no one says how he helped get this team to the playoffs as Burrow, with Ja’Marr Chase & Tee Higgins to throw to, sits at home… or Mahomes, with his stout defense, also faced early elimination… & then even Jackson, with a HOF running back in Derrick Henry, losing in the final week to miss as well. No, the convo is all on Josh yet again. Now, did he play his best game yesterday? No. But he still did so much, including putting up 30 points for his team against one of the top defenses in the league.

You can talk about the close calls, the mistakes, or the officiating till you’re blue in the face, but the fact is the loss is the loss. Allen holds so many records, regular season & postseason... but not the biggest & most elusive of them all: a Super Bowl championship. He has put his body on the line every season to get his team in position. So many times they look poised to take the next step, only to see the agony of defeat meet them at the finish line yet again. For anyone who put themselves through hell, as I did, watching the postgame pressers, you can’t help but feel gutted. So many times athletes feel the need to mask themselves from the public, but not Allen, as he yet again showed us his truest of true feelings, not holding back. As already one of the most likable people in sports, this just hurts even more to see the mix of frustration & heartbreak.

Allen taking the brunt of the fault for this latest shortcoming only shows you the weight just feels heavier on his shoulders than other QBs around the league to get it done. It may be because of all his personal accolades, it could be the media’s critiquing of his at-times erratic, “smashing all the buttons” play, or most of it may be the way it happens every year, in a more gut-wrenching ending each time.

All of this put together, then throw in the fact that he plays for this franchise, one that has lived this pain longer than most, and the weight isn’t just his own. It’s his teammates. It’s the fans. It’s an entire city that has learned to brace for heartbreak while still showing up anyway. That weight is real, and Josh Allen carries it every snap.

Josh Allen needs to know he hasn’t let anyone down. Not Buffalo. Not that locker room. Not the people who ride with him year after year knowing how this story usually ends. He gave everything again, his body, his heart, his belief, and sometimes that still isn’t enough in this league.

But this isn’t the end of his story. Not even close. The pain, the tears, the silence in that locker room, it all becomes part of the payoff. The longer the climb, the louder the roar when the summit is finally reached. And when Josh Allen does get there, when that moment finally breaks through, it won’t just be a championship... it’ll be a release. For him. For Buffalo. For everyone who stayed when it hurt the most.

And that’s what will make it unforgettable.