Bills, Josh Allen Is Responsible For 100% Of Their Touchdowns, Should We Be Concerned?
Josh currently sits second in the NFL in total touchdowns, with 12 and that’s not a bad thing.
Recently, data was shared with the NFL that showed that the Bills’ Josh Allen is the only quarterback left in the NFL who is 100% responsible for every touchdown. Most armchair analysts will tell you that four games in, this is an issue. That’s simply untrue, as the leader of the team and the most athletic player on the roster it shouldn’t surprise anyone that he is the lead scorer. It also shouldn’t concern anyone as well.
Statistics Can Be Deceptive
First, we’re only four games into the season. A couple of years ago you could have said we’re a “quarter of the way through the season.” But that hasn’t been true since the league upped the game count to 17. It’s hard to rely on a statistic that only has such a small data pool. Four games in and Saquon Barkley has two touchdowns. The same goes for Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Josh Jacobs. None of those running backs are considered “bad” and yet no one is raising the alarm.
The point I’m trying to make is you can shape statistics to tell any kind of story you want. Josh Allen leads the Bills in rushing touchdowns (two), and he joins a few other quarterbacks leading their team in rushing touchdowns like Lamar Jackson (two), Kyler Murray (two), and Jalen Hurts (four). On top of that the stat that spurred this article mentions that players like Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Tom Brady are all similarly responsible for over 85% of the touchdowns for their respective teams.
Good Company
Both groups are not bad company to be in nor are their respective teams “bad”. So why don’t we give it some time before we jump to conclusions that the Bills’ offense has a scoring problem? Remember when the NFL was up in arms that the Bills couldn’t win a one-score game? Then they beat the Ravens, and everyone quieted down. When you’re one of the top teams in the league, pundits will find any crack in your armor and try to exploit it as your biggest weakness.
Another thing to consider is that even if at the end of the season Josh is responsible for most of the Bills’ touchdowns, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Last year the Rams scored 52 total touchdowns. Mathew Stafford was responsible for 41 of those touchdowns (about 80%) and they would go on to win the Super Bowl.
Do Our Running Backs Need To Run?
The only thing about this stat that should send any warning flags, is that it can be indicative of a poor running game. It’s no secret that the Bills are a pass-heavy team. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t get the running backs involved. Both Singletary and Reggie Gilliam both secured a receiving touchdown this season and Singletary could have scored a rushing touchdown last week, but smartly went down to waste more time off the clock.
Other teams that are in the same boat as the Buffalo Bills are teams like the Chiefs and Bengals, and all teams have way more passing touchdowns than rushing touchdowns. The Dolphins are in a similar situation as the Bills with nine of their 11 touchdowns coming from passes. Additionally, now the Chiefs, Eagles, and Bills make up three of the top five scoring offenses. I hardly think the fact that we don’t rush as much as we could or should be is something to be worried about.
With 462 total rushing yards at 115 yards a game on average, the Bills are in the middle of the pack when it comes to their running game. While it’s true that Josh accounts for most of the rushing yards, this will not always be the case. As the team gets healthier, players find their groove and the season rolls on I can assure you there will be other players on the Bills who will score offensive touchdowns. But even if there aren’t the Bills will be just fine.
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