Is Josh Allen taking on too much contact as a runner?

QB Josh Allen was hit 11 times in the season opener

While the Bills had an all-around great performance in last week’s season-opening win, there was one thing that bothered me, and I think it needs to change in order for the Bills to have long-term success.

Josh Allen needs to stop taking unnecessary, big hits.

Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Josh Allen run the ball, and I love watching him stiff arm people as he’s going out of bounds. It’s awesome and we should feel lucky as fans to have a QB that is capable of doing that stuff. If he’s trying to get in the end zone or fight for a first down, then I absolutely support him putting his head down and fighting for the last yard.

Allen’s running/scrambling ability is a vital part of what has made the Bills offense look unstoppable as of late. He led the Bills in rushing in the win over the Rams, with 56 yards and a TD on 10 carries.

What I don’t support with Allen’s rushing attack, however, is when they’re up by 21 points in the fourth quarter and he’s running it and trying to fight for extra yards, and he takes big hit in the process. At that point, defensive players know the game is out of reach. They’re p*ssed off that Josh Allen has torn them to shreds, and these guys are going to want to get a good hit on him. All I’m asking is to slide or go out of bounds instead of fighting for extra yards when you don’t need them.

Allen spoke about this in a press conference on Wednesday, saying, “… given the circumstances of what it was, understanding the flow of the game — I do things sometimes that are necessary in my eyes to help our team win a football game… that’s all it is. But at the end of the day, availability is the best ability. So, just understanding that and getting down and not taking too many hits — that’s year-in and year-out.”

It’s reassuring to know that Allen is at least aware of the potential risk involved in his style of play.

This is a long season and these hits add up, not just for this year, but for overall long-term health as well. The Bills can’t afford to let anything happen to Allen. Their goal is a Super Bowl this year, and Allen needs to be healthy for all 20 or 21 of those games in order to have the best chance at it.

All it takes is one hit for a season to derail, and nobody wants that.