Some say that the Buffalo Bills are cursed to not win a Super Bowl despite having four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the Jim Kelly era. The same curse has trickled down to Josh Allen, who can’t seem to find his way past the AFC Championship. He’s Captain Ahab to Patrick Mahomes’ Moby Dick and fails to outsmart him whenever they go head-to-head.

But there are a few places where Allen shines brighter than Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Peyton Manning, and what have you. Looking back at history, he might even be better than Peyton Manning in some regards. The NFL’s latest research on Allen turning 28 speaks volumes about how the quarterback has been ahead of everyone else in the curve despite not having postseason success.

Josh Allen has a special talent that comes with a Catch-22

The NFL did some research and Around the NFL posed a question about Allen’s regular season prowess. Their post on X said, “Can Bills QB Josh Allen keep up historic dual threat scoring success?” What dual threat? Josh Allen scored 53 rushing touchdowns in his career, more than any QB before the age of 28. But that’s not all.

Allen has 220 career touchdowns, of which 167 are passing and 53 are rushing touchdowns. To put it into perspective, he has more touchdowns than Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, and even the legend Dan Marino before reaching his 28th birthday. Mahomes is 28 right now and has 12 rushing touchdowns in his career.

Allen is a risk taker; he’s big, often hurdles over tacklers, completes first downs by rushing the ball, and at one instance, he scored two rushing touchdowns in a single game. This was when the Bills went against the Patriots in the New Year’s Eve game. These are Hall of Fame numbers because Peyton Manning had the exact digits before his 28th birthday, and now he’s a HOFer.

According to NFL research, Allen is the only quarterback in NFL history to have 150-plus passing touchdowns and more than 50 rushing yards before the age of 28. To juxtapose it to the current era, Lamar Jackson had the most rushing yards in the 2023 season (821) but only had five rushing touchdowns. Also, in his 6-season career, Jackson only has 29 rushing touchdowns. Allen and Jackson have the same six-season tenure in the league.

An astonishing fact about Allen and Jackson’s comparison is that the former only rushed for 524 yards and has nearly twice the number of rushing touchdowns as the Ravens QB. But does it really matter? The Buffalo Bills have a famous history of not moving past the AFC Championship games, and it dates back to when Jim Kelly was at the helm of the team in the 90s.

Josh Allen: The Mandalorian who needs to overcome his only problem

Rich Eisen said a couple of years ago, “He [Josh Allen] stands there like The Mandalorian. He’s like in his Buffalo armor and this is the way.” But the irony is that his team succumbs to the Kansas City Chiefs in two divisional AFC games and an AFC Championship in 2021. His last defeat against Mahomes came in the 2023 AFC Divisional game on January 21 this year, when the Bills lost 24-27 to the Chiefs. In the past, the Buffalo Bills lost to the Chiefs every time they met in the playoffs.

Despite his stature, will to thrive, and physicality, the Bills quarterback is 5-5 in the playoffs in his career. Allen is the only quarterback behind Mahomes to have more than 21 touchdowns in the postseason before turning 28. His rival, the 3x Super Bowl winner Patrick Mahomes, is 15-3 in the playoffs. This is like a Dak Prescott situation the only difference is that the Bills are slightly better than the Cowboys in terms of playoff success.

But this year may be a bit different because Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis are no longer a part of the Bills Mafia. Instead, Keon Coleman is expected to be Josh Allen’s plus-one on the gridiron. But behind all these praises, something irks a common fan and the NFL analysts alike. It’s the number of picks Josh Allen throws. In the 2023 season, Allen threw interceptions in all but three games.

Allen threw 18 intercepted passes in the last season, only second to Sam Howell, who had 21 picks. Those interceptions have often killed drives and deterred the Bills from going further in the playoffs. His arch-rival Patrick Mahomes threw 14 interceptions last season, which is fourth, per Statmuse. Surprisingly, Lamar Jackson has the least picks in the 2023 season. However, his brand of football is a bit quirky.

Hence, Josh Allen needs to curb the number of picks he throws. He’s got a cannon of an arm; it would be a shame if those talents were overshadowed by the number of picks he throws. Maybe this season will be different for the Bills.