New England will go up against one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Week 17.
The New England Patriots are no strangers when it comes to going up against Josh Allen. Needless to say, they also are well-aware of the challenges the Buffalo Bills’ sixth-year quarterback brings to the table.
Allen is one of the NFL’s “unicorns” at the most important position on the field. He has one of the best arms in the game today, but is no less dangerous when scrambling to buy time or advancing the ball as a runner himself. Allen is the total package, and the Patriots defense is emphasizing treating him as such this week.
How exactly is the unit planning on slowing him down, though? For defensive tackle Lawrence Guy, it all starts with playing until the whistle is eventually blown.
“If that whistle is not blown that means the play is still alive,” the veteran defender said on Thursday. “With these new rules it gets a little tricky when people get to the sideline, and I think a lot of players get timid about that in years past. We can’t do nothing, but when the whistle is not blown we have to continue until it’s blown.
“Any given second that man can make a play, down the field, cutting back. Even when you think he’s down, he still is able to break tackles and scramble. If you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s been 3 seconds that I held him they should blow the whistle.’ Until you hear it, you have to continue to go.”
The Patriots’ longest-tenured defender, Guy has had a first-row seat to watch Allen’s development from a high-upside but mistake-prone first-round draft pick to one of the league’s elite quarterbacks. And while he and his team enjoyed success against the Bills’ QB early on in his career, Allen has had the upper hand recently.
His ability to challenge defenses with his arm as well as his legs is a big reason why. Look no further than one of last season’s games, and one play in particular.
“He’s just not going down easily. He can make plays happen,” Guy said. “I think the most infamous play we have when he was down here [in 2022], and he was literally jumping out of bounds and he threw a touchdown pass. It’s one of those things you don’t know how to coach that. Like, ‘Hey, what do you do?’ Those plays, you just have to continue the coverage, you have to continue to play.
“And he brings that ability to do that: understanding awareness of the ball, awareness of who’s around him, and the players that are running the routes and continue to run the routes to get open. Because on a dime a pass might come to you. And that’s what you see with that unique style of quarterback, and that’s what you want to see when you got those top-level quarterbacks that are able to just make plays happen.”
That particular play mentioned by Guy happened in Week 13 last season, a game Buffalo ended up winning 24-10.
Facing a 3rd-and-goal from the Patriots’ 8-yard line, Allen was flushed from the pocket rather quickly following the snap. While that would be a net positive against normal quarterbacks, the Bills’ unique QB is very much not that: he kept the play alive, and even through a tackle attempt by linebacker Mack Wilson was able to throw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Gabe Davis.
Wilson himself also spoke about Allen this week. For him, it’s all about playing team defense.
“Everybody doing their job, which is basically complementing each other,” he said. “We try our best to be on the same page at all times, and we take pride in, obviously, stopping the run first and foremost, earning the right to rush the passer. When we get those opportunities to rush the passer, we have to try our best to contain him, keep him in the pocket, make sure we have great rush lanes in the backend, challenge the ball, and win.”
Wilson has gone up against Allen two times since joining the Patriots last offseason. Fellow linebacker Jahlani Tavai offers a bit more experience: he will play his sixth game against the Allen-led Bills on Sunday while trying to improve his overall record against them to 2-4.
In order to do that, he sees the Patriots very much focusing on the same areas mentioned by his teammate.
“Got to secure our tackles,” Tavai said. “If we’re rushing him, we have to make sure that we keep him in the pocket, force him to play quarterback. And if he gets out of the pocket, on the coverage side, we got to make sure we cover our guys. Whoever’s around us, we got to latch on and plaster like usual, and just trusting the D-line and however is rushing to get him down.”
Among the people tasked with getting Allen down is defensive tackle Christian Barmore. Coming off a career performance and generally playing at an All-Pro-caliber level this year, the third-year man will be a crucial part of defending the Bills and their highly-talented quarterback.
“He’s a good quarterback,” Barmore said. “It’s all about getting him down. He’s strong, he’s got a big arm, he’s athletic and he can move. He’s one of the hardest quarterbacks to take down, and it shows. You always got to have real good rushes, and have good contain on him.”
The Patriots have failed to do that on numerous occasions over the last few seasons. They will get the next opportunity on New Year’s Eve, and if they can stay on top of things — like they did at times during Week 7’s 29-25 victory — they will put themselves in a good position to be competitive.
Obviously, though, that is easier said than done.