Stephen A. Smith claims Stefon Diggs “felt” that Super Bowl window had passed Josh Allen
Josh Allen's team started the year with headlines questioning why Stefon Diggs was missing practice. Now, with the Buffalo Bills at 4-3, Stephen A. Smith has revealed that he believes the receiver felt that Allen had peaked.
Here's how he put it on Thursday's episode of ESPN's "First Take":
"I was hearing that he felt like the window of opportunity had passed, which is why his frustration had been palpable. ... How in God's name do you feel like a window of opportunity has been missed when you're as great as Stefon Diggs is and Josh Allen is as great as he is?"
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He continued, narrowing down the frustrations directly to the quarterback:
"And on top of it all, [his] problem appeared to be directly with him, not just the team. ... They just don't seem like they're vibing."
Josh Allen improves despite loss of coach Brian Daboll
The Buffalo Bills quarterback has received plenty of knocks since offensive coordinator Brian Daboll left for greener pastures with the New York Giants. However, after Daboll left in the 2021 season, Allen's numbers have remained consistent, potentially trending upward.
This year, through seven games, the quarterback has a career-high completion percentage of 70.7%. Last year, Allen completed just 63.3% of his passes. The last time he sniffed his current completion percentage was in 2020, when he completed 69.2% of his throws.
Allen's also enjoying his best passer rating since then at 100.7. In 2020, he had a 107.2 rating. Remember that the Wyoming alum achieved those stats in 2020 during the COVID-19 year. No crowds were to distract him or impact his ability to communicate with his receivers.
As such, one could argue that, statistically speaking, Allen's never been better. If he maintains his current pace, he will end the year with 36 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. However, one cannot ignore the team's struggles on a week-to-week basis.
Last week, the team dropped a game to the AFC East's last-place New England Patriots. Before that, they nearly lost a primetime game against Tyrod Taylor and the New York Giants, allowing only nine points.
Will Josh Allen find a way to win over the NFL zeitgeist on tonight's Thursday Night Football matchup against Baker Mayfield?
If any of the above quotes are used, credit First Take and H/T Sportskeeda.