Amid Bills’ slump, Allen aims to ‘just play football’

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A common theme for the Buffalo Bills is to not get too high with wins or low with losses. It’s something quarterback Josh Allen emphasizes in his postgame breakdown to the locker room after games, saying after a 48-20 win over the Dolphins in Week 4, “We stay right [in the middle].”

Allen, however, shared on Tuesday ahead of the team’s Thursday game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video) that he’s trying to stay low during games.

“The last few weeks, really after Week 2, I’ve been trying to find a zone where I get myself into throughout the game, try to stay as low as possible because I feel like I perform better that way,” Allen said.

The quarterback opened his sixth NFL season with a mistake-filled performance vs. the New York Jets that included three turnovers. After that, the Bills went on a three-game winning streak, scoring more than 37 points in each game, and winning with flair. But since then, things have taken a turn and the offense has struggled in the past three games as the Bills have gone 1-2 and been taken to the wire by one-win opponents in the past two games.

“Maybe I’ve got to be more upbeat and be a voice and be a little bit more loud — let my emotions show a little bit more,” Allen said. “Whether I do that Thursday or not I guess will come with the execution of it, because obviously everybody is having more fun when you’re winning football games and performing well. That’s first and foremost. We’ve got to go out there and execute. I think execution breeds energy.”

The struggles for the Bills offense have especially come in the first halves of the past three games, averaging 3.3 points scored per game (30th) in those quarters, and an offensive total EPA of minus-10.33 (29th). The Bills have found success late, and especially in the fourth quarter of those games, but only staged one successful comeback (a 14-9 win vs. the Giants in Week 6).

Allen, one of eight Bills captains, is using a state he calls, “low positive.”

“Your energy is not super high and you’re allowing your mind to think and be free and just stay on top of everything,” Allen said. “Because obviously as the quarterback, there is a lot of things going through our mind, so if I can limit myself and my energy and my heart rate, I felt like I can maybe think a little bit more, but who knows, maybe I need to think a little bit less and just play football.”

He has thrown an interception in each of the last three games and the Bills are one game away from tying the longest streak of games with a turnover since Sean McDermott became head coach in 2017 (four — set in 2018 Weeks 6-9 and 2021 Weeks 9-12). On the other hand, Allen started the season with MVP-like numbers and multiple AFC Player of the Week awards.

A new element to the offense is Allen rushing less than before, something the Bills and Allen wanted to minimize going into this year to try and keep him healthy. He averaged over six attempts per game every previous season of his career, including 7.8 last season, but is down to 4.1 this year and a career-low 21.1 rushing yards per game.

“I don’t think majoring in QB runs is something that is long lasting or is viable every game but I’m sure there’s going to be opportunities where it’s going to be called upon me,” Allen said. “On a short week, that’s going to be tough. But moving forward if that’s what’s asked of me, I’m willing to do it.”

The offense has had high and low points, but the game on Thursday will mark another opportunity for it to get started on the right note and where it was before.

“I’d rather [Allen] staying where he is, like standing in a little like area of execution and kind of like not getting too high or getting too low,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “I’d rather him being locked in and playing at a high level than getting too high at one point and then being too low. So, him avoiding riding a roller coaster is hard as a QB because there’s so many ups and downs that happen throughout a game. But I appreciate his onus on taking it upon himself to really take those steps forward.”