The Buffalo Bills quarterback is playing MVP-caliber football right now. If the Detroit Lions want to walk away with win number 13, they need to stop Josh Allen—so what is the best way to do that?
If the Detroit Lions want to defeat the Buffalo Bills next week, it all starts with stopping Josh Allen.
One of the frontrunners for Most Valuable Player, the Bills quarterback is a difficult beast to tame on a good day. The strongest arm in the NFL is just one tool in his tool belt. He is dangerous throwing everywhere on the field. Standing at 6-foot-5 and over 230 pounds, he is a massive presence inside and out of the pocket, one of the toughest players to wrap up. When he gets mobile, his size and speed make him a threat to churn out 10-yard rushes with ease. He has a nose for the end zone as well, recording six rushing touchdowns this season and a whopping 15 in 2023.
The Lions face a tough task ahead of them given the state of their defense. If you are a defensive player for the Lions, chances are that you or the person next to you have been banged up this season. The injury report for their next tilt is still up in the air after an extended week, but there could be a fair number of missing starters. Alim McNeill is at the forefront of everyone’s concern, with the star defensive tackle leaving last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers due to a head injury. There is optimism that fellow tackle DJ Reader will return for the Bills game, but it nonetheless hurts to have just half of the duo.
The positive for the Lions is that even amidst a depleted defense, they still held their own against the Packers, a credit to defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. A total of 31 points allowed seems less than ideal, but the Packers were also gifted two extremely short fields after an interception and turnover on downs, both of which were turned into touchdowns. Holding a passer like Jordan Love to 206 passing yards is more than acceptable, while the three rushing touchdowns by Josh Jacobs came once McNeill was out of the lineup, meaning the interior was largely manned by Brodric Martin, Pat O’Connor, and Jonah Williams—far from a menacing lineup.
With Buffalo coming off a close loss to the Los Angeles Rams, they will look to return to their winning ways against Detroit. How can the Lions stop him and his offense?
Today’s Question of the Day is:
How can the Detroit Lions stop Josh Allen?
My answer: Control the time of possession.
The Lions have done a lot well en route to their 12-1 record, but I want to highlight the role that time of possession has played. The best way to suppress a superstar quarterback is to keep him off the field in the first place, and the Lions can do that well.
Detroit has won the time of possession battle in nearly every game, and often by over 10 minutes. They achieve this with their dominant run game, with the rotation of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs creating havoc for opposing defenses while maintaining the tread on their running backs’ tires. The Bills have a good defense per DVOA (pending Sunday’s games), but the Lions boast arguably the most diverse offense in the league. Any one of their receivers or backs could steal the spotlight, such as Tim Patrick and his two touchdown grabs. The mere threat of this diverse offense makes the run game so effective—if you sell out to stop the run, Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jameson Williams will beat you. If you play a light box, then the run game takes over.
The Lions have been dominating the clock for most of the season, so I think the recipe needs to stay the same. Trust the offense to eat time and yardage while racking up points, and try to minimize how often the defense has to grind it out against an Allen-led offense. Josh Allen can be a superhero, so Detroit needs to limit his opportunities to do so. Eliminate the early turnovers, keep the pressure on, and give the defense a lead to play with.
There is no easy way to stop a quarterback like Allen, but I think the Lions have not only the defensive mindset to stop him but also the offense to limit his time spent on the field.
Your turn.
