Despite operating in the shadow of a dynasty and being known mostly for their failure to make a Super Bowl, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills are among the defining NFL stories of this decade.
The Bills’ team’s story added another sad chapter last weekend in the AFC divisional round after a controversial loss in Denver. And yet, as Nick Wright and Bomani Jones see it, the media still largely took Allen and Buffalo’s side, a stark contrast to how they have treated stars who have continually fallen short in the past.
In the latest episode of Jones’ podcast The Right Time, after describing how Allen’s turnover-prone style and inconsistency in the later rounds of the playoffs have hampered the Bills over the years, the duo turned its attention to media coverage of Allen’s teams.
“It’s the rooting for Josh Allen that really came to the surface in this loss. ‘It’s such a tragedy that he just can’t get this win,'” Jones explained. “While the juxtaposition has to be (Patrick) Mahomes. That’s the only explanation for how this gets to be where it is, in that whenever Allen does something, we don’t go to, ‘Hey man, this is on him.’ It goes to, you have to build an infrastructure around him because you know he might burn down the house.”
The duo also addressed the potential racial underpinning of the coverage of Allen, and how it compares to the chatter around a relatively harmless moment in Jacksonville earlier this month.
Heading into the NFL postseason, odds-makers and media storytellers agreed that this was perhaps Allen’s best chance to finally win the championship that has eluded him and his franchise for so long.
Yet when Buffalo came up short, largely due to four turnovers and several missed throws late by Allen, a narrative coalesced that in several cases painted him as a victim.
Wright argued that both Allen and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson are covered with a sympathetic touch by the media, even though they are universally seen as all-time great players who are more than gifted enough to win Super Bowls.
“It’s, to me, obvious that we have elevated players to a place they haven’t quite yet earned, in Lamar and in Josh, and then when they are held to the standard of which they have been elevated, which is best player alive … and fall short, pointing that out is considered unfair or, why aren’t we considering the roster construction and those such things,” Wright explained.
Both Wright and Jones agreed that the way Allen is covered by reporters and analysts could be a byproduct of his whiteness, compared to Mahomes’ and Jackson’s Blackness. However, they also pointed out that Peyton Manning was often criticized for coming up short in the postseason, while Jackson has avoided some of that same criticism.
But Jones argued that Jackson has never received the type of overt sympathy the media has displayed since Allen’s loss in Denver.
“Even the people that cut (Jackson) some slack … take when Mark Andrews drops that pass in the end zone. I do not recall the prevailing response on television being what a shame it was that that happened to Lamar Jackson,” Jones said, referencing last season’s AFC divisional-round loss. “The thing with the Josh Allen stuff is, it’s one thing to give him slack when he comes up short. The other part is the people outright rooting for him like he’s their child.”
Looking beyond the coverage of other NFL quarterbacks, Wright compared the positivity around Allen to the reaction to Jacksonville reporter Lynn Jones’ praise for Jaguars coach Liam Coen.
Wright argued that it is hypocritical for the media to chide Jones for offering Coen words of support, and then so aggressively cape for Allen.
“The entire media, a week ago, banged on Lynn Jones … for rooting for the Jags and was like, ‘That’s not what we do.’ And then went out publicly and said, ‘My heart breaks for Josh Allen,'” he said.
“And again, I’m a weird messenger for this as you look over my shoulder and there is a Kansas City Star framed of Patrick Mahomes. But I don’t claim to be a neutral. I try to be fair to everyone, but I root for the Chiefs … so you know that going in. Folks that claim that they’re not rooting for anyone when they are obviously (are the problem).”
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.