Bills fans haven’t had much to smile about this year, but at least they are finally getting Josh Allen back.
Just a year removed from their first playoff appearance in 18 years, the Buffalo Bills have not fared very well in 2018.
Not many people actually expected them to be that good this year, but they might be a little bit better off right now had they not endured a brutal run of bad luck at the quarterback position. Through 11 weeks of the season, injuries and ineffectiveness have caused the Bills to basically feature a revolving door of quarterbacks.
It’s been entertaining, to say the least, though probably ungodly frustrating for Buffalo fans.
But as the Bills get set to host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday following their bye week, they’ve finally received some good news regarding their quarterback situation: Rookie Josh Allen is expected to get back on the field for the first time in over a month.
Although Nathan Peterman began the season as Buffalo’s starter, it predictably didn’t take long for the Bills to decide to let Allen play. But Allen injured his elbow back on Oct. 14 and hasn’t seen any action since.
The Bills went back to Peterman, then switched to veteran Derek Anderson, then went back to Peterman again when Anderson entered the concussion protocol. When he continued to throw an endless array of interceptions, the Bills brought in Matt Barkley and finally released Peterman.
Barkley’s performance against the New York Jets in Week 10 (15 of 25, 232 yards, two touchdowns) has been the lone bright spot in a brutal month for the Bills, who routed the Jets 41-10 at MetLife Stadium.
At just 3-7, this is pretty much a lost season for the Bills. All they can do now is prepare Allen for future seasons as the team’s franchise quarterback. Barring another injury, fans will get to watch the rookie for six more games until the team goes back to the drawing board and looks forward to 2019.
It’s a very small silver lining for what has been a season to forget in western New York.