Pandering to Josh Allen

 This passionate rant about media bias and sports narratives 

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The Josh Allen Pandering Has to Stop

This can’t be true, a Bills fan told me Josh Allen is the best QB in the league!

When will it stop? Honestly—when will the endless pandering to Josh Allen finally stop? The amount of bias I witnessed from commentators and fans after this latest game was almost unbelievable. Every year, there seems to be a new excuse crafted to shield him from criticism. If it’s not the “13 seconds” game, it’s the league changing the overtime rule “for Josh Allen.” Then it was debates about the “tush push,” and now, apparently, a clearly ruled interception that fans insist should have been a catch. The pattern never ends.

Let’s start with the play itself. The rule is simple: if a receiver leaves the ground, he must maintain control of the ball through contact with the ground. That didn’t happen here—Cooks didn’t survive the ground, the defender ripped the ball away, and the result was correctly called an interception. Yet people are furious. The argument I hear is that in a 50/50 situation, the tie should go to the receiver. But these are often the same fans who complain that defenders can’t play freely anymore. Which is it? Are we protecting defenders’ rights or handing every borderline call to the offense—just because Josh Allen threw the ball?

This bias was glaring during the broadcast. Tony Romo’s commentary was so dripping with admiration for Allen it was almost comical. You’d think Allen was the only quarterback in the league the way Romo cheered for him, visibly hoping the call would go in his favor. It wasn’t analysis—it was fan service. And that’s not a knock on Allen himself, who’s a phenomenal talent, but on the cult of protection that surrounds him.

Listen to the aftermath: Colin Cowherd blames Sean McDermott and says Allen deserves greatness like Bill Walsh’s quarterbacks once did. Yet when Lamar Jackson faced postseason struggles, Cowherd didn’t call for John Harbaugh’s firing—he said the Ravens should move on from Lamar. The inconsistency is maddening. Shannon Sharpe blasted Lamar for poor performances but hesitated to hold Allen to the same standard, even when Allen had multiple turnovers. And when Dan Orlovsky discussed Allen’s fumble right before halftime, he somehow blamed the teammate who failed to recover it more than the quarterback who actually coughed it up. How does that make sense?

Let’s be real—Allen didn’t play well. He had multiple turnovers, missed potential touchdowns to Shakir and Knox, and failed to capitalize when it mattered most. Bo Nix outplayed him down the stretch. By playoff standards, Allen was bad. Yet, instead of holding him accountable, people rushed to pin the blame on McDermott, the officials, or the “lack of help.” Funny, because these same voices argued last year that Stefon Diggs was the problem. They said the offense would thrive without him. Now it’s, “Poor Josh, he has no weapons.” Which is it?

And the hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. Fans and pundits insist Allen should get the benefit of every doubt, while Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are constantly over-scrutinized. How is it that Lamar—who’s a two-time MVP—is held to a higher standard than Allen, who’s accomplished less in the playoffs? Joe Burrow made a Super Bowl run four years ago but has missed the postseason since. Yet he, too, escapes the criticism Lamar routinely faces.

What’s most frustrating is how the media refuses to let Josh Allen take real heat. After all, the Bills’ defense actually kept them in the game despite his mistakes, limiting the Broncos’ offense even after multiple turnovers. If anything, McDermott’s unit did its job. But because Allen is the league’s golden boy, everyone else gets blamed instead.

I’m tired of it—the selective accountability, the narrative gymnastics, the non-stop defending of someone who, while talented, isn’t above criticism. It’s not jealousy or hate. It’s exhaustion. I respect Allen’s talent, but the double standard surrounding him warps the entire conversation. If other quarterbacks were given the same grace, maybe the discourse would be fair. But as long as the media keeps spinning every Bills loss into someone else’s fault, the pattern will continue.

Josh Allen is not a victim. He made costly mistakes that hurt his team. The refs didn’t doom Buffalo; Allen’s performance did. And until fans and pundits accept that, we’ll keep hearing excuses about why the world failed Superman—when Superman was the one who dropped the ball.