“His Crime Is That He Is Not Patrick Mahomes”: Stephen A. Smith Pities Josh Allen for Consistently Falling Short in the Playoffs

Always a bridesmaid, never the bride. Josh Allen must have been waiting for his Cinderella fairytale to unfold over the last few years. Believing that one of these seasons, his Fairy Godmother would float in and turn him into the belle of the ball. He probably thought this year was the one. But alas, Allen and his Buffalo Bills have fallen short against the Kansas City Chiefs. Again. And to some, including Stephen A. Smith, Allen’s only “crime” is that he’s not the kind of big-stakes player Patrick Mahomes is.

Allen is 4-1 against the Chiefs in the regular season, including a big win this year. But he’s 0-4 against Kansas City in the postseason. The numbers are glaring: Allen has lost four playoff games to Mahomes, an NFL record for one QB against another.

The thing is, Allen has played well in every postseason matchup with K.C.

“He’s a terrific quarterback, he’s special. His crime is that he’s not Patrick Mahomes and that he can’t be Patrick Mahomes…,” Stephen A. said on the latest episode of First Take.

“When you look at Josh Allen, I think the thing that has to be so painful for him is that he knows, there have been several occasions where the effort he put forth would’ve beaten anybody else. But the one person you need to beat, you can’t,” he added.

Smith pointed out that the issue is exacerbated by the fact that Allen and Mahomes belong to the same conference. So, until they can pick the K.C. lock, Allen and the Bills will never have that “Super Bowl experience” they crave and seek.

The Mahomian Chiefs are reminiscent of the Jordan Bulls or the Brady Patriots in the way they stop many good and exciting teams from ever reaching the pinnacle. They become immovable obstacles for these other teams. That reminded Stephen A. of a couple of boxers who did the same by retaining their belts for so long while turning away countless quality challengers.

“I love boxing and there’s a lot of great fighters, but you couldn’t beat Floyd Mayweather, you couldn’t beat Marvin Hagler. There’s just certain cats you couldn’t beat, you couldn’t be,” said Stephen A.

Smith pointed out that the most frustrating thing for the Bills would be that Allen has played very well in most of those postseason losses to the Chiefs. In the 2021 playoffs, Allen posted 329 passing yards, four passing TDs, a 73 completion percentage, and another 68 yards on the ground. He still lost because he didn’t get a chance in overtime. That tragedy led to a rules change.

Last year he was solid again, posting over 250 yards of total offense and three total TDs. This time, he was also excellent, tossing two TDs and posting a 104.7 passer rating. He even won the turnover battle — Allen recovered all three of his fumbles while Mahomes lost his only one. Somehow, that still wasn’t enough.

Fans have some fun at Allen and the Bills’ expense

It’s sad for Allen, Sean McDermott, and everyone in the Bills mafia. They know all too well the pain of going 0-4 in crucial situations. They had gone 0-4 in four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s, after all.

Buffalo has suffered another tragedy now in a long line of them. Their predicament has made it a very fertile ground for memes and comedy for opposing fans. Of course, X users obliged.

Evidently, Allen and the Bills need to rethink their approach. The definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different result. So change is a necessity now.

It’s going to be a long offseason for the boys in Western New York — but first, they’re going to cheer their butts off for the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59.