The “Pressure On Josh Allen" Narrative Is An Extension Of The Day One Witch Hunt

The "pressure" facing Josh Allen is the defining story of the NFL playoffs — at least according to the sports media.

From talk show hosts to analysts, from reporters to race idolatrous podcast hosts, and from networks to gambling operators, the narrative is relentless. They claim Allen is out of excuses because his peers Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow all missed the postseason. They say anything short of a Super Bowl title would stain Allen’s legacy permanently.

Of course, the talking point is a lazy one.

Allen has been excellent in the playoffs for most of his career. His 101.7 passer rating ranks sixth in NFL history. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is a pristine 25–4. And he’s gone punch for punch with Mahomes — the greatest quarterback of this era — in three of four postseason meetings.

The problem isn’t Allen, but everything around him. His teammates have repeatedly cracked under pressure, from surrendering a field goal in 13 seconds (2021) to missing one at the end of regulation (2023). Not to offend proponents of ring culture, but football isn't an individual sport.

In a surprising twist, ESPN’s Mina Kimes, a card-carrying member of the vanity circuit, pushed back on the narrative this week. Kimes pointed out that the Bills rank 31st in rushing offense, a fatal flaw in January football.

Furthermore, the 2025–26 version of the Bills could be Allen’s weakest supporting cast since 2020. Khalil Shakir leads the team in receiving with fewer than 800 yards. Keon Coleman, billed as the No. 1 receiver in training camp, spent most of December as a healthy scratch.

Even in a watered-down AFC, Buffalo is hardly the most talented squad. If the team reaches the Super Bowl, it will be a clear underdog against teams like Seattle, the Rams, or Philadelphia.

A quarterback can only cover up so much dysfunction. How do we know? Because Mahomes, Burrow, and Jackson all missed the playoffs this season. The narrative writers forgot that part, didn't they? If anything, their absence (injuries played a role in Burrow’s case) only strengthens Allen’s case as the most consistent of the group billed as this generation's best.

None of this means Allen is immune to pressure. Great players are expected to perform. A poor postseason would rightly draw criticism. But the idea that anything short of a Super Bowl victory would permanently damage his legacy is unserious analysis.

And it’s all too predictable.

The discourse surrounding Josh Allen has been poisoned from the day he entered the NFL. Literally. On draft night, old tweets from his teenage years resurfaced, and the usual suspects in sports media pounced. 

Ever since, they’ve treated him as a convenient foil, the perfect contrast to Lamar Jackson, whom those same voices anointed as the symbol of the "disrespected black quarterback." They've spent years trying to turn Allen and Jackson into a racial morality play, the modern-day Magic and Bird. ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth even admitted on-air that he "roots for Josh Allen to fail."

The Allen–Jackson rivalry is entirely media-made, a racially charged creation in which neither quarterback has ever taken part.

To this day, those same race crusaders turn crimson anytime someone dares to defend Allen. Last week, Bomani Jones got angry because someone defended Allen.

Oh, and what about the investment in Jackson's success from seemingly uninvested parties?

By insisting Allen must win the Super Bowl, the dorks hope to rig the discourse. If he loses, they’ll say he choked. If he wins, they’ll argue his championship ring comes with an asterisk because Mahomes, Jackson, and Burrow weren’t in the bracket.

And if anyone praises him too loudly, you can count on outlets like Andscape accusing them of "lionizing a white quarterback" — or some other performative nonsense.

The people hyping the "pressure" on Allen aren’t measuring greatness. They’re trying to earn a seat at the cool kid's table, too timid to form an original thought.

The sports media decided on draft night that it wouldn’t cover Josh Allen honestly. The "pressure" narrative is just the latest extension.