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Despite an excellent season from Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, he didn’t make the Pro Bowl as one of the AFC’s three QBs. The fans, players, and coaches who vote for the Pro Bowl did make Allen an alternate, but he said thanks but no thanks as he looks to recover from a grueling 2021 season and prepare for the uncharted waters ahead.

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen had a fantastic season

Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills flexes as his teammates take the field prior to the AFC Divisional Playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on January 23, 2022 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Josh Allen | Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images.

Josh Allen came into the 2021 season as one of the favorites to win the NFL MVP Award. The signal-caller’s season (and by extension, the Buffalo Bills’) was too inconsistent to win the award for the league’s best player. However, to say that he isn’t one of the three best quarterbacks in his division seems a bridge too far.

The AFC Pro Bowl honors went to the Los Angeles Chargers Justin Herbert, the Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens.

Here’s how these three QB’s statistics stack up to Allen’s this season:

PlayerGamesRecordComp. %Pass YardsTDsINTRush YardsRush TD
Josh Allen1711-663.3%4,40736157636
Justin Herbert179-865.9%5,04138153023
Patrick Mahomes1712-566.3%4,83937133812
Lamar Jackson127-564.4%2,88216137672

You can draw your own conclusion from these numbers, but with all his contributions to his team’s wins, it’s nearly impossible to say Allen doesn’t belong in the top three of this list, especially over Jackson.

Apparently, though, the people who vote for the popularity contest that is the Pro Bowl don’t see it that way. The QB from the second-smallest market in the league is only seen as an alternate in this group of talented signal-callers.

Allen snubbed the Pro Bowl following his Pro Bowl snub

The 2021 Pro Bowl snubbed the Buffalo Bills all over the place. In addition to Josh Allen’s alternate distinction, only wide receiver Stefon Diggs and tackle Dion Dawkins made it on the offensive side of the ball.

On the defensive side, it was even more egregious. The No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL produced zero Pro Bowlers. This is despite the fact that safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde both made the (even more prestigious) All-Pro team.

Considering all this, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Allen decided to snub the Pro Bowl right back this year.

In a statement released through ESPN’s NFL insider Chris Mortensen, the Bills QB wrote, “Unfortunately I will be declining the invitation to play in the pro bowl this year.” He cited his need to allow his body to “rest and recover from the harshness of the season.”

While the NFL and Pro Bowl fans (if there are any) might not be happy, Bills Mafia surely is. They want their QB to be as rested and ready as possible, heading into a 2022 season with big expectations and big changes.

Next season will be very different for the Buffalo Bills QB after losing OC Brian Daboll

When Josh Allen showed up in Buffalo in 2018, he began to work with the team’s new offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll.

Daboll, a Buffalo native, turned Allen from the raw, athletic prospect he was into the Pro Bowl alternate he is today. He also took a Buffalo Bills offense ranked 22nd in scoring in 2017 to one that finished second in 2020 and third in 2021.

Now, Daboll is the new head coach of the New York Giants, and Allen will have to work with a new play-caller for the first time in his NFL career.

This new OC could be someone Allen is already familiar with, such as Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Ken Dorsey or tight ends coach Rob Boras. However, if Daboll takes one or both of these coaches with him to New Jersey, the new play-caller could be someone who has no rapport with Allen.

Allen fully supported a team hiring Daboll but also expressed some apprehension about losing the longtime voice in his ear.

After Allen’s body heals — with the help of skipping the Pro Bowl — it’ll be back to work for the QB to get on the same page with his new OC and finally bring Western New York the Super Bowl title they’ve never had.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

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Tim Crean

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs.

As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early ’90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA.

When he’s not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.