While the Jacksonville Jaguars did fall to a preseason record of 0-3 after their 22-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins, the loss is one that stings a lot less after seeing the terrific performance of 2019 first-round selection Josh Allen. And while he had already been impressive prior, he simply looked unblockable against the Dolphins, who had no answers for him.
After witnessing all the havoc he wrecked, we felt it was a must to break down his highlights from Thursday night, which left the nation in awe to the point where the rookie ended up being a trending topic on Twitter.
Allen’s first highlight play of the night didn’t take long to occur as he got into the backfield during the Dolphins’ second drive to stop running back Kalen Ballage for a loss of 5 yards. During the play, Allen got off to a quick jump on tight end Dwayne Allen, beating the veteran on the inside. Simply put, Allen’s speed was too much for the veteran tight end, who had very little time to get an adequate block on the 6-foot-4, 262-pounder.
Not too soon after that play, Allen once again came up big with a pressure on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The highlight play came on a third-and-8 for the Dolphins with just over eight minutes left in the first quarter where Allen was able to beat Dolphins right tackle Jesse Davis with an evasive step to the inside and lay a nice hit on Fitzpatrick. As a result, the veteran quarterback had to throw the ball earlier than he wanted, trying to hit his receiver on an out route and the ball fell incomplete.
After accumulating another pressure late in the first quarter, which caused Fitzpatrick to toss an incomplete lob to Ballage, Allen transferred his play into the second quarter where he helped Dawuane Smoot get his first NFL sack, albeit an unofficial one. In fact, Allen who caused the initial pressure, got his hands on Fitzpatrick and almost made the sack himself but the veteran quarterback was able to break free and Smoot (who had a good night, too) cleaned him up for the sack.
Allen’s last highlight of the night came late in the second quarter as he stopped Ballage for another tackle in the backfield. This time, Allen began the play approximately 5 yards off Ballage in coverage as the young tailback went out into the flat. However, the moment Fitzpatrick released the ball to connect with Ballage, Allen closed in on the tailback so fast that the play ended up being a loss of about three.
Talk about speed.
Ultimately, Allen ended his night with four tackles (two of which were for loss) and two quarterback pressures. And although the Jags ended up losing the game, his performance couldn’t have come on a better night as the Jags were on national television. The Fox Sports commentating duo of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman raved about the young star, questioning the teams who let him slip to Jacksonville. The great Michael Strahan also praised the young pass rusher during Fox’s halftime show.
Allen’s performance put the league on notice that the Jags are on their way to being an elite defense in 2019 with Allen playing out of his mind and other unexpected players like Smoot and Datone Jones stepping up in the rotation. Simply put, if they can continue to pressure the quarterback as they did Thursday, they could lead the league in sacks and quite possibly be the No. 1 ranked defense in football.
