Patriots Coach Bill Belichick Compares Bills QB Josh Allen To Tom Brady
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has faced off with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen plenty of times by now, and the two will see each other yet again to ring in the new year.
Now in his sixth season in the NFL, Allen has grown substantially as a player, from being a talented but raw prospect to now being one of the best quarterbacks in the league, able to hurt opponents with his arm and legs. As the coach of a division rival, Belichick has certainly taken notice of Allen's rise over the years.
Ahead of the latest, and possibly final matchup with Belichick's future in New England unclear, the Patriots coach compared Allen's development to that of the one and only Tom Brady.
Josh Allen and Tom Brady
"Just kind of like Brady. Once Brady got to a certain point there in 2003, that's pretty much the way it was the rest of his career," Belichick told reporters Wednesday. "It wasn't really like that in 2002. It wasn't like that in 2001. It certainly wasn't like that in 2000.
"Once he got to a certain point there about the midseason of the 2003 season and then the playoffs. From then on, it was his level of performance and play and consistency was at the very top of the league."
While the two quarterbacks have drastically different play styles, with Allen being far more mobile than Brady, Belichick does raise a good point about their similar timelines. Allen was solid in his first two seasons, but finished second in MVP voting in Year 3 and hasn't looked back since. Similarly, Brady took a big leap in his third season as a starter to finish third in MVP voting.
Unfortunately for Buffalo, Allen hasn't had the same postseason success that Brady. By his sixth season, Brady had already won three Super Bowls and helped turn the Patriots into a dynasty. Meanwhile, the Bills are still looking for their first big game appearance in the Allen era after multiple playoff heartbreaks.
If Allen really is on a similar path as Brady, as Belichick believes, then he is more than capable of finding that championship success.
"It doesn't really matter where he was or where he is right now. He's pretty good. Real good," Belichick said.
