‘He Throws It As Good As Anybody In The League’

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has high praise for Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson: “He’s a great human being. He does things the right way.” (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

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Josh Allen is looking forward to the Buffalo Bills’ regular season opener against the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens.

The two MVP’s will square off in the Sunday night season opener in a rematch of last year’s epic playoff game which saw the Bills narrowly squeak a win over the Ravens, 27-25. The two elite AFC teams matched up twice last season, with Baltimore defeating Buffalo 35-10 in a Sunday night regular season game.

“We played them twice last year,” says Allen in a one-on-one interview. “They got us in the regular season, we obviously got them in the playoffs. They’re a team that’s as good as anybody in the league. Their defense is stout, they have a lot of guys that are fantastic players. Kyle Hamilton got paid pretty handsomely, and he deserves it. It’s a team that’s surrounded by dogs, they’re a very hungry team.”

The reigning NFL MVP makes sure to compliment Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, who is the league’s second-longest tenured head coach behind the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. Harbaugh was hired as Baltimore’s coach in 2008.

“They play football the right way, and they’re always fun to go against,” says Allen. “I love Coach Harbaugh. I’ve gotten the chance to see him around at certain different golfing events, and every time I see him, I’m a part of his squad. He comes up to me, he’s very gracious with his time with me. Got a lot of respect for him, and got a lot of respect for the organization over there in Baltimore.”

Josh Allen on Lamar Jackson’s Best Trait: ‘He Throws As Good As Anybody In The League’

While more of the attention is focused on the Bills’ rivalry with the Kansas City Chiefs due to the Allen-Patrick Mahomes connection, Buffalo has had some epic encounters with the Ravens. Obviously, the rivalry between Allen and Jackson is also a notable one considering they’re part of the same draft class (2018) and they’ve matched up multiple times over the years.

It’s worth noting that the Bills hold a 2-0 advantage over the Ravens in their playoff history in the Allen-Jackson era,

“I think he throws it as good as anybody in the league,” says Allen of Jackson. “His release time is very quick. He’s a very compact thrower, he can throw off platform. He can do the trick shots off the back leg, and put it where he wants to. Obviously has put in a lot of time working on his throwing mechanics. I love Lamar, I love his story. I love his attitude.

“He’s a great human being,” Allen continues to say of Jackson. “He does things the right way, and I’m happy for all of his success in the league so far. I know we’re both still chasing the big one though, so we’re gonna try to go get one.”

Allen says he’s a big golfer, which is a big reason why him and Mahomes are close. The Bills star quarterback says that while him and Jackson aren’t overly close off the field, he considers him a friend. Allen says that Jackson isn’t a big golfer.

“I would consider us friends,” says Allen. “Whenever we play each other, get to talk to each other after the game, it’s always fun. It’s always light. He’s not much of a golfer, and I spend all my time in the off season golfing. That’s where me and Pat, we’ve played a few rounds together and played in the American Century a couple times together. But other than that, I love watching Lamar from afar. He’s a special person, a special player.”

Josh Allen Partners With Snickers For Release Of Dipping Sauces

As the Bills’ franchise quarterback gets ready for another season with high expectations, he’s partnering with Snickers for the release of new Snickers sauces that can be used to eat food such as wings. There are three flavors — peanut teriyaki, chocolate barbecue and caramel buffalo — which fans can get every Sunday during the month of September with the purchase of a pack of Snicker’s Mini’s through the candy bar’s website. These limited edition sauces will be available during halftime of the 1pm games and were crafted by Allen himself.

“I like the peanut teriyaki, personally,” says Allen. “That’s my favorite one as well. You kind of taste it all, but you read the two names next to each other, and you’re like, ‘There’s no way. There’s just no way that it’s very good.’ We’re going to be dropping them starting September 7 every Sunday with the purchase of Snickers Mini’s. Go to snickers.com/sauces and get your sauces there. Hopefully everybody goes out there and tries them, because I was mind-blown by how good they were. I did not expect them to be very good. I know people are probably thinking they’re not very good. It’s been such a cool little partnership that I’ve gotten to do with Snickers.”

Considering Buffalo is well-known for their wings, Allen — who has been in Buffalo since 2018 — says he’s pretty qualified to judge whether a sauce is good or not.

“Just being here in Buffalo, we know our sauces pretty well, so I think I’m qualified to help with this,” says Allen while smiling. “You see it there on the sauce, it’s so good, you’ll jump through a table. I think that’s pretty cool.”