Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs are one of the NFL’s most dangerous duos

Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs make a pretty good combination.

This is certainly not news to anyone who follows the NFL, and we knew this well before Sunday night’s game between the Buffalo Bills and the Green Bay Packers. But the quarterback and his favorite receiver put on a show in Buffalo’s 27-17 win over Green Bay, connecting 8 times for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Two of those completions, including the touchdown, illustrate just how tough it is to slow down this pairing. Before diving into those plays, consider these numbers from Sunday night. Allen completed 13-of-25 passes for 218 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. That was good for an NFL Passer Rating of 75.1, which is currently his second-lowest mark for a single game this season. Only his outing against the Baltimore Ravens back in Week 4 resulted with a lower passer rating, as he completed 19 of 36 passes for 213 yards, a touchdown and an interception, good for a 68.4 rating.

Now, consider this from Sunday night:

Before the game, Diggs and Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander exchanged pleasantries, leading some to believe that the Packers would choose to take Alexander and have him shadow Buffalo’s talented receiver in man coverage. But defensive coordinator Joe Barry went in a different direction, using a lot of zone coverages, and keeping Alexander on one side of the field, often across from Gabe Davis.

That scheme worked to neutralize the rest of the Buffalo passing game, but Diggs and Allen still created their chances. How they capitalized illustrates just how difficult it is to slow them, and Buffalo, down.

Take their touchdown from the start of the second quarter:

We will get to the absurdity of the throw in a second, but first, the route concept as well as the coverage need to be discussed. The Packers here drop into Quarters, or Cover 4, with four deep defenders across the field. What this play illustrates, in one sense, is how route combinations can stress this coverage and turn it into basically man coverage on the outside, putting the cornerbacks into difficult situations.

Isaiah McKenzie, the slot receiver on the left side of the formation, runs a deep crossing route. Cornerback Keisean Nixon matches that route, carrying it across the formation. But McKenzie’s route also catches the attention of the safeties, including Adrian Amos, who is shaded toward Diggs’ side of the field. That, coupled with some manipulation from Allen — more on that in a second — holds Amos inside the numbers, creating space for Diggs on the outside.

The route from Diggs is our next focus. The receiver runs an aggressive out-and-up, pushing vertically for five yards before showing a cut to the boundary. Cornerback Rasul Douglas, who begins the play in press alignment, jumps Diggs’ cut to the sideline. But that is when Diggs breaks upfield, and with Amos still inside the numbers, Douglas is without safety help.

Now we can talk about Allen.

The throw is certainly absurd, but the success of this play has a lot to do with his eyes. Allen takes the snap and flashes his eyes towards Diggs, and gives a little shoulder pump, selling Douglas on the out route. But then Allen brings his eyes to McKenzie’s crossing route. As he does this Amos, who has been drifting towards the outside, flattens his hips, thinking Allen is going to target the crosser from McKenzie. That is enough to create the window, and in a flash, Allen rips a throw towards the end zone, which Diggs hauls in.

And what a throw it was.

Because Allen rips this throw with unsettled feet, drifting away from Diggs due to the massive presence of Jarran Reed, as the defensive lineman is barreling down on the quarterback, ready to put all 307 pounds to use as he punishes the quarterback for daring to make this throw. Reed does get a shot on Allen, but not before the QB snaps his wrist and short-arms a rocket into the end zone, which Diggs secures for the touchdown.

Absurd, and perhaps there is really just one way to describe this play:

The other play that highlights just how tough it is to defend this duo came right before halftime. With the Bills leading 21-7, Buffalo starts a possession on their own 20-yard line. Only 53 seconds remain in the half, but with this offense, the Bills are capable of scoring and extending their lead.

Which they do, starting the drive with this connection from Allen to Diggs:

The Packers are in Cover 6, or Quarter-Quarter-Half, zone coverage on this play, and Ken Dorsey calls a nice design to stress this coverage. On the right side of the offense, where the Packers are dropping into the Quarters/Cover 4 look, McKenzie runs a deep curl route, but he releases off the line towards the inside, aiming for Amos, the safety. That forces both Amos and cornerback Eric Stokes to keep their eyes on McKenzie, preventing Amos from getting depth in his zone.

To the other side of the offense, where Darnell Savage is playing the half-safety role in the Cover 2 half of this coverage while Alexander is lurking in the flat, the Bills have a pair of vertical routes that end up bracketing Amos. Diggs runs a deep post while Gabe Davis runs a go route, and that combination puts Savage in a bind. Douglas, who aligns in the slot inside of Diggs, carries Diggs’ vertical route in trail technique, but he is expecting help over the top.

But with Savage caught between Diggs and Davis, that help is a step late in arriving.

Once again, we see an absurd throw from Allen. With Reed bearing down on him as he was on the previous play, Allen uncorks this deep shot over the top of the defense, dropping the pass just over the outstretched arms of Douglas, and before Savage can arrive. Sometimes, a picture truly tells the story:

Football is a game of inches, as they say.

Even on a night where Allen was not at his best, and threw a pair of interceptions in the fourth quarter that left the door open for the Packers to climb back in the game, the Bills found a way to win.

Thanks in large part to one of the toughest passing combinations in the NFL to defend.