Josh Allen has been playing great this season and handed the New England Patriots a big fat “L” on Monday night. But Bill Belichick may not have been buying Allen as an MVP favorite this season.
During ESPN’s broadcast of “Monday Night Football,” the crew of Brian Griese and Louis Riddick made it seem like Belichick wasn’t buying the Allen hype.
Louis Riddick adds, "There was no question that Bill really got fired up when we were talking to him about potentially being swept, Josh Allen being one of the MVP favorites — he was not having any of it."
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 29, 2020
Riddick described Belichick as getting fired up over the talk of the Bills sweeping the Patriots and Allen being a top MVP contender. He apparently pointed out how well New England handled Allen in their first meeting. Allen went 11/18 for 154, no touchdowns and an interception in their first meeting, though he rushed for 23 yards and a touchdown. The Bills won that game 24-21.
The Bills won the second matchup 38-9 and Allen left no doubt with 320 yards and four touchdown passes.
Belichick was asked after the game about what he said about Allen. He insisted he has publicly been complimentary of the Bills quarterback.
In reference to the ESPN announcers saying Belichick didn't buy into the Josh Allen MVP craze: "I don't know what they said. I'm on the record with that. … I've said multiple times that Josh Allen is a good football player and he's having a good year." pic.twitter.com/OLODwe1lye
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 29, 2020
The comments lead us to believe two things: one, Belichick likes to praise opponents publicly, but maybe not so much privately. Two, the ESPN team may be taking some privileged conversations that are intended to be off the record and making them public.
