In 2015, Cam Newton’s favorite celebration was the dab, but he would follow it up by opening his chest to unveil that “S.” He was Superman, and the entire league knew it. He had some talent around him at running back and tight end, but his receivers were not the greatest in the world. He essentially had the Josh Allen setup. He had a tall, underperforming wide receiver drafted high in Kelvin Benjamin. He had a speedy wide receiver who did not quite catch everything in Ted Ginn Jr. But he did not have a GUY at wide receiver who struck fear into opposing defenses, and the thought around the NFL was simple: Cam Newton was carrying that team.
And he was. He could do it because he was Superman.
Josh Allen is not.
Josh Allen is a phenomenal quarterback who absolutely strikes fear in opposing defenses. He is very capable of being the best player on the field on any given Sunday. But he has now proven on multiple occasions that even when there is not a clearly superior team across from him, he cannot drag his team to the big dance entirely on his back.
And that’s okay.
What is not okay is the Bills organization continuing to pretend otherwise.
Josh Allen does not need to be Superman. He needs help. Real help. The kind that actually changes how defenses line up on Sunday. Josh needs speedy, dynamic wide receivers, and a 32 year old Brandin Cooks is not the answer. He needs big receivers with reliable hands, and if Coleman is proving not to be that guy, then he has to go too. Josh has good tight ends and a great running back, but history tells us this story over and over again.
Patrick Mahomes was better with Tyreek Hill. Peyton Manning was great with Marvin Harrison Sr. and Reggie Wayne. Tom Brady was Superman in his own right and went to the big dance multiple times with no name receivers, but even he did his best work with Randy Moss. Joe Montana had Jerry Rice. The formula is not complicated.
Yes, Josh Allen failed even with Stefon Diggs, but maybe Diggs was not the right guy. Chemistry matters. Fit matters. Timing matters. The Bills cannot take one failed experiment and use it as justification to stop searching. They need to keep hunting for the right pieces to put around Allen until they get it right.
The Cam Newton plan will not work for Josh Allen because Josh Allen is not Superman. But maybe he can be Mister Fantastic and lead a Fantastic Four. They already have Allen and James Cook. Now they need to find the other two members.
The Bills should spend the entire offseason on that mission.
