BBNFL Week 14: Josh Allen records sack, recovers fumble in Jags' win

Josh Allen turned in some of his biggest plays of the season on Sunday in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ big win over the Tennessee Titans. Allen finished the day with three tackles, all solo. One was a tackle for a loss and another was a sack. He also recorded two QB hits.

In addition to the tackles, the former Kentucky edge rusher was in the right place at the right time when Derrick Henry got de-cleated and launched the ball into Allen’s awaiting arms, recovering the fumble that would have otherwise bounced out of bounds.

Allen showed he is still a playmaker despite a stat line that hasn’t mimicked what he has done his first year or two in the league. Sunday’s sack was his first since Week 4, but there’s something about playing Tennessee that fires him up.

Kentucky fans who cheer for the Tennessee Titans might want to skip this paragraph. After the game, Allen told reporters how much he hates Tennessee. “I hate them; I mean, but like, I really hate them. I just, like, I came into the league not liking Tennessee.”

It sounds like Allen transferred his hatred for that orange you can’t sit with into the state’s professional football team, and I’m here for it.

.@OgBoobie_Shaq forces it out and @JoshAllen41_ secures the bag!#ProBowlVote | #JAXvsTEN on CBS/NFL+ pic.twitter.com/31MT0FgPAj

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) December 11, 2022

Allen’s teammate, center Luke Fortner, once again played every offensive snap for the Jags. He has been the centerpiece of an offensive line that has not allowed a sack in six games this season, the most in the NFL this season and the most in Jaguars history.

Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall was lucky to have him.

Other BBNFL Notes

• Though his team was on the wrong side of the scoreboard to Kentucky alumni brothers Josh Allen and Luke Fortner, Bud Dupree finished with six total tackles (five solo) and three tackles for a loss.
• Za’Darius Smith failed to record a sack for the fourth straight week, as teams have schemed to minimize his impact on the game. It seems to have worked as the big man recorded just one tackle in the Vikings’ surprise defeat at the hands of the Lions. Josh Paschal recorded one solo tackle for a loss for the Detroit Lions.
• Bossman Fat had a good day for the Cowboys in their comeback win over the Texans. Kelvin Joseph finished with four tackles (all solo) and a pass deflection. Starting CB Anthony Brown is out for the season so they will rely on Joseph a lot more than they did at the beginning of the year. Dallas kept Joseph around when many teams would have released him due to off-the-field entanglements, but they are glad they did at this point.
• Jaylen Warren was back in the lineup for the Pittsburgh Steelers, demoting Benny Snell back to third-string running back. The former ‘Cat still received two carries but managed just four yards on the day.