Josh Allen's help level checked: average protection, not special treatment

After accounting for 5 TDs vs. Detroit and leading the NFL in TDs through two weeks, Josh Allen's sack rate and complementary rushing support are both roughly average compared to other top-producing QBs.

Published: September 24, 2026 · Figures as of September 24, 2026

Asked: Josh Allen accounted for five touchdowns against the Lions. How much help is he getting compared with the other top quarterbacks?

Allen's 5 TDs against Detroit check out — but he's getting average help, not special help

The claim holds exactly: on September 17 against Detroit, Josh Allen threw 3 touchdown passes and ran for 2 more — 5 total touchdowns in that one game, and it lifted him to 9 touchdowns accounted for through two games, the most of any player in the league this season (Bryce Young is second at 7).

That leaderboard, though, is the wrong tool for "how much help is he getting" — touchdowns accounted for credits a passer for every score by construction, so a big number there just says Buffalo is scoring a lot through Allen, not that he's being propped up or carried unassisted. The two things the data can actually speak to are pass protection and complementary scoring, and on both Allen looks about average among the league's other high-producing passers, not favored.

Protection. Allen has been sacked 4 times on 64 dropbacks this season, a 6.25% sack rate — a hair below the league's pooled average of 6.33% across 45 qualified passers, and 24th of 45 in that field. Among the other quarterbacks near the top of the touchdowns-accounted-for and passer-rating boards, he's taking sacks more often than Brock Purdy (0%), Kirk Cousins (3.3%), Drew Lock (4.0%), Patrick Mahomes (5.1%) and Bryce Young (5.2%) — only Jalen Hurts (8.8%) and Tyler Shough (8.2%) are worse. Despite that, his sack-adjusted efficiency (ANY/A, 10.41) still leads this same group, and the yardage sacks have cost him (11.37 down to 10.41, a 0.96-yard drop) is smaller than what Jared Goff or Hurts have lost to theirs — so the numbers don't show him getting bailed out by better blocking; he's just producing anyway.

Complementary rushing. Buffalo's other backs have combined for 197 yards on 37 non-Allen carries this season — about in line with this peer group's average backfield production (roughly 193 yards) — but only 1 rushing touchdown between them. Allen has scored the other 4 of Buffalo's 5 rushing touchdowns himself. The yardage floor from the run game is ordinary; the scoring at the goal line is almost entirely his own legs, not a productive complementary back finishing drives for him.

Put together, nothing here says Allen is being carried by his cast this season. His protection sits right at league average, and he's personally responsible for the bulk of his team's rushing scores rather than sharing that load. Medium confidence: this is a two-game sample, and the data can't see quarterback pressure that doesn't end in a sack, drops by his receivers, or short fields created by Buffalo's defense — any of which could still move this picture as the season lengthens.