There haven’t been many occurrences in the NFL when players with the same name faced off against each other, yet it happened Sunday as Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Allen was on the opposite side of the ball against Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
History was made late in the second quarter between the two players, as Allen sacked Allen — marking the first time first time a player has sacked a quarterback with the same name since the NFL started counting sacks in 1982.
Not only did the Jaguars’ Allen sack Allen, he also intercepted Allen in the second half of that game! That’s the first time in NFL history that a player intercepted a quarterback with the the same name. Allen also has a fumble recovery on a fumble by — Josh Allen.
This was only the fourth time in league history a defensive player faced off against a quarterback with the same name. Cleveland Browns linebacker Tommy Thompson faced off against Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Tommy Thompson twice in 1950 and Patriots linebacker Todd Collins faced Bills quarterback Todd Collins in 1997.
Another weird tidbit between the Josh Allens — both of them were the No. 7 overall picks in their respective drafts. Buffalo’s Josh Allen was the No. 7 pick in the 2018 draft and Jacksonville’s Josh Allen was the No. 7 pick in 2019.
And as it turned out, the big day by the Jaguars’ Josh Allen was enough to pull off a monumental upset, as the Jaguars — who closed as 15.5-point underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook — came away with a 9-6 victory.
The Jaguars’ Allen downplayed a potential history-making moment when asked about it earlier this week, even though he did get an email sent to him that was meant for Buffalo’s Josh Allen once.
“I’m just looking forward to playing against this team and then looking forward to playing against him. He’s been playing at a high level of recent,” Allen said. “He’s been evading sacks recently, he’s been getting out of the pocket, his O-line does a really good job of protecting him.
“I love this challenge. We’re going to get after them but we have to do it early and throughout the whole game.”
