Josh Allen’s hot start to the 2020 season can be partly attributed to taking on a “Mamba Mentality.”
The Buffalo Bills quarterback, who grew up idolizing the late Lakers legend, explained to Boomer Esiasion on CBS how he is able to draw inspiration from Kobe Bryant before taking the field.
“Oh, yeah, all the time … Just the constant aggression that he had,” Allen said. “In the fourth quarter, when he got that look and that underbite going, you knew that he was locked in and was going to do everything he could to win a game and that mindset that I feel like I have – I’m willing to sacrifice my body for the betterment of my team and that will never change for me.”
The 24-year-old may have had to tap into that “Mamba Mentality” last week against the Rams rallied from a 25-point deficit and appeared to hand the Bills a devastating loss.
But Allen was able to salvage the game in the final drive, connecting with Tyler Kroft for the game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds left to give the Bills a 35-32 win and improve to 3-0 atop the AFC East as they head into a Week 4 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I take it heavily on my shoulders in the third and early in the fourth quarter – I got to be better for our team,” Allen said. “Usually when you’re up like that and the other team takes the lead, it’s depleting … our guys were calm, cool, collected and we all kinda came together and said, ‘we gotta go make some plays,’ and that’s what we did.”
Esiason was polishing off his MVP trophy during the interview. With 10 passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns with just one interception, Allen could find himself in the mix to get one of those trophies of his own.
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