Bills quarterback Josh Allen reportedly will play today. The Bills, however, are keeping the official word close to the vest for as long as possible.
Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reiterates that it’s believed Allen will start despite an elbow injury. Schefter explains that the Bills won’t confirm any final decisions, in order to avoid giving the Vikings a competitive advantage.
On one hand, the Buffalo offense is the Buffalo offense. While Case Keenum doesn’t have the same high-end skills as Allen (then again, who does?), Keenum is nimble -- as the Vikings know. Five years ago, he routinely escaped the pocket, bought time, and completed big throws on the way to an appearance in the NFC Championship for Minnesota.
The question is whether the Vikings prepared exclusively for Allen, exclusively for Keenum, or some of both. The dramatic movement of the betting line pointed to Allen not playing. And who knows? Maybe the leaks of the past 18 hours or so are part of a ruse aimed at getting the Vikings to spend the final day preparing to see Allen.
Indeed, if the Bills were truly committed to keeping it a secret, reports indicating that Allen will be playing wouldn’t have emerged at all. The Allen news shows either that the S.S. McDermott includes some loose-lipped crew members -- or that they’ve pulled off the ultimate act of quarterback subterfuge.
We’ll know more at 11:30 a.m. ET.