Nick Wright believes Josh Allen can't keep the "devil on his shoulder" quiet vs. Chiefs - "It's going to be really really hard"

The stakes couldn’t be higher for Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills as they prepare for their AFC Championship clash against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. FS1 analyst Nick Wright delivered a stark warning about Allen’s ability to maintain discipline under pressure, drawing parallels between the quarterback’s past errors and the gigantic task ahead.

Speaking on First Things First, Wright described Allen’s ongoing struggle to suppress his knack for high-risk, high-reward plays.

“He really is fighting against who he is to be this type of player,” Wright said, referencing Allen’s decision-making in critical moments.

Wright cited a pivotal play in Buffalo’s divisional-round victory vs the Baltimore Ravens, where Allen, on third-and-goal from the three-yard line with the Bills up five, narrowly avoided a costly mistake.

“The same devil on his shoulder that, in his first-ever playoff game, had him blindly throw it over the back of his head—it’s still there,” Wright said. “I think he still wants to be that guy, but he's like, white-knuckling it.”

Allen’s instictive high-risk moves have been a recurring theme throughout his career, from wild lateral attempts in his early playoff appearances to turnover-laden stretches during regular season games.

So what keeps Allen away from constant criticism? His immense talent, including a cannon-like arm, often mask those big errors. Wright believes that against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, those lapses could be the Bills’ undoing.

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Josh Allen's decision-making pivotal to Bills' bid to outclass Chiefs in AFC Championship showdown

Wright also highlighted the psychological and emotional toll of playing at Arrowhead Stadium, a venue where Allen delivered the performance of a lifetime in the 2022 playoffs, only to fall short in an overtime thriller. In that game, Allen completed 27 of 37 pass attempts, throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns.

“In that stadium, he had the greatest game of his career,” Wright noted, alluding to Allen’s four-touchdown performance in the AFC Divisional round that season.

However, the narrative has shifted. The Chiefs, led by Mahomes and mastermind head coach Andy Reid, are playing with championship swagger. Meanwhile, Allen is tasked with balancing his aggressive game with the discipline required to dethrone the reigning Super Bowl champions.

Wright declared next Sunday’s showdown as "the Super Bowl before the Super Bowl."

“I think the winner of that game is winning the Super Bowl,” he added.

As Allen prepares himself for arguably the biggest game of his career, the question looms: Can he exorcise the “devil on his shoulder” long enough to lead Buffalo to glory, or will the lure of his gunslinger ways prove too tempting? The answer awaits in Arrowhead’s raucous amphitheatre.