Josh Allen has thrived due to patience and continuity. Could Drew Lock be next?

[Miles]

With just 15 starts under his belt — one of which he exited after just two series due to injury — Lock is close the number of starts that Allen had made during that tough early Year 2 stretch.


Perhaps Lock's performance against Carolina is the start of him moving to the next phase of his development. Lock completed 21-of-27 passes for 280 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the team's win, and he posted the third-highest single-game passer rating in team history.


That success, though, isn't limited to one game. Since starting 0-of-6 with an interception against Miami on the heels of a career-high four picks vs. Las Vegas, Lock has completed 54-of-79 passes for 701 yards, six touchdown passes, two interceptions and a 110.79 passer rating.


Despite the improvement, Lock wasn't willing to say the Broncos' offense has reached their desired level of play.


"There's always going to be people moving fast," Lock said. "The game will eventually slow down. The past couple games I'm feeling comfortable with my prep and feeling comfortable with the practices I'm putting together. It is starting to slow down. I'm starting to see it better and I start to feel better when I go out there. I'm not saying I'm fully there by any means. There's still a lot of work that I need to do. I'm starting to feel better each week going into it. After this week of practice going into Saturday, hopefully we can go out there and the progress continues to make strides with the game slowing down and knowing what to expect after a good week of practice and a good week of prepping."


As Lock tries to continue his success against an opportunistic Bills defense that ranks fourth in the league in takeaways, Head Coach Vic Fangio said he recognized the value continuity could bring both to Lock and the team's offense.


"Yeah, there's no doubt about it that continuity, especially as it relates to a quarterback, can have tremendous positive effect," Fangio said. "You see it all around the league with a lot of the successful quarterbacks both young and older. I mean, [Saints QB] Drew Brees has been with New Orleans for forever it seems, [Buccaneers QB] Tom Brady's run at New England, [former NFL QB] Peyton's [Manning] run at the Colts, this is [Chiefs QB Patrick] Mahomes fourth year with the Chiefs. You just see it time and time again where the continuity ends up paying off and players develop better — particularly the quarterback — and hopefully we'll be able to get that done with Drew here."


Even something as simple as working with the same offensive coordinator for more than one year would represent a step forward for Lock. The quarterback said Wednesday he hasn't worked with the same offensive coordinator in back-to-back years since his sophomore year of college.


"It's nice to have somebody that you're familiar with, that you feel like you have continuity with, and that you know he knows you and you know in your heart that you know him as a play caller," Lock said. "You know how they're going to coach. You know what they expect, and it'll just make me feel comfortable. I think it'll make everybody feel comfortable, not only myself. It's obviously important for the quarterback to feel comfortable, but as a quarterback you want everyone else around you to feel comfortable and I feel like having the same play caller in this organization for more than one year would be huge for us."


Lock has seen the benefit that continuity has had for Allen, whom he's worked out with in the offseason.


"I feel like it's patience with him," Lock said of Allen's progression. "Obviously, he struggled a little bit when he got into the league as far as completion percentage goes, but he figured it out. He learned, kept growing, kept realizing what looks he wanted for certain plays, and now he has the experience. He's played in it, he's struggled in it, and when you struggle in it, you end up learning, you end up thriving. That's why he's playing extremely good ball right now.


"It's [the caliber of] football that I want to end up eventually getting to and playing like. There was a little sign of it last week, but it's all about making progress, keep making small steps forward. But yes, he is progressing. It's fun to watch him because I know him and he's a great guy. I loved being around him when I was around him. I'm happy for his success, but hopefully we can stop it here this Sunday."