Toronto Sun

‘He’d never played American football before the spring. Yet on his first play of his first football game Thursday night, Wade took a handoff from third-string Bills quarterback Tyree Jackson at New Era Field, made a beautiful cutback to the right, burst through a hole created by a fabulous seal block by newly signed right tackle Jarron Jones, flew past Indianapolis Colts safety Derrick Kindred, and was gone — 65 yards for a touchdown, with 9:28 left in Buffalo’s 24-16 win.’

‘“Overall I thought he took what the defence gave him, at times,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said of Allen following Buffalo’s 24-16 victory. “I thought he was a little fired up early, put a little (too much) heat on the ball, maybe.”‘

‘And so, if Allen does not demonstrate in 2019 more accuracy within 15-20 yards, and does not show in 2019 he can win crunch games not with his surprisingly fast legs but by stringing together good pass after good pass down the stretch, then his critics will be too numerous to count.’

‘“Star is one of those guys who doesn’t really talk much,” said Oliver, a three-year starter at the University of Houston. “To pick his brain, you really have to talk to him. He’ll tell you whatever, but he’s kind of old school.’

‘Outside of the Jacksonville Jaguars with Blake Bortles and Miami Dolphins with Ryan Tannehill, NFL teams this decade typically have run out of patience with a struggling young QB before Year 4 — no matter how promising or highly drafted he might have been.’

‘And, similarly, Trump was indeed advanced to the final round of bidding by Morgan Stanley, the investment bank that oversaw the sale on behalf of the Bills trustees, appointed upon the death of founding franchise owner Ralph Wilson four months earlier.’

‘The Buffalo Bills obtained a wide receiver surnamed Brown after all.’

‘No, the surprising part – indeed, the shocking part – was that the Bills took a run at Brown in the first place. I still can’t wrap my head around it.’

‘How many chances does a quarterback get? Tannehill still has two years and some $50 million left on a four-year, $77-million second contract. No way is he worth it.’

‘For myriad unsatisfactory reasons beyond injury attrition, in the second half on Sunday the only Bills players capable enough to catch passes from raw-as-May-grass rookie QB Josh Allen were an undrafted rookie wideout (Robert Foster), a 2017 undrafted tight end (Jason Croom) and a 2017 second-round pick (Zay Jones) who can’t get open in man coverage and doesn’t fight enough for the ball.’

‘Yes, you may read “barely outperformed” as “weren’t quite as bad as,” because the 21-year-old Darnold and 22-year-old Allen both have a long way to go as NFL passers, and know it.’

‘In the second half, Allen by far was the most compelling offensive performer for either team. He made several elite, chunk gains with his powerful arm as well as his feet.’

‘Rather, in the performance of the quarterbacks. The difference was night-and-day. Or negative-and-positive, to keep the photographic darkroom analogy going.’

‘Buffalo won with a quarterback they signed off the street just a week-and-a-half earlier: Matt Barkley. The former USC star – drafted in 2012 by Philadelphia, who hadn’t taken an NFL game snap since the end of the 2016 season in Chicago – completed a 47-yard long bomb to an undrafted rookie (Robert Foster) on the first scrimmage snap of the game, then completed 14 of his next 24 throws for 232 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the best passing performance by a Bills quarterback in a long time.’

‘The 2018 Bills’ attempts in recent weeks to win in the traditional modern manner – of subbing out all 11 defenders on a change of possession for an entirely different eleven, who supposedly specialize in advancing the football and scoring at the pro level, and always using three downs for that purpose before kicking on fourth and final down – isn’t working. At all.’