WGR

‘273 yards allowed on the ground. Just an abysmal performance against the run for a team that had been pretty good stopping their opponents on the ground for most of this season. The Patriots didn’t have Josh Gordon and Tom Brady wasn’t his sharpest, so they just turned to running – and gashing – the Bills all day with 47 attempts at 5.8 yards per carry.’

‘We all know Bill Belichick has a history of making life extremely tough on rookie quarterbacks. Now Josh Allen gets his first chance to face him. Allen missed the teams’ last meeting back in October with an injured elbow. But since returning from that injury, he’s looked like an improved passer and is also now the Bills’ leading rusher on the season. The Bills are 2-2 in that time. This game may very well come down to if the rookie can solve the puzzles Belichick is going to present to try and confuse him.’

‘No dollar amounts for Barkley were specified.’

‘”They’re starting to close the gap. Maybe [New England’s] days of lapping the field are done.”‘

‘For Peterman, it’s a chance for a fresh start after a dreadful opening to his career in Buffalo. In eight games with the Bills, Peterman was 68-of-130 for 548 yards, three touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Peterman has had 9.23-percent of his passes intercepted in his two seasons with the Bills.’

‘The Buffalo Bills worked out a handful of players on Tuesday afternoon. Numerous different sources via Twitter helped piece together the puzzle, as the list kept growing larger.’

‘”He did have more time in the pocket than he had in the weeks prior. When you can give the quarterback that amount of time it allows, especially a young quarterback, ample time to go through all of his reads.”‘

‘”I think every game is such a unique situation. Everybody would like to be 80-, 78-, 75-, 71-percent, but you kind of need to peel it back and figure out the reasons why. Some of them could be throws, some of them could be decisions, and some could be a good decision, where we throw it out of bounds four or five times last game.”‘

‘I’ll start with the Bills and the continuing evaluation of rookie quarterback Josh Allen. Sunday was a good bounce back for the seventh overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Detroit Lions didn’t want Allen to beat them with his legsm so they went with a scheme designed to keep Allen in the pocket and “make him be a quarterback”. Allen was able to do just that, while putting together a fourth quarter comeback victory at home for the second time this season.’

‘Allen was 13-of-26 for 204 yards and a touchdown and adding a rushing touchdown and 16 yards on 9 carries. Keith Ford led the way for Bills running backs with 14 carries and 46 yards after Marcus Murphy left the game in the first half due to injury and did not return. Murphy had 11 carries for 35 yards. Robert Foster recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of the season, reeling in 4 catches for 108 yards and the game-winning touchdown.’

‘How can anyone come away not liking the way Allen performed Sunday? Unless you’re simply “box score scouting,” I’m not sure how anyone can come away from this one not impressed with the way he threw the ball, his leadership and command, and of course the result thanks to a fourth quarter comeback.’

‘So, regardless of how he plays these last three contests, Allen might not change anyone’s minds about his progress to this point, but what these games do is give the coaching staff, and Allen himself, more information and film to use as they continue to build him.’

‘The veteran QB had been participating in practice on a limited basis for several weeks, but was still not cleared to play in any games. That changed Friday, yet McDermott would not commit to Anderson or Matt Barkley as the backup to Josh Allen Sunday when his team plays the Detroit Lions.’

‘“I think he’s been accurate. There are certainly throws he’s been working on that we have to continue to develop. He’s not a finished product. This is just X-start in his career, so there are plays, there are throws that he wants back. There are throws I want back. The important thing is that he’s committing to improving it. I think, by and large, his accuracy, he’s giving guys opportunities on the ball to make plays and you saw that this past week and we’ve got to make them.”’

‘”I think it’s been decent, when you consider that the Bills need help along the offensive line, they need to upgrade their receiving corps. Surrounding talent matters a great deal for a quarterback’s development. When you look at Allen and what he’s had to do… the offense is taking an approach, ‘We’re going to encourage him to run, and if that means that maybe includes eschewing the first or second read that he could have hit, but he can gain 10 yards, or 20 yards, or 50 yards, then let’s do it.'”‘