starrymessenger

I'm a little surprised he still wants to play. Maybe just me but seeing him come off the field after the Titans game he looked broken. Don't think to have ever seen that before. Usually after a loss he looks angry or sports a disgruntled poor loser face. Contrary to what he says I don't think he has anything more to prove. Unless of course he's dreaming of becoming the difference maker on an otherwise talented O lacking a good QB and wins another Super Bowl. Then he can tell the naysayers what for. I'd love for him to go to Cleveland for no other reason than to see Baker wearing a suicide vest as he rides the pine and watch the Browns likely comically implode yet again. My guess is that if NE commits to finding him some playmakers he will back down on his decision to not give the hometown discount and will remain with the team. With that defence and better talent on offence, a Pats team with Brady under centre would still be pretty good. If the Pats don't cooperate, his refusal to take the discount allows him to drive a harder bargain with a FA suitor. I think Tom's pretty much done and should retire before he embarrasses himself. Right now he's a good mid-level starting QB and really nothing more. And most of that comes from his experience and knowledge of the (only) offence he can reasonably be expected to operate. Truth is the guy is diminished in terms of his physical skills. He has always been limited in terms of schemes he's capable of executing.

He's a top 5 corner and will be paid accordingly, probably by the Bills. He's a great player but everybody has strengths and weaknesses (or less strength in a performance catagory if you like). There are better CBs than Tre when in pure man coverage (though he is good). He seems to play off a lot so can be late closing on slants sometimes and I think he can be beaten over the top by a burner if 1 on 1.

This is the best clip of the action. The pass was pretty much perfect and could have been caught but it would have been a sensational play. Close but no cigar. Funny how people can interpret the same action differently. When he goes up for it Duke's body is rotating away from the ball possibly in an effort to adjust to the trajectory of the pass and possibly to box out the defender. In that situation it would be difficult for Duke to get both hands on the ball when it first gets there. So what he tried to do was deaden/stabilize it with his right hand and then lock it up/posses it with his left. But the defender got his hand in to prevent that. Tough chance.

Surprised to see that some think he's good in run support. I see (or think I see) him messing up his gap responsibility and whiffing on tackles a lot. Not to mention getting trucked. He's much better in pass D if my eyeball impression is right. But given the scheme and McBeane's uncanny ability to develop DBs 8-9 M per as has been suggested seems crazy to me. With 9 picks we ought to be able to draft a good safety. We also have a couple of STmers who might be ready to step up.

He shouldn't kill himself, but somebody (though not me) should definitely slap him on the wrist for opting to double team a second rate interior lineman when JJ Watt was lined up in front of him and flew into the backfield unblocked. There was no TE next to Ford so Im guessing the DE was his assignment.

Yes and I'm saying they won't resign him to an extension. And if he threatens to hold out I'd look to trade him. They might be thinking of doing that anyways in advance of the draft.

Correct. And IMO the Bills can do better and don't resign him. Not for what he will be looking for in the way of comp anyway.

I expect to be better than NE in 2020, whether Tom stays or goes. I'm sure the Bills braintrust is targeting the division championship as indeed they should be.

Nope. I'm for seeing if Webb can develop into a reliable backup/spot starter. Or use a late round (not early round) pick to develop instead if Webb is not that guy. The only veteran backup I'd be tempted to sign over a prospect is Fitz, who is the best in the business. Of course he's under contract anyway.

Agree. And even then.....if he has trouble seeing the field you might not be on the hook for a big payout but you also have to value the roster spot. Great as he has been his value is zero if not healthy. This is said to be a fantastic draft for WR coming up. Chances are you can get a high end prospect in the late rounds. So take two if the value is clearly there.

I was not surprised DK dropped in the draft. I liked him but in the second. I also liked Samuel and especially AJ Brown better, and long term still probably do.

Absolutely agree. But is this something that happens a lot and that gets treated as a touchback? Some rules are honoured more in the breach than in the observance. If that's the case it's hard to argue that it's a live ball. If it's not, and this event is an outlier then the call was really very wrong.

This was a point made by the commentators in yesterday's game: it happens all the time and is not called a live ball. Just wondering if this is true. Does anybody know?

It seems clear to me that Duke should have been playing ahead of Foster. Some of our resident expert talent evaluators now (reluctantly) concede this but the new fallback position is that he is a mediocrity who won't be on the roster next year. IMO we don't know exactly what he may be capable of or what he might have added to this O had he played earlier. The upcoming draft is great for WRs. I'd like to see the Bills draft one early and another in later rounds if a really promising prospect is still on the board, which could easily happen in this year's draft. I expect Duke will compete for a spot and I'm certainly not assuming that he won't stick. I also think there is some duplication in our WR group. The punt/kick returner and the gadget play guy should be one roster spot, not two. That would create more space in staffing the WR corps. What completely puzzles me however is force feeding Duke reps yesterday after virtually ignoring him all year, and especially at Beasley's expense it would seem. Could be just another example of the team's disfunction on offence. I sometimes get the impression that some of Daboll's head scratchers are attempts to capitalize on the unexpected. So Romeo prepares for Beasley and gets Duke. That's not reason enuf to sit a good slot receiver who has some chemistry with Allen IMO.

I'm very impressed with Allen and with his development. It seems clear to me that his accuracy has improved. He still has a ways to go but he is more consistent than ever he was last year and he is improving relative to the types of throws that have been problematic- long balls and routine "gimmie" rhythm passes. His intermediate range throws have pretty much been consistently above average. I thought his first half yesterday was outstanding. His "on" and "off" switch was not in evidence on individual series. He was good on each possession. And when he's good he's actually a lot better than that. He trends towards the upper tier of QBs, and I would even venture "elite" (assuming full use of his toolbox, including his arm strength). Of course a half of great play is not a complete game (and far less than a series of games or a complete season) but if overall you see continuous improvement you chalk it up to development. Having said that the disastrous second half yesterday is hardly all on Allen. To the contrary, it was the failure of the O-line to adjust to or otherwise deal with the changes RC made to his D, especially the pass rush, that caused the problems. Like most QBs Allen is best when pass protected. Do that for him and he can beat you with his arm and his legs. When the bulk of passing downs feature D-Line jailbreaks his "bad habits" tend to resurface (not surprisingly) especially when out of desperation he tries to compensate by doing too much. JJ Watt is a great player. He's even better than that when he's unblocked. Bottom line Allen's toolbox is elite and he is showing progression in terms of translating all of that to the field. I agree with those who complain about the Bill's conservative philosophy. It is most obvious in the game planning and play calling on offence (esp when they go into a shell after taking the lead) but it also suffuces the defensive side of things as well, though with better results. I think McD is the reason for this but I am withholding judgement. When he and Beane showed up they had to build from the ground up. I suppose there is nothing necessarily wrong with prioritizing the D in advance of the O and one would have to agree that that part of the job has been successfully accomplished, even if there is still work to do and room for improvement. Clearly the O is much more a work in progress. Maybe if McD had trusted more in what Allen is able to do at this point in his career they would not have won 10 games and would have been less competitive in some of the games they lost. So maybe the brass saw this mindset as giving the team the best chance of winning and making the playoffs this year. But I think we can all expect a serious infusion of talent in the O-line and skill positions this off season in FA and in the draft. If after that happens the offence continues to play for FGs, is in effect relegated to a support group for a top defence on which you primarily rely to win, then I would begin to question McD's approach. I want to see a fully developed offence and not something that is not conducive to Allen's continued progression. Relegating him to game manager status and playing not to lose will not bring out the best in him or the team IMO.

I'm actually encouraged by Allen's play today. Houston made adjustments after the half and were able to bring pressure. That wasn't on Allen. Our O-line had no answer. He was accurate with most of his throws. The Bills need to prioritize the O-line, find a couple of playmaking WRs and another RB. Beane should be able to do that in FA and the draft. With more talent at those positions I think Allen could really shine. I assume that the conservative offensive philosophy we see largely derive from these limitations and the fact that the D is the team's strong suit. If however this approach continues after an infusion of talent during the offseason and we continue to play for fgs, them McD needs to go because I'm pretty sure he's the one setting the tone for the gameplan we see on O.

Bad spot

Morse missed

Could be wrong but I don't think that's coming from Daboll

Wrong read.

Josh has not had big pressure to deal with so far today. Give him time and he's dangerous. What's most impressive to me is his accuracy. This may be the sharpest I've seen him.

DB can have a hand on the WR as long as he does not alter his progress. TJ was great on that play.

Flat out outstanding coverage.

I give Coach credit for making this move, partly because it involves some assumption of risk. We don't know what his practices have been like but Duke doesn't have much if any game day live action experience with Allen.

I would not be saddened by Daboll's departure. But I would be concerned about the Bills ability to land a better replacement. Im not sure a lot of the conservative play calling we have seen is Daboll and I don't know that I would trust McD to contribute to making the best selection. You might have to exclude any creative candidate with a strong personality and a mind of his own, however talented/experienced he might be.