fergie's ire

Yeah the "He sucked and then suddenly was good" read comes from lazy journalists and casual fans. Yes, there were HUGE problems with Josh's game in the first year. He could not hit a swing pass to save his life, could not put any air under the ball, and he was slow reading defenses. (Though he didn't say it, he too was seeing ghosts against the Patriots.) However, anyone who watched could see the promise with plays like the 75 yard pass to Foster against the Jags. (Still one of Allen's most amazing plays.) Second year, he could throw the swing pass and put some air on the ball, at least with intermediate passes. Reading defense was better but still struggled at times. Inconsistency was the biggest issue and panicking and trying to make the big play. As someone (don't remember who) described him, Josh could have a lineman hanging off him, be on his back foot and throw the ball 40 years on the line and hit a receiver on the numbers....then on the next play lateral ball to the mascot. 2nd half of 3rd year and 4th year really see Josh dissecting offenses (reading, misdirecting, etc.) better ability to loft even a deep ball and some amazing touch (like against 49ers or the ball he was "throwing away" to Knox). It is a trajectory that anyone should have seen as possible (though not certain) from day one.

Whether Beane lied pretty much depends on how you define "pretty much."

And it's another area where he has learned. I remember in his early days he would do this thing where he would hold the ball way out to show the defense like "LOOK. HERE"S THE BALL. I'M HANDING IT OFF!! And then pull it back in. But it would screw up the timing, and because he held it out, the defense could also see him pulling it back. It fooled nobody. He's so much better now and that is a great play.

Mike Ryan of the Le Batard Show has always been a very vocal Browns fan. However, he has announced that he is done with them and is a fan free agent. Might be fun to recruit him. Maybe he has a charity we could support?

Just something that sounds overly picky, but I think gets misunderstood with our justice system. Needs to be proven beyond a REASONABLE doubt rather than a shadow of a doubt. It's a lower burden of proof. Doesn't mean there can't be any doubt just no more than a "reasonable" person would hold. Also, indictments are tricky. It often comes down to whether the DA really wants an indictment. Hence the adage about being able to indict a ham sandwich. It probably means the DA didn't think they would be able to get a conviction. Again, a picky but important distinction.

I think it's also important to remember where the Bills were when they signed him. I remember articles about how no free agents wanted to come to Buffalo (very different from today). Other than getting a QB, Beane's priority seemed to be to stabilize the line on both side of the ball (very smart) even if he had to over pay to do so. I remember another GM being furious about how much we paid Nsehke in free agency. Yes, we did overpay but stabilizing the lines helped make us competitive again and then built on that to the point we are now where players want to come here and we are a SB favorite. Like Nsehke I think that A) Lotulelei was good but not great B) was a position where we needed someone solid C) We overpaid to get him to come here. So, though an overpay I think it was a really smart signing and I can't argue with the team results.

Not his forte.

I just checked in an hour ago and there was a lot of moaning about holes we needed to fill like a dominant edge rusher and TE 2. What, did something happen while I was away?

They do, indeed.

High school teammate of one Eric Wood.

It's sad that what I consider Josh's two best "game winning" drives came in games he didn't win. The Hail Murray game and this one would have been legendary late drives...if not for those endings.

I don't see an Achilles in the list. Maybe you are confusing Achilles (back of ankle) with ACL (knee)? https://www.draftsharks.com/fantasy/injury-history/adrian-peterson/2460

Tell that to Bill Belichick: https://www.patspulpit.com/2021/8/31/22648576/new-england-patriots-initial-53-man-roster-after-cutdown-day Assuming he gets cut, Carson Wentz? Aaron Donald? Maybe their backup plan is to go after reclamation projects.

Actor. And really only gets gigs in commercials.

The guy who won a national championship for Tennessee after replacing the bum of a quarterback before him? Cool.

I think there might be some bumps and adjustments, but I think that Josh will adjust quickly. One of his best assets is his ability to learn. Young quarterbacks often go through a period of success but then have to adjust. Some do, some don't. Baker was great his rookie year, but he still hasn't been able to change once the defense learns how to play him. On the other hand, do you remember 2 years ago with Josh playing the Patriots? Bellichick went cover zero and Josh couldn't handle it. Now, teams don't dare to go cover zero on Josh, he'll destroy them. (Actually, I seem to remember that some team recently tried cover zero and got torched for a touchdown. Might have been the Patriots.) So then he couldn't play in weather or struggled against cover 2....but he quickly adjusted and then was great at these. So, it is very difficult to take something away from him. He'll quickly learn to make that defense an advantage.

The one thing I am thankful for is that I don't think there is an iconic moment or play (like the Hail Murray). Maybe the Kelce catch to setup or the overtime TD but neither really encapsulates their win. I am also a Kentucky basketball fan and every March I have to see that @#$@ Christian Laetner shot about a million times. And yes, I know Laetner is from Buffalo, and I still hate him.

I like Daboll for the most part. Didn't agree with everything he did but overall I think he did a good job with Josh and the offense. That said, I, too, am excited for a new OC. My reasoning is that one of Josh's greatest talents has been his ability to absorb information and learn. It seems it has gotten to the point where he has really mastered this offense. With many quarterbacks I wouldn't want to mess with success when he knew the offense so well. However, I think that if Josh has someone with a new perspective it will add to his database of knowledge. It won't confuse him, he will just know more...which with his talent could be scary.

I agree, and I think that not only has Allen learned and developed but Daboll has as well. For a while, it seemed like he wanted to be careful with Allen and not run him as much but now he is running him smartly...with purpose. I forgot where I saw it and who was doing the analysis (Chris Simms, maybe) but this week there was an analysis of Allen and what his run game does for him. He said that Allen should run the ball at least once in the first 15 plays because it seems to get him going. In that Patriots games the early runs also got in the Pats defensive players' heads. Then, there were plays that build on that. Singletary or McKenzie would go one way, but Allen would fake going the other way. It would freeze the middle linebackers and even Judon on the edge. That momentary freeze would allow the runner to get around him. Even in the passing game the threat of the Allen run was being used to manipulate defenders, so just a few effective runs by Allen had a huge impact on a lot of what Buffalo did.

Hill, Kelce, and also Andy Reed. I am NOT saying Mahomes is not elite. He is. But there is a certain amount of QB inflation when playing for Reed. Just look at what quarterbacks have done with vs without him (Smith, Kolb, etc.)

I haven't seen the all 22, but there is a wide shot from behind Hyde where you can see how much ground he covers and it is amazing.

Yeah, I'm surprised we are still hearing this. I think the reason for the "Are the national media talking about this historic game" thread is that poster had the feeling that I did. This game was like Don Larson's perfect game in the World Series (or maybe if it was in the NLCS which I know didn't exist at the time). Good Morning Football talked about it as the best playoff QB performance...and maybe simply the best QB performance ever, but most are saying "that was a good game so maybe Buffalo can make the Super Bowl"

Perfect place and perfect trajectory. He floated it. It wasn't like the Dwight Clark through that would have ended up in the 3rd row if he hadn't caught it. (And btw, this week was the anniversary of that catch).

Really?! That is surprising. It does not look like a throw away at all.

Agree with most...but the throw to Knox was not a throw away. I have looked at the replay a lot and Josh floats the ball and it drops to where Knox could grab it. If it's a throwaway, he guns it. Was really an amazing touch pass.