Straight Hucklebuck

I don’t agree with this. As an average fan you can tell if a coaching staff is protecting a quarterback by calling for short dump off passes, trying to run draw plays on 3rd down. You can see a stretch run play where the team loses yards every time, yet they keep trying to do it. You saw it last week when the Chargers tried to sit on their lead against Denver, or when the Seahawks took the ball out of Wilson’s hands and gave it to Carlos Hyde for a critical 3rd-2 conversion attempt. Now the passing concepts that are illustrated each week are fascinating.

Unless the Bills are on the path that the 2011-2015 Bengals were on. A solid team that made the Playoffs each year for 4/5 years straight, and got bounced in the first round. Shaw the difference here between you, Teef and 1972 is that you believe McDermott and Beane when they talk. They say build from in the inside out, you believe them, they say they have a 5 year plan, it’s we need to wait five years, they say it takes culture over talent, you’re in there. You believe we’re on this predestined stairway to greatness and they can see before the average fan can. Like they have seen the future and know we will be contenders indefinitely once this build is complete (not sure how we know this). I think 1972 is just saying, instead of accepting that our build isn’t complete, can the Bills step outside of the expectation that we aren’t ready to beat the Seahawks and just win a game against a really good team? I think we’re somewhere in the middle. You can beat a lot of bad teams by just not turning the ball over and making a few timely plays. But I still don’t have confidence that once the Playoffs start that this team’s first game won’t be a tight down to the wire game where the offense just doesn’t seem to be a groove.

“Piled on” I think we like Beane and want the pick to work so we talk about bum shoulders, and how young he is, and blame the defensive line.

He looks like John Wendling used to look when the Bills made him play linebacker. Keith Ellison was like this too, just defended for years for mediocre play. It doesn’t matter now where he was drafted, or how young he is, he’s a terrible player. He would make up for it if he forced turnovers. But you’re getting a goose egg there too. Plays 97% of snaps.

Please go back to the 1990’s uniforms and become the real Bills again. Red End Zones.

Burkhead drove him straight backwards.

In reading, you're just saying that Lamar dominated the college level with athleticism, and the NFL with athleticism, up until the Titans last year (even though the Chargers beat him in the Playoffs in 2018), and his strength of running and dink/dunking has actually become a limiting factor in his development. Because as he has spent more time in an offense that caters to his running instincts, the less he is working on staying in the pocket and delivering throws. Greg Cossell has been steadfast in his belief that you need to read defenses and make throws from there. The Ravens also have hurt themselves this year by chaining themselves to Mark Ingram at 3.0 ypc.

Cossel on Tua - He didn't have to do much, sense was that he sees things quickly and knows where he needs to go with the ball, 15 yard to Grant was designed to left and he had to come back to the right. Cossel on Brees - He doesn't throw it like he used to, and this causes more inaccuracy, so the offense is different. So it falls on Payton to scheme players open.

Talking Lamar Jackson right now with Greg Cossel, he said that Lamar Jackson is leaving throws on the field, he's been frenetic in the pocket, he moves too early. All to your points. We're getting into the meat of this right now.

See this is where I'm at as well. Right now, you put Justin Herbert on the Bills, or Joe Burrow on the Bills, and it's definitely Allen is way better than them? Are we 2-6 with Herbert? 1-5 with Burrow? I think the Buffalo media has become obsessed with the "first 4 games", and Allen's productivity there. But if all it takes is soft-zone defense to drive our points per game from 30 to 18 then what does that mean? Is that the reason we aren't scoring? Then you read posts on here that say Allen has been impeccable against the zone because of his patience. I'm not sure how close to his ceiling Allen is, and I agree with Shaw that I don't Lamar is going to get more athletic and run with more efficiency than he has already shown. But to clean it up, it's this idea that Allen has unlimited potential (after we've seen him for 35 games now) and others don't have nearly that potential that I am struggling to digest, when we're 6-2, and our scoring has come down from 30 ppg to 18 ppg attributed to a soft-zone defense.

We all acknowledge the progress/growth that Allen has made in his game, whereas this post is written as the an assumption that Lamar is not going to progress anymore. I don’t know how it’s open for Allen to keep getting better, but Lamar can’t find a way too? It’s this idea that Allen is limitless in his potential, whereas other Quarterbacks are going to hit a ceiling because they don’t have as big of an arm, or aren’t as tall, or run too much. Also, I wish talk of the Chiefs and Mahomes would stop in comparison to Allen, McDermott and the Bills. We aren’t the Chiefs, we aren’t close to becoming the Chiefs, we haven’t had that run of scoring success. Maybe you want to pin it on the athletes they have verses us, Reid verses McDermott, Mahomes being at his ceiling because he sat for a year. Being on the right track? A lot of teams are on the right track because they have identified a Quarterback - the Bengals, Chargers. The window is open for the Bills, but in the same breath we talk about how zone coverage has slowed the Bills offense down despite Allen’s patience and effectiveness. Beat Seattle. Outduel Wilson. Then you can start thumbing your noses at last years MVP.

Cole Beasley doesn’t beat the Chiefs or the Ravens or the Steelers. That’s what I’m saying. The bar now is win a Playoff game. I like Beasley, but unless Allen can get this offense cranked back up this looks like a Wild Card and out team. The rotating cast is not enough to tilt this thing much better or much worse than 2019 in terms of ceiling. This is the key question - can Allen get the offense back in gear (and keep it there) against the good teams. If yes, the Bills can win a Playoff game and take the next step. If not, the 2020 Bills are the 2019 Bills with a limited ceiling.

I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. Beasley is a possession WR and not a true difference maker, as much as I like him. Diggs, true, but where has he been? He’s been out there and he’s become a 70 yard WR. Moss is an upgrade over Gore, but no way that moves the betting line of an NFL game, same with Offensive Lineman. The offense really comes down to Allen making plays. If the zone defense is now the accepted excuse as to why the scoring has come down, then when does that change? Defensively, you knew a regression was coming. No way are you going to keep holding teams to 17 ppg year after year. It looks like the decisions to not retain Phillips, Lawson, and the retirement of Alexander (replaced by Klein) out weight the personnel decisions, although those decisions in the long run probably don’t alter the course of the franchise. I think being at 6-2 again this season, forces the fundamental question here: how much do you believe in Josh Allen to get the Bills to the next level (winning A Playoff game this season).

I think the opposite. You are getting zero from the Tight End position right now. We might as well be the Patriots and dress one TE on gameday.

To me, it looks as if they're starting to stagnate. They look like the 2019 team in terms of potential. The offense is better because Moss is better than Gore. But obviously, our group of linebackers are terrible.

Herbert is awesome. He's chained to a conservative Coach who sits on leads. The Chargers, like the Bills, need to keep adding skill position and OLine help.

I just don't know what NFL games you're watching. Mahomes had a throw to Hill on Sunday for a Touchdown was a 50 yard laser. He had one about two games ago that was 60 yards in the air to Hill for the TD that was called back for holding. Outside of Foster in 2018 (for 5-games), and John Brown against Miami, when does Allen uncork this arm for TDs? Mahomes vision sets him apart from everyone in the league (maybe outside of Brady/Wilson). He sees everything.

I heard a stat yesterday, that Daniel Jones has only beaten two NFL teams in his career. The Bucs as a rookie and Washington twice.

Just continue to water the product down. It was fine the way it was. Come and see the 7-9 Cleveland Browns take on the 8-8 Miami Dolphins. And later tonight, the 7-9 Detroit Lions go against the 7-9 Carolina Panthers.

That's right. After 2019, I don't want to hear about Wyoming anymore, or not enough weapons, or him being raw. He's had the same HC and OC for 3 years straight and the FO has made an effort to get him skill position players. He's started 35 games now. You're 2.5 years in now, so I think it's reasonable to think Allen is closer to his ceiling, than his floor.

Even if this is true, the Bills are married to Allen. So regardless of if McDermott is a great Coach, the FO has done enough to help Allen and this offense score points. It comes down to their selection of Allen. Is he going to turn the corner and become a Top 10ish QB?

Agree. It just hasn't looked as easy since the Raiders game. Right now it's been hard to get the ball down the field. Diggs' average has come down, Gabe Davis gets an isolated TD shot once a game, the Bills are still getting nothing from the Tight End position, and now it looks Moss is coming on and so he starts commanding more touches. To get it cranked back up, they're going to need John Brown to get deep again, and start running Diggs underneath. I think Beane should look for a Tight End, we can't keep waiting for Dawson Knox to become reliable. And get a linebacker please. Drafted one in 2019 and he's gone, drafted none in 2020 and that lack of depth shows. AJ Klein has not worked. Well look at the Chargers. They have a great possession WR in Keenan Allen, a sporadic #2 jumpball WR in Williams, an okay Tight End in Henry, and then guys filling in for Ekeler. With a rookie QB, they're putting up 27 a game. So, I'm with you, the Bills have enough to start getting back over that 25 point per game mark.

I'd think, I have Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf. I'm never out of a game because I have the best offense in the league.

The Bills look like a Playoff team. But you look at the halfway point, and are they much better than the 2019 Bills? They look about the same. The offense is better with Moss over Gore, Allen and Diggs. But the defense has slipped. So do I see breaking the Playoff Win drought? That looks iffy right now. Trade deadline tomorrow...

I think the 2020 Bills are the 2019 Bills. They are regressing towards 20 ppg and having to win tight games. WGR just keeps talking about "the first four games", but I don't see that happening to the tune of 300-400 yards passing as it was. I can see getting to 250 yards again, and 2 TDs. They look like a Playoff team, who goes out Wildcard weekend.