VW82

Wow this turned into a KB hate thread fast. I think JA is going to continue to struggle with dropped passes until he learns to put some touch on his throws. That dropped TD by Benjamin was an absolute rocket. He should have caught it but it wasn't the easiest throw to catch. Allen had several like that in the preseason too. Also, is JA going to take any heat for taking away Shady's sure fire TD in the 4th? Can't believe he called his own number there on the RPO when McCoy had an open lane right into the end zone. Kid needs time to work out the kinks. Let's allow him to come along slowly and develop at his own speed.

Said this in the zone defense thread but after that first drive, the D produced five three and outs in our next six defensive possessions. Unfortunately two of those three and outs resulted in FGs because we gave them the ball on our doorstep. The O did nothing to help the situation and left our D gassed by mid 2nd quarter. It's why we gave up that third TD to end the half IMO. For whatever reason we couldn't get a red zone stop to save our lives even though we were great at it last year. Bet McD gets that fixed. Our offense is a much bigger concern IMO.

Actually yes. Their first drive wasn't great for us. 80 yrds in 6+ mins. They came in with a good game plan and it wore us down but we recovered fairly well. The problem is we never got a rest after that. Take a look. Buff: 3 plays, -4 yrds, punt Balt: 3 plays, 1 yrd, punt Buff: 3 plays, 3 yrds, punt Balt: 10 plays, 66 yrds, TD Buff: 3 plays, -3 yrds, punt Balt: 4 plays, -3 yrds, FG Buff: 4 plays, -4 yrds, punt Balt: 4 plays, 5 yrds, Fumble Buff: 4 plays, 1 yrd, Missed FG Balt: 3 plays, -2 yrs, punt Buff: 3 plays, 2 yrds, INT Balt: 4 plays, 8 yrds, FG Buff: 3 plays, 2 yrds, punt So at this point we're down 20-0 and our D is absolutely gassed. They've had little to no break despite the fact they'd forced FIVE three and outs (two of which resulted in FGs because we gave them the ball on our doorstep) and four in a row out of the first seven possessions. We know what happened next. They marched 85 yrds and scored. Game over. I'm sorry but you can't pin all that on the D.

Yes 47 points. You know how many total yards we surrendered? 369. Last year our average yards allowed was 355. So not good but not exactly an abomination either. The real problem was Peterman's two INTs near our end zone, and our punt fumble which gave them the ball inside the 20. We couldn't move the ball all game and badly lost the field position battle. Add in all our penalties and inability to get a stop in the red zone and it ended up being the disaster it was. But putting 47 all on the D is more than a little disingenuous.

No, they did not average five yards per carry. They averaged 3.4 and if you take away Lamar Jackson's scrambles they only rushed for 78 yards on 27 carries, so 2.88 ypc. Most teams don't have Jackson (who looks like Michael Vick running around out there) bumping their rush numbers for the better part of a half. Again, the rush D wasn't that bad (except at the goal line). The pass D on the other hand...

I get that Shady will be too old by the time Allen is ready to win (assuming he's ever ready to win) but that really wasn't my point. We have a crap oline and receivers who can't separate. If you trade our one offensive threat defenses are going to just tee off on Allen. The kid is really raw. If you're going to jump the gun and play him before he's ready you need to keep some help on the offense to take a little pressure off him. Otherwise he's likely to flame out, lose his confidence, get hurt, or some combination of all three. Edit: the best outcome would be to trade Shady for a vet QB who could start the rest of the year while Allen watches and learns. Maybe you sneak a few starts in for him toward the end of the year when we're out of it and the pressure is off.

I thought Kyle and Harrison Phillips were ok. Edmunds made some plays as did Milano and Alexander. Everyone else was a complete non-factor. Zero rush from the ends. Shaq Lawson is right off for me. Can't believe we wasted a FRP on him. Flacco had all day to pick us apart. Run D was ok all things considered. edit: for those of you killing Star (and I hated that contract immediately) we should be grading him on the run D. That's his main job. We gave up 117 on the ground today (and three TDs - ouch!!) but it took them 34 rushes to do it. It wasn't terrible. As bad as it looked at times I don't think our D was anywhere near as bad as the 47 we allowed. There were signs of competence on that side, but when you let a team go 6-6 in the red zone the score board isn't going to look pretty. We were so good defending down there last year I have to think McD gets that figured out.

Are you kidding me? 75% of this board wants Allen to start immediately (which is dumb IMO) and now we're going to trade away the only offensive play maker on the roster? Sure hope not.

Mentally deranged?? Ha. I asked for a comp of a QB was considered really raw, lost his camp battle, but still started early in the year in his rookie season and became a franchise guy. You listed Dehaun Watson, an athletic QB who ran all over the league before he got hurt...in other words nothing like how Allen plays. Congrats for finding one recent example that's still a poor example. FYI - the reason you can't find more of them is because most NFL teams aren't stupid enough to throw their raw QB out there when he showed in camp that he wasn't ready. They protect him as long as they can in order to better prepare him for the almost impossible job that is playing NFL QB. But yeah, I'm mentally deranged because I think patience is the best option.

I'd say I'm pessimistic he'll work out, yes. That said, I am a Bills fan first - been one since wide right and I'll be one til the day I die - and I'd much rather be wrong about Allen and have him become a legit franchise guy. I'm mostly surprised by the reaction on here to the opinion that we should be patient with our raw QB, instead of throwing him in the deep end right away and without help to see if he sinks or swims. That just seems crazy to me. His development should be more important than fans impatience.

On our cap sheet.

Carolina fans have been saying this for 2+ years.

Asinine or not, it's what posters on here are asking of Allen. I'll give you Deshaun Watson, but it would seem QBs with elite athleticism would have a much better chance at early success due to their ability to take off and run. Allen can do some of that but it's not exactly the same thing.

If anything the fact it was 40-0 and ravens had their second stringers in and had clearly taken their foot off the peddle would suggest we should have seen Allen do better. But he's not ready to play, so I'm not holding that against him. Mahomes is a second year player who played in the Big 12 in a pro offense, and had a year to learn under Alex Smith and Andy Reid. Jimmy G is fifth year player who learned under Bill Belichik and Tom F'ing Brady, and then Kyle Shanahan. I'm sorry but there's no way Allen would have done as well as them. The expectations on this kid are completely unreasonable. I feel bad for him, especially if fans get their wish and he starts next week. It'll be ugly.

I do believe Cam won the starting job out of camp, no? Besides, every franchise in the league would have taken Cam number one. I'm not so concerned about Bills fans ability to judge college talent (if that part is even true).

Wentz was the number two overall pick, universally considered the most ready to play (between him and Goff), and went to a team stacked with SB level talent. Completely different situations.

This. Well said.

You're right it probably isn't the best comparison, but the point is it very likely helped Mahomes to sit and learn and mature before being thrown into the fire.

Really?? Show me the raw QB who was universally considered a reach in the draft, who lost an easily winnable QB competition in camp to a no name, and then started from week two onward and went on to become a franchise guy for that team.

Wow what do you know, Pat Mahomes is lighting up the supposedly resurgent Chargers after he sat for a year behind Alex Smith and learned how to be a QB. But what does Andy Reid know about developing QBs (Ha)?? Who thinks Mahomes would have been good as a rookie in Buffalo behind this Oline and with this receiver group?

And yet it's regularly cited by NFL people as a reason for not throwing raw QBs out there before they're ready.

Huh?? I was referring to Allen.

Or...maybe getting to watch Case Keenum those first ten weeks and learn what it takes to be successful helped him in his seven starts to finish the year when the pressure was off to win games. Throwing Allen out there for week two is not remotely the same thing. If Bills can find a solution that doesn't involve Allen for our first ten weeks, then put him in a similar low pressure learning environment to finish out the year, that's great. Let him compete for real in year two. Don't ruin his confidence in week two.

Food for thought: where would the Rams and Jared Goff be had they thrown him into the fire right out of the gate when he wasn't ready and their offense sucked? How much better off is that team having let him red shirt for ten games while he learned and they built up the talent around him?

This is why they need to trade for another QB. As much as it hurts to burn another pick like that, it's the lesser of all evils: 1. losing a pick to get a competent QB for 2018; 2. losing the team by continuing to start Nate; 3. Ruining Josh Allen.