WideNine

He will like playing for Wade, and Wade will get the most out of him.

In other words no snitches. "The first rule of Kraft club is we don't talk about Kraft club."

Fair enough assessment. I am hoping he tames that hero-ball stubbornness that crops up. You can tell there are times he is chaffing under the tight reigns that Daboll has on him. But they are necessary restrictions at this stage in his development. Even the underneath throws that dominate his game I feel are necessary by design with all the cover1 and 2 teams have used this year to discourage the deeper routes. I think it is in him to improve in this area, but I expect that Maverick aspect of his game to be a struggle for him till he has a few more years of on the job learning and a few melt downs under his belt.

That and they are Year 1 metrics. A year Allen was not even supposed to see time behind center, did not practice with the ones in training camp, and was thrust into service as an emergency option vs plan. A partial year as he was knocked out of the lineup with an injury.

I am sure it has been done before but that sweep that used our TE Knox was a twist I cannot recall seeing before personnel-wise. Knox is a big boy coming around the corner and is a mismatch for most DBs coming up to make the stop. He does get creative with the personnel he uses in roles. Works more often than not.

Nor the other 99% not named Mahomes. He's got skills, but even the best have tendencies that over time defenses can exploit.

Amazing defense the Pats have...especially when you can do that to receivers.

He's been injured a few times, but the kid is solid. If he can stay healthy he has all this intangibles you look for. I think he is a decent QB. For our part when we played the Jets I was more concerned with Bell tearing us up. The Jets are not a bad team talent-wise when everyone is healthy, just no depth.

Less to do with talent I think and more to do with instant gratification approach to thinking college QBs are a finished product and bandaid for teams with existing systemic org failure. Most QBs need good NFL coaching and time to develop and adapt to NFL speed and complex defenses. That happens best in stable franchises with solid supporting casts. Credit Allen for surviving last year because throwing him behind that line, with that supporting cast was not the recipe for developing a QB. I have seen far too many good college QBs destroyed behind porous o-lines playing for franchises that are in constant upheaval. Keep a steady course, be patient, provide a solid supporting cast, and we have a better chance at developing a longer term solution at QB than if we continually cycle thru prospects hoping to luck upon an NFL-ready QB.

Belichick lowers the melting point for a lot of QBs and Allen is just going to have a short memory and know that at least twice a year he is going up against that team. The Bills also have to figure out a better way to help Allen change his approach to those games so he truly understands that he is not shouldering the load in those games. I don't think they are asking him too, but I do think Daboll could game plan a bit better early to set the tone for Allen to settle him a bit. Just conjecture, but I feel like Allen approaches those games like it is on him alone to beat them and I think he is keenly aware of how much this fan base wants to win against that team and he takes on and internalizes too much of that pressure. He just needs to do his 1/11th as McDermott is fond of preaching and lean on his team mates and trust them, and play smart football which will involve throwing more balls away or occasionally wrapping the ball up and eating a sack.

Thanks for the correction - don't mind at all. But yeah, I was thinking about how his numbers would look without that melt down.

Let's put "alarmingly" high into perspective shall we. Baker leads the league with 8 Allen is tied at 7 with Goff and Matt Ryan. 4 of those came all at once against the #1 pass defense in the league NE. Dak and Daniel Jones have 6 each.

Their run towards greatness is chuck filled with asterisks...from the playoffs against the Raiders when Brady's fumble morphed into an indefensible tuck rule, to spygate, to deflate gate... And the thing that makes me the most irritated with them is if they played just clean with no help and no cheating they are a well-coached team that is tough to beat. The last game felt pretty even flag wise, and I was thinking maybe, just maybe things have changed. Then Brady directly behind his center 4 yards from his own goal line is a second from being planted and he intentionally grounds the football into the turf 5 yards in front of him, inside the Tackle "box" with no receiving option near the ball. Textbook intentional grounding loss of down and I believe the Bills get the ball from the spot of the pass. That is a go-ahead TD for this Bills squad yet the refs swallowed the whistles....again. The Pats are allowed to punt themselves out of danger. It is not the number of penalties, it is key penalties at key times that are called or ignored that keep NE in the game till they can legitimately put it away. https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/intentional-grounding/

I think our 3rd qtr adjustments as a whole are not where they need to be. Daboll has to think one move ahead, what plays have we had success running, what might they do to counter that, and then what should we do if they make those adjustments? Instead we generally get stuffed right off the bat and end up punting or creating a turnover. I think Daboll may want to consider having some scripted plays for the 2nd half and run an up-tempo series to see if he can get them out of the gate firing on all cylinders. Allen and this team seem to respond best when in that 2-minute drill mode and they don't over-think things. Just some ideas This seems like deja vu to me as I used to get frustrated with Marv's teams too because they were notorious for coming out of halftime flat and giving up points. I used to wonder "what kind of pep-talk are you giving them Marv?".

Yep. And in other "discouraging" news Allen currently leads the league in clutch 4th qtr drives leading to wins. Last year he was tied for second. You can't teach clutch performance it is either in the dna or it isn't. There is plenty for Allen to work on, but he does have it in him to take the team down the length of the field to win a game with only seconds left on the clock when needed.

I guess I am wired a bit weird... never assume that just because someone did not find success as a Bill that they cannot find their game in another system with other players. Does not change that that for some reason they were not a fit for my team, and good luck with all that. Just the running of the mouth thing bugs me, reminds me of all the lip KB sent the Panthers way before he under-performed his way off our roster then the Chiefs. Just not a good look for any professional athlete if they want to do themselves a favor as a pro that a GM will take a chance on, and as a player that may need to look in the mirror and be honest about the things they could do better. Josh tends to make later reads (as he learns defenses) and throwing with more anticipation is something he is working on, but he can still recover and throw to a spot because he throws on a rope and I don't think Zay has the hands for those kinds of throws. A QB who has less of an arm and has had to always read defenses well, and has always thrown with anticipation to a spot will not have as much on his ball and Zay may find more success. I prefer receivers that have the hands to handle the quick slants and deep outs because the ball is supposed to get there in a hurry. I think we may have found that receiver in Duke, and for the Bills sake and for Duke's I am hoping this chapter of Duke's life (especially when challenged by success) he keeps the off-field demons at bay.

their run defense has not been AS tested as their pass defense because only one team shut down Brady this year and had the luxury of being able to pound the rock all game long - our Bills. Everyone else is forced to pass to try to catch up with a token run here or there. Pittsburgh - 12 rushing attempts could not stop NE scoring Miami - 14x buried by NE scoring Jets ran Bell, but NE keyed on him and the Jets are pretty limited offensively - NE kept him bottled up and the Jets could not stop Brady Bills - Gore 17X for 109 yds and we gave Brady fits. Redskins - 18x by committee for 131yds, could not keep pace with NE scoring abandoned it in the 3rd.

Truth. I would rather pull our guards and center and run against that D than throw into it. You're going to get the phantom holding call against your interior linemen, but less chance of turning it over because they are built for man coverage and to pressure the passing game into sacks, ints, and fumbles. Instead, take it right to them, nothing fancy, just slobber knocker trench warfare.

...and we are 4-1 ...and we are 3rd in red zone scoring (TDs) ....and our defense is 3rd overall preventing yards per game ....Josh is 8-1 as a starter when he keeps turnovers to 1 or less. We are building something here, no one said it was finished yet.

OBJ does not strike me as a 1/11th kind of guy. Just saying.

I think Ford has been looking more and more like he is getting into NFL shape. If he has come as far as he has on just natural ability, the kid will have an amazing ceiling as he puts on more muscle. I thought looking at his college clips he would struggle with speed rushers on the outside so I am not as disappointed in him as some. They have put him out there on a limb when he has been more suited to guard while he develops. I think his future is bright though if he stays healthy. He just needs to keep working on his power/explosiveness out of his stance and his kick slide... The Bills strength training staff will get him where he needs to be.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is not going to be a thing when Jones has "a good day". Even if Zay is able to catch some lobs elsewhere, this team needs receivers that can catch bullets. I was hoping Zay can find his game on a new team, but he and daddy need to be pros and STFU.

This seems to be a bit of a theme with your posts so wanted to reply. I actually was on the be patient with EJ band wagon back in the day. It was not till I spoke with a friend of mine who has close ties to a bunch of New Orleans players that attended a regular off season training camp with some Bills players. Told me I needed to give that up because even the Bills players were frustrated with E.J. because he could not pickup an NFL playbook and coaches were having to dumb things down to half-field reads. Badol said about the same thing a million times, but my rule of thumb was and still is to disagree with him - always? Hearing it again from an outsider just confirmed it was time to move on. Apples and oranges trying to compare Allen to EJ. Daboll has one of the more complicated offenses in the league and Josh is grasping it and when given time, is going to his 3rd or 4th read. Time to let it go, or try a new argument.

It's been a mixed bag, some wide open shots where Allen has simply had bad mechanics throwing off platform - and I cannot remember a QB who overthrows a 50 yard pass while back pedaling and throwing off his back foot - he really does have an arm that is almost too strong. Then there have been a few that have been spot-on, but Allen has failed to see the safety over top that has taken passes that were on the money and intercepted them ala NE. Most teams play man with at least one safety over top when playing the Bills while bringing extra guys on the rush to force Allen into quick decisions and quicker passes, or force him to pull it down and roll out where he has had the tendency to lock onto a receiver which leads to some telegraphed throws and picks. So the opportunities have been a bit limited. Would like to Daboll crank up the run game consistently enough so that play action can freeze the safety enough to get Brown deep and our pass protection to hold up enough for Allen to step into those throws. I think then we will see some good long balls, but even if Allen just gets the hang of getting those shorter passes out quickly and eats up the clock with long drives while protecting the ball, he puts our defense in a better position to seal the wins.