CincyBillsFan

Reading these and several other sports writers takes this morning reveals a similar pattern: First they say that Allen had a poor day and a couple of the articles claim he "regressed". Fair enough based on the numbers but not so fair based on actually watching the game. Then at the end of the article they throw out comments about how there were a lot of drops and that Allen's skill players didn't help him out. In one article the writer graded Allen as a C- (I would have given him a grade of C+) and then the writer gave the WR's & TE's an F grade! Now think about that for a moment. Aren't the 2 related? If the receivers were so bad they earned an F doesn't that go a long way towards explaining Allen performance? Take Sal's point in the article above about Allen having a very poor 1st half completing 7/16 passes for 48 yards and a pick. Fair enough because Allen did look shaky in the 1st half (likely due to the Hoodies screwing with him on D) but did it occur to Sal & company that those two early drops had an impact on Allens confidence? He is a rookie. Sal mentions that Allen's stats would have looked better had McKenzie caught his pass and Foster found his - you think! If you add up those two missed plays then Allen has 95 more yards passing and a TD. So his 1st half stats go to 9/16 for 143 yards with 1 TD and 1 IT - not to shabby!

This is my take to. To be clear Allen was not good yesterday but IMO he wasn't bad either. It seemed like a classic rookie QB game in which on one series the QB looks like crap then on the next series he looks like an all pro. The problem was that on those series where Allen was "hot" his receivers were terrible. Taking into account the passes that should have been caught and would have been caught on MOST NFL teams Allen should have ended up throwing 2 - 3 TD's; 2 INT's and close to 300 yards passing. Then we would all be in agreement that he had an up & down day but the positives slightly outweighed the negatives.

That's not fair 26CornerBlitz. There have been plenty of posts from the Allen Bunker Brigade indicating that Allen needs to improve his game and that he made some bad throws today. But when certain posters focus only on those bad throws to claim he's a bust while ignoring the poor WR & TE play what do you expect? I think the Allen Bunker Brigade has a lot more balanced take on the rookie QB then the Hate Allen Army! We fully acknowledge what he's doing poorly while pointing out the good stuff. All I know is that when I watch the NFL's better QB's in action there are times when I think I wish Allen was that smooth or I wish Allen would make that kind of a decision or had that exquisite touch on his passes. But I find that it's not all that often that I feel this way. In contrast I'm constantly thinking "why can't our WR's & TE's get open like that" or "why can't our skill players make tough catches look routine" or "why can't our RB's take that dump off pass and turn a 5 yard gain into a 15 yard gain"?

That's how I saw today's game to. In spite of Allen running hot & cold and having some poor throws he put the ball in or near the hands of his play makers and they didn't make plays. Saying this is not letting Allen off the hook for his poor throws. But damn his stats simply don't reflect all the good throws he makes that end up on the turf because his guys are not making plays.

Perfect quote. But isn't it telling that beyond Foster no other Bill's skill player starts for the Jets? And the Jet's are only average on offense.

I just watched that amazing one handed catch by the Jet's TE and if he doesn't make that catch it's a sure INT at the goal line.

Oh my goodness was that a great catch! And did you notice how if he doesn't grab that thing out of the air with one hand it's probably intercepted at the goal line! So again I ask who among our TE's starts ahead of this guy for the Jets?

I'm not saying they're great but I would again ask who among Buffalo's skill players starts on the Jets? It's Foster and no one else IMO. And given that the Jet's aren't exactly loaded on offense what does that say about our collection of skill players?

This is something I think we all can agree on.

IMO the only Buffalo skill position player that would break into the NY Jet's starting lineup would be Foster and that would be as the #2 or #3 WR. No other Bill would make it on the field. If you think differently I would be curious as to which other Bills skill player would start (or even get significant playing time) on the Jet's offense. And while we're on the topic how many of Buffalo's O-lineman would start for the Jet's? By my count only one would. And if I'm right here and I think I am doesn't that tell you ALL you need to know about the differences between Darnold & Allen's numbers?

I disagree. With decent WR's AND TE's Allen would have better numbers then Darnold. Of the rookie QB's only Mayfield is even remotely accomplished. The rest of them require a lot of work which is entirely expected. And while Allen isn't laboring under quite the dumpster fire that Rosen is in Arizona, it's close. And for sure Jackson has the advantage of QBing a playoff caliber team and Darnold does have more weapons.

I agree with you with one caveat - he doesn't have the check down players that can make that a profitable play over the course of a game. But yea, Arian's was actually pretty funny talking about how Allen was being hard headed in passing up the dump offs and trying to force it downfield. He kept comparing Allen's stubbornness with Andrew Luck's when he first entered the league. But I think this is a relatively easy fix. Allen is a smart guy and the Bill's staff will walk him through EVERY pass play this season and show him how many times he could have dumped it off for 5 yards on 1st or 2nd down and had a much easier 3rd down conversions to make. The other thing is we need to upgrade the TE & RB positions so that the dump offs can be big plays with the right guys getting the ball. Oh what I wouldn't give for a Komarra or McCaffrey type RB!

You won't this year unless the Dolphins mail it in big time. There just aren't the quality play makers on the Bills offense to do it. Hell today's game could have been a barn burner like the Jets game had the Bills play makers actually made some plays. It's not like Allen didn't give them the opportunity.

I would say his game was bi-polar today which is what you see a lot from rookie QB's. On the one hand he had some poor throws and the INT's were bad throws & decisions. But on the other hand he made some terrific throws and he showed decent pocket awareness & good escapability. And while I may be beating a dead horse to death here I think the issues with his WR's & TE's go way beyond not helping him out today. The impact on a game of leaving a couple of TD's on the field and fumbling at the Pats 5 yard line were huge. Just imagine the confidence & momentum that were squandered here. how is this game different if Foster snags that pass for an 82 yard TD? Allen had an average game IMO yet with a little help from his WR's & TE's the Bills may have won this game and Allen might have busted through 300 yards and had 2 - 3 TD passes. I know it's coulda/woulda/shoulda but I'm watching all these other NFL games where TE's & WR's routinely make the plays that the Bill's guys didn't.

I really do believe that even today we saw more good things from Allen then bad things. Some folks have compared this game to the GB game. But I don't see it. Allen was much more composed in the pocket and while his 2 INT's were bad they were no where near as bad as the picks he had against the Packers. And when the Packers game ended I don't recall a half dozen big plays/TD plays being left on the field by our WR's & TE's. Unlike in GB, Allen was getting the ball to his play makers. the problem is they wern't making any plays.

This is such a true comment. Facing press coverage the WR's did not make the plays they needed to downfield. And yes, the more Allen presses the riskier his passes become. And why take the check down pass to a stable of RB's who can't break a tackle or make a defender miss? And they were BRUTAL drops. Because they occurred at critical times in the game. The McKenzie drop and Foster not finding that deep pass happened early in the game when the Bills had a chance to get out front and establish some momentum. Then at several points in the games after the D got a TO and we were moving the ball drops kept us from making it a game and recapturing momentum. Allen has improved since week 1. Sure it's an uneven process but the trajectory is clearly in the right direction.

What a complete crock from Thad Brown. It's not about excuses with most of us. We're more then willing to admit that Allen has plenty of room to improve. We also freely accept that today was an average day for him. The problem is that this sports writer IGNORES all the big plays left on the field by our under-performing WR's & TE's. He calls out the McKenzie drop as the only mistake by these guys that can't be argued? Are you kidding me! The long pass to Foster wasn't a "good deep throw" it was a great read followed by an EXCELLENT deep throw. What does an 82 yard TD pass there do for the offenses & Allen's confidence and the the outcome of this game? 82 dropped a "tough catch"? BS - that was a very catchable ball in the NFL. Sure even had his WR's & TE's made the plays today that they should have Allen would still have thrown some bad balls and he would still have a lot of work to do. He's a rookie for crying out loud. But if his skill players actually made plays today we would have had an exciting game to watch, Allen's stats would have looked a lot better and most importantly we may have beat the Pats!

I read Sal's take expecting to see a lot of Allen bashing and while it sort of went that way it's clear that he understands where the real problem lies going by these two quotes: "he is surrounded with such incompetence on offense" and then describing the rest of the offense as "the slop around him". It's true that Allen & the Bills did not seize the torch from Brady & the Patriots today. But that day is coming once we clear the deadwood out.

I think you're spot on with your analysis. I mean for those who watch the NFL on a regular basis the big plays that were left on the field by the WR's & TE's today cost us the game. When you have a rookie QB that is blowing hot & cold in the same game making a couple of these plays can make a world of difference with the rookies confidence and the outcome of the game. It's actually refreshing that the coach saw it this way.

Look other then the fact that Darnold is going to be a thorn in the sides of the Bills for years to come I don't give a damn about him. I'm glad we have Allen and it's Allen who we need to surround with talent. Darnold is going to be a very good NFL QB because in addition to his natural talent he will be given the tools to succeed. I also think Allen will be every bit his equal but I don't have the confidence that this organization will surround him with the necessary talent. I hope I'm wrong here but this is a staff that thought KB still had gas in the tank. I really worry that we'll spend a boat load of money on players who are not up to the task. For sure this current organization has not shown they are a good judge of free agent offensive talent. Again I hope with a big budget and clear needs they can step up and do the right thing in the draft & free agency. But I've got a sinking suspicion that they'll sign an over rated WR (don't you dare take Carolina's David Funchess who is one buffet line from being KB) and then draft that LSU corner back with a top 10 pick. Like I no longer compare our Josh to the other Josh I no longer compare Allen to Darnold. I've seen enough of Allen to believe he is our guy at QB so all that matters now is that the Bills get him the offensive help he needs. As for Darnold, I hope he goes into Gillette stadium and throws 4 TD's and 400 yards and beats the Pats.

Nice review. While I don't agree with everything you posted as usual it's always a thought provoking analysis. My take on Allen is that with better WR/TE play this would have been one of those rookie QB days where you say "damn he made some dumb throws and decisions but he also made a bunch of great plays". IMO Allen's 2 INT's are on him 100%. But damn, he should have at least another 125 yards passing and 2 - 3 passing TD's. That's on his "skill players" 100%. I actually feel a bit better about Allen's performance then I did while watching the game. However, it's dispiriting that we need to overhaul the entire RB, WR & TE positions. Foster is probably at best a 3rd receiver (like Beebe was which is no small thing) and there is no NFL quality starting TE currently on the roster.

Good point about Arian's. Do you think he was auditioning for the Bills head coaching job? he lavished a lot of praise on the Pegula's and the Bill's chances in the future. The sense I got from Arian's comments were that on the one hand he was frustrated with Allen but in a good way. He kept comparing Allen's play to Andrew Luck's game when he was a rookie.

The funny thing is that with a better supporting cast at WR & TE Allen would have beat them through the air. Watching the highlights I'm more convinced then I was when watching the game live (where I was throwing stuff at the TV) that this is the case. With almost any other WR/RB/TE group out there today Allen would have had a classic gunslinger type of game and the Bills probably pull off the upset. By this I mean that Allen did throw some very bad balls and 2 dumb INT's. But at the same time he threw some great balls that should have resulted in TD's. This could have been an amazing game if our skilled players had MADE SOME PLAYS!

I think Darnold could have a big game because he has a much better group of pass catching RB's, WR's & TE's. The Patriots were vulnerable today. Again at the risk of beating a dead horse Allen had at least 3 dropped TD passes and the Crooms fumble robbed the Bills of another TD. Put almost any other WR/TE group on the field with Allen today and he has 3 - 4 TD passes and it's an entirely different game. Net, while I'm sure the Hoodie will have something to say about this, Darnold may be the guy to end his mastery of rookie QB's.

The 2 INT's were very bad passes but they only led to 3 NE points. Allen also had several passes that on ALMOST ANY OTHER NFL TEAM would have resulted in TD's.