CincyBillsFan

I've repeatedly heard this from experts that I trust. If anything White may be a little ahead of where you would expect him to be at this point. I fully expect the old T White to be back next season.

The Bengals WR's are way better then the Bills. The Bengals TE is a little better then the Bills. The Bengals RBs are way better then the Bills. When healthy the Bengal's O line is better then the Bills. But IMO there is little objective evidence that Burrow is as good as Allen at QB. Now the difference isn't great but the fact that Allen can get the production out of his offenses talent that he does convinces me he's a better QB. And I like Burrow, followed his amazing season at LSU and live in Cincinnati where I watch him play a lot. The fact is that Allen would take far fewer sacks and have more big time off script plays then Burrow. Sure Allen wouldn't be quite as lethal in the short game but he would more then make up for it in the intermediate & long game. And while Burrow is an effective running QB Allen is one of the top 3.

I haven't heard a single commentator who I respect and has a track record of actually knowing things about football say that. I have heard plenty of trolling personalities desperate for clicks and controversy say it. In fact the game this Sunday reinforced for the knowledgeable football analyst just how deficient the Bills are on the O line and in their skill players beyond Diggs.

Greg Cosell said this on the Cowherd show today. His most biting remark was that the Bills "have a below average offensive line from an NFL standpoint". This makes their production all the more amazing over the course of the season. It also explains why as the playoff competition improves the Achilles heel of to little Offensive talent outside of Allen & Diggs comes back to bite the Bills big time. Remember what happened to Reid, Mahomes, Kelsey and Hill in the SB against TB when they had to play with a banged up O line that was much below average in that game. If we fix the line a lot of the other stuff on offense - Allen checking down more, Dorsey being more creative and better WR's, become nice to have not essential components for success.

Best OFFENSIVE player in the first round. We don't have the luxury to go best player.

The amazing ability of the Bengals, on a snow covered field, to get almost immediate pressure on Allen on half his drop backs prevented us from establishing any kind of rhythm. The performance of our O line was bad on Sunday, real bad. We have NEVER had offensive talent on the level of the Eagles and the Bengals. The ONLY major move to acquire elite offensive skill players while Allen was on his rookie contract was trading for Diggs. Who else in the 2018 - 2022 window did we bring in as an offensive FA or take in the first two rounds of the draft?

I watched almost every Bengal game last season and this is true. And it got the Bengal's to the Super Bowl a game they almost won. And the Bengal's did this without the benefit of a QB like Allen who if he played for the Bengal's last season would have avoided a lot of those sacks and turned them into even more big plays downfield or big time runs. But then again the Bengal's stable of skill players is vastly superior to what the Bills can put on the field. If we had the Bengal's or the Eagles or the Dolphins or even the Chiefs weapons the Bills would be a Super Bowl team with Allen at the helm. And this is why the WORST thing we could do is tame Allen into throwing more check downs and short passes. The answer is simple: focus the overwhelming percent of your coaching, FA signings and draft capital on boosting the O line and skill players. I'll leave it to the professionals on the Bills s to how they do it. But there is no alternative to this especially the argument that Allen needs to stop ignoring those big time 5 yard throws.

And how many times do you recall a Bill catching a perfectly thrown short pass only to get tackled on the spot? It's so rare that our RB's make people miss after a short reception that we notice it when it happens. Like McKenzie last week and Hyams a couple of weeks ago. I watch other games and two things stand out on their short passes: 1) guys are wide open and run for 10 yards before they're touched or 2) they break and allude tackles. And how many time has Allen had to throw the ball into the ground at the feet of the RB on a screen pass? It's not a bad throw but a smart play to avoid an INT or tackle for loss.

Don' forget McVay in LA.

And that is why this type of defense is the crack cocaine of football - terribly addictive and it never ends well. In our last 3 playoff loses the "bend but not break" defense broke and cost us the games. I would trade a top 3 statistical ranking defense for a top 15 ranking defense that played it's best football in the playoffs.

Fair points and if this was a one off I would be optimistic for next season. But it isn't a one off and indicates to me that in addition to the coaches not having the team prepared for 3 years in a row there are structural issues contributing to these playoff failures. And playoff failures have become a plural and not a singular issue. And you're right, new players alone won't change things. But the right new players might. There has to be a new direction in where the Bills put their money & draft capitol and that is on the offense. I would be okay with only one coaching change and that is to not renew Farzier's contract. Dorsey gets a bit of a pass because this was his first season as OC and other then QB & WR1 he didn't have a lot to work with on offense.

The fact that we had to sign Brown & Beasley off the street late in the season is all you need to know about the lack of weapons on this offense. Outside of Diggs name me ONE Bills TE, WR, or RB that would have started on the Eagles, Bengal's, 49's or Chiefs? This is not about Allen throwing more red zone picks in a desperate attempt to generate points with a weak supporting cast - it's all about the weak supporting cast.

They will be just fine. For the last 3 years the Bills have ignored the offense depending on Allen to be productive surrounded by average to below average talent (with the exception of Diggs) while throwing most of the FA money & draft capital at the defense. And while that has helped us win a lot of games during the regular season and pile up great D statistics, defensive collapses have directly led to our exit from the playoffs in the last 3 seasons. To quadruple down for a 4th straight season would be madness. Worse it would be professionally negligent and incompetent. The ONLY way forward is to throw disproportionate resources at the offense surrounding the best player on the team with complimentary talent. The defense will have to make due. This means Frazier must go and a younger, hungrier DC put in his place. That DC will have to know that the goal is not a top 5 defense statistically but a defense that can compliment a powerhouse offense. Think the Chiefs defense.

Will they? As a Bills fan living in Cincinnati the local Bengal fans have a point when they say that they are not respected no matter what they accomplish. So let's take a closer look at the AFC North: Baltimore: They're reeling and they just fired the only OC that can actually get a high level of play out of Jackson. This is like when they mistakenly fired DC Martindale last year. The Ravens are sliding and if Jackson departs it could turn into a collapse. And even if Jackson is resigned he is looking more and more injury prone each season. And what are they going to do - have Jackson run a West Cost Shannahan type offense? Cleveland: Enough with the "Watson is a great QB" stuff. How do we know that he hasn't regressed to the point of mediocrity at best? I saw nothing this season to make me thing he is anything but an average QB. What has happened to him over the last couple of years has taken its toll and now the Browns are stuck with an outrageously overpaid QB and missing valuable draft picks. Pittsburgh: This is where the Bengal's biggest challenge will come from over the next few years. Think NE to Buffalo. Tomlin will field 9 - 10 win teams but like Belichick the game has passed him by. Sure the Steelers rookie QB showed flashes of skill but is he ever going to be remotely as good as Burrow? The answer is NO. IMO the Bengal's are sitting pretty and may be facing the best inter divisional circumstances of any team in the AFC. In the West Payton will soon be joining the Bronco's and the Chiefs/Chargers have Mahoms & Herbert. In the South Jacksonville is about to surge and TN will remain competitive. And in the East Miami is on the rise and I expect NE & the Jets to have greater potential to rise up then the Browns & Ravens.

I agree with most of this but I think there are two factors you neglect here: 1) Mike Brown is not running the team his daughter and son in law are. And while the Browns don't have the financial strength of some of the other owners the current ownership will pay players and coaches. This Bengals team really isn't your fathers Bengals team. 2) By selecting an offensive minded head coach and throwing the bulk of their draft capital and FA money at the offense the Bengals are ahead of the Bills in strategically doing what needs to be done to excel in the NFL at the highest level. If the Bills stubbornly refuse to get with the times they will continue to struggle to beat the truly elite teams late in the playoffs.

Someone else was listening to Cowherd today! Colin really reamed out the Bills coaches & management and I can't say he was wrong about any of it. Cowherd was the first guy I heard float the idea that the game had passed NFL defensive minded coaches by. I now believe this to be 100% true. The Pegulas are in a tough spot because unless we move to an offensive minded head coach & GM it's hard to see the Bills decline not continuing and even accelerate over the next few years. And all the while this is happening we'll be sitting there with an elite, once in a generation talent at QB.

My feelings exactly. And I hope that a solid majority of Bills fans felt the same way this morning. Focusing on the defense has not paid dividends for 3 years in a row in the playoffs. And now the Bills are doing their best to ensure that Allen has a short career. A 180 degree pivot to focusing on the offense and letting the D get by with the leftovers is required if we are to stem the slow but steady fall off. And if McD & Bean can't or won't do that then replace them. There is no other choice.

You can quibble all you want over a half second. But you need good players to execute the "structured" offense you crave. Outside of Diggs and the possible exception of Knox the Bills skill players are below average. And their O line is a mess. One of the reasons it takes Allen longer to get a pass off is he is flushed out of the pocket a lot more then other QB's. It doesn't take many times where Allen is running for his life for 7 to 8 seconds behind the line of scrimmage to bias release time stats when the differences are in the half second range.

Then we'll see if they can pass the test like KC did. I suspect they will. Still I would rather have the Bengal's "problem" then the Bills who in desperation had to bring two WR's that were out of football for our playoff push. The more I think about that the madder it makes me.

Not today. And the Bengals worked hard in the off season to improve their O line. Two major signings and a 1st round pick for the LT. And this is after loading up on explosive play makers.

Did Allen have a hand in today's loss? Sure it wasn't Allen's best game but I thought he played very well. In fact I saw a number of great passes and a couple of good runs. I also saw Allen running for his life on half his drop backs. And I saw a perfectly thrown 50 yard pass go right through the hands of Davis - again. Allen is already considered the most physically gifted QB in the NFL. And an increasing number of analysts are noticing the Bills poor O line play and lack of any play makers beyond Diggs. And the whispers are turning into shouts about how teams that have defensive minded coaches aren't doing to well in the current NFL.

False. The Bengals gave Burrow all the time in the world to push his receivers down field then AND ONLY THEN check down to a guy who ran 10 yards for a first down. Allen was harassed on half the pass attempts he made. And for the record Burrow was not getting the ball out all that quickly once he realized that he had all day to throw.

I keep going back to that 1st and goal at the 8 at the start of the 3rd quarter. We run and lose 3yards. Second and goal from the 11 is a lot tougher then had we gained 3 yards with a 2nd and goal from the 5. Part of the reason we go pass happy is that all to often when we do run the ball we gut stuffed for no gain or lose yardage.

That's easier said then done when your defense allows a team to go up and down the field and gets out to 14 - 0 lead. Also I'm not convinced that the Bills O line and RB's could execute a sustained running game.

Even in the most outlandish "what if" scenario I would not give up Allen & Diggs for Shanahan. I think that Bean & McD can fix this if they recognize the problem and realign the organization to meet it head on. Bean & McD did turn the Bills franchise around and that's worth something. So as long as they do what's necessary, focus on the offense and adopt a new defensive philosophy minus Frazier, they can have us right back in the thick of things next season.