Beck Water

I think Allen is looking at Cook at the point where McKenzie puts the mail flag up, and I think Allen assesses that Cook's chances of making the catch and evading the defender for the 1D are low. But another QB might give Cook a chance.

I think it's more complicated than that. I'm pretty sure this is 3rd and 15 from the Buffalo 25, early in the 2nd Q. The result of the play was 1D on a 16 yd run by Allen. So the Bills have to get to the Buffalo 40. It's hard for me to tell where Allen is looking initially but DL John Franklin-Myers shedding his block by Bates and stunting around the end would loom pretty large in my field of vision if I were Allen. It appears to me (where's someone who knows their OL? @HoofHearted? ) that Knox stayed in to block, but when it appeared that Bates and Brown had Franklin-Myers and the DE (Jermaine Johnson) handled, Knox releases to run a route. It appears to me that Franklin-Myers could *probably* beat Bates and come right at Allen with a chance to get him, but to me, he seems to be watching Knox. The minute Knox starts his route, F-M ditches Bates like a bad Tinder date and stunts around the end. Brown reacts by shoving his guy over to Bates and handing him off to Bates so he can block, but it looks like that's gonna be too late (First pic) Allen can almost certainly see McKenzie in the gap between Brown and F-M, but McKenzie is headed for the line of gain and is not looking at Allen yet - he may want the defender parked on the 37 yd line to shift his focus to Knox, which he wouldn't if McKenzie turns his head (the universal DB signal for "I better get in this guy's pocket"). I think he could sneak a peak at Allen though, to let Allen know he will adjust if Allen throws it early. I think that's what Beasley would do. McKenzie's first window is past the 40 yd line over the middle, and he raises the mail flag and looks at Allen. The defender on the 37 yd line appears to have been lulled to sleep, and there doesn't seem to be a soul anywhere near McKenzie. Spoiler: Brown has in fact managed to pick up F-M and is doing a good job of getting in his way, so Allen has time. (2nd pic) But, Allen has decided the vicinity of F-M is unhealthy to our chances for a first down and drifted L. It appears to me that Allen has a clear passing lane to McKenzie if he just takes another step to his L, though it is possible Cook would think it's intended for him and jump for it or deflect it. But I think by then, Allen has gone all Sebastian the Crab from the Little Mermaid: "if you want something done, you got to do it yourself", and has decided to run for it. McKenzie is tuned in to Allen and when Allen moves further to the L, McKenzie moves with him to find another clear line of sight, but I think by that time Allen may have crossed the LOS. (3rd pic) I think the clamor of fan and media criticism is starting to damage McKenzie, and I think he's delighted to see Beasley in part because he feels Beasley understands what he's trying to do and will give him feedback + or -, that will bolster his confidence and that Josh will trust.

This is a really interesting clip to watch.

End of the Line You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring Waiting for someone to tell you everything Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring Maybe a diamond ring Maybe somewhere down the road away You'll think of me and wonder where I am these days Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays Purple haze This x 100% Fundamentally, a guy who says "I don't see the point" of playing in the regular season is missing it. That's where you build timing and trust; it's also where you bond with your teammates so that they're "all in" on throwing a block for you or running their very best most convincing clearing route to pull away coverage. It's basically "Let me be your Little Dog...'til your Big Dog come..." treating the other guys in the WR room like the "Domestiques" on your Tour de France team.

Yeah, this is real Grade A "Go not to Brandon Beane for counsel; he will say both No and Yes" talk (apologies to LoTR & JRRT) Don't Know. Don't Care.

where’s your wallet? pics of the cash it contains or we don’t believe it can happen

And I'd love to see it, just as I'd love to see Cook being more reliable and used more often. But he's still not a slot receiver, and using him properly would not mean "use him as a slot receiver", even if he would be lining up wide and running a route from time to time. I agree, our offense was good against Cleveland. But to the point of the OP you're responding to: we were good against Cleveland by changing it up - running an unusual (for us) number of 2 TE and 2 back personnel packages. We actually rushed more times than we passed - 33 rushes, 27 passing attempts - and only 3 of the rush attempts were Josh Allen. Singletary and Cook both had 86 yards. I don't think our offense has been inept, or we wouldn't be winning games. But it hasn't been the same as it was earlier in the season, either.

It's not the % tear that I think the OP (and I) find interesting, it's his description of its effect on his passing - didn't hurt, finished the game, next day some of his passes were normal and some died and dropped into the dirt like they were "shot out of the sky" - and that he said it wasn't every pass I think you mis-spelled "horribly worried about"

There have been several on this thread with this "world has just become so thin skinned now a days" viewpoint, not intending to single you out. Generally when I read or hear stuff like this, the translation is "I miss the Good Old Days when women and minorities didn't feel confident and secure enough to actually complain when we made tired, marginalizing, put-downs, and I'm pissed I can no longer pass them off as 'jokes' and make my put-downs with impunity ". You know, those days when they all quietly "went along to get along" and rolled their eyes in private . I promise you, I could find a few pointed remarks and "jokes" that would have you squealing with indignation like a little piggy. If we were face to face, 10 minutes to suss you out and a few range-finding remarks, and I could make your skin will look thin like the finest strudel dough. Only you won't call it you being "thin skinned", you'll call it me being "ridiculous" and "disgusting" and "offensive", because, you know, You (plural, those expressing a similar viewpoint) get to be the sole judge and arbiter of that. That's really what it's about: whether only one group gets to be the judge and arbiter of what's offensive, or whether other viewpoints count.

Sal C. is a good reporter. Joe Buscaglia. Mark Gaughan. Jay Skurski - all write factual stories that question the Bills choices at times in a rational, fact-founded way. Katharine Fitzgerald writes well, but pretty much straight factual reporting from what I've seen. That's also historically been John Wawrow's role, "just the facts" and despite his partisan defense of his bud Sullivan and his tortuous Covid-interview questions, he's still a very good reporter. Really starting to like TBN newbie Ryan O'Halloran. Parrino and Talbot write good stories, but they trend a bit towards being "fangirl" and also have that habit of quoting tweets as sources which to me is just journalistic weak-sauce (even though they apparently did have a real source on Beasley, sorry guys). Muki Hawkins and the Challenger News guy (whose name I'm blanking on) get some of the other reporters looking down their nose, but to my ears they effectively use a classic reporting strategy - they will ask some folksy, connection-building thing, you can see McDermott or Frazier smile a little and visibly relax - then they sometimes follow up with a pretty pointed "I know ball" question, and actually sometime get a non-canned thoughtful response beyond what the other reporters get (and of course, sometimes they don't). In hindsight, Alaina Getzenberg knew something about Josh's elbow - that he was preparing pretty much as normal - and was making a spirited effort to get McDermott to "spill the tea" by being all bubbly and asking something like "watching Josh prepare this week, if you didn't know something was wrong, would you say he's completely normal?" (he gave her his "no soup for you!" look and I thought it was a weird question, but looking back, she knew something from chatting up guys in the locker room, so - Nice Try, Girlfriend.) He-who-was-formerly-employed-by-Niagara-Gazette liked to confuse being a confrontational prick and having a negative narrative with being a tough reporter asking tough questions. But the questions he asked or his statements were really "dead end" verbiage designed to elicit a negative reaction he could insert into his narrative, and tended to get his targets to give him a terse 1-2 word response and clam up. Something something flies honey vinegar.

Allen's passes have every bit of the same velocity at times. That Piss Missile to Diggs at the end of the Lions game to set up the GW FG? LOL. What appears different to me is: 1) Josh doesn't have the same pinpoint accuracy and control when he's throwing off platform. This is a concern especially over the middle of the field where the ball being off 3 feet may mean a pick. 2) when he's able to set and throw on-platform, his throws look normal to me - but he doesn't get the chance to do that as much as I'd like, especially last couple games (Detroit, NE, Jets). It makes sense - if Josh is using his hips to power the throw and his arm to guide it, the elbow isn't under as much load? 3) he's lost a bit of control, he's throwing harder especially off platform. I think that was actually a problem contributing to the large # of drops our receivers had vs. Jets - in the cold rain, Josh didn't feel comfortable taking a little off and reverted to throwing the heat. In the cold rain, when the ball smacked into their slippery-er WR gloves, harder to hang on to it.

I take your point about the 13-week long ankle sprains. However don't you think the difference in the team's status, and Allen's status with the team makes a difference in how the injury is handled? The first time Allen sprained his UCL, he was a hard-playing but struggling rookie, trying to figure out how to prepare and play in the NFL. The Bills had just done what they should have done before the season - bring in a vet QB to 'show him how it's done' (and not totally kill us with picks if he played a couple games). The Bills had just invested a first round pick+ into him and needed him to develop. The team had nothing to lose and a lot to gain in the future by sitting him. It made sense to put him on ice and not let him rush back. "Watch and Learn, Rook" This season, the team's hopes of a championship rest on Allen playing if he can. He's most of the offense. If he can play, the team needs him to play. That said, I don't believe the tear was worse - the initial reports were that it was not as severe as his rookie season tear. From what Carson Palmer, with a more severe sprain, said, it didn't hurt and he was able to make throws normally. It was just every 3 or 4th throw would behave abnormally - go off target or wind up in the dirt. So Allen dirting a throw on the run in front of Diggs, then next throw right on target to Davis, fits with what Palmer said about his more severe UCL injury.

Wait, those topics don’t fascinate you?

They’re praising the look on Brock Purdy’s face? He should have been picked at least 3x tonight. He’s playing well for a young QB drafted at the end of the draft, but seriously?

Yeah the announcers were all going on about how the 70 yr old Carrol “70 is the new 30” but I think he just doesn’t have the fire and dedication any more. I don’t think his team looks well coached and disciplined and he doesn’t seem to make good decisions

I need to hit the rulebook because I didn’t understand the distinction being made between “going down on his own” and “giving himself up”. I thought it was a “giving himself up” and the ball was short Learn something new….

Well, if the sloppy Seabirds let the 49ers convert 3rd downs like that it shall be a moot point

OK, so what’s the logic to not go for 2 here? If they get a stop and get another TD, is it going to come down to whether they make a 2 pt conversion to tie?

I’ve thought for a couple seasons now that the Seattle D is just not a well-coached or energetic group. This game is not changing my mind

OK, who knew that Tyler Kroft was playing for the SF 49ers now?

Busted coverage, the LB was supposed to pick him up I think. But #6 crapped his drawers trying feebly to tackle him

Oh, a couple of them tried, but their tries were pretty feeble

I’m kind of thinking the game is essentially over, but ?

Richard Sherman damn near lost his ***** LOL Metcalf needs to be more subtle there

Well. Pete Carroll. Kyle Shanahan. I thought, I shall see clever play design and guys schemed open and and and Instead I’m seeing a lot of throws into very tight coverage and sometimes into the vicinity of positive flocks of defenders Huh.