Beck Water

Is it currently snowing in B'lo?

You're also (probably) not alternating periods of extreme, high exertion elite-level athletics with periods of total inactivity. That's gotta be rough.

Are you so perfect you never have negative verbal interactions that in hindsight, you can look at and acknowledge you had a part in how negative they were and why they became that way? Beasley acknowledged this, apparently privately in conversations to Beane and to McDermott, and publicly in his presser. He said he loves it here and he didn't want it to end like that. I'm personally in favor of second chances when that is the case, so count me as "All In" on Beasley being here. I can admire a guy's play on the field without having to agree with his every notion. Do you think all those guys who present a great persona where they're kind to children and doggies are marvelous human beings? They may be, they may not be - I don't know them personally, so I don't assume. To me, "selling our soul to the Devil" would be if my team went out and signed someone like Henry Ruggs, who literally caused a woman and her dog to be burnt alive in front of people who tried to rescue them, by his actions I'm sorry, but you're missing my point completely, and it's not just about McKenzie. I could express it's truly odd to me that someone like yourself, who genuinely does know ball, can't see that Allen has a part in the offense struggling, and goes so far out of your way to scapegoat receivers to avoid acknowledging this. I believe Allen himself has indirectly acknowledged this, for example when he said to Fitzpatrick in the interview aired pre-game TNF that the QB has to function an extension of the OC on the field, to the effect of, it's taken some doing but he thinks they're getting to a good place now. [That was before a game where Cook had 6 targets and McKenzie had 5 - all catches - and Davis was 2 of 7] The selective scapegoating here is WAY out of control (IMO)

That's perhaps abraisive and a poor choice of words. I was in response to this from you: I'll try to make a more longhand response to this. You say a QB can not be expected to always see his open receivers. I say: a great QB has to be able to diagnose the defense, follow his progressions and find those open receivers more often than not, and give them trust, or the offense simply can't function. We see this with Russ Wilson in Denver: he was able to create outside of structure for years in Seattle, but in Denver, being asked to play within structure and follow his progressions, he's repeatedly ignoring what the defense indicates will be open to look for Courtland Sutton and force-feed him the ball, and it's a Disaster. [This is not just me. A bunch of experts have broken down film (Kurt Warner for one) and illustrated what's happening.] You imply, (and please excuse and explain if I have your meaning wrong), that some of the open receivers Allen is overlooking - that would be Knox, and McKenzie, sometimes Singletary or Cook - "deserve" to be overlooked because they run wrong routes and drop passes that are "catchable". My point is: there are guys Allen regularly targets (Davis, for example) who have very low catch % and a large % of scored "drops" (meaning "balls a receiver should catch with ordinary effort") and make route running mistakes or run "poor" (rounded) routes. I'm NOT saying that Davis shouldn't be targeted (though I think Allen was forcing the ball to him and to Diggs for a while, and the passing game is floundering a bit as he backs off). I'm saying that if Allen is in some kind of headspace where he'll look for and throw to some receivers who make route running mistakes and drop the ball, but won't look for and throw to other receivers he perceives as making route running mistakes and dropping the ball (even though overall, they have good catch stats), THIS MAY BE SOMETHING HE NEEDS TO ADDRESS MENTALLY and/or in extra film/conversations with those receivers about what he's not seeing and needs to see, because an offense can't function if the QB isn't willing to operate within its structure and throw the ball to the open guys the defense gives him. It can't. It flounders. It's very admirable that Allen takes full responsibility for the offense and doesn't throw his teammates under the bus after losses, but I'd prefer that he make good in-game decisions to avoid losses - so that's really not germaine to my response to you.

Nyheim Hines is a running back. He is not a wide receiver. He's been being used in 2-back sets (Pony formation) on a variable number of snaps - 23 vs NE, 10 vs the Jets. I'm kinda puzzled as to why someone would think an RB would make a "perfect" slot receiver.

I mean, Man - what does "reliable" mean to you? Diggs only catches 70.7% of his targets, that's 1.6% more than McKenzie, is he "too unreliable"? How about Davis, who hauls in just over 53.5% of the balls thrown his way - should he "hit the bench", even though he's 2nd on the team in yards? You said elsewhere you're not saying he's a bum, just "not a very good WR". I would agree he's not a very good WR, but saying he's "too unreliable" sounds to me like you're saying he's a bum. If that's not what you're saying, then what are you saying? McKenzie is currently out there on close to 60% of the snaps and I think I see him open (at least during a window) much more than he's used. So if he's out there and open and catches 69% of the balls thrown at him, shouldn't he be targeted? If he's "too unreliable", then he shouldn't be out there and, since I don't see Shakir getting open, IMHO Beane should face some scrutiny for letting the WR talent get to the place where our #3 WR who is getting 60% of the snaps and catching 69% of his targets is "too unreliable" and shouldn't be playing. That Is All.

It's a really good question - are they gonna activate Boettger? As I understand it, his 3 week practice window was opened on Sunday 27 Nov, so the Bills have to "fish or cut bait" (activate him or put him on season ending IR) this weekend - I'm a bit hazy on whether the deadline is Saturday or Sunday and what time.

I would like to know where that "missed tackles" stat comes from and how it is calculated I have a suspicion that yes, Milano misses more tackles than anyone else on the team because he's making it into position to try to tackle guys who were NOT his assignment, more than anyone else on the team. It sounds as though potentially, it could be somewhat analogous to PFF's stats on OL where they actually don't know the blocking assignments and charge guys with a whiff when it actually was the other guy's job and they just tried to bail us out.

Huh? Beasley was on the practice squad in Tampa, true. They didn't "finally" elevate him, he was elevated the first week he was on the roster, and the second. In 2 games, he had 5 targets and 4 receptions, so "no catches" is false. The question was, what was seen from him in those 2 games/5 targets? Some people thought he looked slow. I thought he looked slow in the practice video. Still has those fast feet and that quickness to make cuts though. The OP I was reponding to thought, from his interview, that he looked slow because he really didn't want to be there. He did say it wasn't what he expected and he didn't want to be there, but I don't think that means he wasn't giving it everything he had while he was on the field.

I agree McKenzie is not a "very good wideout" (depending on definition of same, of course - but he's not top tier, we certainly agree). But he's what we got this year. He is able to "get open and catch the ball". (Yes, folks, I hear you, but 69% of the time, he does in fact catch the ball, and he's averaging 10 Y/R when he does, so it's not all just pitches) My point is twofold, based on logic: One, you throw it to the guys who are open and catching it, until they prove they don't. Knox is catching 74% of his targets. McKenzie is catching 69% (even with all the ***** he takes about drops). Davis is catching just over 50% (arguably a lot not his fault because Josh is forcing it in sometimes or throwing it away in his direction, but still). So I would say provided they're open, Knox needs more targets and McKenzie needs more targets - and when I look at film, I see them open. To me, that's logic. Two, the QB needs to follow the design of the offense. Right now, Dorsey's idea seems to be to have deep stuff and short stuff and the QB hits the short stuff until the D is either forced out of that coverage (or the Bills get to the endzone on short stuff.) This is a simple-minded breakdown, but the point is, it doesn't work for Josh to keep trying to force it in to Diggs and Davis when they're covered and that's the basic offensive design. Take the easy short throws and let the guys try to get YAC. I personally would like to see Knox or Morris targets increase more than McKenzie because I think they can better handle catching and taking hits in bad weather, but you get my point. Crowder is a good zone receiver, but Beane (and some folks here) are indulging in revisionist history painting it as "Crowder was really intended to be the slot and McKenzie's role was intended to just increase a little bit" (paraphrasing Beane). At the point where Crowder was hurt, McKenzie's snaps had already doubled from 2021 (from 24%-ish to ~50%), thiswhile Crowder was playing. Crowder was consistently getting fewer snaps than McKenzie - ~1/3 to McK's 1/2. Crowder caught 46.2% of his 13 targets (~3 targets per game). McKenzie was getting more targets (5.3 tg/game), and catching more (62.5%), in the 4 games Crowder played. So any ideas that Crowder would be a valuable contributor and push down McKenzie's snaps is based on a hope that Crowder would settle in and develop more "chemistry" with Josh, not based on what he actually had done at the point where he was injured. Which he might have done, that woulda been nice. Factually, McKenzie's snaps per game only increased about 10% when Crowder went out (from ~50% to ~60%). What we did (as far as I can tell) is started to play Diggs more in the slot and put Shakir (or Kumerow, or Gentry, or Brown) outside. Where McKenzie totally lacks what Beasley gave Josh, is in the secondary route concepts - the receiver who keeps working and working and gets open while the QB moves around to extend the play. McKenzie will do scramble drills, but they're simpler and he will also sometimes run his route and be done instead of playing to the whistle. So if Beasley comes in and gives Josh that and it helps us get to the playoffs and deep in the playoffs, I'm For it, but ultimately it would benefit Josh and the Bills if he could learn to play within the structure of the offense more and not lean on that "Cole Crutch". That's what's killing Denver right now IMO - Wilson got so used to going his own way and playing off-script, that he doesn't seem able to follow his reads and hit plays that are there. You may be right that the Bills had high hopes that Shakir would step up more, and that's why they didn't do more to bring in WR help, before the trade deadline. Or, maybe they were really banking on OBJ, who knows?

"He better play this week", or what? Hines was on an NFL team, in football shape. Mayfield was on an NFL team, in football shape Beasley has been sitting on the sofa since what? October? The coaches better not play him if he needs a week or so to get into football shape. Xavier Rhodes tried to do too much too soon in practice and pulled a hammy. It would be stupid to put Beasley out there if he's not been running routes in pads and cleats, have him do likewise, and be without him for the rest of the games. I think he wanted to be there while he was in the games. I don't think he was half-assing it while he was out there. What in his interview led you to believe he didn't give it what he had while he was on the field in Tampa?

Thanks for writing that out! Matches with what I was told - the playcalls are the same, but the indicators which tell the players the playcall are varied. And yeah, we got kinda bogged into verbal cues, but observations about physical tells are a Thing. I will love y'all to be right that any inside info from Zim won't matter. From the practice report the Bills issued, Bates and Milano DNP

Pics or it didn't happen 😁

This is a very valid point, especially the last 3 games with Quessenberry replacing Dawkins (and playing hurt), then Dawkins playing hurt and Bates going out. I also think Josh's elbow forces him to be more mindful of proper technique in his whole body to get the desired accuracy, which means he can't flip it out there as quickly. The Jets were, I think, doing a good job of forcing Allen to roll out to his L not his R, which doesn't help. But yeah, a lot of that could be avoided if Allen would just take the quick short passes that are open, instead of reading deep-to-shallow and trying to wait for the deep routes to open up, then forcing a short pass into a smaller window to a receiver with less chance for YAC and more chance to get slammed immediately after the catch.

Yeah, it just seemed like all of a sudden (starting in the 2nd half of the GB game) the ball just wasn't going where he wanted it to go. I don't think that's a "simple dip in his play". What it reminded me of, was when Allen hurt his L shoulder and went to the locker room just before halftime in the 2020 Raiders game. The Bills were leading 17-13 and won 30-23, but Allen was 16/20 (80%) in the first half, and 8/14 (57%) in the 2nd half. Allen had been rocking like 71% completion, 332 ypg in the first 4 games Next 4 games, 61.5%, 212 ypg. Allen was visibly wearing a linebacker brace on his L shoulder and was on the injury report. Pundits were having a field day about how he was "regressing". Terry Bradshaw sneered "a 50% completion passer, that's all he'll ever be". The only one who "got it" was Matt Hasselbeck, who had a similar injury in his own career and said before the Seahawks game, "the good news for Josh Allen is that it will heal, and the bad news for the Seahawks is that just about now, Allen is probably starting to feel pretty good". Allen threw for 415 yds, 82% completions against the Seahawks and basically didn't look back the rest of the year. I think it's been a problem for Josh this year because a lot of his completions were about zipping the ball into a tight window, instead of about scheming a guy open and/or taking the easy throw. So losing that precision, meant more of those tight window throws become incompletions/interceptions and struggles to move the ball. I'd like to think we're having a window where the offense struggles a bit while Allen's elbow "gets right", but the "forseeable future" bit isn't encouraging. I like your take. And yeah, I guess you're correct that colder weather means more stretching is needed before he throws. I dunno that Brown is "fearmongering" (I get it people think he's not really a Bills fan); I think it's legitimately something he hadn't seen before that went on for long enough that it attracted his attention, but, as you say, a change in the routine due to a change in the weather could be the explanation.

Wait, now. Wait, now. Are you trying to tell me that this: is genetically related to that? This begat that? You're having me on, right? Right?

I kind of feel as though they were following what seemed like the plan in Carolina - to have a total Stud franchise QB in Newton who could make up for a lot of deficiencies at WR and on OL with his mobility to extend plays and his legs - and then invest heavily in defense. I feel in the end, that plan was "Close, but No Championship" and got the total Stud franchise guy hurt. But I know opinions vary on that point Someone actually said on the threads about Allen's elbow injury that he'd gone into the game with a sprained shoulder. It was also said elsewhere. I don't think I'm hallucinating and I don't make ***** up, but I'm really not invested in whether or not you believe me that there was a source who said it, or whether or not you believe that it might be true. Whatever pleases you!

I'm not, actually, but I can't find a source to quote so believe what you wish I wouldn't be the first or the only to note that Allen's ability to throw the ball accurately exactly where he wanted seemed to change markedly in the 2nd half of the GB game tho -in fact there's a thread starting with that observation on the board right now. Trimble seemed to feel it was shoulder and elbow, if you watch they are bending his arm and working the forearm in part of the video 🤷‍♂️

Indeed. When the injury occurred, it was said to be "short term - 2-4 weeks" Now Allen is saying he'll be dealing with it for "the foreseeable future" (on the Pat McAfee show) There's also a shadowy rumor around that Allen was dealing with some sort of shoulder sprain or strain dating from the GB game (when he took some big hits, running)

I thought there was a thread on this from a week or 2 ago, but couldn't find it. It was noted that Allen was getting his shoulder and elbow stretched out, ON THE FIELD, before practice today Banged up Bills had this to say about it (I'm not sure what he means by "distraction observed too", Anyone? There's another video clip where at the end, Josh can be seen lying on the ground with his shoulder/elbow being worked on. I wish we could persuade our guy to stop running down the field like a human Wrecking Ball and slide more.

Well, intending no offense to our Pats fan guest in this thread, I sorta thought that more *****-kicking than the score implies took place in Foxboro 2 weeks ago.

Thanks for your input! Yeah, it looked bad on TV. Good for Aghalor.

Oh, does it show NFL network? I did not know that!

🙄 Should the Bills give back the 10 target, 6 reception 96 yard game he had against Detroit, or the 5 target, 5 reception 44 yd game he had against New England, or the 9 target, 7 reception, 76 yd game he had earlier in the season against Miami? Look, one of two things is true. If the Bills really didn't plan on McKenzie being the slot receiver (the way Beane implied today) and he really isn't able to get open against zone (the way Josh implied today), then the minute Crowder broke his leg Beane should have been burning up the phone lines looking for someone to trade for or bring in to fill that role. McKenzie played 2 more games after that and before the trade deadline, and one of them was a very bad game for him - the Kansas City game. So there were plenty of snaps and plenty of film on his play at that point, and he'd already had an expanded role vs last year, before Crowder's injury. Time to "fish or cut bait"! So if you're right, and McKenzie shouldn't get more targets - and maybe you are, I'm certainly not behind center with 300 lb goliaths trying to kill me while I search for an open target to throw the ball - why wasn't a change made then? If McKenzie is the bum that so many here say he is (and you imply, excuse me if I'm reading into you), and he's not deserving of the high end of his utilization (which has worked pretty well when it's happened, actually),then it's a real problem that he's one of the only 4 receivers that have been on the roster for ~half the season. If that's the case, and maybe it is, then Orlovsky/Greg Cosell/Simms/even Sullivan all have a point that this isn't a Superbowl caliber offense. Because if changing the usage of the personnel we already have on the field or the play design/play calling can't make a difference - being giddy over the return of a 33 yr old guy who has been on the couch seems like a pretty slim reed. I say all that having gone on record that if it helps Josh to have Beasley back, I'm all for it, and he still looks quick in the feet and "surgical" in his cuts.

Yeah, Josh seemed almost giddy. So if adding Beasley is the missing piece and it helps Josh, I'm glad, but I think there are a lot of questions raised.