Virgil

This isn’t about Allen specially nor am I mentioning him.

In the NBA, you hear about the ridiculous practice routines some of the greats have. I think Kobe wouldn’t start warm-ups until he hit like 500 free throws. In any case, the muscle memory or whatever is a pledged method for success in the NBA. In the NFL, I usually here about coaches working on players footwork or release point to affect accuracy. My question is this, what players have been know to increase their accuracy over the years and what did they do? For some of the greats that I remember early in their career like Brady and Ben, they started them in a more controlled offense where they’d throw to one read while averaging around 150 yards per game. Simple throws, low turnovers, basic. Then, over time, things expanded and it almost felt like confidence is how they grew them. It’s just an interest concept to me, teaching accuracy. So many of these guys have been throwing the football since they were 5 years old and now we want them to take a step forward in their early 20’s. It’s happened, I’m just curious for stories that made it happen.

Was this really said verbatim? If so, holy *****. That guy should be taken off the air. I live in Baltimore and am exposed to the team a lot. I’m not a fan of Allen’s accuracy, but he smokes Jackson

They both sucked. Shady goes down on first contact and Ivory was running to the outside, not up the middle where he’s effective.

I think that may be them being supportive. You could see Allen upset after the plan and apologizing to Zay. Even if it’s a miscommunication, he was wide open and Allen could see where he was headed. I’m also okay being wrong

I don't know how you lump today's game in with any of those other situations. It sucked, but we were 4-7 and not making the playoffs.

Expectations are the true killer of an NFL fan. The Bills have done a great job of lowering my expectations each season and allowing me to chalk up certain losses to rebuilding or talent. But this game was different. This game, I felt we should have won and when the final whistle blew, I still felt that way. This is easily the angriest I've been following a game in a few years because I was actually let down by the team. I usually try to take some time to let the game set in, but what's wrong with the occasional emotions? With that.... 1 - Allen - I'm going to start here and save others the time of reading all of this because it may turn you off. My overall statement about Allen is that he did enough to win the game. That's the best I can put it. He did his typical rookie thing and showed some flashes, both to the negative and the positive. He had a really poor interception. He missed a wide open Foster and Zay Jones for TD's. But, because the game is 60 minutes, he also made the throw at the end that should have won the game. I believe that you have to look at the entire body of work and not just certain plays. I could equally make a low-light reel for him as I can a highlight reel. Here's the my biggest positive take away from Allen. This kid shows zero fear and doesn't take setbacks. He can be 3rd and 20 and 20 after two penalties and he will still stare the defense down. He will take hits, he will have guys running at him, and he will just get it done. When we started the final drive and they were showing stats, all I could think about was Tyrod. How this was a Tyrod stat and game where you just knew he wouldn't get it done. I can say that and I paid praise at the Church of Tyrod. But this is where Allen is just plain different. He's not phased by any of it. He marched us right down field and made the passes he needed to. He got hosed on a bad call and wasn't supported in the endzone. Yes, it was wobbly and a few yards behind Clay, but it was a catch an NFL player should make. Bottom line, if Allen can get his accuracy under control. I'm talking maybe 10% better, he's really on the right path. If he did that today, we wouldn't have needed the final drive to try to win, but he's a rookie and hopefully getting there. 2 - Running Game - What made Allen's performance more impressive today, as well as show's why defenses have to respect his legs, is that he got almost zero support from the rushing attack. For some reason, Daboll was calling stretch plays for Ivory, which isn't his strength. Shady was getting taken down by arm tackles again and the overall rushing attack was weak at best against a defense high susceptible to the run. In fairness, it didn't look like there were a lot of holes up the middle, but it didn't seem like we tried much there either. Overall, really disappointed to see the result in this phase of the game that could have helped sustain drives. 3 - Zay - Now there's a guy who absolutely supported Allen. Zay had 2 touchdowns today and honestly could have had 4. One was a terrible throw by Allen. Another was a non-throw, but the replay showed him wide open deep down the center of the field. His almost catch at the end of the game, while getting mugged, was almost beautiful. His toe-tapping catch from our own 2 yard line was fantastic. Overall, it was great to see this kind of game from Zay against a good secondary and even better to see the rapport build between him and Allen. 4 - Goodbye my old friend. You could have lived a little longer, I could be closer to my dream. You were so loved, Don Tommasino. Why was I so feared, and you so loved? What was it? I was no less honorable. I wanted to do good. What betrayed me? My mind? My heart? Why do I condemn myself so? I swear, on the lives of my children: Give me a chance to redeem myself, and I will sin, no more. 5 - McDermott - I'm going to get to the Refs in a second and I usually wait until the end to talk about McDermott, but I'm overall very disappointed in him for this game. Beyond some of the bad calls was overall sloppy play. For a guy who preaches process, the penalties are getting out of hand. Phillips should have been yanked from that game after his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. I get that penalties are up in the league and I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means. McDermott needs to get this cleaned up as it's one of the key areas that cost us this game. 6 - Refs - This is now the second Bills game that has taken 3+ hours and penalties are a large part of it. I get the old adage that holding can be called on any given play. I get that it's a high speed, contact game. But there's just something not right with how these games are getting called. First off, Hughes should pay a friend to film every play he takes a snap on. This guy gets held more than any player I've ever seen. It's ridiculous. The non PI on Zay at the end was terrible. I still believe that should have been a safety on Tannehill. I don't really have an answer for this problem, but officiating is a problem and it's greatly affecting these games. 7 - Crossman - At what point are coaches accountable for player performance. We gave up 11 points on special teams today in a game we lost by 4. We had a couple of good punts, but one almost blocked as well and one muffed. The pooch kickoff almost went out of bounds and we had to missed FG's (I'm counting the extra point). Crossman's unit is a point of discussion almost weekly and special teams need to be seen and not heard. I'm ready for McDermott to move on from him this offseason. 8 - Defense - I hate to lump the defense into one thought but here we are. They gave up two long drives today and hurt themselves with some penalties. Outside of that, they were fantastic. They have multiple drives where they gave up negative yards. Tannehill got knocked around a lot and they were ball hawks. On the 3rd and short wildcat play at the end, I loved how they just abandoned the WR's and went after them. That play stood no chance. The defense did their job today and I'm glad to see Milano and Edmunds continue to develop. If Hughes could stop getting held so much, it would be even better. 9 - Clay/Benjamin - How soon can these guys be cut? I don't know what happened to Clay and I've never seen it from Benjamin on this team. Clay's drop wasn't easy, but it also was very catchable and should have been for the 7+ mil a year he's getting. If you can't focus and make that play, you shouldn't be in the NFL. These guys are both salary that needs to go elsewhere. 10 - 8 Losses - I know we weren't going to beat the Pats in New England, but the 8 loss mark was something I was dreading. It was fun to have hope and watch the Jags beat the Colts. I know we aren't mathematically eliminated yet, but we know an 8-8 team isn't going to make it. I think that's what made this game so frustrating. We should have won this game and I honestly felt like we were the better team today. It's a tough pill to swallow, especially against the Fins. I'll do what I did all season and look for the positives in our "rebuilding" year. Go Bills!

He’s their 3rd string tight end. I liked him, but there are worse things to lament over

I’ll chime in. People capable of that kind of behavior isn’t a flash in the pan. It’s something they will realistically continue to do as the situation presents itself. To change, it takes the desire to change, a deep understanding of why it’s wrong, empathy, and the genuine punishment as a reminder. There’s no reason to believe any of those things occurred. If anything, a team putting claim on him is almost a reward. So no, I think he needs to be stripped down to reality to truly understand the gravity of what he’s done.

TD was better. Hit the guy in stride and threw him open. Deeper makes the accuracy harder.

I'm surprised at the spot here. I haven't really paid much attention to the Dolphins, but I expect our defense to play well again and if our offence can keep it going, find this a winnable game. Kiko has apparently been playing well

No matter what, if Crossman is paying attention, I don’t think this happens. He has so few plays on the field he’s responsible for....

Kudos for reading each line

What happened to your braces?

Dad?

You get penalized for mistakes. Fumbles are mistakes

I forgot to mention how beautiful the first TD sweep to McKenzie was. Kudos to Daboll. We made them look stupid

I have. And I disagree that there shouldn’t be some form of penalty for losing the ball. I think spotting it at the point of fumble is a gimme to the offense. If it’s fumbled into the ends zone and no one recovers, I think the call should go back to the 10 with loss of down. Offense keeps the ball and defense gets reward for making a play.

So, if fumbled at the 1, the offense keeps the ball at the 1? Seems unfair to the defense who made a great play

Star doesn’t have a lot of stats, but I assure you he’s making a difference. Cloggers job opens things up for others to make plays. They are unsung hero’s. We see him as the heir apparent to Kyle, but he’s been rotating in for Star much more. He’s not being asked to be a stat guy right now, but is doing well for what he’s told. The rest will come

Did DMB and BNL quotes. This year’s been movies which has got the most reaction. Reservoir Dogs quote may have lost me some followers

Trust me, I think about length every time I write one and for each thought. But this game just wouldn’t allow me to go short. I envy Shaw this week because I could have gone much longer. #that’swhatshesaid

Yes. Absolutely. However, Mahomes interceptions at the end of the Saints game was concerning. He just threw it up to guys double/triple covered when the game was well within reach

What do you suggest as an alternative? Offense keeps the ball at the 20 like a reverse touchback?

#1? No. Strong contributor? Absolutely. Amazing catches two weeks in a row