Deep2Moulds46

I mean, if you can't trust a dog, who can you trust?

*sigh* I'll try one more time and then I give up. 1) You can't do this every week. Teams need a reason to think there is an actual reason the backup will play. At full health, there's no reason to do that. Allen being in concussion protocol gives the Bills a rare instance where they can keep their cards close to the vest, either way. If you just arbitrarily say "We aren't naming a QB until Saturday" nobody will believe you. Or....if they do...you have just created an unnecessary Qb controversy. It's not realistic. 2) I'm sorry you don't see it as an advantage. But player tendencies, especially at a QB positon...ESPECIALLY when you have someone like Josh Allen who is so reliant on mobility....creates unique defensive gameplans. If you call a play where Beasley runs a slant, John Brown Runs a post and Zay Jones runs an out........yes, those routes will be the same no matter who the QB is. But Barkley might get rid of the ball quicker than Allen. Allen might only read half field while Barkley reads full? Barkley might get through his progressions faster where Allen (who ran for 100 yards in multiple games last year) could bail out and run. Defenses spend all week gameplanning, and a large portion of that is tendencies.

You can't do this every week. You have to make your starting QB available to the media. Teams also don't like to have QB controversies, and that's what you would be inviting if you played yo-yo from game to game. this is a rare instance where there's a concussion protocol that allows the Bills to play this extra close to the vest. it's not reasonable to do this every week, because teams would call BS if the Bills were like "We don't know who we are going to start, even though both guys are healthy!"

When you have 2 Qbs who play completely different, then it makes a big difference. QB tendencies. Qb target preferences. Josh Allen's running ability. His tendencies to bait pass rushers in and then run around them to get out of the pocket. These are all things that if you don't prepare for, he will make you look silly. And if you do prepare for (and he doesn't play) then you spent time preparing for something that was irrelevant.

I would disagree with that. The plays may be the same, but the Qbs have tendencies. With Allen, specifically, you would need your DLineman to be more aware of rushing lanes and bailout points on the edges, where with Barkley you could just have them rush. Barkley gets rid of the ball quicker. Allen can turn any play into a schoolyard freelance. Allen forces defenders to defend things that most Qbs don't. So keeping this under wraps is smart.

In my opinion the Bills absolutely know who their starting QB is going to be on Sunday. No matter what the scenario, it makes sense to keep him in the protocol. Allen and Barkley couldn't be more opposite in terms of how they play, so why not keep Tennessee guessing. I wouldn't expect to know for sure until Saturday at 4PM. If Webb hasn't been promoted from the PS, then Allen is fine. However, I would even say there's a chance that if the Bills plan to play Allen Sunday, they still promote Webb on Saturday. Why not keep the Titans guessing? it would probably be tricky to determine who to send down, but I think this could be a spot where you see one of our 10 OL go bye bye.

If Allen is healthy, he'll play. If he's not, he won't. I don't think there's any "Well, he could play but let's give him another week"

I would doubt they'd call up David Webb until Saturday. No need to give the Titans any extra time to prepare for the starter. Once you call up Davis Webb it's obvious Barkley is starting

I don't have a good feeling about this game. Barkley starting. Week before a bye. Titans haven't won a home game yet. Just has the recipe for a letdown spot for the Bills. I hope I'm wrong. I also hope I'm wrong about Barkley starting at that Allen is OK. My brain says take Titans -2.5 though

Adam Benigni said on Monday that he thinks it's highly unlikely Allen plays. It didn't sound like he had an inside info, but Vic Carrucci and the other TBN reporters were at the desk nodding. Take it for what it's worth. I think we'll know everything we need to know tomorrow. If he's not out at practice in some form (shorts/t-shirt) by Wednesday, I think we can prepare for the Matt Barkley show. https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/week-4-digital-breakdown-from-the-sports-talk-live-buffalo-crew/71-36b29bee-abe7-46c0-83e3-153372bd7950

He can be in the protocol up until Saturday and still play Sunday. The key, as others have mentioned before, is what stage is he? If he is at stage 2-3 he can participate in meetings, and some parts of practice. Stages 4 and 5 are essentially full go football activity. We'll know a lot tomorrow. If he's not at practice, chances are he's still in the rest stage which would be a bad sign. I will say....considering how different Allen/Barkley are, I do expect the Bills to play this out until the last possible moment to limit the Titans' preparation.

Dr. David Chao just said on his Sunday Night Football Halftime chat that it's very unlikely Josh Allen clears concussion protocol in time to play next Sunday

The reason you don't hire him is it's against the CBA for a player to be coached during certain times of the year. For him to continue working with Allen whenever they want, the best thing would be for him not to be a Bills employee

Actual context is important.. They were discussing when Josh Allen should play. They said ideally AJ McCarron or Nate Peterman will at least be good enough that the team feels ok with leaving Allen on the bench until the coaches feel he's ready. Then they said if McCarron at least shows to be an average starting QB, the Bills might be able to trade him next off-season for some decent value given his low cap figure and the lack of a QB market next year compared to this year. Context is important