finn

Poyer's play makes you realize what we're missing in Hyde and White being out.

Maybe they thought at some level they had this game in the bag.

If Allen now goes out and throws an interception, I'm going to go shovel. And there's no snow here.

It's like teams don't care if they get stopped on first and second down. It's like, "ho, hum. Third down is coming."

So you think only professional coaches can spot their own patterns? And that they will necessarily respond effectively if they can? I think it's quite plausible that other teams have figured out Dorsey's tendencies in the red zone and Dorsey, a rookie coordinator, has been slow to respond. Even the Bills' opponents have been crowing about how predictable the Bills offense has become.

There is no real midpoint to the season anymore, but this is as good a spot as any to pause and consider the state of the team. Also, I'm hoping they're about to get back on track, so maybe this is the pivot point. My take: Positives/nice surprises: Josh Allen going supernova in the first five games; Diggs having a career season; the young guns in the secondary; Rousseau arriving; Von Miller time; DaQuan dominating; Epenesa and Basham coming along; Shakier contributing; Sam Martin getting it done; Dorsey's offense up to Packer's game. Negatives/disappointments: Saffold's mediocre everything; Bates' struggles; Brown's pass pro; Oliver continuing to "flash" and no more; Knox disappearing; McKenzie repeatedly hurting the team; Gabe Davis' lack of development; Cook's meek play; the endless injuries. Dorsey's offense since Packer's game. High points: Allen's shot-put of the Rams DB; beating the Chiefs (ahh); crushing the Titans; Allen throwing that bomb to Davis out of the end zone; Allen vaulting yet another player; Von's sack of Mahomes to seal victory. Low points: I don't have the heart to list them, but most of them occurred in the last ten quarters. Forecast: Dorsey gets more creative and less predictable; the injury list regresses to the mean; the team gets its swagger back and runs the table.

Long may he stay sick. Did you see him hanging out on the sideline after Allen's first interception, his hands on his chest plate? The guy is not just not helping the team, he's hurting it. His being out would be addition by subtraction

I keep dreaming that they drafted Jefferson and still found a way to land Diggs. A lovely dream. Please don't disabuse me.

We need to adjust to a new reality. Josh Allen is still incredible, but he's not the superman we thought he was. That's ok, but it will take some getting used to. His ceiling is past Mahomes, Brady, all of them, but his floor is below them. They can still win the Super Bowl, just not in juggernaut fashion.

Nice to have three other backs--five including Gilliam--to call on when one goes down.

It was high but went right...through...his... hands. That's a drop.

What about that perfect bullet to Davis that Davis dropped, again.

That's why Allen ran from the media the other day. The robotics were showing.

Well, if they do plan to ground and pound, who relieves Singletary, who's not built to carry the load for an entire game? Cook and Hines are more third-down backs. I wonder if McDermott took the opportunity of Allen's injury to tell Dorsey (and Allen), "Look, he can play, but I want to REAL balance this time." If so, I'm Dorsey probably looked at his running backs and thought, "Uh..." A bonus: Duke can catch the ball, too. That's a lot of pass-catching options out the backfield if the Vikes continue the two-deep safety look.

Brown would probably have been beat, too. Huff's speed is crazy. Quessenberry needed help, and so would have Brown, whose pass protection is not a strong suit, at least not yet.

Regression to the mean.

It's possible that the elbow is better than we think, and Allen could play, but it's marginal. Even in that case, McDermott's conservative history with injuries, on top of this being an NFC game, would suggest Allen will sit. But if he's on the healthy side of marginal, Dorsey might be putting together a plan that relies heavily on runs--including by Allen, the best runner on the team--and short passes: dump offs, screen, slants, etc., minimizing passes that stress the elbow, such as outs and flies. The Vikings will adjust, of course, but it still might be a better plan than starting Keenum with all his limitations, especially his mobility. The threat of Allen running and maybe uncorking a bomb--who knows?--could flummox a Vikings team that prepared for a statue with just an ok arm.

Well, no, Bass is fine. But he does seem to miss kicks and boot kickoffs out of bounds when the team needs him the most. To be fair, he has also made some clutch kicks. I'm fine with his percentage, but there is no reason he needs to give the other team a start at the 40-yard line. Again.

I've been saying that the Bills have only two blue-chip players on offense: Allen and Diggs. If one of them plays poorly, especially Allen, the offense sinks. They need at least one more elite player. The narrative is that the Bills are "stacked" on offense, but that's just not true. Knox, Singletary, and Davis are good but not great, and who else is there? MacKenzie? Kumerow? On the other hand, the defense IS stacked, and I still maintain they did ok today, if only because they held the Jets to 20 points, despite Allen turning the ball over twice. The team can still go all the way, but if they do, it will because Allen is a superstar and the defense (and coaching, imho) is excellent, not because it's anything more than an adequate offense apart from Allen.

Everyone has down games, even Josh Allen. They could still pull it out, though.

I think at this point I would just have Allen run most plays. For whatever reason, his head doesn't seem to be in the game. The defense is actually playing well enough to win, but Allen keeps turning the ball over.

Von, Allen, Diggs. Our key players.

Not when he can also throw it accurately and at high velocity.

That int was like the last two he threw, all in the red zone. It's like he's a different QB on those throws. Odd.

I gave up starting threads after being flamed for choosing subjects others deemed not worthy. The flamers could have been right, and maybe I just need to have a thicker skin, but I suspect the potential (or likelihood) of a harsh reception discourages others, too. That said, this board is far more civil, informed, and well-moderated than any other fan board I've seen.