10 observations on the 3-0 start

[eball]

Josh Allen is now 8-5 in games he starts and finishes, and has won his last 4.  Including the season-ending win vs. Miami Allen's passing statistics are:

 

83/129 (64.3%) for 974 yards (7.5 ypa) with 6 TDs and 4 INTs, and throw in another 4 rushing TDs.

 

Nobody was more disappointed by the pick yesterday than I was, but EVERY Bills fan should be uber-excited about the fact we appear to have a bonafide franchise-caliber starting QB on this team -- and Allen still hasn't started a full season's worth of games.

 

THAT is my observation/takeaway from the 3-0 start.

[Stank_Nasty]

Just a general thought here. Not directed at anyone in particular. Just an observation. Why are so many people losing their damn minds over his int yesterday? 

 

Sure it was awful. Just dreadful. But let’s not pretend he’s done it all season.  That was literally the first BAD int he’s thrown all season. The other 2 were just flukey occurrences week one. What’s with everyone acting like this is a theme this year? That’s completely false. 

 

And speaking of the occasional boneheaded throw. I was just chatting with a Stiller fan and he confirmed what I had already known. Their HOF qb, throughout, his whole career has been good for about one atrocious WTF throw a game. some got picked some didn’t..... but the trade off was having one of the most exciting and clutch playmakers of the last 15 years. 

 

Chill out on the allen throw, kids. Good lord 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Stank_Nasty

[Rockinon]

I think the offense took a step back in this game.  The blitz off of the right side was not picked up and an easy way to defeat that is to put a receiver/RB/TE in the flat on that side to throw to. There was never anyone there. They kept sending 2 rushers off the edge and that is super easy to defeat. Not sure what Daboll was thinking there. Over all, they still managed to win and that is what counts. 

 

However, I believe the Bills are still learning from their mistakes.  The offense seems to do something new every week and successfully I might add. It's clear there is talent on this team and when the chips are down they sure do seem to find a way to come out smelling like roses. Maybe it's a good thing that they took a step back this week.

 

Next week could be interesting.  Our defense is really playing well. Can they keep Brady and company in check well enough to give the offense time to put up the points needed to win? I am looking forward to finding out. I'd like to see some more improvement.  We saw it in week 1 and 2. Week 3 was a bit of a step back, but hey any given Sunday. Right?

[CLTbills]

6 hours ago, LeGOATski said:

These have been a big deal to me.

 

3rd down doesn't seem like a long shot anymore. Like today's 3rd and 17 completion to Brown. I just feel confident that the offense will make a play in those situations.

I said the same last week. On 3rd and long, I'm not just expecting a draw play for 6 yards and punt. I expect us to have a good shot at picking it up. For all of his detriments, the kid makes plays. That 3rd and 17 play was just sensational.

[Chandler#81]

6 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

The Bills have played three bad teams so far this year! Jets 0-3, Bengals 0-3, Giants 1-2.  Yet squeaking by, almost lost to NY, almost lost to Cincy.  

 

The Patriots have been DESTROYING bad teams, Pitt 33-3, Miami 43-0, Jets 30-14.  their point differential  is 106-17 ! 

 

The Bills have made many, many mistakes so far this season and even if they play a perfect game I gotta wonder if they have enough offense to compete?

 

 

 

NOW, having said that, I also wonder...should the Bills beat the Patriots...will the goal posts be untouched at the end of the game?

So you’re gonna piss on our undefeated performance so far? 

Where we could be with a faithful following..?

[HOUSE]

#11. Frank Gore needs some new shoes, the tape was scattered all over the Field.

[Stank_Nasty]

6 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

The Bills have played three bad teams so far this year! Jets 0-3, Bengals 0-3, Giants 1-2.  Yet squeaking by, almost lost to NY, almost lost to Cincy.  

 

The Patriots have been DESTROYING bad teams, Pitt 33-3, Miami 43-0, Jets 30-14.  their point differential  is 106-17 ! 

 

The Bills have made many, many mistakes so far this season and even if they play a perfect game I gotta wonder if they have enough offense to compete?

 

 

 

NOW, having said that, I also wonder...should the Bills beat the Patriots...will the goal posts be untouched at the end of the game?

The bills would have blown out the jets if they were using a 3rd string qb like they are now. They had 3 flukey turnovers and still won the game. Outgained the jets by 150 yds. 

 

Handled their business by 2 scores last week. 

 

had a tough game against a team playing for their life yesterday. A team that went to Seattle week one and lost by 1. 

 

The pats most impressive win is week 1 vs Pitt. We’ll blow out Miami as well. And then they blew out the jets and a Luke friggin falk dude. 

[dollars 2 donuts]

2 hours ago, cage said:

 

Great observation(s).  I think this is an area that they'll examine closely and will improve during the year.  3rd quarter has been rough so far, but then he finds his groove in the 4th.  

 

 

 

And Cage even if they say they are not taking their foot off the gas, fine, but they have to do something different...a new wrinkle when you hit the third quarter, because EVERY team has been ready for them in the third, except when Mosley went out.

[billsbackto81]

7 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

1.  You could tell that this offense missed Singletary today as the second half spark plug to get things going.  I think we need Singletary next week to have a realistic shot at winning.  Yeldon needs to work on ball security.  He has only had 8 touches this year and has put the ball on the ground. 

 

2.  This is only Josh's 15th NFL game, not even a full season yet.  I think we all need to remember that.  He is going to try to do too much and suffer from bad decisions as he learns his craft.  He threw another bad interception today, but he did rally the team and bring the Bills back on another 4th quarter,  game winning drive.  On the whole, I think he is playing solid football so far.  He is accurate (yeah, I said it) and he doesn't get down on himself and let his mind beat him when things go sideways.   He is clutch when it matters and when he got the ball in the 4th quarter today I expected him to score a touchdown.  I haven't felt that way about a Bills QB in a long time.

 

3.  Dawson Knox today.  One bad drop.  One touchdown.  One bulldozer, beast mode, Rambo run.  One helluva future.

 

4.  The defense continues to carry this team just like we all thought it would.  I read many times on this board over the off season that if the offense could just score a few points, with our defense being so dominant, that we would win some games, and that is exactly what has happened so far.  Our offense has averaged just 22 points a game through the first three games of the season and we are sitting at 3-0.  That is clearly a testament to how hard our defense is playing.

 

5.  I'm not worried about our kicking game anymore.  I don't know what happened between the pre-season and the regular season, but HouseMoney and Bojo are spot on so far.

 

6.  Our offense still hasn't put together four solid quarters of football yet.  I'm all about a 4th quarter comeback, but it would be nice to just get a lead and hold a lead.  I'm not sure what the issue is.  Hopefully McDermott and Daboll can figure it out and get it fixed because there are a lot of teams in this league that we are not going to be able to beat with just 2 or 3 quarters of good play.  Next week we are going to need all four quarters to beat the Pats.

 

7.  The AFC is not fairing well in inter-conference play.  It should help us down the road if we need to win a Wild Card to get into the playoffs.

 

8.  The Bills have not been shooting themselves in the foot with bad penalties negating big plays or extending the other team's drives.  I think this is incredibly important and it is a marked departure from the pulling your hair out play of past undisciplined Bill's squads.

 

9.  I keep waiting for Oliver to finally get his hands on the QB.  It would be great to see Oliver bury Brady into the Bills logo next week for his first sack.

 

10.  The Bills D-line are all playing like they are ten feet tall.  We had another couple batted down passes at the line today.  We've only gotten one interception off them so far, but I suspect that will change if they keep it up.  Even if they don't translate to turnovers, they are still passes defended and they also effect a QB's accuracy when they start altering their throwing motion to get the ball around all those arms up in the throwing lanes.  

 

 I noticed you didn't really touch on the O line. Major concern for me. Ford has been a complete disaster at RT and will get Josh killed against the Pats D and Dawkins isn't doing him any favors on the left. Nsehke, Morse, Spain and Feliciano have been solid contributors but the others have been overwhelmed. Belicheck must be salivating designing schemes to abuse the ends and pressure Josh into mistakes. Dawkins is not a franchise LT and Ford has a long ways to go and at this point best suited at G.

[The Frankish Reich]

5 hours ago, Magox said:

Here is another observation:

 

The delusional expectations of fans to believe that a team that is beginning to come into its own after only making the playoffs once in the past 20 years is expected to be nearly as dominant through 4 quarters of football consistently as a team such as the Patriots.  The Bills aren't the Patriots,  they have a 2nd year QB who was raw coming in, essentially a brand new offensive line, WR's, TE's and RB's and are doing enough to win games in the NFL.  Yet, some fans expect the Bills to be dominant from the get go.   They aren't there yet but the makings of a great team can be seen and with a few additional pieces, more cohesiveness and efficiency in all aspects they will get there.

 

Just enjoy the win and the fact that the Bills will get an opportunity to play against the Patriots heading into it with a 3-0 record.

 

Savor the moment.

Ahh, the wisdom of experience.

I'm just happy the Bills have moved into that tier of teams like the Texans or the Cowboys or if we're lucky the Eagles - dynamic play-making young QBs and solid to excellent defenses. Getting to the level of Teams with Hall of Fame QBs Still Performing at That Level, well, let's walk before we run. In other words, I'm hoping for a very entertaining competitive game this weekend, but I won't be crushed if it doesn't turn out that way.

EDIT: add the Ravens to that club I'd like to see us join 

Edited September 23, 2019 by The Frankish Reich

[Nihilarian]

7 hours ago, ganesh said:

Good teams with Great QBs will put away bad opposition

Good teams with young QBs will keep the other team hanging around. 

 

The Bengals are not a bad team  They went on the road to Seattle and Buffalo, two most difficult places for opponents, and came within a whisker of winning both games.  They could easily be 2-1 today.    The Giants did win their first game.  In the NFL, there is no such thing as a bad team.. On any given Sunday !!!

The Bengals ARE a bad team as their offensive line is currently in shambles and they can't run the ball or stop the run. The only aspect keeping them in games has been QB Andy Dalton to WR Tyler Boyd, WR John Ross. Both the Bengals defense and offense are ranked in the top 20's PF 25, YR 18, and PA 27, YA 26.

 

The guy who was one of the very best RB's last season (Joe Mixon)with a 4.9 ypc, so far this year after three games has 32 attempts for 88 yards with a miserable 2.8 ypc avg. 

 

The undefeated teams so far this season are Buffalo, NE, KC, Dallas, GB and the LA Rams. The Patriots are the favorite to go to the SB and win it this season. The chiefs played them in the AFC Championship game last year. The Rams beat Dallas to go on to the SB last year. The upstarts are Buffalo and GB...GB has Aaron Rodgers. 

 

No bad teams in the NFL? On the contrary, there are bad teams in the NFL and the NY Jets are currently one of them without LBer CJ Mosley and their starting QB in Darnold. Not to mention that they had 25 players on the week 3 injury report. 

[nedboy7]

I do not agree with the Allen hasn't had a full season yet because you know... he has. 

And I think the team misses Shady more than Singletary. 

Of course these are just opinions.  So I apologize if I send anyone into a tizzy. 

If so PM me and I can assure you I agree with all your thoughts. 

[Nihilarian]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

So you’re gonna piss on our undefeated performance so far? 

Where we could be with a faithful following..?

How's this! 

 

 Since 1990, 73.8% of teams that started the season 3-0 reached the playoffs. They have a much better chance of making the postseason at this point than missing it.

 

Plus, We still get to play the 0-3 Dolphins 2x !!

 

Currently Tennessee is 1-2, Philly is 1-2, Washington is 0-2, Cleveland is 1-2, Denver is 0-3, Pittsburgh is 0-3. The Jets are 0-3.

 

The good teams are Ravens are 2-1, NE 3-0, Dallas 3-0.

 

Do I want the Buffalo Bills to crush the NE Patriots...YES!  Crush the Cowboys...YES! Crush the Ravens...YES! "What is best in life to crush your enemies see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their fans?"  

[Chandler#81]

10 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

How's this! 

 

 Since 1990, 73.8% of teams that started the season 3-0 reached the playoffs. They have a much better chance of making the postseason at this point than missing it.

 

Plus, We still get to play the 0-3 Dolphins 2x !!

 

Currently Tennessee is 1-2, Philly is 1-2, Washington is 0-2, Cleveland is 1-2, Denver is 0-3, Pittsburgh is 0-3. The Jets are 0-3.

 

The good teams are Ravens are 2-1, NE 3-0, Dallas 3-0.

 

Do I want the Buffalo Bills to crush the NE Patriots...YES!  Crush the Cowboys...YES! Crush the Ravens...YES! "What is best in life to crush your enemies see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their fans?"  

Excellent post! See? It’s actually possible to have faith. The. Ills are now loaded with highly motivated, skilled players. They’re not a finished product but they’re the best we’ve seen since Wade Phillips was HC.

[CodeMonkey]

8 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

5.  I'm not worried about our kicking game anymore.  I don't know what happened between the pre-season and the regular season, but HouseMoney and Bojo are spot on so far.

 

What a bad year for kickers so far.  The Giants game yesterday is another example of how important that can be.  With all the teams trying to find one, isn't it nice to have a solid kicker on the roster and not needing to worry about that at least!

[billsfan_34]

3 hours ago, eball said:

Josh Allen is now 8-5 in games he starts and finishes, and has won his last 4.  Including the season-ending win vs. Miami Allen's passing statistics are:

 

83/129 (64.3%) for 974 yards (7.5 ypa) with 6 TDs and 4 INTs, and throw in another 4 rushing TDs.

 

Nobody was more disappointed by the pick yesterday than I was, but EVERY Bills fan should be uber-excited about the fact we appear to have a bonafide franchise-caliber starting QB on this team -- and Allen still hasn't started a full season's worth of games.

 

THAT is my observation/takeaway from the 3-0 start.

I like it! 

1 hour ago, billsbackto81 said:

 I noticed you didn't really touch on the O line. Major concern for me. Ford has been a complete disaster at RT and will get Josh killed against the Pats D and Dawkins isn't doing him any favors on the left. Nsehke, Morse, Spain and Feliciano have been solid contributors but the others have been overwhelmed. Belicheck must be salivating designing schemes to abuse the ends and pressure Josh into mistakes. Dawkins is not a franchise LT and Ford has a long ways to go and at this point best suited at G.

Yeldon doesn’t get his shoulder pads down- expect him to take big hits and fumble.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

From all the Oliver hype on this board prior to the draft, you'd think he'd be Defensive Player of the Week by now.  Hmhh!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 minute ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

From all the Oliver hype on this board prior to the draft, you'd think he'd be Defensive Player of the Week by now.  Hmhh!

Exactly. Still think the Bills got that one wrong.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

8 hours ago, nedboy7 said:

I do not agree with the Allen hasn't had a full season yet because you know... he has. 

 

Actually... he hasn't. 

 

He's played 14 games as a starting QB in this league which on my abacus equals less than a full season worth of playing experience.

 

My point is that those clamoring about his play need to keep in mind that if Allen was a car, he would still have that new car smell.  For Pete's sake let's give the kid a honest chance to learn the game.  He's a lot further along than I thought he was going to be at this point.

 

 

[nedboy7]

1 minute ago, Inigo Montoya said:

 

Actually... he hasn't. 

 

He's played 14 games as a starting QB in this league which on my abacus equals less than a full season worth of playing experience.

 

My point is that those clamoring about his play need to keep in mind that if Allen was a car, he would still have that new car smell.  For Pete's sake let's give the kid a honest chance to learn the game.  He's a lot further along than I thought he was going to be at this point.

 

 

 

I get what you are saying and you do have a point.  There does need to be patience with him.  But to be fair he did have a whole season weather he played or not as well as a whole off season to work on his game which clearly shows.  Is it possible we are both right?  That might make TBD implode. 

6 hours ago, Joe in Winslow said:

Exactly. Still think the Bills got that one wrong.

 

 

Wait are you posting something negative about a player who has played in 3 games so far after flipping out anytime someone posts something negative about the game plan or coaching or Allen?   Wow this is weird.