A Message of Calm from a Josh Allen Skeptic...

[billsfan_34]

20 hours ago, Bferra13 said:

Allen looked pretty good to me today, especially considering the conditions. Play calling and coaching decisions are what have me worried. 

Allen has been hampered by the horrible play calling. There are some throws he has to make. A few yesterday you have to stick in there or drop it in. Weather was bad but less than 50 percent completion is not getting it done. JA has had enough starts to take the damn handcuffs off. Time to really see where we stand with him.

Edited October 28, 2019 by billsfan_34

[Shaw66]

20 hours ago, BigDingus said:

So many of you know I haven't really been a believer in what I've seen from Allen. In my opinion, he's exactly what scouts said he was prior to the draft, and he's played exactly as he did through his whole football career.

However... after today's game there's been a lot of people piling on him and even more yelling "the sky is falling!" because of this loss, and I don't believe it's warranted.

Let me be clear, the concerns people have are legitimate, but the ones lashing out are doing so emotionally, otherwise this performance wouldn't have thrown them off so much. Yes, Allen's fumble was costly, but despite his numbers, he made better decisions for much of the game than he often has all year.

Yes, he threw under 50% accuracy, but those numbers are skewed from those last drives trying to play catch up. He still hasn't thrown for 300 yards, with today throwing for less than 200, but his 2 TD's were both very well done. They showed genuine awareness, a firm grasp of what the defense was giving him, and the passes were actual passes (unlike say the TD "pass" to McKenzie in the Giants game). And yes, I know Singletary did most of legwork after receiving the pass.

It's important when a QB shows he knows how to run your offense, but what really separates the good QB's from the rest of the pack is the ones who know what the opposing defense is giving them. Even though Allen had trouble with that today, he's had trouble with that every game, only this time he showed a legitimate grasp of his surroundings & an improved awareness.

His troubles today seemed more on the execution front than a failure on the mental front. In my opinion, that's an EXTREMELY promising development, more so than "look, I can pull a win out of my butt against a lousy team to escape with a victory!"

 

Missing open passes & being unable to connect downfield really hurt, but when you're actually seeing those guys & know where the play is developing, that's monumental in the growth of a young QB. 

 

I've been harping on his bad deep ball accuracy since last year, but I like that more & more he's actually seeing those guys.

 

Just as overall record doesn't tell the whole story, neither do his stats for this game. My opinion on this team hasn't really changed, it just further highlights our obvious weaknesses. But seeing Allen being more decisive, even if he was off target, makes me happy. 

Don't think I'm saying this was his best game, or that he played great, rather specific aspects of his game that consistently have me concerned about his long term viability looked better, and that matters even in a loss. 

Win or lose, don't lose sight of what matters most - Allen's development. I'd rather take a ton of losses now if it leads to long term success & a franchise QB later. If Allen ends the season looking like he's made legitimate mental strides & shows serious growth in his awareness & ability to read defenses, I wouldn't care if we missed the playoffs *THIS* year.

Ultimately we haven't looked like a team that could pose a threat to real good teams in the playoffs this year anyway. Just making it in & getting immediately bounced isn't what will define this team. But if Allen's football IQ improves to a point where it can match his physical gifts, he really will be a scary good presence for years to come.

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To sum it up, I don't think there's any need to panic, I don't think we need to reach in a trade in hopes of maintaining a great regular season record, and I think Allen showed some positive growth even in this loss. Ideally, we'll not only bounce back next week, but Allen specifically will have his first great game of the year. If he can do that, it won't even matter if it's a weak opponent, I'll be genuinely impressed & seriously optimistic about his prospects

 

And yes, I highlighted in green the positives in case people just want skim through the good things lol

I don't agree with all of this, but the general point is correct. There's no need to panic.

 

Allen is in the middle of his second season learning to play QB in the NFL.   Personally, I think at this point he should be better than he's been playing, but learning and growth doesn't occur in a straight line.   Yesterday was another game where he made some mistakes and learned some things.   I'm confident he'll get there. 

[Nihilarian]

9 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

If we tried it for a game you would see my point. Josh would look like *****. It isn't who he is. In fact the first two drives yesterday we DID come out and try to establish the run like it was the 1970s and then ask Josh to make one throw per set of downs. He completed a check down to Smith and held the ball too long and took a bad sack on the other. 

Josh hasn't looked good in the first half of games for most of the season when the team comes out passing.

 

The second series first play was a six yard pass completion, so It wasn't like the 1970s. 

 

The Bills were basically dominated on both sides of the ball on the lines. The Bills run D had a bad day and the O line had a bad day. Although the Eagles looked to shut down Gore pretty good. Singletary looked somewhat better. 

 

From what I see Daboll gives up on the run to quickly at times and playing in a rainy, windy day asking the QB to throw 34 times was simply not the right thing to do. 

 

Its a 16 game season and games like this happen. I don't blame the QB who threw 2 TDs and no INTs. 

[GunnerBill]

Just now, Nihilarian said:

Josh hasn't looked good in the first half of games for most of the season when the team comes out passing.

 

The second series first play was a six yard pass completion, so It wasn't like the 1970s. 

 

The Bills were basically dominated on both sides of the ball on the lines. The Bills run D had a bad day and the O line had a bad day. Although the Eagles looked to shut down Gore pretty good. Singletary looked somewhat better. 

 

From what I see Daboll gives up on the run to quickly at times and playing in a rainy, windy day asking the QB to throw 34 times was simply not the right thing to do. 

 

Its a 16 game season and games like this happen. I don't blame the QB who threw 2 TDs and no INTs. 

 

Who blamed the QB? Certainly not me. 

[Nihilarian]

4 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

You saying his accuracy hasn't improved is silly.  He had a bad game yesterday.  The whole team did.  Barkley isn't starting anytime soon and you know it. Coming on here day after day saying it won't change that.

Wasting your time with this one.