Can the Detractors Now Admit Allen's Growth?

[Sundancer]

Allen will have a 130 yard 3 INT game at some point.

 

The board will be unbearable that day. 

 

I'm glad this medium didn't exist back when fans would call WGR and call for Reich to start over Kelly, which yes, used to happen frequently when Kelly had one of his many bonehead days. 

[Dr. Who]

12 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

This is weak. 4 total TDs, 0 turnovers, 0 sacks. You can pick out a bad play for any QB in every game. Allen led the offense to 37 points. You're gonna complain about that?

Yes, yes he is . . . and you are a cultist for finding fault with it.

[Jrb1979]

Its great Allen had a good game but if the Bills want to make the playoffs he needs to play like this the rest of the way. It would go along way to proving he is the guy. Allen is going up against some of the better defenses in the league so I want to see if he can play as good. 

[T master]

17 hours ago, H2o said:

Against a team he was supposed to put up good numbers against, Allen comes through.

 

Stat line: 21-33 for 256 yards and 3 TD'S

                 7 carries for 56 yards and 1 TD

                 7.8 yards per att and 117.7 rtg

 

He was calm in the pocket, went to his 2nd and 3rd read, put a lot of passes right on the money so the WR could get YAC, beat the blitz on a number of occasions, used his legs when the opportunity presented itself, and he didn't throw an INT for the 5th straight game. The young man is growing as a QB and that should be evident to all.

 

I just want to ask where does Miami rank on their D ? 

 

I hope this is a precursor to what's ahead but that question needs to be at least considered !! Just saying ...

[H2o]

1 minute ago, T master said:

 

I just want to ask where does Miami rank on their D ? 

 

I hope this is a precursor to what's ahead but that question needs to be at least considered !! Just saying ...

20TH Pass Defense and 29TH Run Defense

 

Over the last 5 weeks though they have shown improvement as a team and were riding a 2 game winning streak going into yesterday. A lot of the media bobble heads actually picked them to beat us.  

[Scott7975]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

I've always maintained that Tyrod Taylor had 3 good games during his pathetic tenure with the Bills.  Two against Miami and one against Seattle (in a loss).  So no hypocrisy, here.

I thought his first game against the Colts was good

[SoTier]

16 hours ago, H2o said:

Against a team he was supposed to put up good numbers against, Allen comes through.

 

Stat line: 21-33 for 256 yards and 3 TD'S

                 7 carries for 56 yards and 1 TD

                 7.8 yards per att and 117.7 rtg

 

He was calm in the pocket, went to his 2nd and 3rd read, put a lot of passes right on the money so the WR could get YAC, beat the blitz on a number of occasions, used his legs when the opportunity presented itself, and he didn't throw an INT for the 5th straight game. The young man is growing as a QB and that should be evident to all.

 

Your premise is false.  Nobody has claimed that Allen hasn't made progress.  Posters have been critical of Allen for the mistakes he's made.  Critics have questioned if he's made enough progress because he's going to be compared with guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Mahomes, Watson, etc. without excuses.

 

16 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

A number of folks will tacitly admit it by being scarce this week. 

 

Like all the Allen fanboys were MIA the last couple of weeks?

 

16 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

Growth and development is slow for QB's. He is just playing better and better and proving he can be that guy.  There will be ups and downs with the rest of this year and next. 

 

He's doing a great job, I am so encouraged with what I'm seeing.

 

When was the last time we could feel fine with 2nd and 20? We can convert just about any long down scenario.  I think that alone should tell the haters/doubters a ton.

 

 

Bull manure.   QBs don't take multiple seasons to demonstrate that they're great.  Except for a few QBs in unique situations or who suffer injury (Brees, Smth, Rodgers, Stafford), good QBs show their stuff by the end of their second season as starters.  A QB's first two seasons as a starter is when he makes his biggest strides.  After that, his improvement is limited and mostly incremental and subtle even for the great ones.  No QB in the last two decades who has been a poor/mediocre QB for his first two years as a starter has suddenly turned into a great one in his third season.

 

These QBs all demonstrated their greatness early on.  Most were good as first year starters and improved even more as second year starters:

• Ben Roethlisberger took the Steelers to the playoffs as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Andrew Luck took the Colts to the playoffs every year he played most of the season, including his rookie season.
• Russell Wilson took the Seahawks to the NFC Championship game as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Carson Wentz was the leading candidate for the 2017 MVP as a sophomore when he was injured.
• DeShaun Watson lit up the league as a rookie before an injury cut his season short, and led the Texans to the playoffs as a sophomore.
• Patrick Mahomes played 1 game as a rookie, and then won the league MVP with 50 TDs as a sophomore.
• Lamarr Jackson took the Ravens to the playoffs as a rookie, and this year he's a leading candidate for league MVP.

 

Allen has not been "playing better and better", and claiming that he has is doing so is simply denying reality.  Yesterday was only the second game since the bye that Allen threw for more than 200 yards.  Against the Eagles, Allen didn't even throw for 100 yards.  While Allen threw for 260+ yards against Cleveland, he played tentatively and failed, once again, to hit any downfield passes.  Moreover, the Fins are a very poor team despite their scrappiness.  If Allen can play as well against the next five games -- Broncos, Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots -- all teams with good or great defenses -- then we can say he's proving he's "that guy".  Given the lack of talent around him, though, it's more likely that we may be encouraged by his progress but not confident he's likely to be a franchise QB, so it will be imperative that the Bills significantly upgrade the offense around him, especially getting him a bonafide veteran WR1 whether they take a WR in the draft or not.

 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

2 hours ago, mattynh said:

5 straight games with no INT's....I was not sure I would have thought that was possible earlier in the season.  He is on an upward projection for sure.  Still a ways to go but up is the right direction.

 

The whole play fearless thing may have largely been directed at Allen.

 

No.  Allen was part of it for reals, but it was truly directed at the entire team - OL, DL, LB all playing tentative as well.

[Figster]

11 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

Your premise is false.  Nobody has claimed that Allen hasn't made progress.  Posters have been critical of Allen for the mistakes he's made.  Critics have questioned if he's made enough progress because he's going to be compared with guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Mahomes, Watson, etc. without excuses.

 

 

Like all the Allen fanboys were MIA the last couple of weeks?

 

 

Bull manure.   QBs don't take multiple seasons to demonstrate that they're great.  Except for a few QBs in unique situations or who suffer injury (Brees, Smth, Rodgers, Stafford), good QBs show their stuff by the end of their second season as starters.  A QB's first two seasons as a starter is when he makes his biggest strides.  After that, his improvement is limited and mostly incremental and subtle even for the great ones.  No QB in the last two decades who has been a poor/mediocre QB for his first two years as a starter has suddenly turned into a great one in his third season.

 

These QBs all demonstrated their greatness early on.  Most were good as first year starters and improved even more as second year starters:

• Ben Roethlisberger took the Steelers to the playoffs as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Andrew Luck took the Colts to the playoffs every year he played most of the season, including his rookie season.
• Russell Wilson took the Seahawks to the NFC Championship game as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Carson Wentz was the leading candidate for the 2017 MVP as a sophomore when he was injured.
• DeShaun Watson lit up the league as a rookie before an injury cut his season short, and led the Texans to the playoffs as a sophomore.
• Patrick Mahomes played 1 game as a rookie, and then won the league MVP with 50 TDs as a sophomore.
• Lamarr Jackson took the Ravens to the playoffs as a rookie, and this year he's a leading candidate for league MVP.

 

Allen has not been "playing better and better", and claiming that he has is doing so is simply denying reality.  Yesterday was only the second game since the bye that Allen threw for more than 200 yards.  Against the Eagles, Allen didn't even throw for 100 yards.  While Allen threw for 260+ yards against Cleveland, he played tentatively and failed, once again, to hit any downfield passes.  Moreover, the Fins are a very poor team despite their scrappiness.  If Allen can play as well against the next five games -- Broncos, Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots -- all teams with good or great defenses -- then we can say he's proving he's "that guy".  Given the lack of talent around him, though, it's more likely that we may be encouraged by his progress but not confident he's likely to be a franchise QB, so it will be imperative that the Bills significantly upgrade the offense around him, especially getting him a bonafide veteran WR1 whether they take a WR in the draft or not.

 

Are you taking into consideration the complete 2nd year player turn over on the offensive side of the football? 

 

This is not just Allen experiencing growing pains, its the whole O IMO.

 

I agree with you on needing an upgrade at WR.

Edited November 18, 2019 by Figster

[Sundancer]

7 minutes ago, SoTier said:

Yesterday was only the second game since the bye that Allen threw for more than 200 yards. 

 

It was his third of the 5 games since the break and against Washington, they didn't need him to throw much in the second half and so they didn't. 

 

Quote

Against the Eagles, Allen didn't even throw for 100 yards. 

 

Nope. 169. 

 

If you're going to use statistics, at least use them correctly. 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Sundancer

[H2o]

3 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

Your premise is false.  Nobody has claimed that Allen hasn't made progress.  Posters have been critical of Allen for the mistakes he's made.  Critics have questioned if he's made enough progress because he's going to be compared with guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Mahomes, Watson, etc. without excuses.

 

I suggest you go back and read this thread. 

[Mrbojanglezs]

It pisses me off the amount of "fans" basically rooting for him to fail.

 

We all knew that Allen was a raw prospect with high ceiling, coming from a no-name high school and a lowly college program in a bad conference. His learning curve is going to be wider and longer than a prospect like Darnold or Mayfield coming from high end college programs. 

 

So I am giving Allen 3 years personally, unless a dramatic dropoff. I am evaluating him on a YEARLY basis. Year one as a whole vs year two as a whole vs year three as a whole.

 

Evaluating him game by game is going to accomplish nothing except start fights.

 

Development is not linear.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

11 minutes ago, SoTier said:

Your premise is false.  Nobody has claimed that Allen hasn't made progress. 

......

Allen has not been "playing better and better", and claiming that he has is doing so is simply denying reality.

 

Huh.  Kinda reads to me like you're doing that very thing you're asserting nobody has claimed

Speaking of that "denying reality" thing, lemmee see here....

 

Quote

 Against the Eagles, Allen didn't even throw for 100 yards. 

 

 

Can we have a reality check on Aisle Tier please?

 

Just maybe, if Allen and the winning QB (whom you extoll for his MVP level of play and showing he's great) were within a few yards of each other for passing offense and net passing offense, there was some other factor at play, like the field conditions.

 

You're entitled to your opinions, but please fact check and rein in the over-the-top takes.

 

 

[GunnerBill]

30 minutes ago, Billsatlastin2018 said:

“I miss Sammy...  “

 

Even better, on my horse here yet again, is that Beane boy needs to have a criteria to start before the Draft.

 

Beanie... you’re the GM in snowy, blustery Buffalo dude- not Florida, not the a West Coast, not in a Dome!!!

 

The criteria?
MINIMUM 6-3”, preferably 6-4! And then calibrate how much better a slightly slower target in the snow, rain, wind & ice, these protypes would be, than the speedy Smurfs they constantly go after and are invisible to their QB.

 

When the weather outside is frightful in the Season’s back half, Allen needs yuuuge targets, ones where his accuracy is lessened, because all he has to do is throw the ball up to a Gronk or Whitten prototype.

 

How OBD fails to see this, over and over and over, is beyond me! 

 

No fan base in the league obsesses over a receiver's size more than the Bills fans.

[Figster]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

 

No fan base in the league obsesses over a receiver's size more than the Bills fans.

We dream about what it would be like If Josh Allen had Eric Moulds.

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

2 hours ago, Gugny said:

Quote

You’re such a hypocrite.   You completely dismissed this game Taylor had against Miami.  https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201612240buf.htm

 

I've always maintained that Tyrod Taylor had 3 good games during his pathetic tenure with the Bills.  Two against Miami and one against Seattle (in a loss).  So no hypocrisy, here.

 

LOL   These guys say they don't defend TT, yet here they are defending Tyrod.  

 

The game like so many others when TT threw the ball  more than 30 time the Bills lost

Twice the Bills had the ball in OT and Twice Tuhrod failed to get the Bills in good enough position to WIN 

[CodeMonkey]

11 minutes ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

It pisses me off the amount of "fans" basically rooting for him to fail.

 

We all knew that Allen was a raw prospect with high ceiling, coming from a no-name high school and a lowly college program in a bad conference. His learning curve is going to be wider and longer than a prospect like Darnold or Mayfield coming from high end college programs. 

 

So I am giving Allen 3 years personally, unless a dramatic dropoff. I am evaluating him on a YEARLY basis. Year one as a whole vs year two as a whole vs year three as a whole.

 

Evaluating him game by game is going to accomplish nothing except start fights.

 

Development is not linear.

All very valid points, and sensible.  However the Bills paid the price and moved up to take this "no-name high school and a lowly college program in a bad conference" player #7 overall.  So he is going to be scrutinized by the fan base.  Fortunately, what the fan base thinks means exactly squat, particularly to the Bills current head coach. 

 

Judging Allen game to game, as you say, doesn't make sense other than to hopefully see some sign of recognition of what he should be doing, and executing some of that ... which IMO he has shown so far this season.  However fans judging the Bills front office on this pick. which was a bit of a risk given Allens history, is going to happen ... and that's fair in my book. Again, fortunately for the Bills, that also means exactly squat

Edited November 18, 2019 by CodeMonkey

[SoTier]

6 minutes ago, Figster said:

Are you taking into consideration the complete 2nd year player turn over on the offensive side of the football? 

 

This is not just Allen experiencing growing pains, its the whole O IMO.

 

Allen has to show he's good by the end of this season irrespective of the quality of his teammates on the defense and irrespective of whether the team wins or loses.  Arizona is a crappy team, but Kyler Murray has been showing what he can do despite the Cards' shortcomings as a team.  Matthew Stafford has been a star for years despite the Lions' perpetual mediocrity.  The same with Kirk Cousins who starred in Washington despite the team around him -- and is now showing he's the real deal in Minnesota.

 

If Allen can't show that he's better than the team around him, then he's probably a Flacco or Dalton level QB who can win with the right support but isn't going to become the great QB Bills fans have been dreaming of.

 

 

3 minutes ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

It pisses me off the amount of "fans" basically rooting for him to fail.

 

We all knew that Allen was a raw prospect with high ceiling, coming from a no-name high school and a lowly college program in a bad conference. His learning curve is going to be wider and longer than a prospect like Darnold or Mayfield coming from high end college programs. 

 

So I am giving Allen 3 years personally, unless a dramatic dropoff. I am evaluating him on a YEARLY basis. Year one as a whole vs year two as a whole vs year three as a whole.

 

Evaluating him game by game is going to accomplish nothing except start fights.

 

Development is not linear.

 

Nobody is "rooting" for Allen to fail.  Those of us who are critical of Allen just don't blindly pretend that the emperor is wearing a wonderful suit of clothes when we can plainly see that he's strutting around in his boxers just because he's "our" emperor.

 

[dakrider]

20 minutes ago, SoTier said:

 

Your premise is false.  Nobody has claimed that Allen hasn't made progress.  Posters have been critical of Allen for the mistakes he's made.  Critics have questioned if he's made enough progress because he's going to be compared with guys like Brady, Brees, Rodgers, Mahomes, Watson, etc. without excuses.

 

 

Like all the Allen fanboys were MIA the last couple of weeks?

 

 

Bull manure.   QBs don't take multiple seasons to demonstrate that they're great.  Except for a few QBs in unique situations or who suffer injury (Brees, Smth, Rodgers, Stafford), good QBs show their stuff by the end of their second season as starters.  A QB's first two seasons as a starter is when he makes his biggest strides.  After that, his improvement is limited and mostly incremental and subtle even for the great ones.  No QB in the last two decades who has been a poor/mediocre QB for his first two years as a starter has suddenly turned into a great one in his third season.

 

These QBs all demonstrated their greatness early on.  Most were good as first year starters and improved even more as second year starters:

• Ben Roethlisberger took the Steelers to the playoffs as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Andrew Luck took the Colts to the playoffs every year he played most of the season, including his rookie season.
• Russell Wilson took the Seahawks to the NFC Championship game as a rookie and a Super Bowl win as a sophomore.
• Carson Wentz was the leading candidate for the 2017 MVP as a sophomore when he was injured.
• DeShaun Watson lit up the league as a rookie before an injury cut his season short, and led the Texans to the playoffs as a sophomore.
• Patrick Mahomes played 1 game as a rookie, and then won the league MVP with 50 TDs as a sophomore.
• Lamarr Jackson took the Ravens to the playoffs as a rookie, and this year he's a leading candidate for league MVP.

 

Allen has not been "playing better and better", and claiming that he has is doing so is simply denying reality.  Yesterday was only the second game since the bye that Allen threw for more than 200 yards.  Against the Eagles, Allen didn't even throw for 100 yards.  While Allen threw for 260+ yards against Cleveland, he played tentatively and failed, once again, to hit any downfield passes.  Moreover, the Fins are a very poor team despite their scrappiness.  If Allen can play as well against the next five games -- Broncos, Cowboys, Ravens, Steelers, and Patriots -- all teams with good or great defenses -- then we can say he's proving he's "that guy".  Given the lack of talent around him, though, it's more likely that we may be encouraged by his progress but not confident he's likely to be a franchise QB, so it will be imperative that the Bills significantly upgrade the offense around him, especially getting him a bonafide veteran WR1 whether they take a WR in the draft or not.

 

 

Thats just ignorant to say Allen has not been playing better.  Allen didn't have a bad game against Cleveland either and the Bills had their chances to win that game.  

Like the Browns game, Bills fans will get to see in these next 2 games what great receivers can do for the passing game.  

2 hours ago, r00tabaga said:

His 15 rushing TDs are the most by any QB the last 2 years. That includes LJax.

In 22 career games thats a lot.

38 TDs in 22 games (23 pass/15 rush).

 

Not as bad as everyone thinks....

 

Part of the reason imo that Allen has had to score rushing TD's is Bills can't count on their RB's to score those, and they don't have a receiver that will actively beat their defender on a jump ball in the endzone. 

[Dr. Who]

9 minutes ago, Mrbojanglezs said:

It pisses me off the amount of "fans" basically rooting for him to fail.

 

We all knew that Allen was a raw prospect with high ceiling, coming from a no-name high school and a lowly college program in a bad conference. His learning curve is going to be wider and longer than a prospect like Darnold or Mayfield coming from high end college programs. 

 

So I am giving Allen 3 years personally, unless a dramatic dropoff. I am evaluating him on a YEARLY basis. Year one as a whole vs year two as a whole vs year three as a whole.

 

Evaluating him game by game is going to accomplish nothing except start fights.

 

Development is not linear.

It's still an equivocal situation that could go either way, but some folks who are habitually a downer on Josh Allen are certainly more invested in being right than hoping to be proven wrong no matter what lip service they may give to the latter. I think nearly all who support Allen are not "irrational fan boys" which is a cheap, ignorant defamation. Most are aware that Allen needs to improve and show consistency, just as they are aware that Daboll is an uneven, perhaps below average OC and that the talent, while upgraded, is still lacking. Year three should be determinative. RIght now, I am happy to see progress, hope for consistency, and enjoy that we are mid-November and playoffs are still plausible, though not at all certain.