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Posted
32 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

King has his pluses and minuses, as we all do.  But he is a good writer, tells a good story, gets his facts right, and gets good material from others, like the stuff from Romo about Josh.  

 

What gripes me, and this is just personal, is that so many people are talking about this big jump Allen has made and how all the off-season work transformed him.   I think that's a false narrative.  Like Romo said, he didn't tell Allen much of anything at all.  And like Palmer said, they just worked on a little things.  

 

What gripes is that people write like what's happening to Allen is some great surprise.   It was perfectly obvious that Allen was on his way to near the top 10 of the passer list - not obvious that he'd be a premier QB, and he hasn't shown that yet - but obvious that he was not going to stay mired around #20 or worse.  Why was it obvious:  (1) physical talent, (2) work ethic, (3) brains, and (4) leadership.   That all was on display his rookie season.  Before the end of the rookie season it was clear that McDermott and Beane had identified in Allen all of the necessary ingredients to success before they drafted him.  They said it the night they  drafted him, and we all could see it his rookie season.  

 

Now, everyone's saying how great he is and talking about what a big jump he's made, when what that really means is that they didn't see in Allen what has been there to see for two years, so it feels like a surprise to them.  What it really means is that their analysis of who's good is based on stats and wins and nothing much else.  People who were watching and thinking, like Chris Simms, saw it earlier.  

 

The most interesting comment I've seen about Allen was in some column someone posted last week where the writer said that the league is waking up to the fact that Josh Allen can do things on a football field that no one else can.   He's a talent on a whole different level.  I hadn't thought about it that way, but I think yesterday's game showed it.  That play he got called for the face mask?  He's a monster.  What other QB in the league stands up to an assault like that (completely legal assault) and fights back like that?  He was getting chased and knocked around back there on a lot of plays, and he stayed upright longer than any QB has a right to expect.  That quality makes him different - BIg Ben was like that, but Allen is better than Ben was in terms of just being too big and tough to handle.

 

But what's really special about Allen, what makes him unique, is his arm strength, and I do think that this is where the tinkering with his mechanics has helped.   Allen's arm strength is so great that he threw the ball any way he wanted and it pretty much always got to where he wanted it to go, but he didn't have the accuracy he wanted.  What seems to have happened is that he's focused on getting his body positioned so that he can get good hip and shoulder rotation.   He doesn't really need the rotation, he's so strong, and on several throws yesterday you could see that if he got to the right position, he didn't rotate a lot, but having that mechanical discipline gets his arm to the right place, and his accuracy has improved.  What we're seeing now is that Allen can identify a crosser 18-20 yards down field and almost instantly release a dart with accuracy, because he doesn't need a full throwing motion to do it.  Guys like Rodgers and Mahomes have a quick release and a decent arm, so they make some similar throws, but Allen now can release the ball just as quickly and throw it with clearly more pace.   And those deep crossers to the sideline, like the throw to Davis yesterday (yes, it could have been a better throw, but it was darn good), by getting his hips and shoulders even partially set Allen now can just flip the ball down there, give it plenty of air and drop into tight windows.  

 

There simply isn't a QB in the league who can match him physically.  As I said, Ben earlier in his career.  Vick wasn't as strong but was a better pure runner, and he had an arm nearly as good as Allen's.  Point is, athletically, Allen is a rare talent.  What's happening, what's been happening now for three seasons, is that Allen's other characteristics - his brains, his work ethic and his leadership skills, are driving his performance.   So we see glimpses for a half of what is going to become more and more regular - a QB who just slices and dices defenses.  A QB who has every answer in his head and who has a body that can deliver.  

 

I've said all along that he's likely to really hit his stride around his fifth season - that's when he'll really be processing the game in his head, when he'll see much more than he's seeing now, when he'll be running into trouble less, seeing the best target more often.    

 

We're just seeing the beginning of Allen's greatness.  

This 100 percent, very well put!!!

Posted
16 minutes ago, Gene1973 said:

I mean, as Bills fans, we're just going to have to live with the fact most NFL fans will see that the refs gave the Bills the win with that call. We'd feel the same way if our team lost like that...

That's true.  

 

But I thought the analysis the broadcast expert - some retired ref, was on the money.  The corner engaged Davis within the first five yards and Davis just kept running his route.  In that situation, it's the corner's job to disengage before five yards or it's an illegal contact penalty.   It's a continuing penalty until he does disengage, and if the ball is in the air before he disengages, it turns into pass interference.   That's how they call it.  When you understand that, you can see that the call was clearly correct.  If the corner had backed off at five yards, Davis would have been able to make his cut properly and it would have been a touchdown.  

 

What was so good about Davis's play was that he just kept running his route hard.   The corner couldn't back pedal fast enough to disengage - what the corner had to was move out of the way, giving Davis either the inside or the outside.  It sucks for defensive backs, but that's effectively what the rule require.  If you imagine the corner giving Davis the inside, it's easy to see the touchdown.  If you imagine him giving Davis the outside, then when Davis cut for the ball he would have run right into the defender and it would have been pass interference.  The only way the defender possibly could have defended it was to guess the ball ws going inside and break ahead of Davis, so he became a receiver with inside position.  But that would have been purely guessing, because the route could have been, maybe was, and option route.  So if the defender had disengage early and guessed inside, Davis cuts out and catches an easy throw from Josh.   

 

Davis made it all possible by running the route hard.  

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Posted
2 hours ago, BuffaninSarasota said:

PK mentions the "ticky-tack" PI call on the 4th down.....but fails to mention the blown INT call on the Kroft play. 

 

Both were controversial.  But only one decided the game (almost unequivocally--Josh stil had to make the Kroft throw)...

Posted
11 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Both were controversial.  But only one decided the game (almost unequivocally--Josh stil had to make the Kroft throw)...


The INT changed momentum and the offenses went into a shell afterwards. And while they may have been controversial considering their magnitude, the INT call was wrong and the PI call was right. 

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Posted
1 hour ago, Gene1973 said:

I mean, as Bills fans, we're just going to have to live with the fact most NFL fans will see that the refs gave the Bills the win with that call. We'd feel the same way if our team lost like that...

How many times has NE been given a game that very same way?  Good teams get calls.  We are a good team.

Posted
7 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

But Peter King hates the Bills? The whole media does. Nobody gives us our dues godammit. 

 

I have prepared for this all week long. My pitchfork has had a thorough polishing. 

That’s NOT a pitchfork???

🤓

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Posted

Josh Allen has the grit and determination of a Tom Brady and the playmaking ability of a Cam Newton. Dude is a straight freak. Always beating my expectations

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Posted
1 minute ago, Gigs said:

Josh Allen has the grit and determination of a Tom Brady and the playmaking ability of a Cam Newton. Dude is a straight freak. Always beating my expectations

 

The hype is real.  I was cautiously optimistic heading into this year... Started believing after 2 games, but quantified that with "well... Jets/Fins", but after this Rams game.... We have a Top 5 QB in Buffalo.  The talent has always been elite x 100, and now he's figuring it all out... as you said, "he's a straight freak".

Posted
2 hours ago, Gene1973 said:

It's also true it was the Bills' fault for allowing the momentum to get so out of hand. The big lead got to their head a bit I think.


True. Just saying that the correct call on the INT could have swung momentum back and decided the game. 

Posted
2 hours ago, Doc said:

The INT changed momentum and the offenses went into a shell afterwards. 

 

The Bills didn't have to give up 29 unanswered points after that INT.    Momentum shifts with 20 minutes to play aren't permanent...

Posted
10 hours ago, CorkScrewHill said:

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/09/28/josh-allen-buffalo-bills-nfl-week-3-fmia-peter-king/
 

Some nice tidbits re how Josh is happy they won but pissed that they squandered the big lead and break down of some key plays.

 

not a Peter King fan myself but it is a good read

 

Great find, thanks for putting it up.  Love it!  Fair take I think and good read.

 

22 minutes ago, Doc said:


True. Just saying that the correct call on the INT could have swung momentum back and decided the game. 

 

I really agree with that.  Some people point out if the INT were ruled a completed pass, then the OPI penalty would have stood and it would have been 1st and 28 instead of 1st and 18.  But the Bills were killing it on long yardage all day, nibbling that first and 28 down to 2nd and 20, 3rd and 10 etc or even just converting the long yardage.

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Posted
20 minutes ago, Lurker said:

The Bills didn't have to give up 29 unanswered points after that INT.    Momentum shifts with 20 minutes to play aren't permanent...

 

They didn't, but having just given up a pretty long TD drive, being back on the field after 30 seconds then back again after a 3-and-out kind of gassed them I think.

 

They might need to up their conditioning level.  As I recall, that was a point of pride for the Kelly-era Bills that the offense scored so fast (or else went out so fast) that the Defense had to be in fantastic condition.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

They didn't, but having just given up a pretty long TD drive, being back on the field after 30 seconds then back again after a 3-and-out kind of gassed them I think.

 

They might need to up their conditioning level.  As I recall, that was a point of pride for the Kelly-era Bills that the offense scored so fast (or else went out so fast) that the Defense had to be in fantastic condition.

 

With the limits on training camp this year, conditioning is indeed a factor.   Especially in-season, when they really only "practice" on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

 

That said, giving up 29 unanswered points in 20 minutes to ANY NFL team is not just conditioning or momentum, IMO...

Posted
On 9/28/2020 at 5:12 AM, unbillievable said:

The best thing I read today was a fans' amazement at watching Allen grab a defender by the facemask and use him as a human shield against another defender. 😄

 

 

They really should have showed that on Bermans fastest 3 minutes.  Badassery at its finest.

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Posted
On 9/28/2020 at 10:02 AM, Shaw66 said:

But I thought the analysis the broadcast expert - some retired ref was on the money.  The corner engaged Davis within the first five yards and Davis just kept running his route.  In that situation, it's the corner's job to disengage before five yards or it's an illegal contact penalty.   It's a continuing penalty until he does disengage, and if the ball is in the air before he disengages, it turns into pass interference.   That's how they call it.  When you understand that, you can see that the call was clearly correct.  If the corner had backed off at five yards, Davis would have been able to make his cut properly and it would have been a touchdown.  

 

What was so good about Davis's play was that he just kept running his route hard.   The corner couldn't back pedal fast enough to disengage - what the corner had to was move out of the way, giving Davis either the inside or the outside.  It sucks for defensive backs, but that's effectively what the rule require.  If you imagine the corner giving Davis the inside, it's easy to see the touchdown.  If you imagine him giving Davis the outside, then when Davis cut for the ball he would have run right into the defender and it would have been pass interference.  The only way the defender possibly could have defended it was to guess the ball ws going inside and break ahead of Davis, so he became a receiver with inside position.  But that would have been purely guessing, because the route could have been, maybe was, and option route.  So if the defender had disengage early and guessed inside, Davis cuts out and catches an easy throw from Josh.   

 

Davis made it all possible by running the route hard.  

 

"Some retired ref" is Mike Pereira.  Here's a line from his resume:

"In 1998, Pereira was promoted to NFL supervisor of officiating. In 2001 Pereira became Director of Officiating for the NFL, succeeding Jerry Seeman, and then was promoted to Vice President of Officiating in 2004. Pereira retired from the NFL after the 2009 season"

 

I know we don't necessarily think well of NFL's NY office, but referring to Mike Pereira as "Some retired ref" is somewhat akin to referencing Peyton Manning as "Some retired QB".

 

The assessment of the penalty is correct according to rule.  The only legit "beef" is that we see that kind of contact continue after 5 yards on a regular basis, without penalty, just as we see WR and TE push off on a regular basis without penalty and "blindside blocks" (that aren't blindside) called without penalty.

 

The Rams were the recipients of several highly questionable calls that had significant game impact including the OPI and the INT on the Tyler Kroft pass, leading to potentially different outcome at that point in the 4th Q.  Not to mention the NO NFC Championship and the call in the Cowboys season opener.  They can beef about a ticky tack or bad call, but they have no grounds to their beef IMHO (see what I did there?)

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