Josh Allen's Shoulder Harness

[Ray Stonada]

On 12/29/2020 at 2:10 PM, mjt328 said:

At this point, I think it's become 100% clear that our mid-season slump on offense was due to Josh Allen's shoulder injury.

 

Usually when a Quarterback is nursing an injury, it's one of the biggest news stories surrounding the team.  But the Bills coaching staff played this one very smart, and didn't talk about it at all.  They didn't want the opponent to get a competitive advantage.  Very smart.  In fact, I think most of us were unaware he was wearing some kind of brace/harness until a few games after him getting hurt in Las Vegas.

 

• In the games prior to the injury (Jets, Dolphins, Rams, Raiders), the Bills put up 27, 31, 35 and 30 points.
• During the weeks Allen was wearing the brace (Titans, Chiefs, Jets, Patriots), the Bills offense scored 16, 17, 18 and 24.
• Since losing the harness (starting against the Seahawks), the offense has been unstoppable, putting up 44, 30, 27, 34, 26, 48 and 38.

 

Simply put... the team the Titans and Chiefs beat earlier in the season is NOT the same one they would be facing today.

Not to mention, the Defense hasn't allowed 25 points since the Bye.

 

 

 

I agreed with this, OP, but after the playoffs it bears revisiting. Our offense averaged about 20 points in the three playoff games, and Josh didn't look that much better in the AFCCG than he did against the Chiefs in the regular season.

 

I still think the shoulder harness hurt him, but it seems fair to say he got a little tight against KC both times, too, missing checkdowns and playing with slightly less confidence than in other games.

 

 

 

[Charles Romes]

The kid went back into the Raiders game making it look to the opponent that nothing had happened, though the pain had to be excruciating. 

[Doc]

3 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

I agreed with this, OP, but after the playoffs it bears revisiting. Our offense averaged about 20 points in the three playoff games, and Josh didn't look that much better in the AFCCG than he did against the Chiefs in the regular season.

 

I still think the shoulder harness hurt him, but it seems fair to say he got a little tight against KC both times, too, missing checkdowns and playing with slightly less confidence than in other games.

 

Neither did the rest of the team.  In fact, the OL looked (and played) far worse. 

 

And the PPG was brought-down by the windy Ravens game.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Doc

[Nihilarian]

While the injury to the QB could account for that slump in numbers after the Raiders game. Week 5 Titans, 6 Chiefs, 7 Jets, 8 Patriots. 

 

What the heck happened in the playoffs? A close win over the Colts and yet the Colts won ToP and yardage 34:16 to 25:43, 472 yards to 397. Allen the leading rusher in this game with 11 carries. 

 

Against the Ravens it was the Buffalo defense that took charge and that pick six was a 14 point differential. The Bills offense only scored 10 points and again Buffalo lost ToP and yards by 35:33, 25:77. 340 yards to 220. 

 

38-24 drubbing by the Chiefs and the wheels came off. Buffalo even had a 9 point lead after the first quarter. The Buffalo defense fell on their face and so did part of the offense. Josh tried to carry the game being the leading rusher and passer 28 of 48 for 287, 2 TDs, 1 INT. 

 

The Chiefs showed all the flaws on this Buffalo team that need correcting. 

 

Great season, tough ending. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, Ray Stonada said:

I agreed with this, OP, but after the playoffs it bears revisiting. Our offense averaged about 20 points in the three playoff games, and Josh didn't look that much better in the AFCCG than he did against the Chiefs in the regular season.

 

I still think the shoulder harness hurt him, but it seems fair to say he got a little tight against KC both times, too, missing checkdowns and playing with slightly less confidence than in other games.

 

There's no question that in addition to just missing on some throws (which was likely the shoulder injury), Josh absolutely overlooked wide open checkdowns in the Tenn and the first KC game.  Brett Kollman did a film room piece "Josh Allen vs the World" where he spends a lot of time breaking down the first KC game (start 8 minutes in if this link doesn't take you to that time point).  He explains what the Bills offense "perfect play" seemed to be and how KC gameplanned to take that away. 

 

At about 11:20 Kollman starts showing examples of available checkdowns with so much green grass in front of them, they could plant a freakin' Christmas tree farm on the way to the 1st down marker or even the endzone. 

 

IMHO, part of the Bills problem was "Party Hat Syndrome".  The Bills played hard, fast, and physical in the Ravens game.  The KC DL is no better and maybe worse than the Ravens DL, but they were shoving our OL around.  Ditto the KC OL featured a lot of backups, but they were playing physical and shoving our DL around.  I think we were like "Whoo!  Exceeded expectations - going to the AFC Championship!" and not "OK, next team to mow over...."

 

 

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

There has to be a point where this team doesn't just settle for a seasonal accomplishment. In 2019 were they just content to make the playoffs? The next season we take a huge step and win the afce. Were we just content to reach the afccg?  We were conservative against the Texans after that lead and we were conservative against the Chiefs. The only expectations should be a Lombardi.