We have a backup QB problem

[Albany,n.y.]

3 hours ago, T.E. said:

Foles was a backup for Vick when he had that great year in 2013. Vick was previously brought in to backup Kevin Kolb. Tony Romo, Dak Prescott, Ryan Tannehill with Tennessee, Doug Flutie with the Bills, Brett Favre with Green Bay...all backups before they started. We don't try to draft or develop anyone for that position. 

When you're in a playoff team mode with a franchise QB in his 20s, there is no need to keep a developmental QB on the roster when you only carry 2 QBs. You want a veteran with starting experience, not some inexperienced novice with no chance of winning any games.  That's the Bills model ever since Josh attained franchise QB status & will probably stay that way until Josh gets closer to the end of his career.  

Brett Favre started 13 games in his 1st season in GB.  He was a backup his rookie year in Atlanta & was quickly traded to GB in the offseason between his rookie & sophomore seasons. GB gave up a #1 pick to get Favre. Their plan was never for him to be a backup very long & he was a starter a month into the season. 

[Blackbeard]

4 hours ago, T.E. said:

Deshaun Watson went out in November last year, and Cleveland finished with a better record than the Bills did because they had a solid backup. 

Exactly my point. Backup matters 

[Chuck Schick]

5 hours ago, T.E. said:

Deshaun Watson went out in November last year, and Cleveland finished with a better record than the Bills did because they had a solid backup. 

They started the season, and ultimately started, 2 crappy back-ups before stumbling into Joe Flacco’s miraculous resurgence. 

[Cash]

4 hours ago, Logic said:

This.

If Allen misses a quarter of the season, we want to be able to stay afloat.

If Allen misses the WHOLE season? Yeah. We're cooked.

My favorite football quote of all time is Colts QB coach being asked why Peyton Manning's backup doesn't get more reps. His response? "If 18 goes down, we're *****, and we don't practice *****".

That quote notwithstanding...we need a guy who can keep our season alive for a few games. Anything beyond a few games and we might as well start talking draft prospects.

That’s also my favorite NFL quote of all time. Do you happen to remember where you heard/read it? I think I first heard of it on the old KSK blog, but I’m not sure. 

[Mikie2times]

5 hours ago, msw2112 said:

I think all can agree that if Allen goes down early in the season with a season-ending injury, then the season is effectively over.  Even if we had a guy like Tannehill, who has started and won a lot of games in the NFL, he's not good enough to overcome the loss of Allen and win a Super Bowl against the league's best.  Could Tannehill get the team to a wild-card berth?  Sure.  Is he going to beat the top teams in the later rounds of the playoffs?  No.

 

That said, if the Bills are 6-2 and Allen goes down for a month, Trubisky could potentially go 2-3 or 1-4 over 5 weeks.  If he went 1-4, the Bills would then be 7-6 (my math isn't the best, but I think I've got this) with Allen returning for the remaining 4 games and the playoffs.  The Bills would still have a good chance for success.

 

And who knows, maybe Brady gets the running game humming.  And Von Miller returns to half of his old self.  Smoot and Solomon put some pressure on the QB.  The new safeties are more athletic than Poyer and Hyde and do well in McDermott's system.  Dorian Williams figures it out and plays well (or Andreessen plays like he did in the Pittsburgh preseason game).  It's a lot, but if all of these things happen - a great running game and a solid defense - why couldn't a backup QB, even Trubisky, go 3-2 or 4-1 over a stretch of the season, winning games 14-10 or 17-16?  The punter would be busy, but the Bills have had huge margins of victory with Allen under center.  With Trubisky or another backup, that's not going to happen, but it's possible to win games other ways.  We do, of course, have a "defensive-minded" head coach.

I think you had it right with that first sentence. If Allen, with this team, can't beat the top teams in the later rounds a back up of any caliber sure won't either. The only way I see this hurting us is if we lose Josh for like 5 weeks. We need to figure out how we can go 2-3 if that happens which we likely can with Sean being a guy that seems to raise the floor a bit.  

[Jimmy Harris 69]

An awful lot will depend upon the Bills overall situation should Josh Allen be injured; what their record is, how many games are left.   If the season were seven games old or less and If Mitch Trubisky played badly,  Beane  wouldn’t sit on his hands. There are other quarterbacks who could be obtained. CJ Beathard is on the street, and there are others. But Beane is not going to go out and make a deal now, he has money invested in Trubisky.  Do I wish Mitch looked better, for sure.  I’m not going to wring my hands over the wreckage of the future——not while Josh Allen is healthy. 

[Logic]

11 hours ago, Cash said:

That’s also my favorite NFL quote of all time. Do you happen to remember where you heard/read it? I think I first heard of it on the old KSK blog, but I’m not sure. 

It's from Ron Jaworski's (excellent) book: "The Games That Changed the Game".

Here's the actual excerpt:

"As we watched, we were surprised to see Manning taking virtually all the reps in the session.  Jon [Gruden] asked Tom [Moore, the Colts offensive coordinator,] why he wasn’t giving some snaps to Peyton’s backups…He looked at us both in the eye, paused for a moment, then said in that gravelly voice of his, “Fellas, if ‘18’ goes down, we’re *****.  And we don’t practice *****.”

[boyst]

Not as much as the Dolphins!

 

I'm putting money that Tannehill goes back to Miami

[Einstein]

11 minutes ago, boyst said:

Not as much as the Dolphins!

 

I'm putting money that Tannehill goes back to Miami

 

That would be unfortunate. In many ways he is better than Tua.

[BillsWest]

Should the Bills call up Mike White and let Trubisky go, or let White be snagged by the Dolphins.

[boyst]

31 minutes ago, BillsWest said:

Should the Bills call up Mike White and let Trubisky go, or let White be snagged by the Dolphins.

That is a great question 

 

This thread puts in perspective what's going on in the nfl.  If you're a team like Cincinnati or Miami and you have a piece of glass at quarterback you need a good backup. We're lucky to have Mr Thursday night, Mr iron Man, a total beast at quarterback. We don't need a backup that often 

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

1 hour ago, boyst said:

That is a great question 

 

This thread puts in perspective what's going on in the nfl.  If you're a team like Cincinnati or Miami and you have a piece of glass at quarterback you need a good backup. We're lucky to have Mr Thursday night, Mr iron Man, a total beast at quarterback. We don't need a backup that often 

In a perfect world we need our backup QB every single game, for about 3 minutes at the end. 😁

[BuffaloRebound]

I’m not sure we could beat Carolina if Trubisky had to start.  Green Bay beats a not awful Colts team with a mobile backup QB thrown to the curb by the Titans.  A backup QB who can use his legs actually gives you a chance to win a few games when your starter is out.  

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

25 minutes ago, BuffaloRebound said:

I’m not sure we could beat Carolina if Trubisky had to start.  Green Bay beats a not awful Colts team with a mobile backup QB thrown to the curb by the Titans.  A backup QB who can use his legs actually gives you a chance to win a few games when your starter is out.  

 

He sure beat them... with the 3 takeaways and forcing indy to 2-9 on 3rd downs.  

 

Every game is different.  But holding a team to 3 points through 58 minutes is a pretty big recipe to win with any QB.  

On 9/13/2024 at 7:11 AM, boyst said:

That is a great question 

 

This thread puts in perspective what's going on in the nfl.  If you're a team like Cincinnati or Miami and you have a piece of glass at quarterback you need a good backup. We're lucky to have Mr Thursday night, Mr iron Man, a total beast at quarterback. We don't need a backup that often 

 

Yeah, i think most teams are pretty screwed without their QB.  If your backup and PS guys can help with film study, and scout team preparation for the defense?  That's pretty much ideal.  

 

Anyone can win with a backup QB, just takes some stuff going right.  Playing with a lead helps.  Good defense is probably the biggest key - creating turnovers usually gives you some plus down and distances.  But the coordinator also needs to call a good game.