Josh Allen Performance Yesterday..a Redux

[Rich Stadium Original]

A lot of criticism of Allen's performance on this board last night and today, some of it warranted, but I think most of it unjustified.

Do I think he played a great game?..of course not. There were a couple of throws that probably should have been picked off, and I think the underthrow to Kincaid down the seam is the one I hated most.

 

But according to ESPN stats last night, he was pressured on 45% of his dropbacks yesterday..completely the opposite of the 1st 3 games..many of them free blitzes. Put another way, he is forced to to get rid of the ball earlier than he may want ON NEARLY EVERY OTHER THROW. Couple that with receivers that were just not getting open and its a recipe for 9 for 31.  

 

Even when the protection was adequate, you could see Allen go through all his progressions finding no one open, and sensing imminent pocket collapse, roll to his right hoping SOMEONE would break open, but it never happened.

 

So where do I put the blame? Starts with the coaching. Many of the same blitzes the Ravens used last week, and still weren't prepared.  Bad recognition at the line calling the protections?  

 

I'm not sure what the expectation was for Allen under those conditions. Force the throw to blanketed receivers and risk more interceptions? Play hero ball and take off running more frequently? Texas did have a spy on him most of the game. Even when Allen recognized the pressure and went to his hot read, Coleman wasn't on the same page and the throw nearly bounced off his facemask.

 

I think a lot of this can be corrected, but I can tell you until they do, I've got a feeling what the Jets game plan is going to be next week.

[Bangarang]

It's becoming evident that defenses do not respect our passing game and will simply settle with playing Cover 0 and sending pressure at Josh. We have shown no ability to adapt or beat it the last 2 weeks so get used to it.

[Warriorspikes51]

6 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

It's becoming evident that defenses do not respect our passing game and will simply settle with playing Cover 0 and sending pressure at Josh. We have shown no ability to adapt or beat it the last 2 weeks so get used to it.

 

this team is so inept at screens and hot routes.  The entire week of practice should be those 

[Matt_In_NH]

I think Josh likes to wait and see guys open rather than throw with anticipation.   When he was getting off his first read he was under pressure.  Furthermore the Texans were chasing him down quicker than we typically see.  I know people will say guys are not open.  And I know they took the short stuff away.   There has to be other options they were not planned to take advantage of.   It seems like they are putting more guys in the box.  You have to counter it and make them pay. 
 

Josh was bad at times yesterday.  The throw to Kincaid and then next play he was flustered. 

Edited October 7 by Matt_In_NH

[NoHuddleKelly12]

The dropsies also didn’t help—connect on even a couple of those deeper shots that bounced off the flailing WR’s, and today looks much different, I’m fairly certain! 

[Augie]

1 minute ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

 

this team is so inept at screens and hot routes.  The entire week of practice should be those 

 

I liked the tweet yesterday that the last time we properly executed a screen play Thurman scored a TD.  😂 

[Warriorspikes51]

Just now, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

The dropsies also didn’t help—connect on even a couple of those deeper shots that bounced off the flailing WR’s, and today looks much different, I’m fairly certain! 

 

Hollins catches either, we win the game.  

[Brand J]

Two problems: Josh isn’t trusting his protection and he isn’t fully comfortable with who he’s throwing to. He senses pressure even when it’s not there and is bailing from clean pockets - always to the right which reduces half the field. You see other QBs dance around in the pocket until someone shakes free, but Josh loves to head to that right sideline. The only way I can see a fix for this: in training camp, coach orders Josh to stay in the pocket, manipulate it if need be, because the defense will be allowed to bring him down. That won’t ever happen, so maybe there’s no fix. He’s what, 7 years into his career, so he’ll keep escaping to his right whether the pocket is clean or not. 

[Alphadawg7]

33 minutes ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

A lot of criticism of Allen's performance on this board last night and today, some of it warranted, but I think most of it unjustified.

Do I think he played a great game?..of course not. There were a couple of throws that probably should have been picked off, and I think the underthrow to Kincaid down the seam is the one I hated most.

 

But according to ESPN stats last night, he was pressured on 45% of his dropbacks yesterday..completely the opposite of the 1st 3 games..many of them free blitzes. Put another way, he is forced to to get rid of the ball earlier than he may want ON NEARLY EVERY OTHER THROW. Couple that with receivers that were just not getting open and its a recipe for 9 for 31.  

 

Even when the protection was adequate, you could see Allen go through all his progressions finding no one open, and sensing imminent pocket collapse, roll to his right hoping SOMEONE would break open, but it never happened.

 

So where do I put the blame? Starts with the coaching. Many of the same blitzes the Ravens used last week, and still weren't prepared.  Bad recognition at the line calling the protections?  

 

I'm not sure what the expectation was for Allen under those conditions. Force the throw to blanketed receivers and risk more interceptions? Play hero ball and take off running more frequently? Texas did have a spy on him most of the game. Even when Allen recognized the pressure and went to his hot read, Coleman wasn't on the same page and the throw nearly bounced off his facemask.

 

I think a lot of this can be corrected, but I can tell you until they do, I've got a feeling what the Jets game plan is going to be next week.

Josh was the worst player on the field for this offense yesterday.

 

Look at the final drive that cost us the game.  2nd and ten from our own end zone and he has Coleman and Kincaid each for a guaranteed 5+ yards giving us a more manageable 3rd down and not from inside our own end zone.  Which also gives us more room to punt and pin them back further if we don’t convert. 
 

Josh throws up a prayer to none other than a blanketed Mack Hollins.  WTF is he thinking.  This is as stupid as the decision to even throw all 3 downs by our coaches.  

 

Earlier he had a wide open Hollins on a post for a TD and he locks on to Coleman who isn’t open and throws it out of the end zone instead.  
 

Allen was absolutely terrible yesterday and I love Allen, but we have to all remove our bias and homer caps and be honest about his play yesterday.  I can’t think of a game he was worse since maybe his first game as a rookie.  

[Big Turk]

37 minutes ago, Bangarang said:

It's becoming evident that defenses do not respect our passing game and will simply settle with playing Cover 0 and sending pressure at Josh. We have shown no ability to adapt or beat it the last 2 weeks so get used to it.

 

Where are the screens to slow down the pressure?  That's how you force them to stop...invite the blitz then throw a screen right behind it for huge gains

[Kirby Jackson]

32 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I think Josh likes to wait and see guys open rather than throw with anticipation.   When he was getting off his first read he was under pressure.  Furthermore the Texans were chasing him down quicker than we typically see.  I know people will say guys are not open.  And I know they took the short stuff away.   There has to be other options they were not planned to take advantage of.   It seems like they are putting more guys in the box.  You have to counter it and make them pay. 
 

Josh was bad at times yesterday.  The throw to Kincaid and then next play he was flustered. 

In a lot of ways this is the conversation. Is the talent so bad, that regardless of how good or bad the plan is, it does not matter? That’s where I leaned when things were good and am further emblodened in that position now. Even if they wanted to “do something differently” they don’t have the guys to get it done. The pass catchers are next level bad. Josh is going to have extra pressure from here on out. 

7 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Josh was the worst player on the field for this offense yesterday.

 

Look at the final drive that cost us the game.  2nd and ten from our own end zone and he has Coleman and Kincaid each for a guaranteed 5+ yards giving us a more manageable 3rd down and not from inside our own end zone.  Which also gives us more room to punt and pin them back further if we don’t convert. 
 

Josh throws up a prayer to none other than a blanketed Mack Hollins.  WTF is he thinking.  This is as stupid as the decision to even throw all 3 downs by our coaches.  

 

Earlier he had a wide open Hollins on a post for a TD and he locks on to Coleman who isn’t open and throws it out of the end zone instead.  
 

Allen was absolutely terrible yesterday and I love Allen, but we have to all remove our bias and homer caps and be honest about his play yesterday.  I can’t think of a game he was worse since maybe his first game as a rookie.  

No he wasn’t. Mack Hollins was WAY worse. Josh wasn’t good yesterday. Mack Hollins couldn’t have played for ECC yesterday.

[BuffaloBillies]

34 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

 

Hollins catches either, we win the game.  

 

Hollins reminds me of a little-leaguer trying to catch a fly ball... running 10 steps with his arms already extended, instead of sprinting to the spot and THEN extend the arms.

[GoBills808]

2 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

In a lot of ways this is the conversation. Is the talent so bad, that regardless of how good or bad the plan is, it does not matter? That’s where I leaned when things were good and am further emblodened in that position now. Even if they wanted to “do something differently” they don’t have the guys to get it done. The pass catchers are next level bad. Josh is going to have extra pressure from here on out. 

No he wasn’t. Mack Hollins was WAY worse. Josh wasn’t good yesterday. Mack Hollins couldn’t have played for ECC yesterday.

w out game tape i think spencer brown was the worst player on offense tbh

[Sweats]

Our run game seemed to be working, so we could have stuck with that until passing plays became available.......you know, use the run to set up the pass.

 

But what do i know?

[Kirby Jackson]

3 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

w out game tape i think spencer brown was the worst player on offense tbh

He was bad. Killer penalties. The guards weren’t good. Josh was bad. Brady was bad. Mack Hollins was the worst player. I could see everything from up by the moon. It was incredible to watch. The All 22 will be something to behold.

Edited October 7 by Kirby Jackson

[Brand J]

Maybe Josh started the game already concussed from the hit he took a couple seasons ago in Green Bay? In all seriousness, I don’t know what it is, but he always comes out every September and lights it up, followed by a half a season of malaise, culminating in everything coming together once the playoffs are in picture. It’s the same pattern every year since he became a starter. What does it mean? Why is his focus gone? Why are we chalking up mind numbing play to concussions, or constantly making excuses for why his trajectory trends in a U shape? Why can’t he be an efficient robot like Tom Brady? 😂

[Success]

Drops, more pressure, guys not getting open - I really don't put too much of this on Josh. I wouldn't even call it a bad game for him.  He ran really well too.

 

The few angles I've seen of the whole field on some plays, it's stunning how covered our receivers are.  We don't have guys who are great at separation - but Brady can scheme some of that, and hasn't seemed to crack the code on that one.

 

[Alphadawg7]

9 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

In a lot of ways this is the conversation. Is the talent so bad, that regardless of how good or bad the plan is, it does not matter? That’s where I leaned when things were good and am further emblodened in that position now. Even if they wanted to “do something differently” they don’t have the guys to get it done. The pass catchers are next level bad. Josh is going to have extra pressure from here on out. 

No he wasn’t. Mack Hollins was WAY worse. Josh wasn’t good yesterday. Mack Hollins couldn’t have played for ECC yesterday.

Mack was involved in a few plays.  Allen affected the whole game.  You have it out for Mack, I said remove your bias.  Both could be bad and on the same day.  Allen is the reason we lost yesterday and it’s not close or debatable.

 

We still had a chance to win thanks to 3 major plays by our Defense and an incredible play by Coleman to give Allen his only TD that was all Coleman.  
 

Allen missed guys all day, had multiple near turnovers, held the ball too long several times, made poor decisions the entire game.  
 

Not sure anyone loves Allen more than me, but truth is truth.  And holding Allen accountable does not erase other people’s mistakes, including the coaches.  It is being brutally honest about assessing Allen’s personal game yesterday.

 

 

 

Edited October 7 by Alphadawg7

[Kirby Jackson]

2 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Mack was involved in a few plays.  Allen affected the whole game.  You have it out for Mack, I said remove your bias.  Both could be bad and on the same day.  Allen is the reason we lost yesterday and it’s not close or debatable.

 

We still had a chance to win thanks to 3 major plays by our Defense and an incredible play by Coleman to give Allen his only TD that was all Coleman.  
 

Allen missed guys all day, had multiple near turnovers, held the ball too long several times, made poor decisions the entire game.  
 

Not sure anyone loves Allen more than me, but truth is truth.  And holding Allen accountable does not erase other people’s mistakes, including the coaches.  It is being brutally honest about assessing Allen’s personal game yesterday.

 

 

 

I sat up top and watched every route that he ran. Watch the all 22, with an open mind, and come back with a review of his game. It’s incredible. 
 

I am sorry that you believed in that scrub and that room in general. My bias was just a sad reality. I thought that the guy was horrendous and it turns out he’s worse than I could have imagined. I’m willing to wager whatever that Mack Hollins will never see 6 targets in a game again (barring injuries). He played himself out of the rotation yesterday. He has 12 targets over the last 2 weeks. He has 3 catches for 32 yards!! If you throw the ball towards Mack, plan on 2.67 yards.
 

To be clear, Josh was bad today. What everyone will see when they go back through the game, they just sent pressure and NO ONE was open. This was not a good game for Josh but there were multiple guys worse than him yesterday. 

[Einstein]

56 minutes ago, Matt_In_NH said:

I think Josh likes to wait and see guys open rather than throw with anticipation.   When he was getting off his first read he was under pressure.  Furthermore the Texans were chasing him down quicker than we typically see.  I know people will say guys are not open.  And I know they took the short stuff away.   There has to be other options they were not planned to take advantage of.   It seems like they are putting more guys in the box.  You have to counter it and make them pay. 
 

Josh was bad at times yesterday.  The throw to Kincaid and then next play he was flustered. 

 

This is an insane take in my opinion.

There is not a QB in the NFL who throws into tighter windows and makes covered guys open more than Josh Allen.

12 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Allen is the reason we lost yesterday and it’s not close or debatable.

 

What… the… literal… bleep.

 

I can not begin to understand the mental

leaps one must make to think that the QB running for his life the entirety of the game and watching as his receivers dropped 5 passes, as well as a TD pass, was the problem.