The Thousand-yard stare

[billsgpr88]

Whether or not Bills fans agree with its implications, we’re all familiar with the image: Josh Allen on the sidlines, eyes glazed, staring into the distance. I recall seeing it in the horrendous Jaguars game a few years back (in Jacksonville iirc, not the one in England), in his first playoff game against the Texans, and now in back to back playoff games against the Chiefs. It doesn’t happen often, but it always seems to foreshadow a Bills loss. 
 

I love watching Josh Allen play; having watched nearly every game during the drought, I could never say enough about how he has uplifted the organization and the community. I’d argue he means as much or more to Buffalo than any athlete does to their respective team in American sports. He’s the most important individual in the building, and it’s not even close. The issue is, he knows it. He knows about the superbowl losses and the drought, and how desperately Buffalo wants one, just one, Super Bowl victory. And I believe this is what weighs on his shoulders every time I see that absent-minded stare from the sideline. 

I’ll always root for Josh; he’s almost beyond criticism, knowing how much he does to win, what he’s already accomplished in his career, and especially for being a genuinely great person and leader. But, when I see that stare, I immediately get the sense that the game is over. We can point to specific plays, bad calls by the refs, poor coaching, or simply talent, but Josh is the unquestioned leader of the team, even more than McDermott, and I think when his teammates see that from Josh, they feel it, and their confidence is drained from it. And the worst part is that it keeps happening against the chiefs in the playoffs, and with each year the pressure is amplified. Although he played pretty well overall against the chiefs, he didn’t display that heroic, game-dominating mentality that was on display against the chiefs in the regular season game. As much as I hate to admit, I felt the Bills would lose last Sunday as early as the first quarter, though I didn’t initially realize why. Now looking back, I am convinced it is the thousand-yard stare that reveals how overwhelming the pressure is to be the savior of the Buffalo Bills.

Edited 5 hours ago by billsgpr88

[Einstein]

What the crap is happening on this board?

 

Outside of the first drive, Allen was great! He was 68% passing, had ~270 yards, 2 TD’s and 0 turnovers.

 

His two TD passes were absolute dimes.

 

The only thousand yard stare he had was at the very end of the game when the Chiefs ran out the clock.

 

If you need someone to blame, look no further than Joe Brady. His tendencies were so obvious that the Chiefs knew what plays we were running before we ran them. 

[thenorthremembers]

6 minutes ago, Einstein said:

What the crap is happening on this board?

 

Outside of the first drive, Allen was great! He was 68% passing, had ~270 yards, 2 TD’s and 0 turnovers.

 

His two TD passes were absolute dimes.

 

The only thousand yard stare he had was at the very end of the game when the Chiefs ran out the clock.

 

If you need someone to blame, look no further than Joe Brady. His tendencies were so obvious that the Chiefs knew what plays we were running before we ran them. 

 

Stats dont always tell the entire story.   He had a fine game but it wasnt great.   The fumbled snap put them behind schedule for a first down.  He failed to recognize where the blitz was coming from on the last play of the game.   While the center makes the line call, the Quarterback needs to recognize where the blitz is coming from to put the lineman in the right position to make that call. 

 

Josh is an absolute dog and a likely future hall of famer but part of the loss is certainly on him.  

Edited 5 hours ago by thenorthremembers

[78thealltimegreat]

Jeremy White on WGR was even talking about this today. It even seemed like Beane and McDermott were kinda saying well Josh should have done more.       Almost like those that remember him with the Sabres saying well we can’t score enough goals so we just need Dominick Hasek to make a few more saves. 
 People have been so spoiled by his greatness that even the front office expects to him to be amazing every week and I’m sure it wears on him. 

Edited 4 hours ago by 78thealltimegreat

[Einstein]

23 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

 

Stats dont always tell the entire story.   He had a fine game but it wasnt great.   The fumbled snap put them behind schedule for a first down.  He failed to recognize where the blitz was coming from on the last play of the game.   While the center makes the line call, the Quarterback needs to recognize where the blitz is coming from to put the lineman in the right position to make that call. 

 

explain to the forum how Allen was supposed to know where that blitz was coming from? Despite multiple NFL players telling you that it was an impossible task, some fans continue to think that Allen should’ve been able to read the mind of the defense and then adjust the line. 

 

as has been explained multiple times, by the Bills and others, the entire game the Chiefs defense was showing that look, and then coming from the left side. If Allen had adjusted right, it would just have been a complete and utter GUESS on his part.

 

And if the Chiefs had done what they had done all game, then everyone would’ve been blaming Allen for suddenly shifting right when he had no reason to do so. 

 

and as Ryan Fitzpatrick said, it doesn’t matter if he shifted right left upside or down, the blitz the chief sent was “impossible” (his word) to block with five linemen.

 

Edited 4 hours ago by Einstein

[BuffaloBillyG]

18 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

explain to the forum how Allen was supposed to know where that blitz was coming from? Despite multiple NFL players telling you that it was an impossible task, some fans continue to think that Allen should’ve been able to read the mind of the defense and then adjust the line. 

 

as has been explained multiple times, by the Bills and others, the entire game the Chiefs defense was showing that look, and then coming from the left side. If Allen had adjusted right, it would just have been a complete and utter GUESS on his part.

 

And if the Chiefs had done what they had done all game, then everyone would’ve been blaming Allen for suddenly shifting right when he had no reason to do so. 

 

and as Ryan Fitzpatrick said, it doesn’t matter if he shifted right left upside or down, the blitz the chief sent was “impossible” (his word) to block with five linemen.

 

And to me this is the big thing that separates the Bills and Chiefs. Kansas City has experienced coaches that have been doing it a long time. Both their OC and DC are former HCs in the NFL. So, while they have basically a HC, a HC on offense and a HC on defense....the Bills promote inexperienced guys from within.

 

Spags knew that in today's NFL and especially games like this it comes down to one play at the end of a game. He spent the entire game showing this look and setting the Bills up to fall for it at a key time. 

 

At no point in any game did I get the sense that Babich had the foresight to call a game like this. To set up a team for the end of the game. Babich was decent enough for a first time coordinator...and first time coordinators are great for teams like Indy or Arizona. But when you are a Super Bowl contender...that extra experience helps overcome. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

It ok to both love and criticize Allen.  He made some bad throws and protection mistakes.  

[BarleyNY]

7 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

And to me this is the big thing that separates the Bills and Chiefs. Kansas City has experienced coaches that have been doing it a long time. Both their OC and DC are former HCs in the NFL. So, while they have basically a HC, a HC on offense and a HC on defense....the Bills promote inexperienced guys from within.

 

Spags knew that in today's NFL and especially games like this it comes down to one play at the end of a game. He spent the entire game showing this look and setting the Bills up to fall for it at a key time. 

 

At no point in any game did I get the sense that Babich had the foresight to call a game like this. To set up a team for the end of the game. Babich was decent enough for a first time coordinator...and first time coordinators are great for teams like Indy or Arizona. But when you are a Super Bowl contender...that extra experience helps overcome. 

Good/great coaches break tendencies in pressure/high leverage situations. Mediocre/poor ones do not. It was a logical time for KC to break a tendency from the game and go to a big blitz, something Spags is known for in high leverage situations. My reaction to seeing no RB in the backfield and that blitz look from KC was to say “call a time out!” as the ball was snapped. We still had 3. Also we just came out of the 2 min warning. How did we not have an option for a heavy blitz built into our play call? Again, that’s standard Spags play calling in that situation. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

47 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

explain to the forum how Allen was supposed to know where that blitz was coming from? Despite multiple NFL players telling you that it was an impossible task, some fans continue to think that Allen should’ve been able to read the mind of the defense and then adjust the line. 

 

as has been explained multiple times, by the Bills and others, the entire game the Chiefs defense was showing that look, and then coming from the left side. If Allen had adjusted right, it would just have been a complete and utter GUESS on his part.

 

And if the Chiefs had done what they had done all game, then everyone would’ve been blaming Allen for suddenly shifting right when he had no reason to do so. 

 

and as Ryan Fitzpatrick said, it doesn’t matter if he shifted right left upside or down, the blitz the chief sent was “impossible” (his word) to block with five linemen.

 

If you know a blitz is coming, why would you not have your RB in to block?

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, thenorthremembers said:

 

Stats dont always tell the entire story.   He had a fine game but it wasnt great.   The fumbled snap put them behind schedule for a first down.  He failed to recognize where the blitz was coming from on the last play of the game.   While the center makes the line call, the Quarterback needs to recognize where the blitz is coming from to put the lineman in the right position to make that call. 

 

Josh is an absolute dog and a likely future hall of famer but part of the loss is certainly on him.  

 

Agree, Another way to look at it would be, based on last Sundays game if there were 17 others just like it,, would you award him the MVP off that performance, in fact would he even have been a finalist, probably not.

 

He played well, but was more than just a poor first drive overall.  It certainly wasn't one of his top 10 performances of the year.

[Kelly to Allen]

1 hour ago, billsgpr88 said:

Whether or not Bills fans agree with its implications, we’re all familiar with the image: Josh Allen on the sidlines, eyes glazed, staring into the distance. I recall seeing it in the horrendous Jaguars game a few years back (in Jacksonville iirc, not the one in England), in his first playoff game against the Texans, and now in back to back playoff games against the Chiefs. It doesn’t happen often, but it always seems to foreshadow a Bills loss. 
 

I love watching Josh Allen play; having watched nearly every game during the drought, I could never say enough about how he has uplifted the organization and the community. I’d argue he means as much or more to Buffalo than any athlete does to their respective team in American sports. He’s the most important individual in the building, and it’s not even close. The issue is, he knows it. He knows about the superbowl losses and the drought, and how desperately Buffalo wants one, just one, Super Bowl victory. And I believe this is what weighs on his shoulders every time I see that absent-minded stare from the sideline. 

I’ll always root for Josh; he’s almost beyond criticism, knowing how much he does to win, what he’s already accomplished in his career, and especially for being a genuinely great person and leader. But, when I see that stare, I immediately get the sense that the game is over. We can point to specific plays, bad calls by the refs, poor coaching, or simply talent, but Josh is the unquestioned leader of the team, even more than McDermott, and I think when his teammates see that from Josh, they feel it, and their confidence is drained from it. And the worst part is that it keeps happening against the chiefs in the playoffs, and with each year the pressure is amplified. Although he played pretty well overall against the chiefs, he didn’t display that heroic, game-dominating mentality that was on display against the chiefs in the regular season game. As much as I hate to admit, I felt the Bills would lose last Sunday as early as the first quarter, though I didn’t initially realize why. Now looking back, I am convinced it is the thousand-yard stare that reveals how overwhelming the pressure is to be the savior of the Buffalo Bills.

 

 

21-13 seconds Allen does Elway the drive (((twice))) in the final 2 mins. Team loses ,36 pts scored 

 

23- Allen leads team to game winning td, Dawkins gets bull rushed into Allen and takes the td away. Bass misses easy fg...Team loses, 24 pts scored 

 

24- Allen leads multiple comebacks, gets screwed on a spot call, still leads team to tie , then is leading team down only for amari cooper not to outrun a de for a 1st down and then a bad blitz pickup cause an insane throw right in the bread basket to be dropped by Kincaid... Obviously defense can't get a stop and team loses.... 29 points scored 

 

Allen's past 3 games vs kc, 2 on the road, 1 team is very injured at home 

 

Almost 1000 yds

9 tds

Zero turnovers. 

29.6 ppg with bass miss

30.6 ppg if bass made it

 

 

He's being failed catastrophically by the ppl around him. Go get him some wrs , pass rushers and CBS that can win the game outside Allen like great teams do everywhere else....

 

I wish Allen could win 2 super bowls like Eli Manning doing nothing basically 

 

I'm tired of this 

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Kelly to Allen

[T.E.]

McDermott is the worst type of head coach for a QB like him.

 

Cares more about allocating assets for the defense, ultimately wants a ball control offense where the QB is a game manager, and - most importantly - is extremely tense and paranoid about any turnovers at all.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, thenorthremembers said:

 

Stats dont always tell the entire story.   He had a fine game but it wasnt great.   The fumbled snap put them behind schedule for a first down.  He failed to recognize where the blitz was coming from on the last play of the game.   While the center makes the line call, the Quarterback needs to recognize where the blitz is coming from to put the lineman in the right position to make that call. 

 

Josh is an absolute dog and a likely future hall of famer but part of the loss is certainly on him.  

 

Players already talked about this ad nauseum in the locker room cleanout day. They said Spags had shown that look a bunch of times and the pressure was always coming from the other side all game so they slid the protection that way.  When they did, they brought it from the other side for the first time all game. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other team for a great play call at a crucial time. If Cyborg doesn't totally whiff on his block, Allen likely has enough time to get the ball to Kincaid for a regular easy catch.

 

So in this case it was a combo of a great playcall and poor execution by the one person who could least afford to not execute on that play.

Edited 3 hours ago by Big Turk

[Kelly to Allen]

4 minutes ago, T.E. said:

McDermott is the worst type of head coach for a QB like him.

 

Cares more about allocating assets for the defense, ultimately wants a ball control offense where the QB is a game manager, and - most importantly - is extremely tense and paranoid about any turnovers at all.

 

I don't necessarily care about allocation of resources on defense like bellicheck. But get him some real pass rushers like a Justin Tuck or Pierre Paul and real corners

[All_Pro_Bills]

Basically the Bills lost because in the most critical point in the game, the Chiefs executed a defensive play or two that were variations out of a familiar defensive look. Our offense got fooled. Our defense did no better.

 

I'm thinking we lose these games to the Chiefs because their coaching staff prepares and game plans extremely well for the Bills and clearly understands the tendencies of the opposition, both its players and coaches. And our coaching staff never disappoints by giving them exactly the looks and plays they prepare for every time. There's no element of surprise or disguise going on here.

 

Maybe we should be marveling not about how the Bills manage to lose these game by the slimiest of margins every time but instead be amazed the players can keep it so close given the other team's players and coaches perform like they're in the Bills practice and game planning sessions all week before the game. 

Edited 3 hours ago by All_Pro_Bills

[T.E.]

3 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

I don't necessarily care about allocation of resources on defense like bellicheck. But get him some real pass rushers like a Justin Tuck or Pierre Paul and real corners

I don't think they're capable of doing it, to be honest. They've put tons of effort into building the D-line and secondary, and their only true standout is Benford, a guy they stumbled upon in the 6th round.

Edited 11 minutes ago by T.E.

[Kelly to Allen]

2 minutes ago, T.E. said:

I don't think they're capable of doing it, to be honest. They've put tons of effort into building the D-line and secondary, and their only true standpoint is Benford, a guy they stumbled upon in the 6th round.

 

They did do it. They drafted tre white but he got hurt

 

They drafted Milano but he isn't a pass rusher or cb

 

Rousseau and Oliver are really good but would be way better with a couple great pass rushers, or one great pass rusher and 2 excellent CBS.

 

This is a big off season for beane as this is going to be a great team. Go draft or get a few game changers

Edited 3 hours ago by Kelly to Allen

[julian]

6 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

I don't necessarily care about allocation of resources on defense like bellicheck. But get him some real pass rushers like a Justin Tuck or Pierre Paul and real corners

It’s the biggest single factor leading the Bills to zero SBs or even zero appearances, the absolute failure to build a SB level pass rush. The Dline isn’t good at all, it fails to make game changing plays in the biggest moments.

 

 It has to be the number one priority of management in the coming weeks and months.

[Jay_Fixit]

Who the ***** are you people.

[Ga boy]

1 minute ago, julian said:

It’s the biggest single factor leading the Bills to zero SBs or even zero appearances, the absolute failure to build a SB level pass rush. The Dline isn’t good at all, it fails to make game changing plays in the biggest moments.

 

 It has to be the number one priority of management in the coming weeks and months.

Von was supposed to be guy who would get us a Lombardi.