The Thousand-yard stare

[Sojourner]

Just now, dayman said:

I think it’s totally fair to expect Josh to be all-world always and consider him to blame (in part) for losses when he isn’t—he is that good and is supposed to be that for our team. You can both do that and also acknowledge at the same time he’s still great even when he turns in a merely good or average game.

 

With that said, to the topic, how is he supposed to look! lol it doesn’t matter how he looks. 

Very wel said all around!
 

You aren’t relying on the defense. You are relying on Josh. 

 

Josh has won the franchise more games than the defenses ever have. 
 

Is it actually fair? Probably not lol

Is it justified? You bet your a— is it!

 

 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

3 hours 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.

 

 

Some sad sack Bills fans just try to project their nonsense on Josh Allen.   He isn't thinking about 4 SB losses that happened before he was born to a team he didn't even play for until 2018.   His mistakes in big moments are relatively minor.   If that softy Kincaid catches the arm punt that landed gently in his arms we aren't having this discussion.   Allen is great.   He doesn't wilt in the spotlight like Jim Kelly and his boys did.  

[Coach Tuesday]

The rock-kickers and the loons have been out in full force this week.

[Kelly to Allen]

2 hours ago, Ga boy said:

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

 

It's so frustrating 

7 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

Some sad sack Bills fans just try to project their nonsense on Josh Allen.   He isn't thinking about 4 SB losses that happened before he was born to a team he didn't even play for until 2018.   His mistakes in big moments are relatively minor.   If that softy Kincaid catches the arm punt that landed gently in his arms we aren't having this discussion.   Allen is great.   He doesn't wilt in the spotlight like Jim Kelly and his boys did.  

 

The bills oline got their ass handed to them in the super bowls

[thenorthremembers]

3 hours ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

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. 

I wouldnt say Jeremy White is some kind of astounding football analyst.   I would love to see some of these guys who talk about football on a daily basis sit in front of a white board or game film and be able to determine if a defense was in man or zone, or be able to know what personnel an offense is in.   I think you'd be surprised how little they actually know.   The Bills pay Josh more than the Chiefs pay Mahomes.   There has been noise that Josh wants a new contract in the offseason.    If you want to be paid better than the best player in the league, you sure as hell better make sure you are better than him on the field.   

 

The bottom line is Josh is the highest paid player on the Bills.   I imagine Hasek was paid a pretty penny by the Sabres as well.  Because of that they are held to a higher standard.   When the Bills lose to the Chiefs I dont want to hear how Cole Bishop or Kaiir Elam did.  I want to hear that Josh outplayed the guy on the otherside of field.  When the Sabres lost in the conference finals were people blaming Brian Holzinger for not scoring more goals?   No, its up to your superstar to get you there.

Edited 4 hours ago by thenorthremembers

[dorquemada]

The defense will continually fail him in the playoffs.  The FO will continue to raid the bargain bin at WR, or just draft a bunch of slow guys with 'sure' hands that forget how to catch in the playoffs.  No wonder Allen has a 1000 yard stare, he's being dragged down by 1000 lilliputians

 

[Einstein]

26 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

  If that softy Kincaid catches the arm punt that landed gently in his arms we aren't having this discussion.   Allen is great.   He doesn't wilt in the spotlight like Jim Kelly and his boys did.  

 

Bingo.

 

If Kincaid catches a pass that 50 year old uncles catch at the beach every weekend, then we are talking about Allen turning crap into lemonade and producing one of the greatest plays in NFL playoff history while being chased by 2 free rushers.

[BADOLBILZ]

17 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

It's so frustrating 

 

The bills oline got their ass handed to them in the super bowls

 

 

Not in SB XXV.   The Giants D didn't even try to dominate the LOS that day.  They were largely out-coached and under-prepared in the SB's but unlike current Bills teams they collapsed when the other team had the better plan.   Until the last one when they actually had a good gameplan against an overconfident Cowboys team and the players just choked in the second half.    Allen often outplays the opponent despite being out schemed.   See the long Allen TD run in the regular season win vs KC and the remarkable arm punt that Kincaid dropped.  Those 90's Bills didn't.

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Bingo.

 

If Kincaid catches a pass that 50 year old uncles catch at the beach every weekend, then we are talking about Allen turning crap into lemonade and producing one of the greatest plays in NFL playoff history while being chased by 2 free rushers.

Imagine being able to watch that play and blame Allen for the loss having just seen Mahomes throw up a similar prayer that Worthy is able to rip away from Bishop earlier in the game

 

these arent real football takes

 

 

[gjv]

1 hour ago, Simon said:

 

Late to recognize the corner blitz.

Probably because he was so focused on his presnap decision to get Shakir the ball out of the orbit motion that he didn't finally realize what was happening until he had run himself into a dead end and had to chuck up a prayer.

That was the first time KC ran that Blitz that allowed an unblocked defender to get into Josh's face untouched. However, Josh still had the presence of mind and ability to get a catchable ball off to Kincade. By the way, I'm impressed how you have the ability to read Josh's mind.

[julian]

1 hour ago, Sojourner said:

 

Agree with you on the fact they’re not great. They’re ok. But Ok doesn’t get you a Lombardi. 
 

However, the bolded isn’t true. It’s just not consistent. 
 

If you don’t think Jordan Phillips walking a guard 5 yards backwards into a QB and sacking him in the AFCC isn’t a game changing play in a big moment, I don’t know what to tell you bro lol

 

The Chiefs score a TD there if he doesn’t do that. No ifs ands or buts. Kelce is coming open in the middle of the EZ as JuJu holds out LBs underneath. Who knows wtf Douglas is going to do against Hopkins, the All-22 shows him believing that the play is over before Mahomes is actually even completely on the ground. 😬

 

We need better, no question. They’re subpar for a Super Bowl aspiring team. But they do show up on occasion, whether the game is big or small. They just don’t do it consistently. Consistency is just as much a player problem as it is management/coaching

I’m guessing you think I was saying the Dline is horrible or never makes a play in big games, of course they’ve made a play here or there in a win.

 

The problem is in their playoff losses the Dline always comes up short because they’re just not talented enough. When was the last playoff loss where everyone said “damn, shoulda won that game the Dline dominated”

 

 Stevie Wonder can see the pass rush is an issue every postseason, nobody should be surprised they were a middle of the pack Dline all season, of course they weren’t gonna show up in crunch time in KC.

 

Shout out to Oliver, I thought he left it all out in the field in KC.

Edited 3 hours ago by julian

[Sojourner]

1 minute ago, julian said:

I’m guessing you think I was saying the Dline is horrible or never makes a play in big games, of course they’ve made a play here or there in a win.

 

The problem is in their playoff losses the Dline always comes up short because they’re just not talented enough. When was the last playoff loss where everyone said “damn, shoulda won that game the Dline dominated”

 

 Stevie Wonder can see the pass rush is an issue every postseason, nobody should be surprised they were a middle of the pack Dline all season, of course they weren’t gonna show up in crunch time in KC.

 

Shout out to Oliver, I thought he left it all out in the field in KC.

Yeah, I might have misunderstood that. There wasn’t much clarity so apologies on my end. 
 

With you on Oliver. He was about the only guy I can give credit to for putting in a shift the whole game. Groot, let down. AJ, let down. Von, let down. A guy that can disrupt the middle will be a remedy to help anyone we have going into next year on that line which in turn should help the secondary. Sadly, it could end up being another season too late. 

[Simon]

18 minutes ago, gjv said:

That was the first time KC ran that Blitz that allowed an unblocked defender to get into Josh's face untouched. However, Josh still had the presence of mind and ability to get a catchable ball off to Kincade. By the way, I'm impressed how you have the ability to read Josh's mind.

 

#1 - I said "probably"

#2- Watch him staring down the LBs on his drop, seeing if they chase the drag or the flag. I think he had decided presnap he wanted Shakir on the flare and when the LB's didn't bite he had to come off it. Then he realized the protection was blown and tried to bail to his right. It was only then that he finally realized the corner was coming and he had no escape route on that side and it was too late to do anything but heave a prayer to the zone the corner had vacated. By that point he'd run out of time and space and couldn't set up to get the ball where it should have gone.

[gjv]

6 minutes ago, Simon said:

 

#1 - I said "probably"

#2- Watch him staring down the LBs on his drop, seeing if they chase the drag or the flag. I think he had decided presnap he wanted Shakir on the flare and when the LB's didn't bite he had to come off it. Then he realized the protection was blown and tried to bail to his right. It was only then that he finally realized the corner was coming and he had no escape route on that side and it was too late to do anything but heave a prayer to the zone the corner had vacated. By that point he'd run out of time and space and couldn't set up to get the ball where it should have gone.

👌

[The Firebaugh Kid]

He was off on that first drive for sure. He plays like a fan. The guy cares almost too much and I think it’s actually a detriment to his success at times. But I would take him over any other quarterback in the league or in history for that matter. 

[JP51]

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

He cannot always over come the softness that is this defense ... so its not only the allocation of resources, but it is the ineffective allocation of resources... Imaging if he only had to score 24 points to win a game not saying he cant or to win it all doesnt need to play better at times... but geez if he isnt the most valuable player to his team... I have no clue is... 

[MrEpsYtown]

4 hours 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 agree with this take. You have the most explosive athlete at the position of all time and he's been neutered beyond belief into a game manager. 

 

I wish I could see what he would be like with Andy Reid, Sean McVay. Even a guy like Kliff Kingsbury...guys who coach to their player's strengths. 

 

It's like Dan Reeves coaching John Elway...it took Mike Shanahan to get Elway to that championship level. Reeves was so old-fashioned and stubborn and risk-averse and it held Elway back. Once Reeves was gone, Shanahan and Elway were able to open it up to fit Elway's strengths. 

 

We are living that same reality now. And that's why I am in the move on camp. Reeves had 10 years with Elway, never won the big one. But at least they got to the Super Bowl in year 4. 10 years and 3 Super Bowl loses and a number of AFC west championships for a stubborn, conservative coach who was holding back one of the best players of all time. 

Edited 2 hours ago by MrEpsYtown

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, GoBills808 said:

Imagine being able to watch that play and blame Allen for the loss having just seen Mahomes throw up a similar prayer that Worthy is able to rip away from Bishop earlier in the game

 

these arent real football takes

 

I hear ya.

 

At the same time, it’s what makes this forum great.

 

The anti-Allen takes may frustrate me, and I think they’re wrong in how the play is broken down, but at the end of day I would NOT want a forum where everyone agreed with what I was saying. 

 

The exchange of ideas and thoughts that are contradictory of my own is part of what makes this place unmatched by any other website.

 

[billsgpr88]

1 hour ago, GoBills808 said:

Imagine being able to watch that play and blame Allen for the loss having just seen Mahomes throw up a similar prayer that Worthy is able to rip away from Bishop earlier in the game

 

these arent real football takes

 

 

 

You seemed to have missed my point. If you play sports or even watch enough of it, you’re probably aware of how important momentum and confidence are. What I was trying to point out is that the immense amount of pressure that Josh is under seems to manifest in these big moments, and that his teammates can surely sense it. Everything that happens on the field is a consequence of what is going on in their minds. that fear of not coming through for thousands and thousands of people looking up to you seems written on his face at times, and understandably so. 
 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

17 minutes ago, MrEpsYtown said:

 

I agree with this take. You have the most explosive athlete at the position of all time and he's been neutered beyond belief into a game manager. 

 

I wish I could see what he would be like with Andy Reid, Sean McVay. Even a guy like Kliff Kingsbury...guys who coach to their player's strengths. 

 

It's like Dan Reeves coaching John Elway...it took Mike Shanahan to get Elway to that championship level. Reeves was so old-fashioned and stubborn and risk-averse and it held Elway back. Once Reeves was gone, Shanahan and Elway were able to open it up to fit Elway's strengths. 

 

We are living that same reality now. And that's why I am in the move on camp. Reeves had 10 years with Elway, never won the big one. But at least they got to the Super Bowl in year 4. 10 years and 3 Super Bowl loses and a number of AFC west championships for a stubborn, conservative coach who was holding back one of the best players of all time. 

 

 

I like that Reeves/McDermott comp.   It makes a lot of sense on the surface and you may be right that McD might never evolve into the type of guy to get the best out of Allen.

 

But in fairness McD did let that dingbat Daboll run a wide-open offense and then he let Dorsey bomb away to much success in his first season as Bills OC.   I think we have to give McD the benefit of the doubt a bit wrt to being not offensively minded enough.

 

They drafted Kincaid and Coleman with their top pick in back to back years.   That just hasn't produced anything resembling explosive, early round pick results.  So I think Beane is more responsible for the way the Bills have had to play offense than McD.

 

And it's hard to argue with the win-loss results since the change compared to in the few seasons prior.   They've played like a #1 seed worthy team they just started out too slow before the change in 23' and the Chiefs went 15-1 in 2024 before the meaningless reg season finale.   Since McD fired Dorsey and they went to a more ball controlled, complementary football approach they've been a much better team.  They are a stud WR1 away from being far and away the best offense in football.  I mean it's not like Brady didn't orchestrate the greatest passing offense in college football history.   I just don't think the personnel has aligned, more than anything.

 

Things were much different in Denver with Elway/Reeves.  Reeves was not at all open to running a more modern offense at the time.   But they also struggled to put the right personnel around Elway by not drafting all that well in the late 80's.   And Shanahan benefited from better personnel work, for sure.  Those late 90's teams were stacked compared to their 80's SB teams.