billsfan89

If Allen plays in a similar style to how he played in Tennessee then Josh will be able to win 10-11 games this season. Josh obviously has to cut down on the INT's but I think as he gets more comfortable and more experience he will play just conservative enough to avoid key turnovers. The more I think about Josh's game yesterday the more I am impressed on it. The Titans Defense could finish in the top 5 and certainly barring catastrophic injury they should be a top 10 defense. Josh threw 70% with 2 TD's to 1 INT against a top 10 defense on the road. With multiple in game injuries to his O-line with virtually no running game until the 4th quarter. That's pretty good for any QB let alone a young QB. Even the one INT he threw was in part on Yeldon for stopping his route (although it was not a necessary risk for Josh to take.) I think this sub is just bi-polar when it comes to Josh. One week he is the best thing since sliced bread the next week he is a bum.

The early to mid 2000's Steelers were experts at taking Bettis and running him behind Faneca and that O-line when they had a late lead and killing 5-6 minutes of the clock to end a game. That type of 4 minute offense is exactly what you need for a team with a great defense. Josh is slowly learning to just take what the opposing defense gives you.

I would give Josh a B. Really good game with one nearly tragic turnover. I think being on the road against a very good defense puts this up from the C+/B- range as the context and conditions of play make it a better performance. The run game wasn't much support either until it came time to grind the clock out. Josh made better decisions this game only once making a costly decision. I suspect this is the type of play we see from him on a regular basis.

The most impactful thing they can do easily is change punters. It is a fairly easy change that can make the difference in a game. That should be priority one. Short term they have to asses the injuries and see if they need to make shifts to their depth. Perfect timing for a bye as they got banged up in Smashville. Long term they should scour the WR and DE/DT markets if a trade there makes sense. Those remain the team's biggest weaknesses (although the tackle position and Oline depth concerns me.) It has to be the right deal. I agree that a big time trade is unlikely but to augment a need with a 5th round pick isn't a waste of draft capital in my opinion.

The Bills goal is likely to win 10 games in order to secure a playoff spot. They have 4 in the bag. Looking at the schedule they should be favored to beat the Fins twice, the Broncos, The Redskins, The Steelers and the Jets. Take care of those 6 games and you get to 10 wins. But being the NFL you are likely to have a fluke loss in there. So that means the team is going to have to win one of two "toss up" games against the Eagles and Browns or take an underdog game from the Pats, Cowboys, and Ravens. Either way I think the Bills just need to focus on licking their wounds during the bye and take care of the Fins at home to get half way to 10 wins.

Two of those kicks were from 50+. It also is played differently if you are the Bill's if he made any one of those. I feel bad this guys career is over essentially but the Bill's did benefit from this disaster.

But you also want players to have long careers and stay on the field long term. There is no perfect solution but I think a mandatory sit out is a basic safety procedure that seems like a good idea to provide a basic level of safety. I don't see a one week sit out period hurting anyone. It is at best a safety procedure that will help some players avoid doing worse damage and at worse some players miss some games. I think when it comes to head injuries giving people some extra time to heal can't hurt.

The protocol is based on science I get that, but I just think that if player safety is the goal then there should be a mandatory sit out period as an extra level of caution. Is it necessary? Probably not, but when it comes to the brain better safe than sorry.

I get that there is a process in place and that it is based off of independent doctors. But when it comes to head injuries (and the nature that brain damage is almost always irreversible to some extent) I think there should be an extra level of caution via mandating not playing in short order after a confirmed concussion. It is just my personal unscientific opinion.

My view is that no one should play 7 days after suffering a concussion. I know that there are people much more qualified than me in regards to assessing a players health but from what I know about concussions time is the best method of treatment and I think it should be mandatory to be pulled from your next game (unless your team has a bye week after you get hurt.) It seems like a very basic safety procedure.

The NFL is a dangerous game and while I think there could be more done about player safety (I think a player with a concussion should be forced to be benched for the next game unless there is a bye week) the players know the risk associated with the game. The reason the NFL had past issues with concussion liability was that they were suppressing research and not taking proper safety measures once they had the proper information. But going forward the risks are well known and the league is at the very least making an effort to try and make the game less risky. Could there be more done? Yes, but it is not bordering on negligence at this point.

Josh is going to have to walk that delicate balance between taking what a defense gives you and being too conservative. I am still high on Josh but this board is so bipolar that one bad game and sudden Josh is trash. When in reality Josh is a young QB with good skills and bad habits. He isn't a finished product and is going to need some time to work on his decision making abilities. You can't go from a franchise QB to a bum in just a week.

The same people on this board that were calling Trent Captain Check Down, EJ Captain Checkdown 2.0, and said Tyrod would never win because he is too conservative are now saying that Josh is too reckless and needs to be more conservative. That's me being hyperbolic but in all honesty people want a QB that is for lack of a better term "good." You want a QB that can move the ball downfield but also not turn the ball over. Those two things tend to be at odds with one another as the more you go downfield the more you risk turnovers. The less you go downfield the less likely you are to turn the ball over but the harder it is to move the ball against better defenses. A QB that can do both is rare. That's why finding a QB in the NFL is hard. Coming out of college I viewed Josh as a bad fit for this team because I thought he was a developmental QB. A player that would have been best served 1-2 years on the bench to work on his footwork and learn an offense. So that once when he got thrown into action he would be as best prepared. But Josh has honestly surprised me with how much his footwork has improved. But he has some bad habits and decision making tendencies that are hurting him. In the end I would rather see Josh start any game he is healthy enough to start and get a full evaluation of him going into 2020. I don't think his habits can be significantly improved in a practice so I think his improvement is going to come simply with experience. I also don't buy this idea that Barkley offers this team a better chance of winning than Josh. I think as a mental and physical reset you play Barkley for the Titans game and then get Josh back out there after the bye.

Maybe he was talking about the TV show?

Beane has been pretty good at drafting in general at least on early returns. But even a GM that is "Good" at drafting is lucky to consistently produce 2-3 starters and 1 or 2 role players per-draft. Which means that you are still likely to bust on 3-5 picks per draft. I wouldn't be opposed to a Diggs trade if the price was right. I would give up a 2nd and 4th plus Zay or whatever other throw in player they want. But a 1st is just a bit too rich. I don't think Minny who wants to win now however is trading him.

I don't blame them on this one. They still take an extra cap hit on Gostowski's contract this year and whatever kicker they replace him with so it isn't something without risk either.

Sadly I think Zay is likely a JAG type player. Certainly capable of being a depth WR 4-5. If he develops into a capable special teams player he will certainly have a fairly long NFL career. I think he still has a chance to prove people wrong but as each game goes and he fails to stand out much my personal hope for him is diminished. I would look to package Zay with a 5th or 4th round pick to try and get Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders is on the smaller side and more of a high end WR2. But he would represent a significant upgrade at WR and be a good veteran presence for Josh. He is still very productive and a quality player. I think Denver netting a decent mid-round pick and getting a chance to kick the tires on Zay for the rest of 2019 and bring him into camp in 2020 is a fair return for a vet WR on the last year of his deal. Although Denver might not be willing to part with him for anything less than a 3rd if they feel he would net a 3rd round comp pick. I wouldn't trade a 3rd rounder for a Sanders rental as I think it wouldn't be worth it. But as far as Zay goes I think it would be worth throwing him in a trade for a WR or trading him for a late rounder to a team that might want him.

A 5th for Sanders sounds good to me, in addition to the boost at WR he would provide he is a solid vet, definitely fits the process.

Given that you have 2 challenges and that all turnovers, scoring plays, and any calls in the last 2 minutes are automatically reviewed I don’t think challenging a call you are likely to lose is a bad thing if your intention is to slow the game down for an exhausted defense. However I think that it most often will be viewed as a waste of a timeout but I think as a coach you can often times get a feel for the game and know when a defense is just gassed and needs the break. I think it is better to do this in the first half if you defense is getting hit hard because first half timeouts you can be frivolous with but once again I think a coach can feel if his defense needs that break that a challenge offers.

Your ability to teach someone how to respond to game situations is very limited in practice because practice isn’t a game due to many factors, one of them being the lack of contact on a QB. Your best learning experience on how to react to a situation is to be in that situation as much as possible. I don’t see the tangible benefit of sitting Josh long term. I think it is best to sit him against the Titans and into the bye to get his head right, 3 weeks of rest is a positive and it gives him some time to reevaluate himself. But after a couple of weeks off what does his development have to gain by sitting? However if Josh is ready to go he still gives this team the best opportunity to win (I have no clue why people think Barkley is a better option) and the chance of him developing the situational awareness and habits is only going to be improved by playing. I just really don’t see how he is going to improve significantly on the bench. When Josh was drafted he was a project, last season and the first three weeks this season everyone loved Josh but one bad game against a very good defense and suddenly he stinks? Sorry but I think the calls for long term benching and other strong reactions are just week to week reactionary BS. Let Josh play the whole season and then reevaluate him and what your plans with him long term are. And that’s not to blindly defend Josh, he has had frustrating issues that manifested themselves badly in the NE game. However I think he doesn’t deserves a snap judgement based off of one bad game. Let Josh play out the season and then reassert your options after you have a full sample size.

I think the Bills should be monitoring the WR trade market but shouldn't feel forced to make a move. A true number one WR is the Bills biggest need on offense. They lack a game setting WR1. Cole is a very good slot guy and Brown is a nice number 2 but they need a true number one. I don't think a true game breaking WR one or even a respectable WR one will hit the market. But if there is a reasonably priced upgrade to the WR position out on the market then I think the team will have to take that chance. Diggs isn't going anywhere unless a first round pick is in the mix which is too high a price in my opinion. But if a good WR hits the market and could be had at compensation that makes sense then they shouldn't be afraid to go after one.

They can't hit you in practice and game speed and practice speed is vastly different. So I don't think practice effectively recreates game conditions in order to help with his decision making. Also Josh can still as a starter practice under those conditions. The film is already out on him and he isn’t going to show a dramatic improvement in practice due to the conditions not being similar enough to an actual game. If this was footwork or some other aspect of his game that he needs tremendous work on then I would understand the idea that he might be better served to be benched for a game. But I don’t see decision making improving in a significant way without getting live games in. I also don’t buy this idea that Barkley somehow gives the team a better chance to win. Josh has his issues but Barkley is a limited QB in his own right and the team spending snaps on Barkley is kind of wasting starting snaps that could simply go to Josh. I honestly think that Josh gives the team as good if not a better chance to win. Josh adds a dynamic with his legs and his power arm that Barkley simply doesn’t. Yes Allen might make some mistakes that Barkley might not but I would rather see what I have in Josh and take his positives than to just start Barkely for no other reason than to satisfy fans frustrations over one game.

This reactionary bull ***** to one bad game against an elite defense has to end. Josh is a young QB who hasn’t even started a full seasons worth of games yet. Josh has a lot of work to do, but the potential is there enough to warrant sticking with him for the rest of the season as long as he is healthy. Once the season is over you can fully evaluate Josh and see how much confidence you have in him going forward. To me I think you can’t just give up on a guy after one bad game. I think people kind of forgot that Josh doesn’t have a great supporting cast. Don’t get me wrong Brown and Beasley are a solid 2 and 3 WR, Gore and Singletary are a solid RB combo, and the O-line is mid-level and has a chance to get better while Knox is a raw but talented tight end. However the O-line has been inconsistent and there is a lack of a game breaking number WR1. Seriously this fanbase needs to calm the ***** down.

Minny seems to be a win now team judging by the age of their roster and the nature to which they went in on Kirk Cousins. I don't know why they would trade Diggs. Their offense primarily works because Diggs and Thielen keep opposing defenses from stacking against the run. I would love for the Bills to trade a number 2 pick and a more disposable player like Zay or Spain (I think if everyone is healthy you kick Ford into where Spain plays) for Diggs who I think would give the offense enough weapons to be a top 10 unit. Brown and Cole would slide down to the number 2 and 3 options where they would be most effective and Diggs at age 26 would have enough years left at a high level to justify the draft capital of a 2nd rounder and a the cap hit. If Diggs hit the market I think Minny would want a 1st rounder and a starter, I think the Bills wouldn’t be justified giving up a 1stbut for a 2ndI would easily offer. But right now I don’t see why Minny would trade Diggs.

How does being benched teach someone how to throw the ball away when under duress? I think you bench Josh if he is disruptive or not putting in the effort needed to get better. I just don't see Josh as a player who needs the message a benching would provide. I think Josh understands the severity of the situation and the issue and I think he works hard to improve his processing. You need live rounds to learn how to actually make the decisions when under real game conditions. It is frustrating that he is making these bad decisions instead of throwing the ball away. But I just don't see the benefit of benching him providing that he clears the concussion protocol. I think that if he is hurt or borderline bench him to get him right into the bye week and I think you can win with Barkley managing the game against the Titans. However I don't think he or the team benefits from him being benched. I also think it is funny that people expect someone to improve almost instantly and with less playing time. Most QB's take time to develop and I think you have to let Josh take his lumps this season as long as he is consistently working to improve.