starrymessenger

I would take Hunt in a heartbeat. Of course with his extension he's now off the market. I can believe that Beane tried to sign him. I think he knows that the RB position needs improvement/an upgrade. I'm glad we lost out on the Bell sweepstakes though. The long layoff has robbed him of his burst that was the necessary adjunct to his patience as a runner.

I think everyone agrees Lamar has not developed as a passer. As I said earlier he showed promise running Pertino's offence at Louisville, which is a complex playbook with NFL concepts. There is plenty of college tape showing Lamar executing efficiently from the pocket. Just idle speculation but I wonder whether the Ravens braintrust concluded that he in fact couldn't be successfully be developed as a more conventional pro QB or they just decided to go for broke with his existing unique skillset and hope for the best. If the former then maybe his draft spot was about right though at the time I felt he was undervalued and a real bargain. If the latter then I don't think the Ravens have done him any favours because it's too late now. That train has left the station. He will never be different or better than he is now, what you see is what you get, and in crunch time that is unlikely to be good enuf IMO. Scheme to take away the run and the middle of the field and Ravens are probably toast. Good Ds and good DCs can do that. The Bills can do that.

Roman can scheme for the run game like nobody's business but it looks to me like Lamar is not appreciably better as a passer than he was at Louisville. I liked him a lot coming out because I thought he showed promise as a passer and we all knew the kind of runner he was. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't see much if any progression. -He's at best a tier 2 passer. If I'm right, at the end of the day that's just not good enuf to win a championship. Having a good running game is important but that should be the RBs job. The QBs job is to throw the football. It's a passing league. I expect the Ravens to implode in the playoffs once again. Just too easy to contain when the going gets tough.

Nick Chubb is a FA in 2022. He's projected at around 51 MM for four at maybe 25 guaranteed. Hes a great franchise back. It's him and Henry IMO. I don't expect he will ever be wearing a Bills uni.

Would be nice but it's not happening. He just doesn't have that extra gear. He can play on the outside because he's not slow by any means once he gets untracked but mostly because of his ball skills. His bread and butter will be at intermediate depth, including over the middle. He knows that and has said so himself. Regardless he's going to be a good player, he's just not taking the top off a defence. Eventually a replacement for JB will have to be found IMO.

I remember a close up shot of Trent Edwards warming up on the sidelines before a Cleveland game. I was sure I saw fear in his eyes and he went on to have a disastrous outing. Yesterday I also had a good look at Allen's eyes pre game. I saw a guy who was totally juiced but I saw no fear. My concern was whether he was too hyped and whether he would settle down. It took a while but he came back down to earth and eventually went to work. He was also facing a top tier D of course. I have absolutely no worries about his long ball. He has started to master the cerebral aspects of playing the position and greatly improved his short/intermediate range accuracy. If you were putting together a to do list, the long ball would be at the bottom in order of importance but he will now get onto it. A few technical tweeks, better timing with his receivers on go routes and his otherworldly physical ability will soon take care of this. Without doubt. He will then truly be the complete package and confirmed as an elite NFL QB.

Great thread and some very astute posters. I guess I'm supposed to hate them but after having suffered for decades as a Bills fan I feel bad for them and for Darnold. I hope he can revive his career elsewhere. And I'm absolutely fine with them getting TL. I would welcome a great player like that in the Division even if it makes our lives more challenging. It would make for many memorable moments and bring out the best in Allen and the Bills. Back to the good old days before Brady and NE dominated the Division.

He's for sure going to get paid, hopefully he stays. Whether he stays or goes it's great to see a player come back from injury and play at a high level. He's surprisingly quick for a big man. The motion call yesterday was the correct call. He was just a micro second too fast but he's been beating the snap all year. Another former Panther who I think has been coming on is Butler. People here don't seem to like him and I don't know if the dollars will work out but I see him as another guy who was pretty much kicked to the curb but Beane and Coach knew better.

...and if he had caught it. I get that he has all the measurables but if his hands are bad as a project he's a waste of time. I always felt that Allen would develop accuracy as a passer. I'm less confident that a player can learn to have good hands. Either you've got them or you don't. Also he is not a great blocker. Whiffs a lot. Bills have not underinvested in the TE and RB positions - 3 third round picks and moved up for Knox- but so far the return is not commensurate with the investment. This offence would be on a par with KC's if those guys could better contribute. They need to step up.

Well he ain't Kelce

Where's Motor?

A little off topic but I’m so glad we lost the Bell sweepstakes. Long layoff=no explosion. The rook is so much better. Having said that our guys need to step up today (and #88). We have a lot invested in those positions, 3 third rounders and we had to move up for Knox.

Yep, and and how many of those points/possessions/field position were directly or indirectly attributable to turnovers that helped the O. And we also had our deep threat, who made a couple of big plays and which we don't now. IMO we are going against a better secondary and defence even without JH and BD. Without the D coming up huge the Seattle game would have been a lot closer. What I'm saying is that this would be an opportune time for DS, Moss and # 88 to actually help out instead of putting everything on Allen's shoulders all the time. Can you imagine how good this offence would be if he actually had a TE and a backfield to support him, like Mayfield has.

Steelers aren't scoring 39 points but neither are the Bills unless the running game and that TE finally show up and contribute. Seahawks sacked Allen 7 or 8 times and Pitt can bring the heat big time. They get lots of turnovers too. DS, Moss and Knox better start earning their pay.

If Allen and the Bills are on their game they can beat anyone, KC included. The next 10 years could well boil down to Allen vs Mahomes.

BB is good for the Bills but the Bills are also good for Beane. He's got a good rep in the business and he's only 44 years old. If he didn't think the future was bright he would not commit. His decision confirms where this team is headed. It will soon be a perennial powerhouse IMO. His greatest achievement so far was his assessment of a small school outlier QB and his belief in what he could become.

To me this is the main takeaway. Even though he's an outstanding athlete with a terrific arm Mahomes greatness has more to do with what he's got above the shoulders than what he's got below eg field vision and processing speed. Allen's arm is at least as strong and he's a better runner/ athlete IMO. Against SF Allen's field vision, progressions and processing speed were at Mahomes' level. If in time this becomes a permanent feature of Allen's game, the future is in the hands of these two players.

With respect IMO Watson does not have the atomic arm needed to make some of those throws.

PM is right now probably the best football player on the planet. He's had the benefit of great coaching and sits behind the wheel of the League's most powerful sports car. He's a very good athlete (not great and IMO not on Allen's level), he's got a tremendous arm (so does Allen), but the thing that makes him (the most) special is his ability to see the field and process with incredible speed. The game is just much slower for him than it is for normal human beings, even great athletes, and that in large measure accounts IMO for his outstanding accuracy. Thing is, he's so good that I really don't see much room for improvement. Allen on the other hand is still developing. All indications are that he will get better. I'll be interested in seeing how these two guys compare down the road. As has been said, although Allen deserves all the credit, the Bills have done a great job bringing him along, and they likely will continue to do so.

Yeah I had the same thought. Could be he's transitioning from top shelf DC to a true HC. Hope so anyway.

Hes been very good on STs. A poster (I don't remember who) recently said they did not see him as a contributor at DE. That puzzled me because I thought I saw significant improvement since he started getting more time as part of the rotation. Gaining strength and getting the technicals down is not a one or two year proposition. These guys sometimes take years to develop especially when they are as raw as he was coming in. I think he may well turn into something good. Man he seems to have long arms. Josh Allen put the team on his back when it started to look like things were about to go the wrong way. His answer was four or five BIG boy throws that few QBs can make. That turned things right around. Picked the whole team up. Dude is a prodigy.

time for a 75 yard fg

Great block Diggs

All starting QBs fail to spot open receivers, even the best ones. Most of them make desperation bonehead plays too - witness Ben R's enzone pick versus the Ravens the other day. Allen has come a very long ways in managing these tendencies. In fact when he gets outstanding pass pro (which also has happened, though not last Sunday) he's already downright deadly as far as the passing game is concerned. Given his history he's getting the kind of coaching and experience that his peer group benefited from long before joining the pro ranks. IMO assuming the Bills continue to surround him with a good supporting cast, which I expect they will, his ceiling should be defined and stabilized by the end of 2021 but probably not before. In other words I think he takes another big step forward next year. I think he probably winds up consensus top 5 year in year out.

Bosa is allowed to tackle Allen.