starrymessenger

They don't call him motor for nothin.

Yeah, and like everybody else he wasn't doing much in the passing game.

I get the point that Browns were staking the box. 5+ ypc isn't bad against a loaded front. Guess Devin is pretty good.

Not trying to be a malcontent and so really just daydreaming but Gordon was money for nothing and it would also have been nice to have landed Sanders. Gordon, Sanders, Brown, Beasly, that's potentially a receiving corps that might have benefitted Allen and transformed the offence. Add in more balanced offensive game plans and improved play calls and we could well have been in a better place heading into the remaining schedule. I understand that it's never that simple. They (Gordon, Sanders) would have to absorb the playbook quickly (though as vets they might soon have been up to speed) and of course there could be a risk of an uneven transition in the clubhouse and on the field but the countervailing argument would be that you rarely get an opportunity in a playoff run to completely upgrade your talent on one side of the ball. And except for Brown and Beasly the WR group will probably wind up being completely overhauled anyway. So I guess the question is whether we are too conservative. Competitive teams seem to go out and recruit people aggressively.

Shoulda had both IMO

Exactly.

Because he has great speed, the defending CB will often be trailing even if in relatively tight coverage when Brown is running certain sideline routes. The DB will typically have his back to the QB in press man coverage. John Brown is a polished professional receiver who, amongst other things, tracks the ball very well. When completing the reception he can modify his timing to effectively box out while often, though not always, "jumping" over the defender. I've seen him do it over the years with different QBs. It's part of his skillset that derives from his threat as a speedster and the other receiver attributes that he has. I don't think I would hesitate to target him on back shoulder throws. I didn't mean to suggest that as a stationary target he was ever going to out high point Alshon Jeffery or Mike Evans. I agree he's not that guy.

I won't criticize Wallace for the Landry TD. It was a very good pass and Landry, who has no problems tracking a ball in the air, made a great adjustment and flashed excellent hands. Wallace was in tight coverage and nearly got his hand on the ball. Wallace is not a CB2 IMO. He is limited physically but he's a smart player who absolutely belongs on an NFL roster. Bills (McD I suspect) seem to have a penchant for these types of undrafted or late round smart, system friendly but measurables lacking DBs, J. Johnson is another. They can be good value. There is a reason Tre gives Beckham Jr. a big cushion. It's because he's often 1 on 1 against the opposition's best receiver and without help over the top he could very well have his a$$ handed to him and he knows it. Tre is an outstanding young corner and really a top shelf technician, but like almost all good players he has his kryptonite. A burner can beat him on go routes. Playing off a guy like BJ is probably really just part of his being a good technician. He knows his own strengths and weaknesses.

Yeah. He's incredible. Was fun seeing him outperform by far the 100M dollar man (something tells me Vikes are going to have to pony up with some cash sooner rather than later). I would say "too late in the game".

Well he may not have the high pointer physical profile, but like I said I've seen him make those plays (esp back shoulder snags) enuf to say it can be considered part of his receiver repertoire IMO. I certainly see no reason to avoid making those throws to him.

I don't think he has drafted badly. With hindsight it is easy to criticize any GM for what can appear to be squandered opportunities. Strategically he seems to have a penchant for boom/bust athletic prototypes. We'll see how it works out. To me the next draft/FA will go a long way in establishing his legacy in Buffalo. He needs, as always, to strengthen the lines, but he will now have to prove his ability to identify skill position players. I'll be looking to see whether he can do this using mid to late round picks. Just about anybody can scoop an elite WR prospect if you burn a extra first round pick to move up.

Maybe I've got it wrong, but I thought he was also suggesting that he had no confidence in Brown as a receiver of jump balls and back shoulder throws (and just not because he thinksJosh is having problems connecting). If so, with this I would disagree. With respect to the particular play call I do agree it was probably situationally inappropriate. I think some other posters have commented on the difficulties Josh is experiencing with decision making/ pre snap reads.

The league in general, and the wise heads in particular (I'm looking at you Bill) got it completely wrong. I'm sorry to have to say it but there may even have been some racial animus/stereotyping going on. In their defence however I think it's more than fair to say that Lamar did not fit the profile of the type of young QB that we had seen develop to succeed for decades. What they missed is that he breaks the mould. Polian now acknowledges that he got it wrong. Thing is, there were also a number of analysts who got it right. From what I garnered from some podcasts and analyst film breakdown/studies, as well as from what tape I was myself able to access from the Internet, it was obvious that Jackson was not only electrifying as a runner, but had plenty of potential to develop as a passer as well. He had the arm strength, field vision, anticipation and, yes, also the accuracy you like to see. He was a better passer at Louisville than Josh was at Wyo. He too could be inconsistent but his problems were in the nature of (probably) correctable mechanics. While Raven's pairing him with Roman was a marriage made in heaven, his future is tied more to his continuing development as a passer. He will always be a threat to run and opposing DCs will always have to deal with it but I'm of the view that too much read option and designed runs will shorten his career, however good he is at avoiding impactful hits. When he took over from Flacco last year he was for sure a run first if not run only QB. This was to be expected. With less than half a season behind him in 2019 we now see the passing game beginning to open up and that's a progression that I expect will continue. A note I find of interest: there are very few NFL QBs that can drop a dime falling off their back foot - Rodgers can do it, Mahomes can do it, and I saw Jackson do it for a thirty yard score earlier this year. Dude looks to become a really good QB, if he's not already.

And I saw Brown do it (back shoulder grabs) on several occasions for big/and or scoring plays with Flacco in Baltimore. Don't know what he's talking about. Or maybe he doesn't.

Well I thought it was a good trade for Pitt. First for first, except the one they got had already shown he could play, and at a premium position.

You actually need both in equal measure.

In the game I watched I saw some excellent throws, throws that I'm not sure all starting calibre NFL QBs can make. I also saw today, as I have in the past, a number of passes to open receivers that, while catchable, had placement that was bad enuf to unnecessarily increase the degree of difficulty, resulting in incompletions and lost YAC opportunities. And as for his long ball, I really don't know what is going on there. But I think there is a dearth of QB friendly throws that could also be productive with too much weight being placed on Allen's shoulders to execute an aggressive pass happy attack. Neither Allen nor his complement of skill position players are capable of that right now. This is not the greatest show on turf. Allen may never make it but Daboll and McD are not doing him any favours.

Our WR corps is admittedly not the strongest and could certainly do with an upgrade. Now that Beane and Coach have passed on a couple of players who could have helped raise the general level (Gordon, Sanders) we will, I assume, have to wait until the draft. But even a top shelf receiver would probably make little difference in this offence right now and there's no doubt in my mind that much better use could be made of the weapons we've already got. I think the Bills get pretty much the best out of their players on D. Much less than the best on O. IMO some of that is on Allen but it's too early to single him out. Game planning and play calling are the more likely culprits.

The comedy of errors

Levi is limited but he's really smart

MVP

Because Daboll

That's a TO thank you.

Time for a TO.

I had interest in Gordon and even much more in E. Sanders (at least the Bills and I were somewhat on the same page there). I don't think Dez adds anything to our existing WR corps, except maybe makes it worse, so no, not at all.