Nihilarian

Whew, hope this isn't a lingering issue this season as I don't see Bodine holding down that position as well. The season hasn't even started and already the injuries are worrisome.

Last season Vegas had the Chiefs winning 8 1/2 games and saw them taking a small step backwards. Nobody predicted that Mahomes would throw 50 TDs or that the Chiefs would have the #1 offense in the league or end up in the AFC Championship game. https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article217926665.html The 2017 Rams were supposed to be bad, like 28th in the NFL bad! No way did anyone see them going 11-5 and having he #1 scoring offense in the league. https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2017/7/11/15957054/2017-nfl-odds-la-rams-playoffs-no The 2019 Buffalo Bills are going to shock the NFL world this season.

We already know the defense should be playoff capable. Plus, with a run game by the RBs it should look even better. This season I think the Bills offense will surprise a lot of folks with a decent passing attack and a punishing run game. Then look at special teams that was so bad last year it alone lost some games. The OP says 10 wins are a lock and I see 12 or more wins a big possibility. This year the Bills knock the Patriots off their lofty perch.

There were reasons as to why this happened a few times last season and it had a lot to do with having such a bad offensive line...with no run game by the RBs. And it wasn't the RB's fault as its nearly impossible to make yards when the opposing defense is in the backfield making the tackle as soon as the ball is handed off. The team got behind in points and the offense went full pass mode with a rookie QB behind center most of the time and let's face it... Josh Allen was very raw and learning on the job. The kid wasn't supposed to start and should have sit, learned behind a veteran QB. The defense on the field more then they should have been and they get worn down by the 4th quarter. This years offense should make a gigantic leap! Not only should the Bills field a greatly improved offensive line they should also have some quality depth. The season the Bills RB will actually have some holes to run through most of the time. The receiver corps just took a gigantic leap too. With John Brown, Zay Jones and Robert Foster all capable of running a 4:40 or faster should give opposing DCs nightmares about the deep bombs from Allen's arm. Last season the Bills attempted more deep passes than any other team and this year they have the weapons/line to make that work. Not to mention Cole Beasley catching first down after first down. Then there is Dawson Knox who is a poor mans TJ Hockenson, who by some reports likened Knox to Hock! The season the Bills offense should be dictating the tempo and controlling the clock. Now, go back and look at the last two games of the season by the 2018 Buffalo Bills a 24-12 loss to the Patriots in which the Bills held Tom Brady to 13 of 24 for 126 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT. With a 48.3 QB rate, very un-Brady like! Now the reason the Patriots won that game is when Brady faltered they ran it down the Bills throats. Sony Michel &Co, 47 attempts rushing, 273 yards 2 TDs! The next game was a 42-17 blowout of the Miami Dolphins with Josh Allen throwing for 3 TDs and rushing for 2 TDs with a QB passer rating of 114.9. Allen accounted for 329 yards of offense. This year he has a run game to lean on with some decent receivers who will actually catch most everything coming their way. Bottom line for me is 10-6 will be the min and 12-4 should be the final. The biggest issue I see the Bills having trouble with is stopping the run as they face, 1) Jets, Le'Veon Bell. 2) NY Giants, Saquon Barkley 3) Joe Mixon 4) Sony Michel 5) Derrick Henry BYE WEEK. If the Bills can shut down those RB's and get the lead it will force the opposing offenses into pass mode against that #1 Buffalo Bills pass defense from last year with ex Bill, EJ Gains, and former first round pick by the Texans CB Kevin Johnson added to the secondary. Now, that 2019 first round pick in Ed Oliver who was graded as a top three pick will be able to do his thing in getting to the QB, along with Hughes. Oliver should be a force much like Aaron Donald now that he will no longer be triple teamed on the nose. The only losses I see are the @Browns, @Cowboys, @Steelers, @NE. 12-4 should take the division. Two other possible losses are Ravens, Eagles, 10-6 WC.

The 1994 11-5 Cleveland Browns beg to differ... and that was with Vinnie Testaverde at QB! 11-5 with that roster of bums... The 1995 Browns went into the tank the next season for very specific reasons. They started the 95 season 3-1. Although, there were significant rumors about the team needing to be sold because the owner was in deep financial trouble. The Browns started to falter and by the time week 9 arrived they were 4-4. After the next game the Browns owner, Art Modell suddenly announced the team was moving from Cleveland to Baltimore after the season. Needless to say, the team stunned by that news, the floor fell out and the team collapsed. After that the Browns only won one game and Belichick was fired. Had Modell kept Belichick as HC with the Baltimore Ravens and with Ozzie Newsome as director of pro personnel who move to director of football operations, later to GM. I think the history/story of both the Patriots/Ravens would be very, very different today.

That 1990 SB Jim Kelly called his own plays and attempted passes far more then he should have considering Thurman Thomas ran 15 times for 135 yards. If the Bills coaches had watched the NY Giants play the 49ers in the NFC Championship game they should have noticed that the NY Giants defense shut down that 14-2 Niners offense that was the #2 passing offense that season. The reality is that Belichick usually doesn't lose twice to the same team in a year and the Buffalo Bills had beaten the NY Giants in Giants stadium in week 15. Both starting QBs left the game with injuries as Jim Kelly and Phil Simms were both sidelined that game. Bills won 17-13.

Belicheat went 11-5 in 15 games with a QB who never started one single college game. That QB went 10-5 that season. It's not just the QB on that team that does so well as its often his defense steps up as well. Brady seemed to fade somewhat at the end of last season, so the run game and defense stepped it up! Nobody, and I mean nobody watches as much film on opponents as Belichick. He probably knows what play call he will get from opposing coaches before they do as they look on their play chart. Yes, Tom Brady is the GOAT! But I also wonder what would have happened to that 6th round pick at QB on any other NFL team? That first year for Brady the Patriots took a RB from Buffalo in Antowain Smith and got 1157 yards, 12 TDs from him. Brady didn't set the world on fire with his 2483 passing yards or his 18 TDs, 12 INTs. What he did learn was to move the chains play after play until the red zone and then score. Troy Brown 101 catches for 1199 yards also helped that first year.

Just set the DVR to record, thanks for posting.

What that article doesn't mention is that the "bickering Bills" of 1989 sour attitude continued until week two of the 1990 season. In a 30-7 week two blowout loss to the Dolphins HC Marv Levy had benched some star players late in the game and they didn't take it well at all. Most notably CB Nate Odems, Bruce Smith who after they found out that they were benched went over to the sidelines and knocked over the gatorade table, started loudly complaining like little kids. This loss stung a lot of Bills players as they kept complaining in the locker room after the game. This whole thing upset both the HC and owner. The media made a big deal about the players attitudes and it caused the owner Mr Ralph Wilson to speak out and issue a warning to any Bills player who doesn't want to play for Marv Levy or be on the team will be accommodated. With new found respect for Levy, after this loss the team came together and went on an 8 game winning streak and finished the season 13-3 while getting to their first super bowl.

Gonna be tough to get the 7th overall pick when selecting 32nd, that's a lot of moving up

My take is all three are great HoF QBs and each in his own way. Jim Kelly first learned the run and shoot under "mouse" Davis in the USFL and then learned under ex Colts HC Ted Marchibroda who taught Kelly to call his own plays. After Ole Ted was rehired by to Colts as HC,(after 1991) Kelly was basically all on his own calling offensive plays. Elway had Mike Shanahan who built a team good enough to win a SB. Elway had 31 comeback games and was known as Mr comeback. Marino during his time in Miami never had anyone like Ted Marchibroda or Mike Shanahan to build a power offense as it was all him and his arm. Marino had 33 comebacks which is more then Mr Comeback Elway. Dan Marino didn't have an offensive genius helping him run an NFL offense either. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/comebacks_career.htm

If you go back and look at 1987 thru 1999 the Dolphins didn't have any RB anywhere near the level of Thurman Thomas. From what I see the Dolphins didn't even have a 1000 yard rusher while Marino was there in those years. Miami made the playoffs in 1990, lost the Division to Buffalo. In 1992 Miami lost the AFC Championship game in Miami to Buffalo. They lost the Division in 1994 and a WC in 1995. BTW, 1999 was Marino's last year in Miami as Jimmy Johnson took over from Don Shula in 1996. The Dolphins made the playoffs nine seasons with Marino at QB and in the later years they simply couldn't get by Buffalo. While Marino made the HoF, did any of his teammates ever make the hall? RB, WR, DE, anyone? The Marks Brothers, Mark Clayton, Mark Duper... nada! How many players from those late 80's early 90s Bills in the Hall? Thomas, Kelly, Reed, Smith, Lofton and Tasker should be in too. HM, Bennett 14 seasons in the NFL, Tally 14 seasons in the NFL. LT Will Wolford 13 seasons in the NFL, LG Jim Ritcher 16 seasons in the NFL, C Kent Hull 11 seasons in the NFL. Miami didn't have talent like this! Also, Don Shula forgot what won him his early super bowls with the 68 Colts, they ran the ball. The 1972 Miami Dolphins 259 attempts passing, 613 attempts rushing! Nearly the same thing in 1973 with 256 attempts passing, 507 attempts rushing. Sorta the same thing with John Elway as Denver went to the SB on John Elway's arm as he didn't have a 1000 yard rusher or receiver in the SB seasons of 1986, 1987. Denver won a SB with the legs of HoF RB Terrell Davis, 1750 yards rushing, 15 TDs in 1997. He also had HoF TE Shannon Sharpe at that time. Not to mention Rod Smith. Here is an interesting list, https://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/comebacks_career.htm

While I love Kelly and think he should be in the top 25. Let's not forget that a big difference between those early 90's Bills, Broncos and Dolphins were Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith. Thurman was around 70% of that Buffalo offense and the Bills usually ran the ball more then they threw it. I can recall Marino saying he wished the Dolphins had a RB like Thomas all those years. While Thurman only had two 2000 yard seasons he came close three other times. In 1989 the Broncos signed Bruce Smith to a 5 year, 7.5 million dollar contract and the Bills had a week to match the offer or get two first round picks in return. (At the time I kept hearing that Wilson wanted the Picks). Thank you, Bill Polian! Would the Bills have even made it to a SB without either Thomas or Smith?

Think about something for a min. The Bills defense finished with those stats with a defense that was on the field more then they should have been with little to not much run game from the RBs. If you take away the rush yards from the 2018 Buffalo Bills leading rusher in QB Josh Allen the offense was 31st in rush yards. Last seasons offensive line was so bad that after Allen returned from injury the offense ran a lot of empty backfield sets to allow Allen more freedom to run. The Bills RBs averaged only 3.2 yards per carry and it was Allen who made the rush stats look decent with his 7.1 YPC AVG. It was an odd season for sure last year as in three of the six win for Buffalo they dominated the clock in some games to make things look somewhat even stat wise. And in those three wins in which they got the lead early, they actually managed to find a run game with the RB's. With all the upgrades to the offensive line this year, plus the really good depth. Both the passing offense and run game should be able do a better job of extending drives into TDs. The Bills RB should actually have some holes to run through every game. Although, now retired Kyle Williams was third on the team in sacks with 5.0 and second on the team in QB hits with 14. My take is Ed Oliver could be the DT that Marcel Dareus was supposed to be in Buffalo. This kid graded as a top three pick and because of the Cards, Raiders, Giants, Lions going in a different direction the Bills got lucky and got him at #9. Then the Bills added former Buffalo CB EJ Gains and former Texans #1 pick CB Kevin Johnson who plays so hard he ends up injured a lot. This years secondary and pass rush might be even better than last years. This years Buffalo Bills defense might just surprise...in a good way.

What on earth are you talking about? I don't speak cryptic or troll! You made an analysis based on end of season stats which were slanted due to different games on different days. Talk about good humor...

Lies, damned lies and statistics... You can't just look at the end of the season result stats to make any kind of realistic overall determination on time of possession or rushing yards. For example, to look at just the rushing yards for the 2018 Buffalo Bills leads some to believe that the run game in 2018 was doing okay because they finished the season 6th in rushing attempts, 9th in rushing yards and yet it was the QB who led the team in rushing. Which is something of an anomaly for almost all NFL teams. Josh Allen rushing stats, 12 games, 11 game starts, 89 attempts for 631 yards, 8 TDs. with a YPC AVG of 7.1. Most of those rushing yards came later in the season when the team went to more empty back sets to utilize Allen's running skill. The Baltimore Ravens had a running QB for almost half their season as he had 147 attempts for 695 yards rushing, 5 TDs with a 4.7 YPC AVG. Which was way more attempts and slightly more rushing yards and yet he was the second leading rusher on the Ravens. Lamar Jackson led the NFL with the most runs by a QB. Cam Newton and the Panthers were another team which had a running QB (second leading rusher on the team) who ran more times than Allen with 101 attempts, 488 yards, 4 TDs. Houston was another team with a running QB who was the third leading rusher on the Texans, 99 attempts for 551 yards, 5 TDs, a 5.6 YPC AVG. None of these teams had the QB as their leading rusher. The 2018 Buffalo Bills leading RB runner was LeSean McCoy with 13 GS, 161 attempts, 514 yards and 3 TDs, a 3.2 YPC AVG. Chris Ivory was the next Bills RB with 115 attempts, 385 yards, 1 TD with a 3.3 YPC AVG. Now for the time of possession. There were a lot of lopsided game for the Bills in 2018 as there were nearly six blowouts. Game one Ravens ToP Bills 24:46, Ravens 35:14. Game two, Chargers 33:02, Bills 26:58. Game four, Packers 34:37, Bills 25:23. Game seven, Colts 33:19, Bills 26.41. Game eight, NE 31:50, Bills 28:10. Game nine, Chicago 34;03, Bills 25:57. Now conversely the Bills also had some blowouts of their own in three of their six wins which negated the negative ToP. The Bills got the lead and the Bills defense overwhelmed the opposing offense Minn, 24:15, Bills 35:45. NY Jets 20:38, Bills 39:22 in a 41-10 blowout Dolphins 42-17, Miami 29:42, Bills 30:18. The simple facts are the 2018 Buffalo Bills were one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL by their running backs. Take away Allen's running stats and the Bills had 1357 rush yards with 7 TDs. (Allen had 8 rushing TDs) That puts them at 31st in the NFL only ahead of Arizona who had 1342 rushing yards. Just as the 2018 Buffalo Bills were ranked the #2 overall defense. There are holes in those stats as they were #2 in yards allowed, #18 in points allowed. They were 16th in rushing yards allowed and 25th in rushing TDs allowed. The Bills pass defense was so good in 2018 they literally shut down the super bowl winning QB in Tom Brady in week 15! Brady went 13 of 26 attempts for 126 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs! Alas, the Patriots ran 47 times for 273 yards, 2 TDs and owned the Bills in ToP 35:38 to 24:22. Now, this is what a good run game can do for a team to win a game and control the clock with the QB not doing so well. This is why I said what I said.

Re-posting this from page 6 in this thread. Click the links and watch the vid. When you take everything from last season into consideration with the bad line, the somewhat bad receivers until later in the season. Along with no run game from the RBs to help take pressure off the QB, (not the RBs fault if there getting tackled behind the LoS) the suspect play calling with so many deep passes called with that bad line that at times that wouldn't even give two seconds of protection. I for one am very optimistic about the 2019 Buffalo Bills offense with all the new additions to the O line, receiver corps. Just think, if the 2018 Bills defense can field the #2 overall and #1 pass defense with very little to no run game to control the clock and keep the defense off the field and fresh. Now think about Shady with Frank Gore pounding the rock with some actual holes to run through this season. Josh Allen now has three deep threats in Zay Jones, John Brown and Robert Foster who all can run a 4.5, 40 or faster. Cole Beasley as the first down machine from the slot. The Bills offense should be greatly improved. The only concerns I have about the first five games is the Bills run defense as they will see some very good RB's in Le'Veon Bell, Saquon Barkley, Joe Mixon, Sony Michel, Derrick Henry. Stopping the opponents run should be a big priority. Shut down the run and everything else will follow.

About the inaccuracy issue... Now with Josh Allen and his college completion percentage was a lowly 56.2%. BUT, if you look deeper at his situation at Wyoming you would see several reasons why his completion percentage wasn't higher. Firstly, you need to look at all the schemes and systems all those four QB's were in and what type of passes they threw. Unlike the other three Josh Allen was in a pro style deep passing scheme with no dump offs, bubble screens or a lot short passes like those other three. Allen's surrounding cast at Wyoming was not as refined as those other players at USC, UCLA, Oklahoma. Neither was his coaching staff. speaking of surrounding cast every player on offense that had touched the ball in 2016 was gone for his last season in 2017. So basically he was dealing with a roster filled with rookies learning their jobs. The Wyoming offensive line was very much like the 2018 Buffalo Bills line in that it wasn't very good and Allen was always under pressure to get the ball out quickly. Here is why Brandon Beane knew Allen was the right guy for Buffalo. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/step-step-how-bills-knew-allen-was-right-them How did the Bills brass view those concerns and still decide Allen was Their Man? In this day and age of instant video and in-depth stats right at your fingertips, they went back to the basics. Tracking every throw with their own pencil-to-paper looking at exactly what’s going on with and around him. He had no gimme throws. There’s no, basically like hand-offs, the bubbles and all that stuff. It was all a traditional pro-style, throwing the ball vertically, and you basically have to do your own stats. How many times did he bail out of there and throw it away, which is an incompletion? How many times did he have to do that vs. this guy and vs. that guy? And you also looked at what’s going on when he’s missing, when he should have made the play, what’s going on? And to us, it was pretty clear it’s when his feet were not right. Now, right after the 2017 college season ended Allen went on to work with Jordan Palmer (Carson Palmer's Brother) and he knew that when "he" missed on a throw it was because his footwork was off. They worked on his footwork right up until the combine. From Beane and from that article, "The most positive thing I saw, when he was at the Senior Bowl, his feet were in a much better position that week, he was much more accurate, not only during the week, but even in the game. " Another article on Allen/Palmer, https://billswire.usatoday.com/2018/08/22/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-jordan-palmer/

Sadly, the defensive scheme they both used has become outdated and every team knows how to beat it, and beat it badly. Why that fact hasn't caught up to the Ryan bros is what really makes no sense!

The entire football world knew that Allen wasn't as polished as Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen and he should have sat out the season like Patrick Mahomes did in KC. Unlike the Chiefs though, the Bills didn't have a veteran QB to start, or someone for a young, inexperienced QB to lean on, to mentor, to show both Peterman, Allen the NFL ropes. Shoot, this team didn't even have a valid QB coach as the one they did have was never an NFL QB coach but a receivers assistant coach. Speaking of Peterman, imagine how the season would have looked had this coaching staff been determined to have him remain as the starter! 0-16 maybe? Even veteran Derek Anderson looked like crap behind that horrid offensive line... with a poor receiving corps...with no run game from the RBs...with bad coaching that called for far, far too many deep passes with a bad line that couldn't protect past two seconds. Kinda difficult to throw deep when you call for a 5-7 step drop back which requires 3-5 seconds in the pocket when most of the time that line wouldn't even hold for two seconds. Probably a big reason as to why this OC has never had an NFL offense better than 24th in passing in his five seasons as an OC. Little or no holes for the RBs, save when the team had the lead at times...very few times in some games. Don't think that Bills OC Brian Daboll was calling for deep passes? "28.2 percent of Allen’s pass attempts where on passes 15-yards or further downfield, which was the highest rate in the league:. This, behind one of the very worst offensive lines in the league. Throughout the 2018 season, where they allowed 154 total pressures from 595 passing plays. "Allen scrambled on 11.9 percent of his drop backs last year. That was the second highest rate over the past decade with four or more starts in a season, trailing only Mike Vick in 2010. He also averaged 10.8 yards per scramble attempt, the highest rate for any quarterback over the past 10 years that tallied 20 or more scramble runs. It was a necessity for Allen to scramble as he faced pressure on 43.4 percent of his dropbacks, which trailed only Deshaun Watson." After a midseason elbow injury, Daboll and the Bills shifted their offensive philosophy around showcasing offensive speed and getting Allen into more empty offensive sets to maximize his rushing potential while generating more explosive plays. Allen drop backed from an empty set on 18.5 percent of his drop backs, which was the third-highest rate in the league. Although his passing performance was still under par for the league, this allowed him to finish the season as a fantasy dynamo. After returning in Week 12, Allen was the highest overall scoring fantasy quarterback during those remaining six weeks of the season. https://www.rotoworld.com/article/team-previews/bills-fantasy-preview From my view, QB Josh Allen allowed the 2018 Buffalo Bills NFL season to be watchable (after he returned from his injury, that is) and after he got some veteran QB help. Did Allen still make some mistakes, yes! But he also made some plays with his arm that very few NFL QB's can make... Peyton Manning's first season 3-13, only completed 56.7% of his passes. Set a rookie record for most INT's with 28. QB Troy Aikman went 0-11 his first year as the Cowboys went 1-15. Threw 9 TDs, 18 INTs, completed 52.9% of his passes. He even had Michael Irvin to throw to, (who didn't emerge as a top WR until year four). Gee, I wonder if that Troy Akiman guy can overcome all those critical negatives?

What some of you guys need to realize is that this HC/GM are first timers in their respective jobs and they are learning as they go. Yes, they have made some mistakes and they also corrected them fairly quickly in comparison to past regimes. Do they compare to past regimes since 2000, NO! Why? Because they made the playoffs in 2017 for the first time in two decades! Some of you whine and complain about revisionist theory on the drafts. For the 2018 draft, McD was still dealing with Doug Whaley and his scouting staff and after the draft they were ALL replaced!! Still, four starters, one of the very best CBs in the league, a starting LT, a starting WR, a starting OLBer who was playing at a pro bowl level before injury and a 5th round pick at that. Shall we revisit how many players are on the team from Nix/Whaley? 55 players drafted and only one player remains! For the first time in the 50 plus year history of this Buffalo Bills franchise this FO took a QB with a top ten pick with an upside of an Aaron Rodgers/Big Ben/ Brett Favre. They also found their MLB for the next decade who is only 21 years old. 6'5'' 250lbs and a physical freak. He reminds me of the Raiders Ted Hendricks, aka "the mad stork"! Then when you look at the free agents this GM found a CB gem in Levi Wallace, who some have said is so good were the draft held again today he would be a first round pick. WR Robert Foster is also mentioned as another player who would have been a first rounder. The Bills fielded the #2 overall defense last season with the #1 pass defense and this off season added former Bill, EJ Gains and former #1 Texans CB Kevin Johnson (who BTW killed it in mini camp.) #1 pick in DT Ed Oliver is a beast and should have been a top 3 pick...yay NY Giants, Raiders! Yes, the Bills offensive line was bad last season and they moved to replace the line coach along with most of the starting players on that line. If anyone on that line fails to do a decent job like Dion Dawkins who in his rookie season had only four penalties and last year had 15.There is now enough backup talent on the roster to replace him or move him to OG. The LT and center positions are looking locked down and the rest should be a war to see who starts at LG, RG, RT. #2 draft pick Cody Ford was graded as a #1 pick the Bills got a road grading beast who should start at RT. Yes, the Bills receiving corps was pretty bad last season and they replaced the WR coach. They brought in arguably the best slot guy in the league in Cole Beasley. They brought in a very speedy WR in John Brown who has enough talent to be the #1 WR on the team. (They tried to get him last year and he instead went to Baltimore) WR Duke Williams is a CFL all-star who is a big, strong physical receiver at 6'3 225lbs. TE Charles Clay never lived up to expectations in Buffalo so he is gone along with WR Kelvin Benjamin who lost his heart to play. The Bills added TE Tyler Kroft from the Bengals, resigned Lee Smith and draft picks Dawson Knox, Tommy Sweeney. For the life of me I just don't get how some Bills fans are complaining like Buddy Nix is still with the team. Drafting a "waterbug at RB when the team is desperate for a LT. Or Doug Whaley using two firsts and a fourth to move up in the draft for an oft injured, malcontent WR when they could have drafted anyone of 15 first round picks that draft who made the pro bowl. Then right after drafting Watkins the Bills FO stated that they were still looking for that big, tall WR red zone target... Mike Evans anyone? ODB jr, or even Khalil Mack! OMG what a bunch of fluckups Whaley and his scouting staff were! 55 players drafted from Whaley/Nix era and only one remains with the Bills. From what I've seen this past off season Bills fans should be doing back-flips over what Beane/McD have done with this team. If you can't get excited over this team, this year then see a doc and get some Alprazolam until the season gets here.

Bills fans keep bringing this up and Beane wasn't hired at this time. The draft was in April and Beane was hired May 9th. If I'm McD, I wouldn't trust Doug Whaley to evaluate a QB after he personally evaluated EJ before drafting him. McD knows defense and he got his man in Tre White who is one of the very best CBs in the league. Besides, who know what Mahomes would have developed into in Buffalo under Rick Dennison. Andy Reid had Mahomes sit and learn for a year (behind veteran QB Alex Smith) which is what should have happened with Allen, sitting for a year that is. As for those other three points, I can't explain those and they bothered me immensely as did drafting a QB #7 overall only to throw him to the wolves behind on of the very worst O- line this franchise has ever fielded. Beane did acknowledge to the media he made a mistake in not getting Anderson or a veteran NFL QB in earlier to mentor Allen. As for the Nathan Peterman debacle, I put that more on the offensive coaches as they must had had great input to say he was ready to start. EDIT: I can recall reading that the Bills, Beane/McD went up to Wyoming to watch Allen play and they both came away saying that with the snow and cold it was just like Buffalo. They researched Allen extensively, as did I. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/step-step-how-bills-knew-allen-was-right-them “Because what we did was, first of all, look at every throw multiple times,” Beane said. “What were his options here? OK, go back, what would Baker Mayfield have done here? What would Sam Darnold have done? What would Mason Rudolph, any quarterback that was in this thing, how would they have handled it, because they’re all playing at different skill sets, they’re all playing in different offenses. He had no gimme throws. There’s no, basically like hand-offs, the bubbles and all that stuff. It was all a traditional pro-style, throwing the ball vertically, and you basically have to do your own stats. How many times did he bail out of there and throw it away, which is an incompletion? How many times did he have to do that vs. this guy and vs. that guy? And you also looked at what’s going on when he’s missing, when he should have made the play, what’s going on? And to us, it was pretty clear it’s when his feet were not right. The most positive thing I saw, when he was at the Senior Bowl, his feet were in a much better position that week, he was much more accurate, not only during the week, but even in the game. The great thing about the game – I know his agents were all wanting him to play a series or two and get out because everyone is fearing injury – and he was like, ‘No, I’m coming back in the second half.’ His agent was probably like, ‘why?’ and he came back and led them on two different touchdown drives.”

Wouldn't it strike you as unbelievably stupid of Beane/McD if they didn't heavily investigate this sole issue? I'm thoroughly certain they did, just as I did before the draft. Allen talking with Mike Mayock at the combine. Allen was aware of his accuracy issues and he understood it was mostly his footwork that was off at times. As soon as the college season was over Allen went to work with Jordan Palmer on his mechanics, footwork. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIb-B4sGd8&t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7l5BD8SaJ0 I couldn't be more encouraged about Allen after watching him play in the season finale against Miami. The Bills were up by 7 near the end of the second quarter and Allen threw a pick 6. Now it's 14-14 going into the third quarter. Instead of getting down about that pass, Allen led four TD drives and threw for two TDs and ran for another TD in the second half. Buffalo won that game 42-17 and Allen just dominated with his arm and legs. Here is another video with Rich Eisen talking with Trent Dilfer and John Brenkus. Watch it and you just might feel better about the upcoming season.

Let's revisit what I said. Both Beane and McD saw that Josh Allen wasn't ready to start in the opener so they gave the job to Peterman who did perform better in preseason. Allen didn't get any first team reps in preparation for the Ravens game as Peterman was announced as the starter. The only other NFL QB Josh Allen had to lean on was AJ McCarron who stated he was there to win the starting QB job and not mentor anyone. Hence a big reason as to why they traded McCarron Sept 3rd to Oakland for a 5th round pick. No loss there. QB Derek Anderson didn't sign with Buffalo until Oct 9th as he was contemplating retirement and later on GM Brandon Beane stated that this was a mistake in waiting so long to bring in a veteran QB to mentor Josh Allen, Nathan Peterman. BTW, Anderson started two weeks later against the Colts in that 37-5 rout. Anderson was never supposed to start and was brought in primarily as a mentor. Josh Allen was injured in that week 6 Texans game and was out for four games. Then once the Bills FO saw how poorly Anderson had played with that crappy surrounding cast they brought in Matt Barkely in case Anderson couldn't start against Chicago. Instead, Peterman started and it was another blowout by Chicago 41-9. Matt Barkley started against the NY Jets week 10 and it was a blowout for Buffalo 41-10. NOW, there is a stark reality as to why Barkley looked so good against the NY Jets and why Peterman, Anderson and Allen looked so poorly previously at times from week one to week 10. It was the result of the Bills OC calling for far, far too many deep passes with an ineffectual pass blocking offensive line along with some lousy receivers. Bills OC Brian Daboll was calling about 30% of the pass plays for deep throws. Matt Barkley started that Jets game and his very first pass was a 47 yard bomb to Robert Foster (this play clearly stunned the Jets defense) the next play was a 28 yard TD run by McCoy! The rout was on! The next series Barkley threw another deep pass incomplete to Zay Jones and out of the next eight passes 3 more went deep. The Jets defense was reeling and the Bills defense was having a field day against Josh McCown, 8 QB hits, 3 sacks, 2 INTs. The Bills offense was very lucky in this game because Barkley hit Foster with that 47 yard deep bomb in the opening play and it had the Jets on their heels the rest of the game. Suddenly that failed Buffalo run game was working as the Bills rushed 46 times for 212 yards and 2 TDs. McCoy went 26 for 113. Why hadn't the Bills offense looked this good in other games? The biggest reason I noticed was that the Bills OC was calling for deep pass plays 30% of the time and most went incomplete. Those deep pass plays require time in the pocket for a 5-7 step drop back which needs 3-5 seconds in the pocket. The Bills O line was lucky to keep it to a two second pocket most of the time. Hence, all the sacks, hits, hurries on Bills QBs. The 2018 Buffalo Bills offensive line was so bad that it really wasn't very smart to call for so many deep passing plays as the QBs rarely had the time in the pocket to complete those deep passes. Not to mention that the run game by the RB's was basically nonexistent most games. Consider that Bills OC Brian Daboll, while having spent time in NE as an assistant coach. His record as an NFL OC was not very good in his previous stints. 2 years with the Browns 2009 (yds 32, pts 29)-2010 (yds 29, pts 31). One year with Miami 2011 (yds 22, pts 20). one year with KC 2012 (yds 24, pts 32) and Buffalo in 2018 yards 30th, points 30th. In 2018 Buffalo allowed 101 QB hits, 41 sacks and I can only imagine those numbers being astronomical had Peterman or Anderson remained as the starters Again, Yes, Allen was a rookie QB who was not as polished a QB as Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen. If you go back and read the draft profiles on Allen many state that he is not a day one starting QB and needs time to sit and learn, "In the NFL: Allen’s pure talent will have him considered as a top 10 pick, but a team that drafts him must be aware of his faults, if they want to develop him to his full potential. For Allen to reach his full potential, he should go to a team in a coaching situation that is offense oriented, with coaches who have developed QB’s in that past, and can do it again. Allen is not a day-1 starter in the NFL. It would be ideal for Allen if he went to a situation where he can learn behind a QB for at least half a season. Allen has the best arm I have ever seen in my time scouting QB’s. If Allen reaches his potential, he could be one of the best QB’s in the NFL." https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2018/01/josh-allen/ Now, go back and look at what happened over the first half of the 2018 Buffalo Bills season.

What so many Bills fans seem to forget is that Josh Allen wasn't supposed to start in 2018. He was supposed to sit and learn while Peterman played behind that craptastic line with the inferior receiver corps and he would take the beating. Allen was graded as a developmental project and the Bills FO acknowledged this and had Peterman taking all the first string reps. Then Allen was thrown into the fire, unprepared to fight that fire, and what a fire! It was a full blown dumpster tire fire with an OC who had never fielded a better then 23rd passing offense in his previous four years in the NFL as an OC. A QB coach who had never been an NFL QB coach. No veteran QB on the roster to help this rookie learn the NFL ropes. We already talked about the bad line and receiver corps. Yes, Josh Allen had a rocky NFL start in his first season. Allen had 11 game starts and went 5-6 with an inferior offense around him and like at Wyoming in his final year he basically needed to carry the entire offense on his shoulders. There was no real run game by the Bills RB's as Allen was the teams leading rusher with 631 yards, 8 TDs. The teams top two passing targets had 80 missed targets between them and thus the reason as to why one WR outright cut while the WR coach was replaced. In 2018 QB Josh Allen WAS the offense while LeSean McCoy was averaging a measly 3.2 YPC avg while Josh Allen was averaging a crazy 7.1 YPC avg. That 5-6 win/loss record would more then likely be 6-6 if Allen didn't get hurt in that Texans game and Peterman throwing two INTs with a pick 6. The NY Jets finished 4-12 with their rookie QB picked at the #3 spot. Cleveland was only one game better with the #1 overall pick on a much better team. The majority of this board wanted Josh Rosen in the draft and he went 3-10 at Arizona with a QBR of 26.6. Get a grip folks, he was a rookie who didn't do so bad with one of the worst offenses the Bills have ever fielded. I for one am very excited to see what the kid can do with a decent line, decent receivers and now given the time to learn the offense. I can see playoffs year after year for Buffalo in the near future.