oldmanfan

Sullivan likes to make himself part of the story

Let’s hope not

I think it’s fine to criticize. For example, I was very critical of Allen throwing those dumb passes across his body back into the middle of the field. You’re critical of the long ball. The difference is you and I are here discussing things each week, win or lose. I think it’s really sad to only show up after losses. It would be great if they hit a deep pass. I don’t happen to think it’s the be all and end all of success, since I think at most 5% of throws go that far in the air. I’d rather see him throw a 10 yard pass to Singletary and let him run 30 yards. Allen has improvements to make, mostly reading coverages and making good decisions where to go with the ball. No one I see on this board thinks he’s a finished product. Now let let me ask you something in return. Say they hit the long pass Sunday. Will your response be: Great! Or will it be something more along the lines of one pass doesn’t mean anything, need to do it consistently? Or something like it was a bad throw and the WR bailed him out? Or put another way, what will be the next thing folks will imagine up to heap criticism on a young QB?

It is truly sad when purported fans of a football team only show up after losses to criticize. Truly, truly sad. Do you think it's inappropriate to acknowledge a kid that comes through in the fourth quarter of games? Do you think it's inappropriate to acknowledge the team has a 6-3 record? Allen needs to improve. No one says otherwise. You only choose to say it to bask in the glow of a loss. Sad, sad, sad.

Lines. Dominate up front you do pretty well as a football team.

Here I am. You have no credibility judging Qbs given your Winston thing. You come off as being an expert, yet you have never to my knowledge informed anyone here if you have a history as a football coach, have a history as a Qb, etc. Thus your opinion is no better (or worse ) than any one else around here, other than the glaring miss on Winston. Why don't you just simply say you screwed up on Winston? Allen needs to continue improving. Not one person argues that point. As he continues progressing and learning he should get better. What I say is this: any young QB that can have as many good fourth quarter comebacks as he has (as yes, if he plays better the first three quarters it may not be as necessary) is worth continuing to develop.

Bingo.

Well stated

And that shows your lack of understanding.

It tells you to look deeper into the question. Again, it is not meant to provide a definitive answer. I’d be curious what your degrees are in and whether you’ve conducted research. You need a good passer. But you might also benefit from a good runner.

No. It’s a question. The answer makes you go hmmmm. Wonder what that might mean? Maybe look a little deeper. A lot of Nobel prize winners started by asking a simple question, then going hmmmm.

It’s not pointless. It is an interesting data set that, if this were a scientific endeavor, would suggest further experimentation and analysis. Does it definitively prove or disprove anything? No.

Depends. Are you gaining your passing yards outside the red zone? Or get 12 runs for 10 yards from their 10 yard line? Teams that can do both and play good D win games.

I think they both know the defense better, they are both more mobile in the passing game, and I don’t see Brown being an upgrade in the run defense based on watching him here for several years. Am I so still waiting? As I said above folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

Your are like those not smart people.. Can’t make this stuff up folks.

I think they beat the Cowboys

And Brown would not help any of that. Do you recall watching Preston Brown play for the Bills? He made a lot of tackles but invariably far off the line of scrimmage. So even if your predictions are true, I don't see your point. And even if your predictions are right, if the Bills win each game, which I think they will, who cares?

Yeah but that's not a chance. That's foolhardy.

God, these threads are tiresome. Here is the reality: Josh Allen is the starting QB for the Buffalo Bills. He will start this entire year unless he gets hurt. Barkley is a backup, and will not be starting any games this year. Josh Allen is not a perfect QB yet, which is by far more the rule than the exception for second year QBs. He needs to be on the field to give this team the best chance to win games. He needs to do better with reads. Everyone can see that. He needs to play better in the middle of games, generally starts out OK and obviously is a very good 4th quarter guy. Everyone should also see that. When he makes his reads correctly and delivers the ball, he is very much on target with his receivers. Everyone who is watching objectively should see that. He is a threat with his feet as well, which gives him a skill set others don't have. Everyone can see that. He needs to figure out which guys to go to quicker, and he has to quit being afraid to throw picks on his long bombs; if they get picked it's basically a punt anyway. Everyone (except maybe Daboll) sees that. He will either get better with his reads and such over the course on his season and next, or he won't. If he does, he is poised to be really good. If he doesn't then he won't be the guy. But the only way to find that out is to play him, and bottom line is playing him (along with a strong D, which is what McD and Beane set out to do) the Bills are 6-3 and currently in 5th in the conference. We all need to quit trying to put so much emphasis on different metrics, and quit using them to change the discussion about the kid. Last year it was \the magical completion percentage of 60%. Early in the year it was clear he figured that out, so the metric changed to 300 yard games. When data was shown that 300 yard games and wins don't really correlate, all of a sudden it switched to completion percentage for long passes. When he hits a couple of those God knows what the next pivot will be to try and denigrate the kid. I have no idea if he will be the guy in Buffalo for the next 20 years. I hope so, I think any young QB that shows what he does in the fourth quarter of games has a really good shot at being the guy. No question he has to improve his performances, has to improve his reads so the offense is more effective. It's also true that receivers need to catch the ball when thrown to them, It's also true the line has to provide more consistent protection. It's also true the OC needs to get the most talented guys he has on the field (Singletary) and get them the ball. Let the kid play, let him develop, let him use his strengths as a player and let him (hopefully) shore up his weaknesses.

Moving your starting MLB to a new position this far into the season wouldn’t make sense

I'll back mine up. Brown makes a ton of tackles but he makes them after the runner has made 5 yards if not more. And he's a liability in pass coverage. So he doesn't help us.

What has Brown done to say he's better than the backups we have. You have your opinion, I have mine. Quit pretending yours is the be all and end all.

Well, no he's not actually.

And here we go. Any guy cut by another team must be an upgrade to a 6-3 team. Makes a ton of sense.

Allen is going to be the QB for years to come IMHO. His big thing now is reading defenses. That comes with time, and yes the time for him to develop that skill is growing shorter. Adding more pieces around him will also help. O line could still use a player or two. Obviously a really good WR. Ultimately for young QBs it’s about getting the game to slow down so you make good decisions. It’s slowing some for Josh but needs to slow down more.