oldmanfan

The past several days there has been a lot of talk about Josh. Among the things that I have read just today: He can’t ever learn to read defenses pre-snap so just let him play how he wants He was better when Daboll was here, and Daboll hated McD so much he was willing to throw away a series in one of the playoff games against the Chiefs to prove it. Josh is already a sure fire first ballot HOFer and the best player to ever put on a Bills uniform The issue the offense has had recently are all Dorsey’s fault, or the O line, or the WRs. And so on. It seems to some that Josh and the quality of his play is untouchable, that no one dare question anything about his play. Here is my perspective, and I’ve literally seen every player that has ever played for the Bills since 1960. I love that we have Josh as our QB. He is the mainstay of the team. He gives us a shot every time he walks in the field. I think he may be the most physically gifted QB we have had in team history. His arm strength is great, although Kelly’s was as well and Jack Kemp did not exactly have a noodle arm. He is competitive and tough as you want; again so was Kelly and for those who don’t remember Kemp he was a bulldog as well. But Josh is on a plain above them and others QBs playing today when talking about his physical skills. if Josh continues on his path he will be in the HOF and I fully expect at least one Lombardi or two before he’s done. He may be the best to ever wear the uniform especially when he wins a Lombardi (but at present Bruce and OJ would have an argument). But he is not a saint. He is not perfect, he is not immune from criticism, and there are things he can improve in his game. In that regard he is like any other NFL player or coach, past or present. McD and Dorsey deserve criticism at times. Daboll did when he was here (many forget the vitriol thrown at him). The WRs, the line, the RBs they all deserve it at times. And so does Josh. The Jets game he stunk. There, I said it. So did Josh. Then he played great in the three blowout games. He hasn’t played well in the first half of the last 3 games, then played very well in the second halves. He turns the ball over more than he should. And when people say he has no one to throw to, sometimes yes but the film says sometimes no. If it was any other player on the team, no one would argue that player is perfect, that they should be immune from criticism. Josh is no different in that regard. He is different from the perspective of how prodigious his physical talent is, but not that he cannot continue improving. Someone said today that he can never be a Brady in terms of pre-snaps reads. I say: why not? Why can’t he continue improving there, improving in recognizing blitzes. Improving in getting the ball out to a hot read? Why? Again, I love Josh. I love how much he has brought to the team. I love how he has embraced the community, the Mafia, his talent, and that we have our guy, a guy that I know can take us all the way, for at least another 10 years. But he is not a saint. I don’t think we need to treat him as such. Let’s recognize him for what he is; a tremendously talented QB who with continued experience may very well be spoken of as one of the greatest ever. But that at present he has room to get better. And if someone had the temerity to say so it does not mean they are a non-fan, or Bills hater, or whatever.

So now there is a conspiracy by the OC against the HC in the middle of a playoff game?

Why can’t he a Brady with pre-snap reads? What prevents him from doing so?

Receivers can do a better job. Hell, everyone associated with the team can do a better job. But when film shows guys open and Josh doesn’t get them the ball it means there are guys to throw to other than Diggs. Like Kincaid last Sunday.

And again, it’s part that and part Josh not getting the ball to guys when open.

I would argue he'd be better off working on his mental lapses, as one would expect players at other positions to do.

I started a thread yesterday that got a lot of pushbacks, and in it I wrote that I said to my wife that Josh looked disinterested at time, and that I was shocked that I felt that way. I do think he and the team want him to play with control and not get so amped up it affects his performance. There is something going on, and none of us can possibly know what it is because we're not part of the team. Is Josh frustrated with Dorsey's play calling? Something off the field? who knows?

They may not want him to run as much to avoid injury, true. And to slide as well. But they also want him to make the right pre-snap reads and get the ball out to the right guy at the right time. Which he did very well in the 3 blowout wins. And has not done that well the last 3 games. This is a multifactoral issue with issues on many fronts. Dorsey needs to be much more imaginative in play calling. You can't automatically call runs on second and less than 5 yards, for example, and the stupid delay to Cook out of the shotgun needs to disappear forever. The O line needs to hold up better in general and protections need to be adjusted when blitzes are read (or should be read). Josh needs to make the right reads as mentioned above. Receivers need to get better separation. The thing is we know it can work given how we blew three teams in a row off the field. But defenses adjust, and the offense must do so in response. The biggest issue I had Sunday was that supposedly Doresy and Josh and the other coaches spent a ton of time discussing what plays they felt they wanted to run, and not, to avoid another poor start. And look what happened. Josh throws an ugly pick and before you know it, they're down 10-0. That does not bode well. You realize it's a team game and that whatever Josh wants to do personally isn't the issue, right?

I'm all for building from the lines out, but I don't see what that has to do with Josh and pre-snap reads.

There is not a single player or coach on the team right now that should not be looking in the mirror and asking themself what they can be doing better to help the team win. Josh included.

They want him to slide if he runs, which is reasonable.

So this guy doesn't have a clue, but you do? Only you know the truth? Again, we all love Josh but one can love the QB and fairly critique his performance. If you don't want to, go back to your room and kiss your Josh bobblehead doll.

One of the hardest things in sports is figuring out what successful assistant coaches or coordinators have what it takes to succeed as a HC. And you can't figure it out until they get a shot.

No one is saying get rid of Josh, but in your hysteria over him getting some criticism you jump to that. He is a great QB, but he has room to improve. Film shows there are times he could take the easy completion for yardage and doesn't. He did in the 3 games where the offense wiped folks out. He just needs to get back to that.

So let me ask you this. The coaches and Josh are watching the film from all games. They are watching the film for upcoming opponents. The coaches tell him: when you see this, you need to go here with the ball. But Josh doesn't. Who is to blame? We all love Josh, but he is not infallible and there are still parts of his game where he can improve.

I have no problem with him running more if he slides and avoids big hits. But he also needs to improve his reads.

You realize his first stint as a HC didn’t go well?

It’s possible. They need to come out fired up Thursday. If not and we see the same first half malaise it won’t bode well.

Josh is one of the best QBs in the league. But he still has things to improve on, like reading defenses, setting protections and such. And it is OK to acknowledge such.

Worth a call

What in the hell does the last decade and a half have to do with the last 3 games? We have a great QB now who has not performed as well as he could recentl, and the same can be said for everyone else associated with the team. Period. Go kiss your Josh doll.

It’s multi factorial. Dorsey hasn’t been innovative enough; defenses have figured out what we’re doing. Josh then has more pressure on him and as such presses and makes mistakes he wouldn’t normally make. The O line is not playing as well as it should. And WRs need to get better spacing and catch the ball consistently. While statistically the offense looks good, the past several weeks it has played terribly the first half to three quarters of the games. And everyone involved has responsibility for that.

So you didn’t read it. As I thought.

Let me ask you a question. Did you read my original post? Because if you had you would see that I called the defensive effort on the last drive inexcusable. The offense has sleep walked for 50% or more of the last several games. That is as inexcusable as the defensive performance yesterday. Did I not say as my first point in my original post that Dorsey isn’t effective? Did I not say in my 3rd point that the defensive effort yesterday was inexcusable. I’m done responding to you. You ignore any comments that don’t support your supposition that people are just picking on St. Josh.

Glad to see this.