Logic

If there's not a biblical snow storm, I expect the Bills to have a get-right game and win comfortably. If there IS a biblical snow storm, well....

I can empathize. In all sincerity, it sounds like you just need to find a way to compartmentalize your sports viewing and put it into proper perspective. Easier said than done, I know. Whether it's meditation, doing a "football blackout" after a loss (where you don't read any post-game reports or go on social media or watch ESPN, you just essentially step away from football for a few days), cleaning out your garage, or going for a walk after a frustrating game, there are ways to not let it dominate and ruin your day, your week, your life. At the very least, I suggest, after a frustrating loss, taking stock of the things in your life for which you have gratitude. Your health, your family, having a roof over your head and food in your fridge, a pet you love, friends and family...it can even be simple things. Your eyes, your lungs, your legs...what a miracle it is to have those things. Imagine life without them! I used to be absolutely consumed by Bills losses. I'd let them ruin my whole week. Not so much any more. Don't get me wrong, some losses -- like yesterday's, for instance -- are still hard to take and linger with me for a day or two. But after seeing multiple loved ones die young and after beating a potentially fatal illness myself this year, I can't help but put football in the proper perspective: It's just a game. It's not life and death. It brings me joy, and other times, it brings me pain. The pain makes the joy sweeter, though. Neither can be had without the other. At the end of the day, you're healthy, you have a family that you love and that loves you back, and you have so very much to be thankful for. If you can't realize and reflect on that after a game, if you can't find a way to calm your mind and nerves and compartmentalize the frustration that football sometimes brings, then perhaps it IS good for you to step away for a while. In any case, I wish you luck and happiness.

I concede all of those points. I do have a simple question, though. In spite all of the problems you mentioned, if Josh Allen hadn't thrown the picks in the red zone that he has thrown the past two weeks, do you believe the Bills would still have lost those games? Our defense has flaws. Our offense has flaws. Our personnel, largely due to injury, has holes. Despite all of that, it is my contention that Josh Allen suddenly playing like the 2019 version of himself is the main reason that the Bills have lost the past two games. It is my belief that, even with the flaws this team has and the injuries it's struggling through, if Josh wasn't suddenly throwing boneheaded interceptions -- particularly in the red zone -- the Bills would be 8-1.

Okay. We found the culprit. Three pages of replies, but mostly forgivable stuff. But THIS RIGHT HERE, this is the one. Damn it, Reks!!!!!!!!!

1. The vaunted defense that you're criticizing, even despite all of its injuries, is second in the league in points per game allowed. Last year it was #1. In 2019 it was #2. I'm taking the judgement and personnel deployment of a man whose defense is currently 2nd in the league in PPG allowed and has fielded a top two unit in three out of the last four seasons over an angry message board poster on overreaction Monday. 2. No part of me thinks that someone referring to our head coach as "the ginger" is looking for any form of reasonable adult discussion.

I see Josh Allen has reached "completely above criticism" levels of fan worship amongst some Bills fans. Two interceptions two weeks in a row, when simply throwing the ball into the dirt on all four of those attempts would almost certaimly have resulted in the Bills winning both games? Irrelevant. It's all coach's fault!

As I said previously, a holding penalty against any offensive lineman -- Dawkins was called for holding in a clutch moment against the Jets just the previous week -- results in a safety. Grounding is also a risk. And if you concede that Allen was "panicked the moment we walked up to the line", what makes you think he would have been any LESS so if he was called on to THROW the ball? Also, a safety, resulting in 2 points but also having to free kick the ball away to the Vikings who would've only needed a field goal to win, was NOT a great option. Preferable to literally fumbling in one's own end zone, sure, but you'd like to think your QB and center can execute the most basic play in football without stepping on their own *****.

Interesting that the guy who threw two interceptions three weeks in a row -- when NOT throwing those interceptions would almost certainly have meant two wins instead of two losses -- doesn't make your list.

I'll just post the introductory snippet, but the whole article is worth reading. I don't love Steven Ruiz, but this is a good article, and it's hard to deny or refute any of the things he's saying. https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/11/14/23458378/buffalo-bills-josh-allen-question-marks The Bills were on top of the NFL two weeks ago. They were 6-1 with the league’s best point differential. Only three teams had scored more points through eight weeks, and none had allowed fewer. Josh Allen was the odds-on favorite to win MVP, and Buffalo had the best odds of winning the Super Bowl. The Bills even owned wins over the AFC’s other division leaders, including Kansas City and Baltimore. They had a nearly perfect start to the season. A lot has changed over the past 14 days. The Bills have lost two games in a row, and that streak could have been three if the Packers had capitalized on Allen’s Week 8 mistakes. The Jets did punish the mistake-prone quarterback in a 20-17 win in Week 9, and the Vikings rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to topple the Bills 33-30 in overtime on Sunday. The latter result was a total team failure on Buffalo’s part, but Allen had three ugly turnovers in high-leverage situations. With the QB now leading the league with 10 interceptions and nursing a somewhat mysterious elbow injury—and Kansas City and Miami suddenly ahead of the Bills in the conference standings—the vibes aren’t the best in Buffalo at the moment. Even if the vibes are off, however, it’s not time to panic. The Bills are still the Vegas favorites to win the AFC East and still own the NFL’s best point differential (+99). In the AFC, only the Chiefs have better odds of earning home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight. Buffalo is going to be just fine. But the expectations for this year’s Bills are much higher than “just fine.” This is supposed to be the team that can bring the franchise its first Lombardi Trophy. The front office threw a bunch of money at Von Miller and some offensive line upgrades in the offseason. It acquired running back Nyheim Hines at the trade deadline after reportedly exploring a deal for Christian McCaffrey. And it seems to be part of the Odell Beckham Jr. sweepstakes that should be decided soon. There is understandably a sense of urgency in Buffalo with Allen’s cap hit set to balloon from $16.4 million in 2022 to $39.8 million in 2023. This will probably be the deepest roster that the Bills are able to construct around their star quarterback for the foreseeable future. So let’s just check in on three major questions that have emerged over the past two weeks in Buffalo. The answers will ultimately determine whether these Bills are built to win it all......

I really don't understand what the people who think the QB sneak was a bad call wish we would have called instead. If you call a pass play, multiple bad things can happen. A holding or intentional grounding call in the end zone results in a safety. A sack results in a safety. You presume that the defense is going to be squatting on the quick routes, so there's a high risk of interception. Meanwhile, if you call a run play, you're REALLY playing with fire. A QB sneak was the right call. People need to learn to separate a call from the result of the call. Same thing with going for it up 10 instead of kicking the field goal. The DECISION was good. The execution and result that followed were bad, but that doesn't mean the decision was wrong.

The lengths people are going to to blame anyone BUT Josh Allen for yesterday's loss are a sight to behold. So far, I've heard in this thread and others that Ken Dorsey, Sean McDermott, Leslie Frazier, Brandon Beane, Cam Lewis, and "internal strife" are to blame. The guy who turned the ball over three times, though? Somehow he's immune to criticism. Oy vey.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/11/14/bills-defense-had-12-men-on-the-field-for-ot-stop-on-dalvin-cook/ The Bills defense came up with a big stop of Vikings running back Dalvin Cook on a first-and-goal from the 2-yard-line in overtime of Sunday’s game and they did it with a little extra assistance. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell said on Sunday that he thought Buffalo’s defense had 12 men on the field when they dumped Cook for a three-yard loss, but wanted to confirm it on tape. The tape showed that O’Connell was correct. “I know it’s moving pretty fast out there sometimes,” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. Instead of having first-and-goal on the 1-yard-line, the Vikings played on from the 5-yard-line. Kirk Cousins was sacked and threw an incompletion before the Vikings kicked a go-ahead field goal. The Bills drove into scoring position, but cornerback Patrick Peterson sealed the win with an interception in the end zone. Sunday’s officiating crew had two big mistakes late in the game. In addition to missing the 12 men, they called a pass to Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis in the final minute of regulation a completion when he did not control the ball through contact with the ground. The replay assistant did not stop the game to review the play, which NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson said they should have done. Coaches can challenge missed 12 men on the field calls outside of the final two minutes of games or in overtime. All replays are initiated from the booth in those instances. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Monday that he thinks coaches should always be able to challenge calls and situations like the ones in Buffalo on Sunday will likely draw others to that view.

We have a hanging plant in our living room. My wife took it down to water it at the start of the game and left it in the tub. She asked me to hang it back up on a commercial break. I hemmed and hawed throughout the first half. With the Bills comfortably ahead by 14, I finally re-hung the plant. It was all downhill from there. Why, air plant, why? Why have you forsaken me like this? I water you. I put you in good sunlight. I keep you safe from the cat. Why you do me like this?

Is it a coincidence that the posters on this forum giving the most credence to the "internal strife and malcontents!" notion are, themselves, mostly malcontents and filled with internal strife?

Right. Then what happened? I seem to recall two red zone interceptions and a very important fumbled snap somewhere in there. Were those somehow magically not Allen's fault? Did those turnovers somehow magically not impact the final outcome? Also, how exactly does one pull a rabbit by the gun? The "Allen is above reproach and can't be criticized" thing is gross. C'mon now.

Amazing that you could say this with a straight face. Two interceptions in three straight games. Leads the league in interceptions. Turned the ball over three times yesterday, including a botched QB-center exchange in his own end zone and a boneheaded pick in the red zone in overtime. Has thrown just one touchdown in the past two games. Bills haven't scored a second half touchdown since Kansas City. Please explain how Josh suddenly becoming a turnover machine ISN'T the problem. My goodness.

I read the OP but not the 14 pages of discussion, so I'm sure I'm probably repeating the sentiments of others here, but... If anyone has "turned on" Allen, then yes, I agree, that's silly and reactionary and weak. That said, I also feel there is a segment of Bills fans who have placed #17 on a pedestal and absolutely refuse to say a bad word about his play even when criticism is warranted. Josh Allen is a generational talent, yes. Josh Allen is our franchise quarterback, yes. Josh Allen displays incredible heart, will, grit, toughness, and courage every week, and particularly playing through things like a UCL injury when he could easily sit and no one would blame him. With all of that said, neither Josh, nor any other Bills player, should be beyond criticism when criticism is warranted. Josh Allen has thrown two interceptions in three straight games. The All-22 is littered with instances of there being open options underneath -- including, oftentimes, completely uncovered checkdown options -- and Josh refusing to take those layups and instead reverting back to his old Hero Ball days. Josh Allen, in my opinion, has directly, majorly contributed to -- if not outright CAUSED -- losses the last two weeks against opponents the Bills should have beaten. I believe Josh is in a slump, and I believe he will get out of it. I have not turned on him. He is the franchise. But it would be disingenuous at best and cultish at worst to pretend like he's not currently making decisions that cost his team football games. If he fixes his decision making, the Bills can win every remaining game on their schedule. If he doesn't, they're gonna enter the playoffs as a 6 or 7 seed and make life really hard on themselves. Josh is not above criticism.

I don't disagree that there are improvements that can be made to the way the Bills do things on offense. From spending higher capital on offensive players to incorporating our talented speedy running backs to diversifying our passing attack. Will all of that said, seeing so many people primarily blaming the front office and coaching staff for the recent slump, when Josh Allen has thrown two picks in three straight games -- two of which the Bills lost directly because of those turnovers -- is frustrating and confounding. 1. The Bills front office and coaching staff can do a better job of putting Josh Allen in a position to succeed and maximizing his talents. 2. Josh Allen has enough around him right now, both personnel and coaching wise, for the Bills to be 8-1. The fact that they are not is LARGELY due to his own poor decision making the past two weeks. Both things can be true. Item 1 is not likely to be fixable mid-season. Item 2 IS fixable, and that's up to Josh.

It seems simpler than all of this to me. Internal dysfunction, firing coaches, "are the weapons good enough", etc, etc... I don't think it's that complicated. Josh Allen has forgotten over the past few weeks how to take what the defense gives him. Go turn on the All-22 from the second half of the Packers game, from the Jets game, from the Vikings game. Common denominator on offense? There are open options underneath. Very often the checkdown in the flats. In fact, there were times against the Jets and again against the Vikings that defenders left the checkdown options completely uncovered. Didn't even bother. Why? Josh isn't looking there. He's forcing the issue. Hero Ball. For as much as we can argue 'til we're blue in the face about schemes, personnel, dysfunction, blah blah blah...it's just this simple: If Josh didn't throw those bad picks against the Jets last week and those bad picks against the Vikings yesterday, the Bills likely would have won both games. They'd be 8-1 and NO ONE would be talking about any dysfunction. Everyone would be booking their hotel rooms for the Super Bowl. All facets of the team contributed to the losses the past two weeks. Coaching, offense, defense, injuries, the schemes, the players. Yet, through all of that, if QB1 just starts taking care of the ball again and stops with the sugar high, hero ball stuff, the Bills will get back to winning football games. It really seems that simple to me.

Stupid Fox. They're spending all this time yammering on about "America's game of the week", which stinks. The 3-6 Packers? Pleeeeasse. Meanwhile, the ACTUAL America's Game of the Week is about to kick off to most of the viewing nation in 15 minutes and not a peep. Booooooooo

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm extra amped for today's game. Having a subpar second half against the Packers, then losing to the Jets, then the very real possibility of QB1 missing the game .... It all really made me step back and appreciate -- and for a moment, focus on not taking for granted -- this Bills team and this quarterback. This game is about as high drama and storyline-rich is a regular season game gets. 7-1 at 6-2. Good on good. Dalvin Cook vs James Cook. Jefferson vs Diggs. The Josh Allen minute-to-minute "will he play?" drama...great stuff. Cannot wait for kickoff. Go Bills! LFG!!!

"Thinking they're smart" or believing the national reports of a small UCL tear and making an educated guess as to how many games he'd miss based on similar injuries to Josh and other players in the past?

Agreed. I don't see any reason why that would be the case. It would be one thing if Cook had been playing poorly recently. On the contrary, the past two games were two of his best as a Bill, and the staff has started to trust him more. Also, in terms of really pissing off and alienating a young player, benching him against his brother's team would really be the way to do it. If anything, I want to see Cook with a big role in the gameplan tomorrow. It's GOTTA be either a special teams thing, a sickness/health thing we don't know about, or Duke's gonna be a game day inactive.

I originally predicted three weeks and I’m sticking with that. I think they’ll continue the “day to day” declaration the whole time, but they know that his arm needs rest in order to heal properly. The short week before the Lions game clinches the three week timeline, IMO. They traded for Keenum. They believe in him. They’ll hope to go at least 2-1 while Allen heals, and QB1 will retake the field for the three game AFCE stretch. Flame away, but that’s what I envision happening.

What a stupid thing to say. The guy has given his heart and soul to Buffalo, has been a primary culprit for the franchise's turnaround, and is emblematic of everything that's right with this team. He understandably wanted a contract extension as he has outplayed the value of his contract and wants to be paid what he's worth and to get one last big contract which, most Bills fans would agree, he has absolutely earned. Despite not getting this contract, he has still kept his mouth shut, said and done all the right things, never missed a day of camp or practice, and has suited up through multiple injuries and played his heart out. The only thing disappointing is fans like you saying crap like that.