Logic

I'm seeing a lot of "we need to establish the run" talk regarding this game, and I can certainly understand that -- especially with the Steelers down a few linebackers. HOWEVER...I can't help but wonder if this will be another opportunity to sling the rock all over the yard. I saw on Cover 1 this morning that the Steelers defense has faced the MOST empty sets of any defense in the league, and have surrendered the most yardage against that set. Knowing how much Allen and Daboll love empty sets any way, it might be just what the doctor ordered. It would help Josh ID what the defense is doing and would help keep the Steelers from employing some of their most exotic blitz packages.

First off, Tre'Davious White is the most clutch CB in football. Between his third down success and his leading the league in 2nd half interceptions since 2017, he's just a playmaker when the defense needs it most. But secondly...look at Joe Haden! The Steelers won't have one of the league's best 3rd down CBs this week -- going against an offense that leads the league in 3rd down conversion percentage. Combined with their health woes at linebacker, that's huge!

So basically.... Every "hit" they've had can be chalked up to "luck", but they are absolutely to blame for every "miss"? Got it. Talk about "excessive bloviation!"

This was already stated within this thread, but here's the official Steelers report for the "link?" folks:

In a matchup as close as this, between two opponents who are both really good, you look at the factors that could swing it. It seems to me that the Bills are healthier, more well-rested, are playing with more confidence than the Steelers, and are playing at home. Granted, without fans in the stands, the home field advantage isn't quite the same, but I DO believe it provides at least a small advantage. If the Bills can play a clean game and avoid giving the Steelers short fields to work with, they win. If they have one of those "slap your forehead, 2-3 turnovers", type games, like they had against the Chargers, they lose.

I'm certainly no Kubiak , but I thought that this was without a doubt the best game of Josh Allen's career. I went back and re-watched the game and was even more blown away than when I watched it live. Allen's game was just short of perfect. His command, poise, comfort, pocket movement, accuracy, decision making -- everything was working. The thing that impressed me most about the game was that there were 6 or 7 off-script plays that just made my jaw drop, and those were IN ADDITION TO all the great plays Josh made within the structure of the play-call. That is to say: Allen ran the offense with precision and effectiveness for the majority of the game, but on the hand-full of occasions where the 49ers had exactly the right defensive playcall, it didn't matter, because Allen found a way to improvise and move the chains anyway. That, to me is next level, elite 2020 quarterbacking. A decent amount of QBs in the league can run their offenses really well, but the ones who can beat you even when you've theoretically beaten THEM on a given play -- those are the elite few. Against the 49ers, Allen was every bit the unbeatable, modern, improvisatory master quarterback of the modern NFL era. I couldn't have been more impressed with his game on Monday night. It was really high level stuff. I might just gave to sign up for the Buffalo News so I can read Kubiak's post-game reports from throughout the year. @Hapless Bills Fan, do you happen to know if his Allen writeups from past games this year are archived and still available to read?

Tonight I am a huge Rams fan. On Sunday afternoon I will become a giant Chiefs fan. On Sunday night I will pace nervously from room to room on commercial breaks.

Every time I visit another team's message board -- every single time -- I am filled with gratitude for TBD. Other forums are just so cluttered with ads, too many sticky'd posts, really old posts from as far back as draft day, and vast disorganization and/or inactivity. Then you come here, and it's clean, well-managed, highly organized, and has constant new threads and participation. I'm probably being biased here, but I have yet to visit another team's forum that holds a candle to this place, and I think it's the best message board of any NFL team. To answer the question posed, though, I guess I'd choose the JetNation forums. I can't tell how much of my enjoying that forum is due to my enjoyment of the misery of Jets fans, though.

Man... For the Steelers to lose Bud Dupree, Joe Haden, Robert Spillane, and Vince Williams in the few weeks leading up to the Bills game is crazy. That's A LOT of defensive talent that won't be suiting up on Sunday night. The absences of Dupree and Haden (if he doesn't clear concussion protocol) especially, will be difference-makers. And now I'm hearing that Chase Claypool didn't practice today? I wonder if the illness that kept him out will be serious enough to jeopardize his chance of playing.

For those asking how long the extension is for:

Before this season started, I had five wishes: 1. Extend Tre'Davious White 2. Extend Dion Dawkins 3. Extend McDermott and Beane. 4. Josh Allen proves to be a franchise QB 5. Bills win the division So far, we have a big check mark next to four out of five. Only one left to go!

Steelers fan trying to jinx the Bills. Get bent.

I certainly won't say Allen as MVP is impossible, however unlikely it may be. In my opinion, it would require three things: 1.) Allen continues to play great games like the one he played on Monday night 2.) The Bills win out 3.) Mahomes and/or Rodgers have a stinker or two along the way If those three things were to happen, I could see it. The biggest problem is that MVP tends to go to the QB of the winningest team. I could see the Bills ending up with more wins than the Packers. It's hard for me to see them ending up with more wins than the Chiefs, though, and thus, Mahomes has to be considered the heavy favorite.

To be clear: I do not believe Josh Allen will win MVP. Mahomes and Rodgers would have to drop off the face of the earth for that to happen. Still...when your starting QB moves to third place in MVP odds this late in the season, it's certainly noteworthy, hence this post.

To be fair, he did state after the 49ers game that when its warm and there's no wind, he can really feel the ball coming off of his hand much better and he feels more in control of his passes. Now playing better in a dome -- which, again, most quarterbacks probably do -- is not the same as playing poorly in cold weather. That being said, I WOULD like to see him actually have a great game -- an "AFC Offensive Player of the Week" type game -- in cold weather, before I say that his play definitely doesn't suffer in cold weather. The one truly nasty weather game in which he DID play this season (KC) saw him post his worst performance of the season by far. Sunday night should be a good chance to see if the "cold weather" stuff is just a bunch of hot air (sorry, I had to).

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/12/09/josh-allen-passes-russell-wilson-in-mvp-odds/ Let Russ sink. The odds-on MVP favorite for much of the season, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson continues to slide in the betting odds for the league’s top individual award. Via PointsBet.com, Wilson has dropped from +700 last week to +2000 this week, putting him fourth on the list behind Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (-500, from -400 last week), Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (+460, from +600 last week), and Bills quarterback Josh Allen (+1500, from +3300 last week).

Just wanted to point out that I definitely believe Josh Allen is a franchise quarterback. Just look at my avatar. I made a post here after the Raiders game saying unequivocally that he is a franchise quarterback and that it should no longer be doubted. My wording in THIS post could've been better. I should have said "if he is have sustained success as the franchise QB in Buffalo, NY", but let the record show that I have no doubt that he is clearly the franchise. I DO think he plays better in warm weather and domes, but then, what NFL QB doesn't?

In looking at the graphic from which I pulled that stat, I see that it applies only to this season, which is clearly a small sample size.

I realize that more games are played in warm weather than cold weather. Nevertheless, this is something that Allen will need to fix going forward if he is to be the franchise QB in Buffalo, NY.

meh. Was hoping for all blue or blue-on-white. Oh well.

So far in Allen’s career, when the temperature at kickoff is 50 degrees or less, he averages just 144 passing yards per game. With a likely kickoff temperature around 40 degrees, I’m hoping Allen can overcome this trend.

I legitimately didn't realize it was the Thursday Night game. That's awesome! One worth watching (not always the case on TNF). Go Rams!

Fivethirtyeight.com has them with just a 14% chance of making the playoffs. They need to win out, for starters. I'm hoping the Rams just put them out of their misery this Sunday, but I have a feeling the Pats win that one.

I re-watched the game and came away even MORE impressed with Allen. Why? Because he was making off-schedule plays just as regularly and effectively as on-schedule plays. He ran the offense with command, poise, and precision, and on the few occasions where the 49ers called the exact right play and/or had him stopped dead to rights, he just rolled out and made something happen. He did this again and again and again. Must be very demoralizing for the defense. The smoothness/efficiency with which he ran the offense when things went right on a given play, combined with his effectiveness in improvising time and time again when things DIDN'T go right, made me feel that this was his best game of the season. The caliber of opponent and opposing defensive coordinator and the late season, primetime slot add to the impressiveness of his game. 32/40 for 375 and 4 TDs isn't just a good game. It's an absolutely AMAZING game, and it came against a good defense in a big spot. If you have the chance to re-watch the game, I suggest you do it. It's a real pleasure. Very, very optimistic about the present and future of Josh Allen after that game.