Logic

I just want someone to ask Daboll why Robert Foster, with whom Josh Allen had a 127 QB rating last year when the two connected -- has only gotten 2 targets thus far this season whilst Zay Jones continues to ***** himself on national TV.

We shouldn't rule out the possibility, if Allen is cleared, that Barkley would start and Allen would only be the emergency QB. That way, they don't have to call Webb up from the practice squad and, thus, lose a roster spot elsewhere. Of course, this would only make sense if Barkley has gotten the lion's share of practice reps with the 1's this week. If Allen has gotten just as many snaps as Barkley (or more), no sense in not starting him if he clears protocol.

The crazy thing is, with our current offensive scheme and how good Sammy Watkins was at tracking and catching the deep ball, he'd actually really be great on this Bills offense right now. He's also kind of a lunatic, though, so there's that.

I'd give it up for Nuke Hopkins, personally.

For Stefon Diggs? Nope. Especially given how good the upcoming WR draft class is supposed to be.

Probably because you've never had to find an open receiver while four to six 250+ lb men were running at you full speed with intent to maim.

Fair enough. They are 4th in the league in points allowed defensively, if I'm not mistaken. That's huge. As it is, our offense has shown that they can move the ball up and down the field, but have trouble cashing in in the red zone. I agree that having Allen would give them great help in that regard, given the threat that he presents with his legs. Though, to be honest, it'd be nice to see him have a great and complete game AS A PASSER instead of taking brutal hits every week in order to score. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll take touchdowns any way I can get them, but...after seeing what happened to Allen on Sunday, I'm not exactly eager to watch him diving for 1st downs again.

The problem is that he needs to complete stage 5 and then be cleared by an independent neurologist. Even in the most optimistic of timelines, that means that he gets cleared for full practice on Friday at the earliest. Is this coaching staff going to feel like it's wise to push a QB with one day of practice out onto the field, or is it more likely that they take the cautious approach and sit him against the Titans anyway so that he has three full weeks to recover. I hope Allen heals fast and plays, and its definitely a good sign that he's already in stage 4 of the protocol. That being said, it's absolutely not a lock that he plays this weekend.

They may be "meh" on offense, but they're a damned good defense. I'm not so sure that our backup can walk into that stadium and come out with a win. Then again, I'm not so sure our first stringer at QB can do that, either...

The fact that he's sitting in on meetings and doing individual warmups is a good sign. Tomorrow's status update will be crucial. We can't rule out the possibility that they sit him vs Titans due to the bye week coming after that.

Tom Brady also hadn't thrown an interception this season...until he played the Bills. To me, you play Mariota exactly how other teams play Allen: Keep him in the pocket, force him to be a QB. Eliminate his running ability and improvisatory ability. Blitz only sparingly. Above all else, keep contain on the edges and hope the interior defensive line can bring pressure up the middle to make him uncomfortable. I expect something like a 16-13 football game.

I have zero worries about the Titans offense against the Bills defense. I have LOTS OF worries about the Bills offense against the Titans defense.

Thanks for the writeup. The only thing I'll say is that that was a WEIRD Bills-Patriots game. How many times during the past 20 years against the Pats could the Bills have a blocked punt TD against them, throw three interceptions, and NOT got blown out? How many times have we left the Bills-Pats game feeling like the Bills were the better team, that they SHOULD have won the game, but for a few silly mistakes? It was weird looking, I tell ya. Like one Bills analyst said after the game: The gap between these two teams hasn't only closed, it's non-existent. The Bills appear to be as good as the Patriots across the board. The one glaring exception, of course, is at quarterback, and that was the difference in the game. Like you said, this will either be the game that forever ruins Josh Allen (like the Cardinals game did to Trent Edwards), or it'll be just another speedbump on the road to a great career. I would be lying if I said that I'm not at least a LITTLE nervous that it's going to be the former rather than the latter.

They stated it as a complete certainty, though. "Don't sleep on our sources!" and "Be patient!". Can you point out any major news story or trade that they ever HAVE been the first ones to (correctly) report? I'm truly curious to know.

The entire right side needs help? I disagree. Nsekhe needs to ALWAYS be the starter at RT. Enough with the Ford/Nsekhe rotation. Feliciano is a damn good RG. He didn't have his best game against the Pats, but hey, he's not going to dominate every single week. If you have Nsekhe at RT full time, you can also let Ford devote all of his time to competing with Feliciano to start at RG, and may the best man win. Trading for Trent Williams and forcing him to play right tackle is not the answer and isn't going to happen.

Cold Front Report....aren't they the ones who said we were trading for a dude earlier this season and to "be patient" and blah blah blah, and then they were dead wrong?

My recollection is that he was sort of "first on the scene" as far as Twitter Bills breakdowns, but he only did it for fun as a hobby. Then the Cover 1 account and website started up and, as far as I can tell, YardsPerPass stopped doing nearly as many clips and breakdowns. It seems to me he was sort of "usurped" by Cover 1.

Found the below chart on Twitter. It shows the frequency of passing in "neutral" down and distance situations, i.e. not 3rd and long, not down big on the scoreboard, etc. EDIT*** it seems they may have deleted the picture in the time it took me to post this. It was a chart, and the Bills were listed 4th after KC, Arizona, and Cinncinatti. If I find the chart elsewhere, I'll re-post it. This chart tells me two things: 1.) Brian Daboll is calling a modern offense each week. The Bills are right there amongst known pass-happy teams like the Chiefs, Cardinals, and Bengals. This alone is big news. The Bills have been stuck in the last century for years now. Run, run, pass, punt. No more. Of course, they should probably be even HIGHER on this chart, if not for the fact that they've come out a bit conservative in the second half the past few weeks. 2.) The Bills trust Josh Allen. They are not babying him, they are not putting handcuffs on him. They have given him ownership of this team and said "here ya go, kid, sink or swim". Just thought this was all very interesting.

Take a week off from drinking during the game. Just eat a strong weed gummy instead.

I was firmly on the "Anyone but Allen" train. I was scarred from JP Losman and EJ Manuel. I didn't like the idea of a kid with "prototypical size" and a "cannon arm" but who, by most accounts, couldn't actually play football very well. I bought into the whole analytics movement against Allen hook, line, and sinker. The moment Allen became a Bill, my attitude changed. Why? Because I don't root against players on my own favorite team. Unlike some people, I'd rather be wrong about a prospect I don't like and watch him succeed for my team than be right about him and watch him fail. So I said "let's give him a chance", and I watched all the college highlights I could find, and I talked myself into the notion that he had a chance to be very good. It's early, of course, but it sure seems like I was wrong. It seems like ALL the anti-Allen folks were wrong. At the very least, Allen's FLOOR seems to be "average NFL quarterback", which is ALREADY way better than most people thought he'd be. The Allen haters said he'd be an outright bust, and he certainly isn't that. At worst, he's a replacement level player. But he's only 15 games into his career, and I think he'll wind up being much better than that.

Who cares?

Thanks. You may have just said what I was thinking better than I was able to say it.

This. Multiple people that have replied in this thread have presented some version of the "pump the brakes" comment. They're missing the point of my thread. It's as if they read what I wrote as "The Bills are going to win the championship this year! Best team in the league!". That's not what I said at all. What I DID say is that they are competently managed and have a clear and cogent plan in place. One loss on Sunday -- even to the Bengals -- won't change that. Hell, if the Bills lost the next TWO games and fell to 2-2, it still wouldn't change that. There will be stumbles, losses to teams they shouldn't lose to, maybe even some losing seasons...and it won't change the fact that I believe the Bills have a great front office, excellent coaching staff, and have moved out of the "groping the dark" group and into the "well run, purposefully planned, intelligently run" group. I will not be "pumping the brakes" any time soon. A loss here or there won't make me suddenly think "gee, maybe I was wrong and the Bills AREN'T well run". Good management resides at One Bills Drive now, and it would take a hell of a lot to change my mind.

I've posted 11,000 less times than you on this forum and have 1,500 more "likes". I'm not usually one to play the popularity game, but if you're going to act like more people around here think the way you do than the way I do, well...the numbers don't back that up.