Logic

From Andy Benoit, via MMQB.com: BILLS AT PACKERS This is a tough road mission for Bills rookie quarterback Josh Allen. His receivers don’t match up well to Green Bay’s zealous man coverage, and many of those man coverages have hybrid elements that put zone defenders inside. When Allen’s reads are perfectly clear, he displays his awesome arm talent and even a little of the nuanced body language to manipulate zone defenders. But when the reads aren’t clear, Allen looks like a deer in headlights. With Green Bay’s scheme, a QB’s reads are often unclear. I have to agree with Mr Benoit here. I think this is going to be a "crashing back down to earth" week for Allen. He will struggle against Pettine's highly varied and cleverly disguised defense. I expect the Bills to lose this one, drop to 1-3, then win the next to games against TEN and HOU to reach 3-3.

Yep, Johnson's been balling. Quietly, the Bills have rebuilt their defense. It's not finished yet, but a core of Edmunds, Milano, Philips, White, Hyde, Poyer, and Johnson (with Murphy and Star as nice veteran additions through free agency) is very promising. I do agree that we're a CB away from a top 5 secondary, but best in the league? Peters, Talib, Joyner, Johnson for the Rams or Ramsey, Bouye, Gipson, Church from the Jags might have something to say about that.

This. I can't imagine anyone would sign either guy off our practice squad at this point.

Good one man. I'll bet Hyde, Poyer, Lewis, Lacey, Stanford, Trent Murphy, Yarbrough, Orchard, Ducasse, Marcus Murphy, Ivory, Holmes, Hauschka, and Bojorquez would think that's pretty funny!

Its funny. There was an entire generation of QBs drafted during the Brady/Manning/Roethlisberger/Brees heyday, but the changing (or advancing) of the guard did not happen then. It only seems to be happening now. Part of it is that that Brady/Manning generation is finally fading out, yes, but a bigger part of it seems to be that the NFL finally figured out how to use rookie QBs. For years we kept hearing how college football was no longer adequately preparing quarterbacks for the NFL. As such, QB after QB was drafted and flamed out quickly. Now, all of a sudden, the NFL has figured out "wait a minute, we can just incorporate college concepts that these guys already know how to execute!!!". Lo and behold, we're seeing more and more success from young QBs. That being said, the prospect of an AFC dominated b Mahomes, Mayfield, Allen, Darnold, Mariota, Luck, etc....is pretty cool. The times, they are a changin!

I'm just curious what it is about having two females in the announcing booth that you consider a "social experiment". I'm also curious to know how it makes the product "$hittier". Ya know what? Nevermind. I think I already know exactly what you're all about.

There are some pretty awful jerseys in the NFL. Like...what's up with the digital numbers on the Bucs' jerseys? Do those make ANY sense? And yeah, the Packers throwbacks are pretty hideous. Meanwhile, the Bills continue to have top 5 regular AND throwback jerseys.

Geoff Schwartz was unimpressed by the play, stating that all Allen did was hit a wide open guy on a well designed play. Firstly, its quite obvious Allen did more than that. He sold the fake to the running back really well with a good pump fake and with his eye movement. He then delivered a catchable ball, placing it where it needed to be with soft touch. But more importantly, that's the whole thing with Allen: Nobody questions whether or not he can make sensational, out-of-structure, improvisational plays. What people doubted was his ability to make routine throws, to take what the defense gives him, and to complete short passes accurately. So when he does simple things like complete swing passes and bubble screens, make routine throws, and change protections...THATS HUGE! If he can properly run an offense and make the routine throws, and then you combine that with his escapability, improvisational skill, and arm strength, you have a potentially great quarterback.

I was at this game! The best game I've ever seen live. I was ridiculously, gleefully, inappropriately giddy after the win. I stayed in the stadium as long as humanly possible, shouting and yelling and talking **** to Patriots fans as they left. They all just shook their head and many laughed at me. They were right to do so. I was being pretty over the top. At the time, though, the Bills were undefeated, flying high, and had just claimed first place in the AFC East from the Pats. I thought the team had "turned the corner" and was headed for greatness. I even went down to field level and asked an usher for a piece of the grass from the field. He looked around to make sure no one was watching (removing part of the field is against the rules, apparently), and grabbed a chunk of grass and gave it to me. I still have it. What a great day that was!

They got their Mike.

I think you're wrong here. I think it was a HUGE win. Why? It singlehandedly flipped the narrative of "another lost season for the Bills" (and make no mistake, 0-3 would've meant the season was effectively over) to "there's hope yet!". It filled the "hope" tank of many, many fans, both in terms of the defense's success and the offensive playcalling and execution. It was only Josh Allen's SECOND START in the NFL, and he beat an excellent opponent ON THE ROAD, handily. He showed command of the offense, made smart decisions, and gained the trust and respect of the entire team. It switched the Bills from national laughingstock -- so bad that Vontae Davis quit at halftime to avoid playing for them! -- to "scrappy underdogs on the rise" and stopped the laughing cold in its tracks. It was a huge win.

"We"? Speak for yourselves. Anyone who was "calling for Beane and McDermott's head" after the first two games of what is widely acknowledged as a rebuilding, take-your-cap-medicine season with a rookie QB at the helm is probably a reactionary dingbat. Anyone with even a lick of common sense would not want to see a GM fired in his FIRST FULL OFFSEASON with the team, for pete's sake! Ditto the head coach who led the team to the playoffs just one year prior. "We". Pffffff.

Biggest bust in living memory? You must not have been alive for very long.

To my eyes, the difference in Josh Allen between last week and this week was night and day. His mental processing was noticeably faster, and if he didn't see anything open, he took off and ran. His ability to be a threat running the ball, by the way, was highly underrated in the pre-draft process because everyone was so distracted by his arm and the accuracy debate. A lot of credit for this week's offensive success should go to Coach Daboll, too. He called a HECK of a game. There were a variety of screens, swing passes, and iso routes designed to simplify things for Allen and allow him to get the ball out quickly. My, what a difference it made!

Um.....WHY, exactly?

I just love the oversimplification of not looking at the long term outlook for said team, which was filled with bloated contracts and questionable character. I also love that you extol averaging 8 wins a year as a virtue, and as a sign that the team didn't need to be rebuilt.

I'd keep Coleman because he provides something no other receiver on our roster has: legitimate deep speed. If the other receivers kept are Benjamin, Jones, Holmes, and Kerley...well...you need speed SOMEWHERE in there. That's where Coleman comes in.

Once again: A lot of the fault for the poor offensive performance lies with the o-line. Anyone with eyes can see that. HOWEVER....Allen did not play well, either. He was slow to come off his first read, processed the defense poorly, and held the ball too long. He also had a few downright inaccurate throws. He himself admitted that he was a bit surprised by the speed of the Bengals' first string defense. Anyone who says the offensive struggles are SOLELY the fault of the o-line is mistaken, I'm afraid. Allen needs to improve. I think he will.

It was so bad. The guy who opened the broadcast said the Bills went to the playoffs for the first time since 1990. Then the OTHER guy said "When in Buffalo, you've GOTTA get some BBQ!" It only got worse from there. Hey, it's preseason for broadcasters, too!

Here's the thing: That debacle against the Bengals was definitely NOT all Allen's fault. The offensive line was objectively terrible. Anyone with eyes knows that. BUT....Allen is not blameless. He was slow breaking down the huddle, which led him to have to hurry at the line, which led him to not be able to set his protections correctly, which exacerbated the protection issues. He was also slow to come off his first read, slow to process the defense, and held the ball too long. So again...the offensive line WAS awful, and the offensive failures WERE mostly their fault. But Josh Allen wasn't blameless. He has a lot to improve upon.

Because the Bills have already (if all goes well) locked down three of the four most important positions in football: QB, LT, CB....the only one missing is a premiere edge rusher. I like Hughes and Murphy just fine, but they're no Khalil Mack. A premiere edge rusher (ESPECIALLY when combined with our elite secondary) can transform a defense. Also, when you draft a QB in the NFL, you get a five year window to hand out big contracts and build the team around him, before you have to pay said QB a big second contract. See the LA Rams for how this can look. So the Bills, having just drafted Josh Allen and having cleared the decks cap-wise the past two seasons, are suddenly going to be flush with cash and smack dab in the beginning of the "spend a lot and build the team around the QB while he's still cheap" period. THAT is why I want to be wrong, and I want Beane to take a risk and acquire Mack.

This x10000 I can't see Beane parting with the draft capital AND money needed to secure Mack's services for the long haul. I would love to be wrong on this, but I don't think I am.