transplantbillsfan

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/09/20/week-2-takeaways-breakdown-dak-comeback-falcons-choke-josh-allen-fire Josh Allen Is Ablaze: Last week was about dink-and-dunk, this week they opened things up and went after the Dolphins safeties, especially in the fourth quarter when Allen—with the exception of one miscommunication with John Brown that left a big play on the field (and was probably the quarterback’s fault)—was spectacular. He threw for 417 on 35 pass attempts and had four touchdowns with no turnovers, leading a fourth-quarter comeback with two touchdown drives in the final 10 minutes. The Jets and Dolphins (minus Bryon Jones) aren’t world-beaters, but Allen is sitting at 9.00 yards per attempt, a completion percentage over 70, and six touchdowns without an interception through two games. He'll miss some layups and people will get all worked up about it. But the stress he put on his first two opponents—due to his arm talent, legs and improved accuracy—has been overwhelming. Monson is still... well... you decide...

I really do believe that's the case he made today... combined with last week.

Ken Dorsey

with 7 TDs and 2 Turnovers. Were there missed throws? Sure. Should they detract from what the overarching national discussion should be about the Bills this week--that ALLEN HAS ARRIVED--no. This was a truly great pocket passing performance. Allen didn't need his legs. So excited about this guy with the weapons around him moving forward!

Maybe it's just my homerism, but I see many, many QBs with wild misses throughout every season. Many of these are great QBs. But those passes are typically not part of a lingering discussion because they don't fit the accepted narrative of said QB.

You are speaking to someone who takes no part in social media. TBD is honestly the closest I get to social media other than going onto Twitter to search for certain things rather than get sucked into the abyss of lunacy the way so many do. So frankly I had no idea if it was factually accurate despite logically suspecting it was because... well... Josh Allen. It's not a sentence I have an issue with. It's a narrative.

To further emphasize the stupidity of the narrative against Allen, here's the very first sentence of The Athletics Week 2 NFL Picks Against the spread The clip of Josh Allen rolling to his left and badly missing John Brown in the end zone last week made the rounds on social media, but overall Allen got off to an encouraging start.

Does this moron even realize he's President? It's unfathomable to thing the Cult-of-Trump is alive and well here in PPP.

Whoa good find! I never read that!

I feel the same way about Cowherd. Entertaining, but often a narrow-minded idiot. I understand why he doesn't take fan calls the way Dan Patrick does because it's often so easy to very simply point out how he's completely contradicted himself. I actually thought he was one of the few really coming around on Josh and was kinda surprised when he went into a little rant about that missed pass to Brown as proof of why Josh will always need to run.

https://theathletic.com/2067076/2020/09/15/bills-rewind-10-things-we-learned-from-the-season-opening-win-over-the-jets?source=user-shared-article Josh Allen by the numbers Josh Allen had career highs with 33 completions and 312 passing yards on Sunday. He also completed 71 percent of his passes for a tidy stat line through the air. If it looked like the Bills were sticking with shorter passes, the numbers back that up. Allen had an average of 5.5 air yards on his completions, which was right around the middle of the league’s top performers this week. He also attempted only four passes that traveled 20 or more yards in the air. The good news is Allen completed three of those passes after being one of the league’s worst passers in that range a year ago. It’s a small sample size, but promising nonetheless. Of Allen’s 46 passing attempts, 12 of them were thrown at or behind the line of scrimmage. Only Aaron Rogers and Kyler Murray attempted more such passes. A year ago, Allen was tied for 21st in the NFL with 79 passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. The addition of Diggs along with rookies Gabriel Davis and running back Zack Moss give the Bills even more options in the screen game. Dawson Knox also caught a screen pass Sunday. It was clearly a point of emphasis in training camp, and now Buffalo has a new wrinkle for its offense. It’s particularly useful when going against a defense like the Jets, coached by Gregg Williams, who loves to blitz.

Oh I completely agree. Brown is not a #1. But I am VERY happy with Diggs, Brown and Beasley as our top 3 WRs and I'm excited to see what Davis can do.

Thanks for pointing this one out! That one kinda gnawed at me but I was riding the high of the victory. That play was a great example of Allen’s progress in terms of both game awareness and deep ball accuracy. Brown should've caught that. The Brady one might have been intentionally high because of the coverage, but I wish tons of people would Twitter blast that Mahomes pass to Sam Monson and Colin Cowherd and whoever points to that missed pass to John Brown as "welp... that’s just who Josh Allen is!"

It was so damn predictable as soon as that play was done. This morning Cowherd went on some rant about how, unlike Lamar Jackson who he believes will inevitably evolve into a pure pocket passer who doesn't need to run, Josh Allen will ALWAYS need to be an effective runner... and he pointed to that one play as the reason. Talk about cherry picking. Of course, he is also in love with Sam Darnold who was absolutely awful yesterday and wildly missed a ton of passes.

Nice post Shaw and you really nail it at the end there. This felt like starters vs backups. It felt like a preseason game in that respect. When I saw a recent post identifying every Jets starter, I said something to the effect of "we better cream them!" For all intents and purposes, we did. Next week will be a little tougher, though. I'd actually say Buffalo was very fortunate with a pretty easy--relatively speaking--opening 6 games. Shake off the rust and resolve the fumbling issues!

The 300 yard mark was just one of those weights he needed lifted off his shoulders. He could have surpassed that mark in other games, but didn't because of circumstances sometimes out of his control. I've been waiting to allow Allen to really shred apart a D as a precision passer... today was the first glimpse of that. Let's hope both he and the offense continue to progress...

Daboll's fault for those individual fumbles? No. Allen has a SERIOUS ball security issue when running the football. It's Allen’s fault for fumbling in each of those plays once the ball was snapped 100%. It's on Daboll and the coaches for not either resolving the issue with Allen before continuing along the same designed run path they were on that's led to so many fumbles OR turn down a different path and allow your improved passing QB to be a passing QB.

This is one of the best Athletic articles I've read and is worth the $1 trial subscription alone... some excerpts... mods delete if you think this is too much, but it might be 1/3rd of the article at most: https://theathletic.com/2064066/2020/09/13/major-energy-all-day-tracking-stefon-diggs-every-move-in-the-bills-opener/?source=user-shared-article ‘Major energy all day!’: Tracking Stefon Diggs’ every move in the Bills’ opener Just before 11 a.m. ET, Diggs made his way onto the field in a white, long sleeve Bills shirt and short gray shorts. He and Josh Allen started getting some early reps before the game begins. Both Allen and Diggs spoke about how much they were playing catchup in an abbreviated offseason and how their connection was still “a work in progress.” They knew they would need every rep they could get, so Diggs and Allen took it right up to game day. For a while in warmups, Diggs was the only player to whom Allen was throwing. The two started with out-breaking routes. After each throw and catch, Diggs and Allen would come together for a quick conversation on what they just ran and what they would run next. ... First quarter ... After the first drive, Diggs took his spot on the bench and was vocal with his fellow receivers. He and Isaiah McKenzie had a long conversation before Diggs turned to rookie Gabriel Davis. When the offense was getting ready to head back onto the field for its second drive, Diggs made his way around to each player to fire them up. “I was extremely excited,” Diggs said. “Energy just comes from within, for real. Just trying to demand the best at all times and trying to push the guys around me.” If the lack of a crowd sapped the Bills of some of their energy, Diggs did what he could to make up for it. “Major energy all day!” running back Devin Singletary said after the game. “He had major energy all day.” ... Brian Daboll put some extra offensive linemen in the game. Josh Allen ran a bootleg in for a touchdown. Diggs was waiting on the sideline ready with high-fives for Allen and the linemen. After a quick celebration, Diggs found Allen for a quick conversation. “He’s still got a little bit of a kid in him,” Diggs said after the game. “So when he’s out there, he’s out there having fun and I enjoy it. I’m always in his ear kind of like, ‘Keep that positive energy going,’ just because I can’t imagine how hard it is to play quarterback. But when I see him out there having a good time, it gives me a little bit of a push in the back and a a little bit motivation to say, you want to play for this guy. You want to go hard for this guy because he’s damn sure gonna go hard for you.” ... Second quarter ... Allen audibled into the screen pass for the touchdown. “They actually kind of played us different from how they played us last year,” Brown said. “It was something we had to adjust to. With Stefon Diggs here, Davis and Cole Beasley, there was a lot of things opening up for us. They went a lot of Cover 2. That’s what they normally play, but we definitely got a lot of that with Stefon Diggs being in the mix.” ... Third quarter ... Diggs’ energy shined through again in that moment. After a conversation with receivers coach Chad Hall, Diggs made his way around the sideline offering up high-fives to anyone who would take them. Diggs was hardly ever off to the side by himself on Sunday. He was always moving around and making the most of his time on the sideline. Every offensive player mentioned Diggs’ nonstop energy. “I think that is an understatement,” center Mitch Morse said. “He brings a lot of juice. Even when it’s the kind of juice where he’s getting on guys, it’s not in a detrimental way. He brings out the best in guys in the huddle. Very fond of Stefon and the energy he brought today. I’m really happy that we have him on our team and would love to build on that. He fuels the fire sometimes. Sometimes you have to fuel it based on the ebbs and flows of the game. He felt it, and very happy with him and the positive energy he brought even when stuff was starting to go sideways in the third quarter.” .... Fourth quarter ... Diggs got stronger as this game went on. His 27-yard fourth-quarter catch was his best of the day and helped the Bills put the Jets away. For a player who just started learning this offense, Diggs had the full trust of Daboll. Diggs was all over the field, distributing his routes nearly evenly in the slot, split right and split left. That kept the Jets guessing and helped Daboll scheme ways to get Diggs open. “He’s the mastermind,” Diggs said. “He knows his stuff as far as getting me involved and doing everything. I’m more than thankful but more so from the standpoint of he got everybody involved. A lot of people touched the ball today. And you anticipate it being that way. We got a lot of weapons offensively and we got a mobile quarterback. Just kind of playing to our strengths.”

https://theathletic.com/2063922/2020/09/13/seven-observations-from-bills-win-josh-allens-career-day-couldve-been-bigger/?source=user-shared-article Seven observations from Bills win: Josh Allen’s career day could’ve been bigger Allen’s career day The Bills couldn’t have asked for much more production from the third-year quarterback. Allen was their offense Sunday, accounting for a whopping 91.3 percent of their yards. He also had a hand in all three of their touchdowns and moved the ball efficiently. He stayed within the offense and didn’t force the deep ball. He found weak spots in zone coverage, and he even threw the ball with anticipation to new receiver Stefon Diggs. Allen deserves a lot of credit because not only did he help the Bills establish an identity in Week 1, but he also became their identity. There were a few picture-perfect throws for Allen on Sunday. He had to be a nightmare for the Jets because they couldn’t seem to bring him down in the pocket in the first half. Allen stayed on balance and kept plays alive for either a scramble gain, completion or throwaway. His ability to keep his balance after contact is an underrated characteristic that allows him to shed a tackle or two. When he passed the ball, Allen had a couple of stellar moments. His 22-yard touch completion on a crossing route to Diggs was his best of the day. He put good touch on the pass, allowing Diggs to gain yards after the catch. Allen also seemed much more comfortable on screens than he had the past two years. He also made throws with anticipation. However, it wasn’t a perfect game by any means. There were some problematic moments for Allen that allowed the Jets to hang around for far too long. His ball security issues from last season returned in full force Sunday as he lost two fumbles. Both lost fumbles came when the Bills were driving deep in Jets territory, stopping Buffalo from scoring any points. The Jets couldn’t do anything to stop the Bills in the first half, and those two turnovers effectively kept them in the game. Allen has now fumbled 18 times in his past 18 games. Though he has cut down his interceptions, his lack of ball security is something that needs to be fixed. Besides the fumbles, Allen got away with a pair of bad decisions that went for incompletions rather than interceptions. One of them was a forced throw to Diggs in the end zone into double coverage. Allen also missed two huge opportunities for touchdowns in the second half. On their second drive of the third quarter, the Jets had a complete bust in coverage and Cole Beasley was left all alone without a safety over the top down the right hashmarks. Allen’s throw was off target and forced Beasley to make a diving catch for 29 yards. If he had hit Beasley in stride, he could’ve given the Bills a 28-3 lead. The drive eventually resulted in a missed field goal. Again in the fourth quarter, Allen missed an easy throw to John Brown in the end zone, which would have given the Bills a 28-10 lead and removed any more doubt with the game. He missed the throw, forcing the Bills to settle for a field goal that kept the score within two touchdowns. The Bills lacked the mentality to put away the game. Instead, it just felt like they were riding the wave against a bad team until time ran out. There was a stark difference in talent between the two sides, and the final score didn’t reflect it. Though Allen had one of the best games of his career, it could have been so much more. The Bills will see better competition than a hapless Jets team that put up as much of a fight as a pylon against a 300-pound defensive tackle. However, this was a great jumping-off point for Allen and the Bills offense.

Well he didn't throw an Interception, so that half of the ball security seems improved. I put the other half on Daboll, who needs to stop allowing for so many designed QB runs. I say allowing for because the Bills were no huddle almost the entire game and I wonder how much offensive play calling was Allen himself. I said as we ended last year I wanted Daboll to drop almost all designed QB runs from our offense, but encourage Allen to run when passing plays break down or even on a QB draw when the middle of the field opens wide. Regardless, Allen is likely to get some late cheap shots with all these runs. Today on one of his runs he was hit kinda low and tackled and I cringed. He now appears like a very capable NFL passer. Let him pass and supplement the passing game with his legs on occasion. He's a much more effective runner when he's scrambling, anyway. I looked awhile ago and in his first couple years he's averaged 7 or 8 YPR on passing plays that break down... AKA scrambles.

This reminds me of a hilarious article by (I believe) The Ringer after the playoff loss.

Torn? Are you expecting perfection? Allen needs to protect the football better when he runs and should've hit Brown in the EZ. 95% of today's game he was excellent.

and total command of a No-huddle offense. That TD pass to Brown on my first and only watch so far sure looked like Allen adjusting and audibling to something he saw at the line based on what he saw the D doing or not doing. Everyone will point to the miss to Brown in the EZ, but other than that wild miss, Allen was a precision passer. Adding Diggs made a clear difference for week #1. My issue is with all the designed runs Daboll is still calling. Allen needs to secure the ball better obviously. It's upsetting he hasn't resolved that. But even Allen made it sound like he'd be running less. Guess not. Two hands, Josh!!!