transplantbillsfan

Actually I think most of us understand the plan, we just think it's a poor one, especially when it comes to the playoffs. Our Special Teams hasn't been great this year. What's the issue with using a defender like one of the Johnsons as a gunner? They're defenders and would be better tacklers. And our defense, while very, very good, is not consistent. They played the Ravens very well but then gave up the long Hurst TD. They were pretty terrible in terms of yards allowed against the Patriots, but were fortunate enough on the 1st drive to get a turnover on what was otherwise a bad play allowed and got a couple other breaks in the game. Eagles game our defense was terrible. First Miami game our defense wasn't all that good. Cleveland game our defense was disappointing. Dallas game began with Zeke running all over us and then the incompetent Jason Garrett abandoned the run game. I understand our coaches' plan--I just don't think it's a good one, especially in an elimination one and done scenario that the playoffs are. Something I heard the hoodie say on one of the NFL 100 shows as a war metaphor in terms of his approach to coaching really stuck with me, and I think it's emblematic of why the Patriots have been so great for so long and why I'm terrified of McDermott's approach... to paraphrase: You can't just dig yourself in a hole and stay there. At some point, you need to attack. McDermott, it seems as a whole, prefers the foxhole.

Uhhh... sorry but a WR is supposed to be a pass catcher. Ever heard of possession WRs? At the very least, that's what Duke would be. Except as the article points out, Duke is much better at route running in terms of deception than Foster is. He gets open pretty consistently. And Sunday's game should help squash the myth that he's not fast enough to play WR. 2 deep routes on Sunday for him with 1 catch and 1 very nearly a catch. He's also a damn good blocker if you're actually watching him on running plays. The guy should be on the field and as the article suggests we can use Taron or Kevin Johnson as our gunner... they'd be better tacklers than Foster, anyway. Despite all of this, I expect he will be inactive because our coaches are bull headed when it comes to personnel that best fits scheme, despite the lack of actual production from them.

Honestly, I think it's a risky buy for anyone right now with is very possibly going to Kansas City if we win, not Baltimore.

And you would have gone with...? In this case, they could have read The Athletic's weekly All-22 review.

Allen said that in reference to what? A direct question about whether Duke would play?

Bruh... once again... ignore the threads you want to ignore. You constantly scream about how the ignore feature is great for posters, well since there isn't an ignore feature for threads, use whatever self discipline you might have and just don't click on the threads you don't want to read... and then add an extra measure of self discipline--I have faith you have enough--and don't bother posting in it.

I really, really hope this is a sign Duke will be active and Foster won't

https://theathletic.com/1498047/2019/12/31/bills-all-22-review-why-the-film-shows-duke-williams-should-be-active-in-the-playoffs-and-2-young-defenders-show-potential?source=shared-article 1. Why Duke Williams should be active vs. the Texans over Robert Foster Immediately following Duke Williams’ six-catch, 108-yard game against the Jets, I was hesitant to think the Bills would change course at wide receiver. They aren’t prone to impulsive decisions from only one week of evidence, and Robert Foster has turned into a significant contributor on special-teams coverage units. However, after digging into the film (...) the Bills should make Williams active over Foster. (...)Foster [has] always been lacking is in the overall deception of his routes. There is no doubting the player’s speed, and that element of his game is the reason the Bills have continued to go back to him. However, in non-deep ball situations, there is little opportunity for effectiveness with a varying route tree. The cornerback can easily decipher what Foster is doing with his footwork and body language (..) Williams (...) made a handful of mistakes against the Jets (two drops, running a route short, whiffing on a run blocking opportunity), what he provided as a route runner and playmaker far outweighed them. Williams isn’t the quickest of receivers, though he makes up for it with his footwork. He gives his quarterbacks a throwing window by deceiving the cornerback at the top of his route. The double-move Williams ran at the end of the game to get him open for a 41-yard gain is something we haven’t seen from Foster the entire season. (...) He can make difficult plays in the tough areas of the field that require physicality that neither Foster nor Isaiah McKenzie has shown a consistent ability to do. Williams also delivered a helmet-twisting block (...) At this point, Williams is a better offensive threat than Foster, and the Bills should adjust accordingly. Williams is not the best on special teams, and it’s part of the reason why he was inactive from Week 8 through Week 16. However, either Taron Johnson or Kevin Johnson can fill in capably for Foster as the primary punt gunner. It would allow the Bills to implement a two-pronged attack with their third receiver, using the different skill sets of Williams and McKenzie to keep the Texans on their toes. [Edited for excessive copyright material -mod]

Soooo... For you, Franchise QBs are a notch above Elite QBs????

Exactly. Just don't think it happens. If Allen throws for a lot of yards, it clearly means we're playing from behind A LOT!!! Unfortunately, that's just the conservative nature of our coaching staff. It's worked so far... let's hope it continues in the playoffs. I do, however, think it would pretty amazing for Allen to have that type of breakout game on a national stage on the road in his first career playoff game.

Okay then. So your standard for Franchise QB truly is HOF QB. What about Eli? You can't possibly think he was a Franchise QB and not think Ryan is. Flacco? Cam? None of those 3, I suspect, you would qualify as Franchise QBs by your definition, but they have 4 Super Bowl appearances, 3 Lombardis, and one NFL MVP between them. Ryan was also an NFL MVP and had a Super Bowl appearance. Matthew Stafford has played for a pretty dysfunctional organization his entire career, yet he has as many 4th Quarter comebacks in his 10 seasons in the NFL as Favre did in his entire career. I think your standard for Franchise QB is silly.

What about Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers and Derek Carr?

The thing is... I really don't think and never did think that Duke is that guy for the team long term, though it's possible. But he could have served as a stopgap for at least this year. Other than the Eagles loss, every single one of our losses was a one score game where a play of two might have changed the outcome of an L to a W. Duke ran 2 deep routes yesterday and he had more of an impact on those 2 deep routes for the team than Foster did all season. Notice that he came close to catching that first one from Allen? It just boggles my mind at this point that Daboll can't find some use in the offense for the guy at this point. I watched him on multiple running plays just mauling defenders, too. Draft a guy in the offseason and let Duke fight for a roster spot next year, but the Robert Foster decoy strategy is simply not working and not helping Allen out at all considering he seems to feel an urge to throw it to him on those deep routes even when he isn't open.

6 tracked dropped passes right now for Knox. Remember that dropped passes as a stat are the blatant, obvious ones. They don't include all passes that were catchable in some way. I said in that post Allen needs a big, reliable receiver. I assume you brought up Knox as a counter to that--I guess you're somehow trying to argue that Knox is that guy? If Knox were that guy and Knox alone didn't drop any passes (but everyone else on the Bills still did), Allen's completion percentage right now would be 60.1%. And then just imagine if Bills WRs could actually come down with some of those acrobatic catchable passes you see consistently across the NFL... You're right that Allen could improve his accuracy. Absolutely. But the approach of leaving him without some big bodied reliable WRs in favor of all smurfs is a disservice to a young, raw QB.

Knox??? Allen overthrows Knox just as much as anyone? You sure about that... or are you just honing in on the 2 EZ misses vs the Patriots? Remember, you're referring to the Dawson Knox who I'm pretty sure leads the NFL in drops.

At this point I think it's hard to make an argument that Allen is one of the 10 best QBs in the NFL. Obviously. Stats and everything else supports that. However, if you actually watch the games, it's also hard to make the argument that this kid is one of the 10 worst QBs in the NFL. Trajectory is aimed solidly up. I'm not really going to be shocked by anything in the upcoming playoff game(s) because anything is still possible with Allen. This playoff road game will be his 29th NFL start. Most surprising but not utterly shocking to me would be a 3+ turnover game. I think he's gotten those out of his system, but it's possible, though I think really unlikely. More likely is Daboll and McDermott going conservative and handing the ball off 25+ times. If we do that and our defense plays well, I think that's the recipe for success. Then again, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I wouldn't be surprised if this game against the Texans were a breakout game for Allen with the long awaited 300 yards and 3+ TDs. I literally don't expect anything this weekend. Truthfully, I'm more worried about our Defense than I am Allen. I think Allen is a gamer and is pretty likely going to show up to at least make a game of it. Our defense needs to be as advertised... because it hasn't been that Elite Defense so many have claimed it to be for too many critical chunks of the season. Sorry Defense. Sucks to be you... but you came into the season screaming that you believed you could be the best Defense in the NFL...well, ya weren't. Help your young 2nd year QB out and rise to the occasion please. Oh, and on a side note... put the useless, unproductive Foster on the bench and just activate Duke already to give Allen what he should have had all year: a big, hungry, generally reliable (yes I know he dropped a couple today... but he also gave Buffalo only it's 5th 100+ yard receiving day today) receiver who a young QB can throw it to and expect him to fight for the ball. I don't think this last thing will happen, though. Daboll is stubborn.

Any word on kickoff day and time yet?

One good catch could be the difference in a playoff game. But again, I don't think Daboll can see the forest through the trees.

Still think Duke is inactive next week. Daboll is married to his system and apparently Foster and his lack of production somehow fits the Daboll system better than... ya know... production...

Onto the playoffs baby!!! Glad they sat Allen quickly! This Buffalo team is a road team!!! Let's take it to Houston next week!!!

Can't believe we're playing Allen but resting Knox. Knox needs more practice catching than Allen does throwing.

Your name says it all.

So now Allen is a successful NFL starter??? Bruh... talk about backtracking

You are always welcome to ignore threads or choose to not post in them. just a thought

Again... even here you're acknowledging Allen has been an outlier much of his life and practically admitting (begrudgingly it seems) that he's pretty likely an outlier in the case of your study--which he already pretty much is given his significant improvement after your benchmark of his first 16 games--so why even bother bringing the study up at all if it's irrelevant to Allen, the subject of this thread?