BigDingus

AJ didn't just hurt himself... Allen hasn't been playing against 1st team defenses going up against our porous line. People always look at parts of the picture instead of the whole thing. Sure, Allen isn't playing with the 1's... but let's not pretend our 1's are world-beaters or something. We're not throwing him in with a loaded team like we had when Orton took over for EJ, or the Cowboys inserting Dak behind a powerhouse line with great playmakers at skill positions... We have a pretty good, injury-prone WR, a great but older RB, and a notably worse O-line than last year, when last year was already a significant step back from the prior season. Let Allen look good in PRESEASON against backups and guys trying to make the roster. Give him time to build confidence and learn. The last thing he needs is to get thrashed around, then running for his life feeling he needs to win it on his own and end up getting lost for the season.

I feel like you think I'm trying to convince others Allen is bad, or that I have a personal dislike for him. I don't. "Stats are for people who don't know how to play the game." Really? You want to go there? Nvm...I'm not going to get into how wrong that is other than saying that stats DO matter. Yes, they're not the entire picture, and no, stats don't automatically = winning. But there's a HUGE correlation between good/great players & good/great stats, which further correlate to more wins. Just as the opposite can be said, poor/mediocre stats correlate with poor/mediocre players, and less wins.

But when's the last time they televised the players from either team coming out on the field before a game? At best, you usually see the two or three commentators up in their booth with their discussion as the focus, and way in the background you can see players jogging out to do warm ups (obviously without sound). Or possibly as they're cutting to a commercial, it'll show one of the team's players coming to the field while it fades out over some loud music track (no on-field audio again). The only times I can remember the cameras and sound focused on players coming to the field are for huge events like the Super Bowl or NBA Finals.

Polls should only be created when there's an actual debate over a topic...The fact we're currently at 63 votes for "yes" and 0 votes for "no" shows there was nothing there in the first place. Might as well make a poll that asks "What would be worse - getting shot in the face, or winning a million dollars?"

I wish this was a sold out game, and that it was televised nationally so we could all see the reaction they get.

The truth is a lot of you guys are too close to the situation to have an unbiased perspective. You are looking at it from a local, personal, introspective viewpoint. Nothing is wrong with that of course, it's only you're failing to see the big picture. Buffalo already struggles to grow profit & revenue as it is compared to other NFL teams, even other small markets. And from a league perspective, growth and additional revenue streams are what keeps the bottom lines healthy. When the cap grows every year, it'll eventually hit a point where the profit margin shrinks further & further for teams not pulling their weight. And from a national perspective, Buffalo is not a "destination place," and few but the most rabid, diehard fans WANT to travel to New Era. It's outside of the city, without much going on around it, and it's not a pretty sight. Even though local people (some of them) enjoy the bad weather games, many see it as a hindrance (clearly plenty of fans do, or else the stadium would be packed during those games & it's not). Though a new stadium usually costs more than it brings back in returns for the local economy, it does become a "crown jewel" of sorts in the region, and creates incentives for other businesses to pop up in the vicinity trying to capitalize on the luster & newness. It'll also make Buffalo more of a destination place for events, and likely draw new attention to the area. Roads & infrastructure will get cleaned up, the surrounding landscape & environment will get cleaned up, and newer revenue streams will emerge. Property value will increase, outside investment will flow in, and region morale will be boosted by something truly unique and state-of-the-art (like all these new stadiums are). Players will have something to be proud of, and will likely feel much more comfortable making a decision to play for the Bills. Also, don't overlook the mental & emotional value something like that can bring to an area. I love Buffalo, and every time I visit I find something I enjoy more. But there is a very, historic, out-dated, a little dirty, past-its-prime, and OLD feeling to the city...like it's straight out of the 70's. That's not meant as an insult, and Buffalonians always point to some of the newer renovations & facilities going up in certain sectors or tiny areas (like the health & medical fields), but compared to other cities, it seems like it needs a kick in the butt to move forward...or dragged out of the past. A new Stadium will bring other newness, freshness, and a sleeker, cleaner look to wherever its placed. If the location is right, the new business that come next will follow in the same steps. Those will eventually branch out, and slowly but surely the town will modernize, get cleaned up, and benefit greatly like many other cities from doing so. I know not all people want "gentrification" to overtake their cities, but it ultimately makes them a more desirable destination for both the public & private sectors. When I moved to my city in 2004, there were about 60,000 people living there, and you could tell growth was on the rise based on a select few new businesses deciding to invest in their companies there. There was the Stonebriar Mall, one High School and not much else. All it took was that mall going up for one or two other businesses to come there, which slowly started forcing the city into building up the roads & new neighborhoods. Fast forward to today, and it only snowballed more. It became such a beautiful area, that it got a minor league AA Baseball team. Then a hockey team, and eventually the Dallas Stars headquarters popped up, followed by a MLS soccer team....then out of nowhere, the Cowboys built their HQ & training facilities there in 2016, and my god has that place exploded. Yes, I know it's outside of a city like Dallas, but not all large cities have suburbs that turn into places like that. Not saying Buffalo would follow the same route, but it sure does kick-start a LOT of development, just by having one new nice thing coming along. And it will certainly be a more pleasant gaming experience to many. The added revenue will help ensure the team can thrive in the future, and will also keep them firmly in Buffalo for the long run. Band-aids & renovations to New Era will not prevent relocation talks forever...Every team comes to the point where they need to upgrade or move on, and the Bills have been fortunate to avoid it so far. But never assume that it will always be that way, so to best prevent that, a new stadium has to come sooner rather than later.

He can also miss many throws that the large majority of QB's in the NFL can make....And as most coaches will tell you, it's those plays that matter most, not always trying to go for one big home run. Since you quoted my comment, you should notice the part I said "There are exceptions to every rule." YOU can point to the random one-off's....and I'll point to the much larger list of failures. I also mentioned in my post - ".I also notice that sub 60% tends to be where the bad, or at best, inconsistent QB's reside." Do you think Cam Netwon is consistent? Hardly. And Cam Newton was also putting up MONSTER numbers in college, and at Auburn no less, and won the National Championship. Josh Allen put up average numbers, got worse his senior year, and wasn't even one of the top QB's in a weak division. "Oh! But the talent around him blah blah blah!" And? All those other QB's from teams in his division had the same disadvantages. They all played with comparable talent around them. He also had the benefit of playing AGAINST inferior talent, unlike QB's like Cam Netwon, and couldn't do much with it. I'm all for being supportive and hopeful with Allen, but I thought this thread would discuss his real merits & be based in reality, not plucking only what we want to see & ignoring all the other evidence that doesn't fit our narrative....

That, and the fact he was wearing pads on a day they weren't practicing in pads (and he had a different color uniform on). His stunt probably didn't last long when he botched so many things, but still funny he tried.

Because completion percentage & accuracy are just minor things to ignore? (2017 Numbers) Drew Brees - 72.0% Alex Smith - 67.5% Jimmy Garoppolo - 67.4% Tom Brady - 66.3% Matt Stafford - 65.7% Matt Ryan - 64.7% Aaron Rodgers - 64.7% Kirk Cousins - 64.7% Big Ben - 64.2% Jameis Winston - 63.8% Philip Rivers - 62.6% Tyrod Taylor - 62.6% Jared Goff - 62.1% Eli Manning - 61.6% Russell Wilson - 61.3% Carson Wentz - 60.2% Blake Bortles - 60.2% Andy Dalton - 59.9% Mitch Trubisky - 59.4% Cam Newton - 59.1% Trevor Siemian - 59.0% Ryan Fitzpatrick - 58.9% Jacoby Brisset - 58.8% Brian Hoyer - 58.0% JOSH ALLEN - 56.1% (PAST TWO YEARS)***** Tom Savage - 56.1% Brock Osweiler - 55.8% Blaine Gabbert - 55.6% CJ Beathard - 54.9% Deshone Kizer - 53.6% I see the better group of QB's tend to have higher completion percentages to go along with the rest of their numbers...I also notice that sub 60% tends to be where the bad, or at best, inconsistent QB's reside. There are exceptions to every rule, but I know I'd rather have him positioned between Tyrod & Rivers or Ryan & Stafford than Tom Savage & Brian Hoyer or Blaine Gabbert & Brock Osweiler...

Here's the problem with your breakdown...you're assigning fault to everyone but him. People did this with Tyrod, Manuel, Losman, Edwards, Holcomb, etc. too, game after game, year after year. The other problem is every QB in the game has the same stuff working against them...blown routes, poor timing on some plays, dropped balls, effort issues, etc. And even though Allen has always had stats like this from HS to College, people will still blame his completion percentage on others all season. Doesn't matter that he's had plenty of games like that (16 games over the past 2 years he failed to complete 60% of his passes), or that every other QB in the world has to deal with the same types of problems, we're going to pretend when Allen's game performances match his track record, it's not who he REALLY is...and that it's someone else's fault.

Did you forget he also threw a TD too? Darnold is a better player than Allen at this point, everyone knows that. The question is will Allen develop into a better one in the FUTURE. He's also far more accurate (as it seems all the 1st round rookies are & always have been) than Allen. Hoping our coaching staff can somehow crack that code & get Allen at least to 60%. Oddly enough, Teddy Bridgewater might be the best QB on that team, but is probably the odd man out atm.

Props for posting all this in one easy to view post. Really appreciate it. I'm glad some people are enjoying watching him, as am I. I'm still not confident in his prospects with our team the way it is, but doesn't mean I'm not going to enjoy when he does well. Either way, just happy to know at the end of the season I'll have something to look forward to. Whether we're in the playoff hunt for the 2nd year in a row (extremely unlikely), or Allen gets thrown in as the starter since the season's lost, it'll give us all a great reason to stay engaged.

I dunno, out of all the 1st round rookies we've seen so far, Baker Mayfield was the only one who looked actually impressive to me. And with all the talk going on right now about them now wanting to go after Dez Bryant, I think the Browns are impressed too. If Bryant is cheap enough, I wish the Bills would considering signing him. Having another experienced, and talented WR to go with Benjamin would only help any of the 3 QB's we have in their efforts.

Yeah, it definitely jumps out a bit, although the Edwards is a bit bigger, Lawson had better numbers in college but Tremaine may have grow into a better player with time. And even though Lawson wasn't a world beater in the NFL, he still had a productive 10 year career as a starter.

Or maybe he'd get 1.2 seconds of protection against a 1st team D-Line & Linebackers? Did you see how San Diego's line destroyed us last year? We lost both Incognito & Woods since then, so it's unlikely to have improved by losing our 2 best players on the unit. The point in regards to Tyrod is that unlike Mahomes, Jackson and Rudolph, this will be his 8th season, and 4th as a starter. How many seasons have Jackson, Mahomes & Rudolph played so far? Soooo...regardless of what Tyrod does in the preseason, we all know who the F' he is. It's not a mystery, therefore we can make educated estimates as to his average production

I mean, he's exactly what both his detractors & supporters say he is...raw, strong arm, and has accuracy problems. Needs a lot of improvement, but has promise.

Today might've just not been his day, but all reports from national media members have said he's been looking insanely impressive in camp so far. And he isn't even as small as some other linebackers we've signed or drafted. Just a few guys I can think of, Matt Milano is 6'0 & 230 lbs, Kiko Alonzo was 6'3 & 238 lbs, Manny Lawson was 6'5 & 240 lbs, while Edwards is 6'5 & 250 lbs. He's definitely going to put on some size, so I'm not too worried yet.

Cam's more accurate than Allen, and has at least shown he can win at a high level in both college & the pros. Allen has potential, but if Benjamin has these critiques of Cam, I can only imagine the hell he's gonna raise when Allen is going through his growing pains He may actually prove to be a detriment long-term to Allen's development, but I hope I'm wrong.

This "hot take" made me chuckle. I don't know if you're serious or not, but it was amusing nonetheless. Peterman is trade bait because he played decent in 1 preseason game....the logic around that one is hilarious.

That much is true. Although Tyrod would've had a better completion percentage, but also less yards per reception too.

Yeah, that's what a lot of people have been saying, but then he'd be playing against 1st string corners, safeties, lbs and linemen...It won't get much better considering who our 1st teamers are.

But these aren't excuses, I just laid out all the information to present a fuller picture of why "being thrown to the wolves" is a fair assessment. Whether or not Peterman contributed to their turnover differential, every team has a few games where they pick apart a QB (I know we did), so it's not like the Chargers were the only team playing that week & got an unfair stat boost while everyone else took the week off. Hell, they even forced a TO from Tyrod, simply because their pass rush was that good with Bosa & Ingram. Our O-line was outmatched play after play...remember all the threads whining about their "mic'd up" stuff, with the Chargers players laughing & joking about how easy it was to tear apart our O-line?

This last excerpt from La Canfora's article is the most important & telling - "Could be a long year in the standings for the Bills, but I like the direction they are headed in. Progress isn't always linear in this league and last year's roster wouldn't reach the playoffs again in most cases. This is about a long-term youth movement to have the pieces of a perennial contender in place when these youngsters reach their prime. The have cleared the deck of bad contracts and bloated cap numbers and will be poised to make aggressive additions in trades or free agency in the coming years. Given the Raiders' issues with Khalil Mack right now, cant help but think how he would look here, for instance, if he ever hit the market (Mack played his college ball at Buffalo). I know this much, they aren't afraid to be bold here, and they have a shared vision between coaching/front office, which can go a long way in this league." Along with the rest of the article, I feel more comfortable with this coaching staff & FO than I have in a while. Though I didn't like the Allen pick, the fact they have their eyes on the future, and aren't trying to fool themselves into thinking we're closer than we are, makes me believe they can pace themselves & do this the right way.

-Chargers were top 5 in sacks last year -Chargers were top 3 in takeaway differential last year -The Bills haven't won in LA/San Diego since 1985 -Had only a few days to practice with 1st team -Chargers Head Coach was Anthony Lynn in his first year...a guy who knew our players VERY well having been a former coach here -Chargers were 3-2 in their last 5 games, with their 2 losses being: a close game in NE against the Pats, and a 3 point loss to the Jags in Jacksonville in OT...the 2 teams who played in the AFC Championship Game -Traveling across the country to start your first game ever is NOT conducive to a good performance -Joey Bosa & Melvin Ingram = Bad opponents for a 5th Round Rookie -Kelvin Benjamin got injured on the opening drive after catching a 20 yard pass...out for the game (we were already down Jordan Matthews) Also taking into account everyone knew the Chargers were playing much better football at that point (after having loss their first 4 games), eventually finishing 9-7 on the year, it might as well be called "being thrown to the wolves" for a 5th round rookie with a few days to prepare. It was one of the worst possible matchups for a rookie starting his first game.

He was 4-6 his rookie year, with 11 TD's to 9 INT's, and played fairly well for a rookie in many of those games. Hell, he wasn't really even "bad" in those first 4 games, but that loss to Houston really sealed the deal. Should've won that game and gone to 3-1 on the year, but ultimately punted the game. Not saying he was the franchise guy, but like usual, Bills coaches & FO were feeling the pressure of the drought more & more each year, and were in "win-now" mode even though we never committed to full rebuilds. Developing QB's was never our forte, so hopefully with Allen we show a little more patience & prudence. Looking back at EJ's rookie year, it's easy to see Allen playing in a similar way production-wise. This time, I hope we know how to develop him instead of yanking him around & destroying his ability to lead the team.