ShakAttack

Thanks for posting this. I was actually going to ask you to post it for a third time when I read that you already posted it twice, but I went back 4-5 pages in this thread and didn't see it yet, so I gave up (I bet it was on the 6th page back) and I decided not to ask, but I guess it worked out in the end 🤣

Here's something kind of interesting (to me anyway). If Keenum starts on Sunday, every team in the AFC East would have started a backup QB at some point this season, which is only halfway complete. ...and every team in the division has a winning record. Go figure.

Hold on... Serious question here... Why does it seem like in a 24 hour period the general consensus has gone from "He would probably be good enough to play against the Vikings but it would be wise to let him sit a week" to "Uh oh! We might be losing him for 4 weeks!" Is it just because he missed another practice? Is it something that was said somewhere? Is it because Josh looked "sick and depressed" in today's clip of him running off the practice field? As far as I can tell, nothing has come out today that would make me feel any different from yesterday, so.. what am I missing? 😂

If there are no major updates between now and Sunday, I think this is where the line settles.

Want to believe this, but... on the pass before the 70-yard bomb, it sure seemed like whatever he was dealing with had clearly impacted the throw.

That's why I'm kinda bummed about Allen's injury. Even if he plays, I'd be shocked if he's the guy we got used to watching prior to these last 6 quarters, so I was really looking forward to this game as an opportunity to "put it all behind us" and get back on track, until it became apparent that Allen's injury was likely going to impact this game. Granted, there is still a chance for this to happen. And if it does, maybe that makes an even bigger statement if Allen starts and has a gutsy performance coming off a scary injury. Maybe even takes the lead back in the MVP race? But yeah, I don't know, with Allen at 100%, I really saw this as the Bills winning in a blowout. I felt confident about the matchup, I felt confident about the Vikings being the beneficiary of an easy schedule, and in contrast, I was worried the entire week about the Jets (I figured we would win, but they'd keep it close, because their defense is underrated and matchup up well against Bills). Plus, I liked the home field advantage this week. Would be a dang shame to waste this opportunity, but... if there is ANY risk of making Allen's situation worse... we've gotta start Keenum. Who knows? Maybe it can be like the infamous Barkley vs. Jets game a few years ago that basically cemented Barkley's status as the Bills #2 QB for a couple years thereafter. Maybe the Keenum return to Minneapolis game would be something like that too? Never know.

Jets, when healthy, at the skill positions outside QB you’ve got: WR- Garrett Wilson, Denzel Mims, Elijah Moore, Corey Davis (definitely a lot of young and developing talent here) RB- Breece Hall, Carter, Robinson (Hall looked like the offensive ROY prior to ACL injury. In fairness this was also before Kenneth Walker’s stock took off though, but he could’ve taken one of those runs to the house against us on Sunday IMO) TE- Yeah.. not so good. But there is definitely a lot of sneaky young talent on that offense and learning to win with it now, they’re learning to involve Garrett Wilson more in recent weeks, and I think it can only get better.

A point was being made about how Dallas won most of their games without their starting QB. My point is, that’s comparing apples and oranges. There are also plenty of examples where teams fall apart after losing their starting QB. and it’s also pretty obvious that Allen has elevated the game of his teammates since he has been here. Guys like John Brown and Cole Beasley have had a lot more production with Josh Allen than anywhere else in their career.

Yeah smart guy. You know what I meant.

I have this weird feeling that we would find out our roster on offense is not as good as we thought if Allen were to be out. Diggs is our best player outside of Allen. He came from Minnesota, where I would argue he had 2 teammates on offense that were already better than anyone else we have in Thielen and Dalvin Cook. And then if you look around the league - heck even within our own division (outside of the Pats) - there seems to be a lot more talent on offense outside the QB position. Yes that does include the Jets (especially if you include Breece Hall). They have a LOT of YOUNG talent, particularly after the last couple drafts.

One thing that is for dang sure, if Allen is indeed the Cyborg many of us believe him to be, and is able to come out and start against Vikings, put the team on his back and win without doing any further damage to his elbow, do you think ANYONE is still thinking about the Jets at that point? We are right back to cloud nine. Granted, I think that was like 5 “ifs” I just listed, but hey… This is where I have to be mentally right now, to get through a week that will almost certainly feel like an eternity.

Well… If Allen has a UCL injury and can’t throw, but we still start him, doesn’t that basically render him Taysom Hill? Cause apparently Sean Payton believed Taysom could be a starter, fwiw. Jusr saying… and I’m half kidding too by the way… for the record, if there is ANY chance Allen can make this injury worse, I’m on board with “rest him for a few weeks and ensure he is 100% when it’s all on the line”. listen, we might have to forget about home field either way. Cause even if we play him, he won’t be 100%, we won’t be as good, lose the #1 seed AND we risk him not being 100% in the playoffs. wouldn’t you rather just have him healthy in the playoffs? I really wanted to host KC in the playoffs for once, but playing in Arrowhead is NOT the reason we ever lost to KC, I think we have proven that by now

But at the end of the day, Mahomes was able to put his ugly game behind him and suddenly play at top level when the game was on the line, as he usually does. I will say this though, Allen had us at the 50 yard line after ONE PLAY when Jets went up 20-17, and there's a VERY good chance we would be saying the same thing about him today, if not for the Dion Dawkins holding call. Holding continues to be my least favorite penalty in the NFL.

Well, if we can beat the Vikings (+7.5) there will only be 5 such games left against winning teams and we would be sitting pretty at 7-2. On a side note, getting tired of these ridiculous spreads though. Our opponents are definitely using it to fuel them to some extent. Sure, the Vikings opponents haven't been that good, but they are still a 7-1 team, and I'm pretty sure they are a heck of a lot healthier than the Bills are. Yes, I think the Bills should win, but 7.5 point favorites after we were unable to cover these bogus spreads 2 weeks in a row?

I mean... at least we have better depth on D-Line than in the secondary...🤷‍♂️ (I know, I'm reaching)

I did as well. I didn't like the matchup. I did not like how a 5-3 Jets team was being so overlooked at home. That said, I also didn't expect them to milk the clock in the 4th quarter but running it down our throats without Breece Hall. I honestly like how we matchup against the Vikings a bit better than Jets and I think we will get to Kirk Cousins. Still concerned about Dalvin Cook running it down our throats and our secondary covering JJ/Thielen. Tre white's return will be a bonus, but man.. I sure wish Jordan Poyer was wearing his dang brace against GB like Rachel said.

Most of us likely heard Aaron's quote before the Bills game: "Shoot, this might be the best thing for us" (With Buffalo next on the schedule and being a heavy underdog) Obviously, it didn't go so well for Mr. Rodgers, but if I'm looking for some positives after a very, very negative day, I am looking forward to the opportunity to gain our confidence back and hopefully get back on track if we can beat a 7-1 Vikings team. That would also silence a lot of the doubters, and possibly put the Jets game behind us, depending on how the game plays out. Now, the alternative, is a scary thought, but not an unfamiliar position to be in... If we LOST to the Vikings instead... we could be on a path similar to last season, sometime after the bye week, when the Bills lost 3 of 4 games and 2 of them were about as humbling as yesterday's game: Loss to Colts 41-15 Win vs Saints 31-6 Loss to Pats 14-10 Loss to Bucs 33-27 --- We were getting BLOWN OUT at halftime. Then Allen quite possibly had his most impressive comeback bid ever, unfortunately it was in a losing effort, but it seems like a lot of the time Allen has to hit ROCK BOTTOM before ascending back up to where he was, and if that is happening again, then I hate to say it but... this slump is probably just getting started 😂 But here's the thing, this happened to the same Bills team that had a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to make/win the Super Bowl, once the playoffs were underway. Anyway, was just looking for a positive/realistic spin on our current situation and that's what came to mind...

Don't take this the wrong way - I do not wish injuries on anyone - but I'd be willing to bet that Zach Wilson and/or Tua get hurt again before the end of the season. Both QBs seem a bit injury prone. Maybe it's their frame. Maybe it's the way they seem to take hits. But both QBs got hurt at some point when we played them.

It's funny to me how as recently as 2 weeks ago it was like "Odell Beckham... Yeah... We don't really need him..." and just like that Beckham seems like the missing ingredient for the offense. What a difference 6 quarters makes, eh?

I actually do not disagree with thinking twice about the 1 seed based on how we look coming out of the bye, it’s a valid point, unfortunately, but i also don’t want to be playing another playoff game in Arrowhead

the Jets apparently had an amazing week of practice leading up to the game yesterday. They responded to an embarrassing loss the week before, and we need the same thing this week, I don’t care if it’s an NFC game. It’s a 6-1 team and we need this to get back on track, avoid a 2 game losing streak and get our confidence back because suddenly the rest of our schedule looks just as tough as how it started.

trust me it’s hard to write this, but this statement sounds a little too familiar. Last year I believe we were the 1 seed coming out of the bye and we started to struggle. at first it was “ok don’t worry we still have the #1 seed and we will snap out of it” except we continued to lose every other week, looking like a shell of the team we were before the bye. the difference here is, we didn’t have the injuries we do now, including a possible injury to the QB, so eventually, once the playoffs started, we had everyone ready to roll (minus Tre white) and we looked great. I will say this, as bad as Allen looked yesterday, he had us at midfield after ONE throw, if not for a holding call (one of my least favorite penalties in the nfl because it’s very often a drive killer), yet we got the lost yardage back on the very next play, only for the unfortunate strip sack which literally did kill the drive. but yeah, ultimately - in my opinion - the holding penalty changed the outcome of that drive from possibly winning the game and not having to hear about Allen’s struggles, to this being Allen’s worst game ever.

So we're looking at Jaquan/Marlowe & Hamlin at safety this week? Has there been any indication how much Marlowe will play? I've seen some vets get plugged into the starting lineup after a trade, but I'm assuming Jaquan Johnson still gets the start here and majority of the game.

the “bills need to dominate lesser opponents” narrative is kinda funny to me when we lead the league in point differential last I checked. It happened once this year against Green Bay and people make it seem like a trend because it was the last game they saw and on National tv. Losing to Miami doesn’t count at all because with all the injuries and heat we were pretty evenly matched to start the game (even though we wouldn’t have been in normal circumstances). The other 2 close games we won were Ravens and KC, who will be in the playoffs, so.. yeah. It DID become an issue at times last year - incidentally, after the bye - but it’s not a “thing” this year… yet. These aholes need to stop before they speak it into existence

Well I gotta admit I did too but when Dr. Chao made his assessment, I started to allow myself to be more optimistic for the first time since Poyer got hurt. I think Poyer’s description of the injury along with the immediate swelling is what freaked everyone out, but mostly Poyer mentioning a “pop” is what had everyone expecting the worst.