Avisan

If fan polls on TBD ever influence how a OBD employee seriously feels about their job performance, that person needs to be fired immediately

He literally doesn't even think about "us", as well he shouldn't

Yeah, the goalposts do seem to shift constantly. Posters want Allen paid obviously, also a top O-line, and big-name receivers, AND an elite defense (since when our defense is merely average it's a travesty), and also we need to draft elite talents while drafting in the last 8 picks of the round every year, or trade for them with similarly devalued draft picks, etc. Like the one coherent criticism you can make of this team is that it favors consistency via mid-range contracts to maintain depth and continuity vs. cap-managed peaks and troughs to boost odds in specific "all-in" years.

Using this play is such a farce. Allen did not "hang in the pocket", he felt pressure immediately and lost his throwing platform against zone with a shadow on Coleman. The defense was able to keep receivers in front of them with 3v5 coverage and no threat of an Allen scramble, and at no point was Allen able to get into a position where a receiver could slip open and be spotted and delivered to by Allen. Allen may have been definitionally within the pocket but he's focused on evading the rush for ~3 of those 4.35 seconds, the play is already broken at that point. Good defensive playcall and excellent execution, even an elite receiver doesn't help us here unless Josh releases the ball immediately after the snap.

All solid observations. I do want to note-- he has to learn to be comfortable in the pocket to maintain his status as an elite QB into his 30s. It needs to become his game. When Manning makes remarks about Josh needing to learn how to play "boring football", it's because it's the only way to stay elite as your body slows down from age and mileage in the NFL. Feel the pocket, make plays within it, and step up through the gaps in the rush to hit players like he did to Hawes, week in and week out. It's the only way to stay elite.

Vrabel is a good coach. McDermott is a good coach. The idea that Vrabel >>> McDermott is really bizarre, we kicked ourselves in the nads repeatedly vs. the Patriots and still only lost by three points. People put Allen on an insane pedestal where the assumption is that he is always the best QB in a given game and it's only bad coaching that ever holds back his performance. Allen is elite and thoroughly earned his MVP award, but he's absolutely mortal and doesn't have the non-physical mastery of the game that Brees/Manning/Brady did. And vs. the Patriots he was not the best QB on the field that day. And we lost by three. This fanbase is embarrassingly fatalistic sometimes. Sports has ups and downs. If it didn't, it would be boring and nobody would pay attention.

Bruh Allen is not a true deep ball merchant, he really struggles with touch and placement down the sideline He can hit the deep middle with the best of them but outside the numbers he's iffy

Got to sit down and watch the game tonight-- on this play Allen is no longer looking downfield after like 1.5s and the defense is in zone w/ a man on Coleman. The DL has both pressure and contain on Allen so the secondary doesn't have to worry about the possibility of Allen running, and Allen isn't able to get anywhere close to a viable throwing position so none of the receivers are able to slip into the open. No clue what you would expect receivers to do on this one, the play is already broken by the time they would be coming out of their breaks etc. and everyone is moving accordingly.

By the numbers Groot has had a very good season, his game log stats aren't eye-popping but he's a very effective overall player. In the trenches, only elite pass rushers ever really have eye-popping stats.

Is it a massive failure? They've been a garbage team for a few seasons accumulating high draft picks. They have a cupcake schedule, a currently high-performing QB, and a good coaching staff. If we drop the division to them this year, meh, it happens. If we get consistently overtaken and/or start missing the playoffs, sure, you can talk "failure". It's pure entitlement to think no other divisional team is allowed to catch up, though.

Have you ever considered the possibility that players don't consider things with the same lens that upset fans do?

Guys... regardless of whether or not you think McDermott can get us over the Superbowl hump, he's a darn good coach that helped bring our franchise back into relevancy. If you're someone who thinks it was all Allen, we know what Allen looks like when he's not in the right headspace. It isn't pretty. Allen could easily have flamed out despite his physical gifts. We've seen that story play out over and over again in this league.

Jury is HEAVILY out on both of them still, with respect to whether or not they would be an upgrade.

No, I watched this one real-time and thought the hysterics were overboard. My posts from that time frame will back there up. People were extremely upset about the zero blitz even though it did its job and the Broncos were extremely lucky to convert. The 12 man thing was beyond frustrating but iirc a veteran player went out when he wasn't supposed to or otherwise flubbed his responsibilities leading to having too many folks on the field. Coaching plays a huge role, obviously, but players need to be able to take care of the football, not have disastrous coverage reps, and execute their assignments, too.

No. Ravens won the AFC with 13 wins, the Bills came in second at 11-6. Veteran player messed up iirc and the Bills were out of timeouts to fix it. The Bills turned the ball over 4 times, fam. That's what kept the game close.

They lucked out crazily on a prayer ball against a zero blitz in a game where the Bills were at their offensive nadir under Dorsey. This is absurd. The Bills lost the turnover battle 4-1. These are the numbers. Show me the "out-coached".

... 16 years ago, with prime Drew Brees, in a less-competitive NFC, when his team was running an illicit bounty program where they were deliberately trying to injure opposing offenses with his knowing consent, leading to his suspension.

What is the obsession with Sean Payton? What has he done to demonstrate being a superior coach? I swear some of y'all like a-holes strictly because they're a-holes, like it's somehow a character plus for you.

Yes, actually. Tom Brady functionally enforced a lot of Patriot Way culture elements and brought in several of "his" guys to help with that. The Buccs initially were up and down until Arians allowed Brady more influence over the offensive scheme and personnel. Talent alone is only half of the battle. Yeah, the Bills have knocked them out twice, and the Bengals once. The AFC playoff picture has been an absolute gauntlet recently.

I mean, the Bills' D has done so 5 out of 6 games this season, and we won the 1 out of 6. Further upthread is the stat that teams win ~75% of the games where they hold an opponent to fewer than 24 points. You don't need a world-beating defense to win a lot of football games.

Dread it, run from it, Elite Dragon Joe Flacco vs. the Steelers arrives all the same.

I mean... and lot of teams have players that can set pass protections and execute them and/or immediately get the ball to the hot routes. We have good pressure rates as a defensive unit, it's not as though we're failing to disrupt the QB from a schematic standpoint, our secondary is just dogwater. Despite that, we're currently the 17th ranked defense, so basically dead average, so SOMETHING has to be going right.

Tom Brady looked bad in games where he was under nonstop pressure by 4 pass rushers. For most of his career he murdered teams that sent 5 or more to try to get to him. His passer rating vs. the blitz was obscene-- some seasons it was like 120+.

That could have been the Bills if Shaq Thompson catches the INT at the end. The Chiefs had some absurdly good fortune like seven weeks last season to come away with dubs.

Does Mahomes make that throw? I'm guessing he does. That's Josh's competition, both in terms of money and expected impact. The whole point of earning that much is that your standard of play needs to be that high. If you don't want the standard to be that high, pay 30 million for a 30 million dollar QB and have the cap space to afford a bona fide #1 on top of tge O-line investments.