VW82

That play where Oliver jumps up and causes a pump fake then he gets inside anyway and winds up whiffing on the sack is the kind of play I expect from a talented rookie who’s just figuring things out. I thought it was weird that Colts doubled him so much. Is Nelson not a good enough player yet to handle a rookie on his own? Guess they wanted to send a message.

You'd think it'd be totally cleared up by now (usually 7-10 days). Hopefully he's not having post-concussion syndrome symptoms.

I think McBeane probably couldn't get away with what Cards pulled with Rosen for example so there are degrees to it, but yeah...it's not really that different.

Because they drafted Josh and so are more likely to give him a longer leash. That fact seemed to have been lost on OP who wondered if McD might bench Josh to save his job.

I feel like we're going to be able to consistently generate pressure rushing four. Murphy looks healthy again. Lawson is a year older and playing for his job. Oliver looks like a menace, and Hughes might be the most underrated player in the league. Add in our stud pass rushing LB core in pressure situations and there are going to be a lot of opposing QBs running for their lives this year. I expect big things out of this unit and I don't think I'm going to be disappointed.

For the record, and because you asked, no it is not. The comment you replied to addressed OP's question about whether McD might bench Josh to save his job. I haven't shared that take anywhere recently. If what you're really suggesting is to take a break from discussing Allen, then OK. You're right, I've made my point. It's not my intention to spam those discussions.

Is Foster a lock? I'd bet he makes it but maybe not if they only keep six. It's not like there haven't been issues with him in the past.

We gave up a lot of points in 2018 but we were third in the league in yards allowed per play. Bet we finish top 5 in points against this year. So much talent and McD's a really good defensive coach.

I agree with OP that Allen looked poor at times in game one and that he suffered through the same accuracy issues we've seen from him in the past. His release looks fine to me but either way it isn't the main problem. It's still early. There's lots of time to get better and have a great year.

He's only 23 years old so he's immature in the way all guys are when they're only 23. I certainly don't think he's a problem kid if that's what you're suggesting. The slow release part is a bit of red herring. Whatever he loses in a longer wind up (if it even is a longer wind up) is more than made up for with the added arm strength. I do think he's slow to make decisions sometimes and maybe that's what OP is seeing. I don't know. I like Beane and McD.

I’ve watched the play multiple times now. It’s at 7:50 of the first quarter. There was tones of daylight out to the right but Singletary hesitated then ran straight ahead instead of bouncing it wide for a first down. It’s only one run . He looked better in the passing game than I thought he would for a rookie. Let’s see what he becomes.

I agree with the OP except for the part alluding to McD pulling Allen in lieu of "allow(ing) Josh to decide his fate." McBeane know their fate is likely tied to Allen's success so they'll do whatever they can ensure he does well (see complete overhaul of the offense this off season). That said, he needs to be a lot better than he was in the first preseason game if this team is going to sniff playoffs this year. I think we'll see some growth.

This is really appreciated. It sucks having to wait for the replay in NFLN.

No. it happened at 7:50 in the first quarter.

Except we've had the privilege of watching the games and so we know it isn't always Zay's fault. Allen is missing him a lot or forcing him to lay out for difficult catches that should have been routine. I agree Zay has a real problem holding onto the football and that issue doesn't appear to be QB dependent. Allen is exacerbating the issue with all the errant throws and Zay is in turn further killing the confidence between them with all the drops. At this point that has to be a factor: deep down they don't have confidence a throw will end in a reception.

I wasn't a fan of Singletary in this game. His run on 2nd and 5 in that second series was bad. Line got a nice push with so much open field out to the right. Prime Shady would have turned that into a 20 yard run. Singletary instead hesitates and then runs straight ahead into their DE. One rushing attempt doesn't make a career but that one left an impression.

And Josh shouldn't have airmailed him or thrown it in the dirt in that first series. Maybe they could have scored points if they'd kept that drive going. Watch the play again. Josh throws the ball wide and Zay has to adjust his route. It was a catch and in a vacuum that's all that counts but in this case it's another small piece of evidence that those guys aren't on the same page. There are too many miscues between them dating back to last season. It's on both of them at this point.

That is interesting. Not that we needed any more evidence that Bodine will be shown the door. Maybe Long will be too? Some of us have been trying to find ways to keep Teller who's in a numbers crunch now that Ford is at RG. Using Feliciano as the back up C accomplishes that. Edit: the more I think about it we have to carry three guys who can play center. Even if Morse comes back he's a ticking time bomb. This should mean our top eight guys are set (DD/QS/MM/CF/TN with JF, SL, and WT back ups). The question is, who is going to be the back up swing tackle?

Agreed. Josh needs guys who can consistently get open. I noticed a lot of the routes that did work on Thurs where either sitting down in space or comeback routes. Josh can be accurate on those. It's when the receiver is moving to the side or on the diagonal that he has problems (and sometimes when he throws to the sidelines). But I think he's going to be a big play guy though, and he's a gamer. We've already seen that. Bills had so many areas that desperately needed upgrading on offense the degree of difficulty was harder. Long-term this team needs more play makers

You're a funny guy. I finally got to see the game and I stand by my comment. Josh wasn't very good. He was inaccurate, again. He mostly stared down and threw to his first option. It's clear to me there's a problem with Josh and Zay. Josh misses him on his first couple throws to start the game. Josh turns what might have been a long gain or TD into a difficult catch for Zay along the left sideline (which he makes) in the second series -- instead of lofting it so wide why not force the angle upfield more so Zay can turn and run up the sideline? There was so much space! By the time Josh throws the infamous drop at the five yard line they've had some missed connections and miscues due to QB error. Zay should have caught and held that last one at least until the egregious hit to the head which should probably be reviewed by the league. It's possible we might need to separate them as they seem to be feeding each other's weaknesses. But I can see you don't really want to talk about any of that, so I'll stop here. You can go back to being the hot take arbiter. Have a nice day.

Why is he going to get hurt? Russell Wilson seems to play a lot of games (and win Super Bowls!). Allen has that type of big play ability. I feel like it's unlikely Allen gets over his issues with inaccuracy. He's had two off seasons, two training camps, one full regular season, and he's still apparently missing guys and being "uncomfortably inaccurate" despite being in the athletic prime of his life. He'll get better at reading the defense and leading receivers and bunch of other things but I worry about the accuracy stuff. He's so tantalizing and it's going to hurt that much more if he busts out. Please God let him be good! Edit: either way I like McD. He should stay and get a second chance if it comes to that.

I wasn't referring to the pass or the drop, but rather their careers to date. It sounds like I'm going to see a game where Zay dropped a ball and Allen missed a couple of receivers who were open (just going by what others have written). These are exactly the two areas of weakness most discussed. I think it's fair to lump them in the same boat at this stage as promising young players with some areas that need to be cleaned up. It's less fair to single one out in order to praise the other. They both have issues.

If you're a professional quarterback and your receiver gets open you have to be accurate with the football. Otherwise, what's the point? I think Allen and Jones are young players with a lot of promise who have some glaring weaknesses. Hopefully they can overcome their shortcomings and become good players.

No, Spain. Teller had two holding penalties and they were both in the same Dolphins game. He got his ass kicked in that one. I like him though. The leash will be a short one for Spain, I predict. Also, to the poster asking about keeping Teller over Long: I think we need to keep three guys who can play center and one of them can't be Bodine. We have to keep Long. Ford can function as the swing tackle should Nsekhe or Dawkins get hurt. This would allow us to also keep Teller.

Thought it was interesting that he had five holding penalties (one declined) over the final eight weeks of the 2018 season. Seems a little high, no? Hopefully he starts to move his feet.