NoHuddleKelly12

I'm about to hopefully get a "After he tackled the quarterback, he was giving him the business down there" call of my own??

Even the great Belichick has been known to flub talent evaluation (lately he repeated the Coleman mistake of an experiment)--it's an inexact science, hence the continual turnover in the league at the GM position. How many 1st round busts litter the history of the league again? Get the QB right, and most all else will be forgiven. If history shows that they did hit right on Allen, nothing else needs to be said.

I will grant you there are many questions that need to be answered by this regime--what answers they provide will hopefully pay off quicker than later, but this year is looking more and more like moral victories at most can be hoped for.

I'm not trying to compare eras or discuss how much those are the same or different. All I am trying to point out, is that the overall circumstances faced by rookies who carry high expectations, can be overwhelming and appear to produce a bust, when just a little bit of patience could go a long way. This is not to say that automatically having patience will produce good results, as we still don't know obviously how all of this will play out with Allen. But there are comparisons to be made with future HOF QB's having to take their lumps, regardless of era played in.

Maybe it's the eternal optimist in me, or simply refusing to believe that the Bills could screw up QB again after Kelly, so I took the liberty of digging a little bit into the rookie seasons of another HOF great QB that others have also posted about as a point of comparison, Troy Aikman, who endured (and his fanbase by extension) one of the most cursed rookie campaigns (1-15) of all time in 1989 before hitting SB glory (starting with 2x against our beloved Bills of course). As a side note, his supporting cast in 1989 already included a lot of the names some of you old enough will remember from their SB run, including Ken Norton Jr., Jim Jeffcoat, Daryl (Moose) Johnston, Mark Stepnoski, et. al. Oh, and that one win? Aikman wasn't even on the field for that, as Steve Walsh, the other QB Dallas drafted that year since no one was 100% sold on Aikman coming out either, started for 5 games while Aikman sat injured. So take heart fellow Bills fans, and let these quick hits of why Aikman's rookie year will still wind up as worse than Allen's (through Week 4, was for sure) hopefully make you feel a little less jumpy this morning: (1) Local media hated the 1st round pick: http://thecomeback.com/freezingcoldtakes/nfl/troy-aikman-dallas-cowboys-draft-blew-it.html Nothing that happened in 1989 would have done anything to make Al Carter of the Houston Chronicle think that he was barking up the wrong tree...probably a good thing that he didn't have a Twitter account back then to whip up the fanbase into a further frenzy with his "hot" takes of how Aikman was a bust. (2) For a proud franchise which was used to a dynasty of success under Staubach and Landry, going 1-15 in 1989 was actually almost inexplicably worse than going 3-13 in 1988, yet the Cowboys managed to do just that, and Jimmy Johnson somehow survived without being run out on a rail.(The patience paid off Bills fans...) (3) Week 4 of the 1989 season featured the Cowboys going down in flames to the Giants, 30-13, dropping them to 0-4 on the year, and, Aikman left the game with a broken finger, and lost valuable starting reps for the next 5 weeks after that. (Can you even imagine this happening to Allen yesterday??) (4) Aikman's gaudy statistics, especially his completion % and TD/INT ratio in the games that he did start that year, would make even Peterman blush. How would all of you enjoy watching a 52.9% completion rate, double the picks with 18 versus 9 TD's, and a paltry 6.0 yards per completion average?? http://www.nfl.com/player/troyaikman/2499369/careerstats (5) Aikman's O-line surrendered 19 sacks where the pounding he took set the stage for his chronic back and concussion issues which dogged his career. Here's a nice "lookout" block from the interior of his line in 1989 as a visual aid: However, it is also undisputed that the nucleus of the line in 1989 resulted in excellent line play in the years following. Final Note: before "Peterman threw 5 picks" points this out for me, Steve Walsh appears to have been a more serviceable backup to Aikman than Peterman is to Allen--so there's one point where maybe the analogy comes out worse for us. But other than that, who in 1989 could have foreseen what was to come based on what happened Aikman's rookie year? FYI, his numbers his sophomore campaign weren't a ton better, but there was steady improvement with the patience shown.

Have no issue with Reich making the call—players have to execute. As for the kick, I also think trying to ice the kicker was also pretty much obligatory: https://mixpanel.com/blog/2016/11/22/nfl-data-icing-the-kicker/ finally, would’ve loved to have Reich as a HC also.

Not a thrilling compilation, but here goes: https://billswire.usatoday.com/2018/09/30/buffalo-bills-wide-receivers-free-agents-jeremy-maclin-markus-wheaton-kenny-britt/4/

Honestly is it too soon to start the “Shady may be succumbing to the inevitable 30 wall for RBs” whispering campaign? He’s shown nothing, injury or not, so far this year. I don’t want to be that guy who overreacts over nothing, but I feel like Shady’s been flying under the radar and getting a pass based on what he’s done previously. And he wasn’t even on the field for our only good offensive showing so far...

??????Tip of the cap to JA standing up there and not taking the bait when offered, to in any way shape or form deflect blame for the offensive woes on his teammates—though I wouldn’t fault him if he did with that sorry “supporting” cast. You could tell he’d just survived a gauntlet of fire but kept his cool and composure, and I respect the heck out of this kid’s attitude and willingness to shoulder it all, including all of the blame, rightly or wrongly. That’s leadership guys can get behind. Just wish our next game was tomorrow so we can flush the taste of this one down the drain that much quicker...

So I just read this barrel of laughs by our intrepid Pats fan who doubles as the ESPN Bills beat guy—my question is, what personnel moves could he possibly be referring to?? Our roster is what it is and I don’t know how you do anything major in the short term (unless by eventual he means next year) as it’s not like we are about to enter into a free agency signing fiesta this week. Mike Rodak ESPN Staff Writer The Bills seemed to move closer to eventual personnel changes around rookie QB Josh Allen after being shut out by the Packers, 22-0, for the first time since 2008. Allen was sacked seven times and received little help from LeSean McCoy (five carries, 24 yards) or Kelvin Benjamin (one catch, 34 yards on six targets). Allen finished 16 of 33 for 151 yards and two interceptions, including an ill-advised heave late in the first half. Buffalo gained only 145 yards, their fewest since 2006 and only the fourth time they have gained 145 or fewer yards since 1980.

I feel like every rep will help, so long as he takes what he needs to learn from them and not let it destroy his confidence when he gets knocked down—all of the great ones had to take their lumps and he is no exception to that rule. Mama said there’d be days like this, right?

At least we know our role

Thanks! Nothing was going to help today though apparently

Also bet a work buddy of mine who’s a big Packer fan, a cool six pack on this game, no points, straight up. But before you ask, no I don’t have a receipt to prove it.

Well last Sunday it was stay out of wifey’s way (sort of) while she had a baby, and the Bills won unbelievably—so this week...stay out of wifey’s way again?

Way ahead of you. I just tried their switchboard this morning, and unfortunately this is as far as I got: “How may I direct your call? Oh, I thought you might be 1982 calling to provide us with some DNA evidence. So sorry, but our agents are currently busy watching back to the future. Try again next week!”

It’s “anchor—man” not “anchor—lady,” and that’s a scientific fact!

And if he develops his overall effort, hands and attitude?

Obviously he is 1st ballot if they create a career backup category given how many times he’s assumed the starter role off the bench; Reich would also then be in there for the Houston comeback game alone, plus became a starter in Carolina after Buffalo

I can attest to there not being a true fall season down here—definitely no break from the heat in September, and will probably still be a couple weeks before sweatshirt is called for. The longer I’m down here the more I’ve missed the snow too, esp. around the holidays

Drop by Ray Ray, but luckily Clay Matthews flagged for roughing the passer

And I’m sure the Gulfstream came in at a bargain since it’s still garaged in Cleveland...

Lol, thanks for posting—it caught me at a moment of weakness, went ahead and got my XXL white one in honor of last week.

I remembered the same thing and dug this up that I read the other day, think this was it: http://www.espn.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/32272/bills-pull-defensive-u-turn-but-dont-point-to-vontae-davis-exit

Seeing as how we are going up against NFL royalty in Rodgers, the ? will no doubt do everything in their power to defuse our pass rush strength and flag us left and right for breathing in his general direction. Over/under for roughing the passer flags against Jerry?