CincyBillsFan

The fact is the Bengals are a franchise that focuses on the offense as a direct result of having an elite QB: * They have an offensive head coach * They used the 5th pick in the draft to take Chase. * They have invested heavily in their O line to mixed results (like we have on the D line) but there is no denying that the Bengals are better up front then they were in 2021.

I agree and I'm not saying you are doing the nitpicking. But even a casual read of these threads can see that there are some Bills fans who nitpick Allen to death.

The Bengal's made a decision based on what was best for their offense. They did this because they have an elite QB and they have worked tirelessly the last few seasons to surround him with the best possible talent on O. The Bills made off season FA decisions based on what was best for their defense. At its core this is the fundamental difference between Buffalo and the other leading SB contenders this season.

This is true of every elite QB in the NFL today. I agree that Allen owns some of this but at the same time the Bills have not focused on surrounding him with high end play makers until just this off season and that was through the draft. Allen is the reason the Bills are playing for a division title tomorrow and the reason that they've won at least 10 games for the last 5 seasons, and are on the cusp of winning at least 11 games for 4 straight seasons and are about to make it 5 straight playoff seasons and 4 straight division titles. IMO nitpicking what Allen could do a little better to get the Bills over the hump is the last place this team needs to look.

Brown was the field stretcher in 2020 and we haven't had one since for a couple of seasons. This is a huge need when you have a QB that can put the ball almost anywhere on the field from almost any spot on the field. The other thing the Bill's receiving group doesn't have is the type of WR that turns 50/50 balls into 90/10 balls. The kind that can high point the ball. You know a guy like D Hop. The Bills, focusing on the D signed Floyd who has played great and leads the team in sacks. On the other hand if they had signed D Hop can you imagine how much better the O would be? Look at the numbers D Hop has posted with the crap QB's in TN throwing to him: 68 catches for 1011 yards & 6 TD's. These are the choices that the Bills, as a defensive minded franchise, are making. The Bengals let 2 very good safeties walk in order to free up money to further strengthen their O line to protect their elite QB so he could make more throws to their elite collection of WR's.

In fact wasn't this the play where a smart Diggs would have slowed down and drawn a guaranteed PI call? Is that all on Allen or does the fact that the receivers often don't get open or at other times drop the ball contribute to this?

And we all see that this happens to EVERY other team in the NFL, especially this season.

But doesn't this just illustrate that even the elite QB's can have bad games? Remember Mahomes stunk up the joint against NE in an AFC title game before having a brilliant 2nd half. There is more to the advantage an elite QB gives a team going to and winning a Super Bowl then their play. There is an aura of confidence they bestow on the whole team that is difficult to quantify but IMO very real.

Eight of the last 9 Super Bowl winning teams have been led by elite QB's including the last 5 in a row (Brady, Stafford & Mahomes). So things seem to have changed.

So you're blaming Allen for the D blowing three games where the Bills had the lead with less then 2 m9nutes to go?

Given his production in TN and the "quality" of QB's throwing to him D Hop would clearly be the #2 guy in Buffalo. In fact he would be the 1B guy. And his presence would draw coverage away from Diggs. The Bills made a choice and they went with defense. And you can argue that from a defensive standpoint it was the right choice. But therein lies the problem, the best teams with the best chances of making and winning a SB are all focusing on their offense. Even Baltimore with it's great D spent the off season focusing on the O and helping Jackson out. I would love to know the answer to this question.

Kincaid is tracking the ball while the DB, who is likely faster, is desperately chasing him to catch up. What else would you expect? That throw was perfect and the play gained what it was supposed to. Again watch the throw and catch in real time and there is not an appreciable slow down by Kincaid. Had Allen thrown that pass further there would have been a good chance it would have been over thrown or Kinciad in racing to catch up to it would have gone to the turf laying out for the ball. There are passes that Allen misses that warrant criticism like the deep ball to Diggs. But throwing shade at Allen over the pass to Kincaid is an example of Allen Derangement Syndrome.

It is unreasonable to claim that Allen under threw Kincaid on that play. The ball was perfectly thrown and your freeze frame pictures do not change that. Watch the throw in real time and see just how smooth it is. As an aside in picture #1 Kincaid is open at the 41 yard line (near the hash) and the clock reads 13:41. The 2nd & 3rd pictures show Kincaid catching the ball in stride at the 34 yard line about a yard further from the hash and the clock reads 13:40. That's about 8 yards traveled in less then a second. Hardly slowing down.

Good question. My guess is that McD/Bean were hoping to replicate the success they had bringing in Brown & Beasley in 2019. Obviously they missed. I don't know if we could have signed D Hopp with our CAP restrictions. My guess is that if we signed D Hop we wouldn't have been able to sign Floyd and Floyd has been a difference maker on the D. But these are the tough choices that a GM/Coach must make and an offensive minded coach would have signed D Hop and the defensive minded coach Floyd. The Bengals let two very good safeties go in order to put more FA money into their O line. That's how an offensive minded coach with an elite QB thinks. For the record, and given the performance of both Floyd & D Hop (68 catches for 1011 yrds & 6 TD's) Hopkins would have been the better signing. Can you imagine his numbers with Allen throwing the ball and not the collection of misfits in TN?

I agree with you if this was a stand alone event. But the mishandling of Allen's rookie year and the surreal trust in Peterman speak to a bigger problem with McD and offense in general and QB's in particular. Again, my main reason for wanting to move on from McD is that when a franchise has an elite, generational talent at QB you will better exploit this good fortune with an offensive minded coach who surrounds that QB with the best possible offensive talent. For the record I would love to be proven wrong here as I don't see McD being replaced anytime soon. But all the evidence I see in today's NFL supports my concerns of McD.

That's fair but in the end Allen was thrown to the wolves in week 2 without having taken very many 1st team reps in training camp and the preseason. Even worse he was thrown into the fire with an offense that had been dismantled by management in the off season. The reality is that McD & Bean's best laid plans went up in smoke when Peterman could not generate a single 1st down after NINE straight possessions. The fact remains that a complete misjudgment by McD & Bean about Peterman AND MaCaran ruined any chance that their reasonable plan for Allen would work. And for some of us this can be directly attributed to the fact that the Bills management & coaching embraces a defense first philosophy.

I disagree. Looking at how McD & Bean handled Allen his rookie year is an insight into how the Bills have handled him and the offense over the last 6 seasons. My and other peoples arguments about why we need to move on from McD have been twofold: * As a defensive coach McD will commit more resources to the defense then to the offense. And he will always be more comfortable with defensive players and schemes then offensive players and schemes starting with the QB. * Both Bean & McD are much less effective at judging offensive talent then they are defensive talent. I truly hope I'm wrong and McD/Bean can find a resolution to this quandary. But until we make a Super Bowl with the current coaching/management group I remain skeptical. The idea that teams with elite caliber QB's should have offense minded coaching is compelling to me.

If fans know not to trust preseason game results shouldn't coaches be expected to also know this? The only consistency we ever saw out of Peterman in actual NFL games was his amazing ability to set NFL records for sucking. Who can forget his two pick sixes in only two games, after Allen went down with an injury in 2018. That McD & Bean thought Peterman could play is a major mystery to me.

Bean & McD deliberately blew the offense up that season. The problem and it's one of the reasons I'm not thrilled abut McD or Bean is they completely misread the value of McCarron and Peterman. After Peterman set another impressive NFL record in QB futility, NINE straight possessions without a 1st down, to go along with his 5 INT first half performance the previous season. the Bills ad no choice but to throw Allen to the lions. Can you imagine the fans reaction had Peterman been put on the field against Sand Diego in week 2? As it was Allen's first 3 games were against three of the best D's in football at that time: the Chargers at home and the Vikings & Packers on the road.

The reality is that McD & Bean screwed up Allen's rookie year about as badly as you could. Allen himself and DaBall are responsible for his surviving and towards the end even thriving. Agree 100%. Bean & McD completely screwed up the plans for Allen in 2018. To their credit they shook the cobwebs off and fired those two horrible WR's (Bengiman & Holmes) and brought in veteran help for Allen. But the credit for Allen not busting goes to DaBoll and Allen himself.

Allen hit him perfectly in stride what the hell are you talking about?

He also did great in that Indy playoff game to.

I would rather have Allen's proven track record in the playoffs then his having Jackson's TO's this season. BTW Jackson turned over the ball 13 times this season. Less then Allen but not insignificant. I would also rather have Allen's durability as Jackson in back to back seasons suffered season ending injuries which negatively impacted how those seasons turned out. And I agree that fewer TO's by Allen would have led to more Bills wins. But also stopping two very bad offenses, NE & Denver, from going down the field in the last 2 minutes of the game to beat the Bills after Allen had secured the lead kept us from being 12 - 4 and chasing he Ravens for the #1 seed. Well your memory appears to be flawed if you think Allen is worse this year then he was in 2019.

That's true but Jackson's late game pick six against the Browns didn't help ether. I think Jackson will win this years MVP but there will be a lot of other guys getting a decent amount of votes. For the record Jackson's challenge isn't winning a 2nd MVP but playing well and winning some playoff games. In Jackson's 4 playoff games to date (1 - 3 record) he has not been exceptional in any one of them and he's been bad in 3 of them.

Were you visiting Tibet after the Bills lost to the Jets? A lot of people brought up Allen's bad game. In fact it entered beating a dead horse territory with all the glee & gloating 2BD's resident Allen critics talked abut it. Again, if it's Allen's fault and not the coaching then are you arguing that the Bills should move on from Allen if we miss the playoffs this year?