CincyBillsFan

Here's my take on today's game: Relax, we lost the equivalent of an exhibition game. There, I said it. This was an exhibition game for the Bills no matter how much we fans wanted them to beat Brady and Pats. So stop yelling at Daboll & the play calling and the D's lackluster play. Look at how the Bills played from another perspective: * The Bills are not going to show their playoff opponents their latest blocking schemes for the zero coverage blitzes. * The Bills are not going to show their opponents their latest blocking schemes for their running game. * The Bills are going to run on 1st down a whole lot because that's NOT what they're going to do in 2 weeks in the playoff game. * The D is not going to show their playoff opponents all their latest coverage schemes & blitz packages. * What we got today was a vanilla offense & defense - just like you get in the last exhibition game. It would have been coaching malpractice for McD & company to expose their current thinking in a meaningless game when we are in a playoff game in 2 weeks. The fact is that in GAMES THAT MATTERED against Baltimore & Pittsburgh the defense played their hearts out. Are you surprised that tonight, while playing a vanilla scheme, they were off their game? I'm not. After the last two games this D was due for a let down. All in all I'm happy with how the Bills played. They almost stole the game from a NE team that desperately needed to win. In the 4 games against top competition the Bills are 2 - 2 and could have won every one of those games. This team is close, very close. As for Allen's detractors, he played well tonight with a limited game plan and limited play makers. If you can't see it then you don't know how to watch football. And why is no one talking about the fact that Allen hit on TWO perfectly thrown long passes? If this is the new norm, then folks better watch out next year after we get done adding a few more pieces to the O.

I will be interested in what the "experts" on "22" say about that to. IMO that was a tough pass to complete. Folks claiming Knox was wide open don't understand how defenses stake out coverage's in the end zone.

I call BS on this. The O had a great TD drive right before half to swing momentum in the Bills favor. Then midway through the 3rd quarter the O hits a huge play that puts them up 17 - 13. The D's struggles today were entirely on the defense. Bad tackling and a lack of energy right from get go were the problems.

I agree. After forcing the fumble on the 1st drive our D gave up a 7:30, 75 yard TD drive. The offense then moved the ball for 2 first downs and stalled at midfield. The Bills then punted the ball to the Pats 1 yard line. The Pats the went on an 8:30, 80 yard FG drive. So after forcing the fumble and well before they should have been tired, the D gave up 2 drives that chewed up 16 minutes of the game and scored 10 points. Our D started off playing poorly and I would submit that the D's poor performance contributed to the Offenses 1st half struggles as they were unable to get into a rhythm with the D unable to get NE off the field.

The overwhelming percent of fans do appreciate him LanderPoke. But I get how frustrating it is to read some of these DUMB comments about Allen here. We're lucky that we finally have our franchise QB. Allen is someone you can build an offense around. That a tiny minority of numbskulls don't see this is on them.

What a load of rat feces. It's obvious that this offense is a year away from being good. Allen is clearly our franchise QB and once we surround him with above average weapons this will be a productive offense. As for winning with Allen at QB? Are you kidding me. It takes a special type of ignorance to say that when the Bills are having their best season in 20 years and have already locked up a playoff spot. We ARE winning with Allen at QB. That's difficult to do when you can't get a team off he field and they have close to 40 minutes of TOP.

Well, there is something to be said about overthrowing your WR on those deep passes.

And the offense missed a FG and turned over the ball on downs at the NE 4 yard line. The Bills could have easily scored 20 points in that game at a time when the Bill's O wasn't playing as well as it is now and the Pats D was playing better. This IS a winnable game for the Bills. The reason we're all so nervous is that we can't know the mentality of each team going in. Without doubt this is a much bigger game for NE then it is for Buffalo as they desperately need that 1st round bye and the Bills have basically locked up their playoff position. So how does it go? I haven't a clue. I could see a lethargic Bills team getting hammered by the Pats. I can also see a relaxed Bills team laying the wood to NE.

My point was that Wilson runs mostly as a second option on a play and Allen is starting to follow this pattern. That is the "style" I was referring to. In contrast Jackson runs mostly by design. The Ravens blocking schemes and pass routes are set up to enable Jackson to run if that's what he chooses to do. Wilson and Allen mostly run when their pass protection breaks down or the D-line is undisciplined in their pass rush and leaves wide open run lanes.

But that's not the same thing as what you're saying. I'm one of those convinced that Jackson would not do as well as Allen in the Buffalo offensive system with the Bills current group of players. To be fair it's an almost impossible question to answer because the Ravens are running such a unique offense. But when you look at Jackson's passing game, which is primarily short & intermediate throws to his TE's in the middle of the field with an occasional over the top throw, you see the classic passing success you get against teams geared up to stop a dangerous running game. When Jackson throws to the sideline his accuracy drops significantly. Jackson's reads are complex but do not focus solely on the passing options. He reads the run first to decide whether he keeps the ball or hands it off to the RB. If neither is open he progresses to making a pass read which usually involves a RB or TE on a shallow cross across the middle. He is not often asked to read the entire field in the Ravens passing attack. In most conventional spread offenses he would be asked to read the field and get the ball to the open spot.

What about Russel Wilson? He plays in a completely different offense then Jackson does. If anything Wilson's use of the run, even as a young player, is far closer to Allen's style then Jackson's. Do you actually watch the Ravens play offense? It is a truly unique platform in what they ask their QB to do. Oh and for the record, Wilson is a prime example of how a smart QB runs. Allen needs to learn from what Wilson does.

I don't care how smart you think Jackson is at running with the football if he keeps running iti as much as he does he will take big hits. Just ask Micheal Vick. This is the NFL.

Are you really sure Jackson will be a perennial top 10 guy? The proof will be next year when defenses have had a chance to catch up with him. Cam Newton had a Jackson like year when Carolina went 15 - 1 and lost the Super Bowl. But defenses caught up and while Newton remained a very good QB he didn't dominate the league again. That may be Jackson's future. We just don't know. As for Allen being a franchise guy? We don't know yet but I like the signs so far. It will take 4 - 5 years before we know for sure. But right now I'm cautiously optimistic that Allen is the guy.

Be a pocket passer that throws effectively to the outside. Jackson's success at throwing the ball when he drops back into the pocket is a direct result of the Ravens rushing game plan that makes the play action pass deadly. It's a brilliant design and works great for Jackson & the Ravens talent base. But the Ravens offense is very different then Buffalo's.

The question is more nuanced then you make it out to be. Unless I was getting the Ravens O-line, their TE's and RB and of course Greg Roman to design & call plays there is no way in hell I'm trading Allen for Jackson. And I'm not being a homer in saying that nor am I questioning that Jackson is an MVP worthy player this season. IMO if you put Jackson in the Bills offense and asked him to do what we ask Allen to do Jackson would NOT do it as well.

And that's why this coaching staff is very good. Knowing your limitations is probably more important then knowing your strengths!

We won't know your last question for another 2 - 3 years. It takes 4 to 5 years in total before you can really be sure if you have a franchise QB. But everything I've seen to date is trending in the right direction. But I do disagree to a point with your notion that Allen is only a game manager and is not being asked to win games only to not lose them. As you mention in your post, Allen has led 5 game winning drives which to me means that they really do ask him, in a limited way, to win some games for them.

How many times must those of us who see real improvement and flashes of elite potential in Allen have to say HE STILL HAS A LOT OF AREAS HE NEEDS TO IMPROVE IN before you sour pusses quit setting up & knocking down this straw man? I can't think of a single 2BD post claiming that Allen is setting the world on fire. Where do you get this stuff?

Well if our defense sucked Allen might have a whole bunch of 300 yard games as he threw against prevent defenses every week! I guess that would make some of you happy now wouldn't it?

I wouldn't say we're making excuses for Allen as much as we're reacting to unfair and ignorant criticism of the guy. Most of us would agree with your description of where Allen is as he approaches the end of his 2nd season. We agree that there is much he needs to improve in his game but the future looks bright. But when someone claims Allen is a "bottom tier QB" there's going to be push back. Because claiming Allen is "bottom tier" is dumber then saying he's elite.

Rubbish. It depends on the stats you use. If you focus on QB rating or yards or % completions he's below average. But if you look at TOTAL TD's (rushing & passing) he's in the TOP 10. Even better he has a very good ratio of TD's/TO's (27/13) at over 2. If you look at 4th quarter ratings he's #3 and Buffalo is designed to win games in the 4th quarter. That's a stated goal of coach McD. If you look at Allen's Red Zone rankings he's top 10. For a team with an elite D that's a much more important stat then say passing yardage by the QB. We all agree that Allen has much to improve in his game. Anyone with a lick of sense also would agree that he gets 4 - 5 years to fully reach his potential. And only someone with a weak understanding of football would label Allen as a bottom tier NFL QB. He's middle of the pack with a solid upward trajectory.

I can't completely separate Collinsworth from PFF. PFF has an ax to grind and Collinsworth as a PFF investor shares that same ax. And given that this was the first time the Bills had been on Sunday Night football in a LONG time it was bush league by Collinsworth to bash Allen as much as he did. Sure, some criticism was warranted last night. But Collinsworth wouldn't let it drop and half his critique had more to do with tired old stereotypes that Allen wasn't even guilty of last night. It was unrelenting and bordered on the obsessive. I also don't recall a whole lot of praise from Collinsworth for the things Allen did well. You mention fumbles but Allen didn't fumble last night. Singleterry did - TWICE yet Collinsworth glossed right over it so he could take another shot at Allen's footwork. And when you look at lost fumbles, there are plenty of QB's who have as many or more then Allen. Again, half of what Collinsworth spouted last night was a false narrative that either never was true or hadn't been true for the last 10 games. As for missing key passes, which ones would that be? Sure he badly missed Beasley in the flat on 2nd & 8 but it was hardly a key pass. Today I listened to the Cowherd show. Now NO ONE can accuse Cowherd of being an Allen apologist. In fact he was blisteringly critical of Allen after the Bills drafted him. Today he kept including Allen by name when talking about athletic QB's who produce in the clutch being the future of the NFL. IMO a more reasonable take by Collinsworth last night would have been along the lines of Allen being inconsistent but having all the tools to be elite.

As a Chiefs fan you should be the last to talk about catching this type of pass. Over the last 2 seasons I have seen KC receivers make catches on balls that looked a lot like Allen's high throw to Beasley. Kelsey alone seems to make 1 or 2 catches of "poorly" thrown balls every game. In reality though those passes are not "poorly" thrown because in the NFL the first job is to get the ball to where a receiver can catch it.

My guess is that this is the classic dilemma of play callers. They overthink things by believing that the opponent EXPECTS us to feature Allen in the red zone so let's cross them up by taking it out of his hands! As an aside, does anyone remember that first year with Bledsoe when we started out 2 - 0 and we thought we were Super Bowl bound and we went down to Miami and tried that same play (stretch run that the RB pulls up and throws the ball) with the RB trying to throw a pass in the red zone. I think it got intercepted and we lost the game and finished the season 8 - 8.

Great comment. There is a double standard in assessing Allen and it stinks. The good news is that Allen is sharpening his saw playing these kinds of games. Steel is being tempered here and will pay huge dividends going forward.