CincyBillsFan

And early on in your list you misleadingly left out the Eagles spirit crushing, 84 yard, eight and a half minute drive for a TD that sealed the win for them. Context is EVERYTHING.

Correct. I sat out in the rain at one in Cincinnati!

I was being nice but I suspect you're closer to the truth here. The way the Eagles player came off Beasley to let him roam FREE at the goal line in fear that Allen was about to take off was all you needed to see as to how teams are playing us. This is why I have so much trouble trying to rank Allen versus the other young QB's. While the Bills front office has made great progress in the absolute in upgrading the O-line & skill players the starting point was bottom 3 in the league at every position group. So "making progress" is relative and still leaves the bills no better then bottom half of the NFL here.

I don't think we have a running game that Daboll can rely on. And before folks rip me and point out we've been running the ball well I believe it's because NO ONE fears the running game beyond Allen getting lose for a 25 yard run. So yea we can get some garbage rushing yards in the middle of the field but when it gets to 3rd and short or down near the goal line they fear Allen, NOT Gore or Singleterry or Yeldon. When teams approach the Bills they know that the WORST CASE scenario is that if there's a huge hole for Gore it's a 10 - 15 yard gain and they live to fight another down. Singleterry hasn't showed that he can break off a run for 50 yards and Yeldon wouldn't even make most teams backfields. I watch other NFL games and see RB's ripping through holes for 30 yard or more gains. Our opponents focus on harassing Allen with blitzes and trying to take Beasley & Brown away. They don't worry about our: * Running game * TE's * Screen Passes

I sure hope not. Next year the #1 draft pick should be a WR as that position is loaded. In the off season the Bills have the funds to spend heavily on an offensive Tackle & DE. We should be able to get a decent RB & LB without breaking the bank. I think we can expect further development of Knox & Singleterry into much better offensive weapons. The KEY will be that Ford develops into a starting caliber guard. Given where we drafted him and the skill players we passed on to get him this is a huge thing that must go right for the franchise.

Man I hope not. But I'm thinking that they don't want him lit up knowing that they're far from having a decent offensive unit. Allen's been thrown into the fire with the expectation that he'll grow into a better QB as a result. I think the brain trust has determined that he has the mental & physical toughness to survive the ordeal. But what they don't want to happen is what might be happening to Darnold. That is to take a lot of hits/sacks and throwing multiple INT's every game. Darnold has thrown 7 INT's the last two games. That could shake anyone's confidence. So they play if safe this year knowing that in some games that will mean a loss. But by doing this they develop Allen and they might sneak into the playoffs as a wild card. Next year after a big off season and draft the Bills enter 2020 with a much more robust Offense.

The reason we don't have an effective screen game lies with the O-line and RB's. They clearly can't execute it very well and Daboll knows this. On the rare times they try to run it Allen has to throw the ball at the RB's feet because half the D is around the screen guy.

This is a complete misrepresentation of what actually happened yesterday and that's why it's hard to take the Allen critics seriously. I agree that the biggest let down by Allen & the offense was the failure to score after the fumble recovery. They own that. But when we went 3 & out and punted the eagles to their 16 yard line at the start of the 4th quarter it was on the defense NOT the offense to put us into position to win this game. At that point the Eagles were going into the wind and had the D forced a 3 & out we likely have the ball inside the 50 yard line with 13 minutes left. Can you say comeback? We'll never know though becasue our D allowed the Eagles to go on an 84 yard, 8:30 drive INTO the wind for the game clinching TD. So if you're going to engage in "coulda, woulda, shoulda" then at least be accurate about what was happening.

Take a look at the difference in skill players, particularly at TE & RB, is all you need to do here. The Niners running game is POTENT ours is less so.

That's NOT what I'm saying. What I'm intrigued about is why didn't we get garbage yards/TD. My belief is it indicates that we have a long way to go in providing this offense with explosive play makers. The garbage time comment was also aimed at all those who think that hitting 300 yards passing is a huge deal. It's probably the most overrated stat in football because it's so often attained as a result of garbage time production. Andy Dalton has multiple 300+ yard games and even has a 400 yard game this year! And the Bengals are 0 - 8. And I don't think Allen played badly yesterday. I think he was average which is why I graded him as a C+. Over the last few years the Bills did to the offense what Miami has done to their team. It's been a 100% tank job. And while doing this we've inserted a raw, project QB! The next step is to build an O-line and insert explosive skill players into the offense. That job has just begun and is far from complete. In the meantime they've determined that Allen can learn & grow in a trial by fire situation and that he has the mental & physical toughness to survive such a process. If all goes according to plan the next few seasons will see this all come together. What you see as excuses is simply trying to factor in some context when looking at Allen's performances.

Exactly right. For the 2nd week in a row our defense allowed a team to go on multiple long TD drives that chewed up a lot of time. It's probably fair to say that the Bills Offense was robbed of at least 5 possessions over these last two games by the inability of the D to get 3 & outs. This was especially crucial in a ind game where it's critical that you 3 & out a team when they start a drive inside their 25 yard line going into the wind. In fact that's the prescription for winning Rich Stadium wind games. Several times our D allowed the Eagles to get a couple of 1st downs eliminating the field position advantage we should have had with them going into the wind. And this is why IMO giving Allen a "D" grade as QB is ridiculous. Given how poorly the defense played had Allen really earned a D we would have lost yesterday's game 38 - 6 and NEVER would have been in it early in the 4th quarter.

I give Allen a C+. No one is throwing for 300 yards in the kind of wind that we had at New Era field yesterday. What was odd about yesterday's game was that Allen didn't pile up a bunch of meaningless yards in garbage time having two possessions with the eagles up by 18. It was 0/3 then 0/4. If Allen gets garbage yards then he breaks 200 and probably has a 3rd TD throw. Half the QB's that hit 300 or more yesterday did it in garbage time against prevent defenses. So why didn't the Bills get those cheap stats? Or better yet why did Allen play better through the 1st 3 quarters when the game was still a contest? It doesn't make sense unless you realize that we don't have the skill player talent to do pile up "prevent" yards. The guys that thrive in garbage time catching the football are TE's & RB's. I rest my case. When you take a hard look at this Bill's offense try telling me that they have the talent to put up big numbers and come back from being down by 2 scores or more. They don't. Watch other games and you'll see guys running wide open & getting decent separation. YAC after every catch is a given. You see explosive RB's and TE's that make play after play in the passing & running game. I get that Singleterry & Knox might be big time players in the future but right now they're raw rookies making an occasional play. Do you think opposing defenses worry about what a draw play might do to them? People claim Allen isn't getting rid of the ball soon enough. That's part of it but how many times is he almost immediately flushed out of the pocket as the opponents D-line simulates a jail break? And like EVERY QB Allen misses the open receiver. But I'm watching other games and they're talking about a QB having to choose between multiple open receivers. How often do we have that luxury. Allen is making decent progress. He has much to work on but should be hitting his stride next season when the Bills add some additional skill player firepower and one OT to stabilize the pass protection. This was not going to be the year we had a potent offense. Yet here we are on the cusp of being 6 - 2 halfway through the season. I'm okay with that.

This is exactly right. We all need to take a chill pill and realize that with a win next week the Bills will be at 6 - 2 at the half way point of the season. That was the best case record I had them at in August.

You mean the defense that allowed a 70 yard TD run right out of the halftime locker room? Or do you mean the defense that after the Bills had a great drive to cut the lead to 17 - 13 gave up a long TD drive to go up 24 - 13?

We ran the ball twice and got a first down. We then got pass happy and on the 4th down throw Allen was late making the read and throw to Brown. That was a big opportunity that the offense did not take advantage of. But where you apparently see the QB as the main problem in that drive I see a lack of offensive play makers and an O-line that did not protect the QB very well as the main problem. But for me the game was lost after we had cut the Eagles lead to 17 - 13 with a nice 75 yard TD drive and our Defense allowed them to march the length of the field and go up 24 - 13. I's not a secret that the strength of this team is the Defense. Our offense, including our QB, are a work in progress. I would have loved to have gotten the ball back after 3 and outing the Eagles with the chance to take the lead, not just cut into the lead.

Every QB can go through periods of being "wildly inaccurate" in a game. Hell watching tonight's game Rogers missed a bunch of throws in the 2nd quarter. My observation was that when it was still a game Allen was playing well. When the D gave up an eight & a half minute, 84 yard drive in the 4th quarter to put the Eagles up by 18 the Offense, including Allen, fell apart in response.

I disagree. The primary concern in college was Allen's "accuracy" and I think the data and evidence to date indicates that is NOT a problem. And while the majority of "experts" had significant concerns about Allen a sizable minority thought he was a top 10 pick in the draft based on his extraordinary arm talent. What almost NONE of the "experts" seemed to be aware of was Allen's outstanding athleticism. He has turned out to be much better runner then anyone thought he was. Allen has also clearly made significant progress in a number of the areas where he was supposedly deficient. Just today with his TD pass to Beasley Allen showed a real maturity in not running and instead flipping the ball to the WR. Allen is also taking on more of the pre-snap responsibilities and he's demonstrated excellent leadership skills. He has a lot of work to do but no more then the rest of last years QB draft class has ahead of them. But so far ALL the evidence is that Allen is getting better and his trajectory is pointed solidly upwards.

So are you suggesting we move on from Allen? Maybe bench him and see if Barkley got better since the last time he started in the NFL? Or should we make a play for Andy Dalton? He's thrown for over 300 yards a whole bunch of times this season. Hell he even had a 400 yard, NO INT game to his credit at Seattle! Or do you favor drafting a QB next year in the 1st or 2nd round? IMO Allen has already shown enough to make me think he's the guy. At worst he's shown enough to earn at MINIMUM three full seasons to prove whether he is or isn't the guy. I get not going all in on a guy for 5 - 6 years to see if he'll pan out. But given what Allen has already shown he will get 3 seasons to lift his game to the next level. if he doesn't get that time then the Bills front office will be guilty of gross football negligence.

I've watched every game this year and in one half of a Chiefs game I see the WR's/RB's/TE's getting more separation then I see in 2 or 3 Bills games combined. And it's not like the KC QB is throwing these guys open or hitting them in stride. Some of his passes would be considered "off target" by the anti-Allen brigade. But he's doing what an NFL QB needs to do on a team loaded with explosive skill players - get the ball to those players. They'll take care of the rest.

Wow, speed to burn. This is an interesting game in what it signifies. Green Bay has a very good defense but the KC skill players are carving them up.

Exactly right. Explosive skill players are going to explode. I get identifying the QB & building the O-line first. That's sound, fundamental football. Though it can be frustrating for us fans. But NOW is the time to upgrade the Bill's offensive skill positions.

That's why I don't think the brain trust saw this as "the year". These guys are aren't dumb and they knew they were thin at RB - both in number & talent. I could live with throwing the money at WR & OT but they still have to upgrade RB.

I agree with your take on Allen. Through the first 3 quarters I was feeling like he was on his way to having one of his best games. But the inability to stop the Eagles offense put to much pressure on a Bills offense that's still a work in progress. Get 2 stops on those 3 TD drives in the 2nd half and I absolutely believe Allen and the O get another TD to win the game 20 - 17. But if you had told me ahead of time that the Eagles were going to score 31 points in a WIND GAME I would have said the Bills got their butts kicked.

It's become a critical need IMO. But a need best addressed in the off season either in FA or the draft. Right now this backfield is way below average and is probably bottom 5 in the league. If you notice they're trying to keep Gore from wearing down by limiting his touches. But this leads to it's own set of problems where we abandon the run to quickly or have Allen try to play RB. Lamar Jackson is the only guy that can be a RB at the QB position. Allen is at his best running after the pass protection breaks down.

Fair points and I agree with you about the designed sweep at the end of the half. That play hasn't worked since the Giants game (the one against TN was an Allen ad lib NOT a called QB sweep) and it was clear the Eagles were expecting us to run exactly that play. When we signed Kroft & Beasley it was for 3rd & 2 plays at critical moments in the game. Neither of those guys are going to catch 75 yard TD passes but that situation was what they're both designed to do. And to be fair to McDermitt & Co. We are way below average at RB. Singleterry looks like he has the potential to emerge into a fine change of pace back but right now he's more a threat as a receiver then a runner. Gore is a warrior headed for the HOF but he doesn't have a burst and isn't going to break to many tackles. Watching other games shows me that we don't have anything close to a dominating RB. IMO this is need #1 in the off season.