CincyBillsFan

I love Milano and think he's one of the best LB's in the game but if this is true and I believe it is then it's a part of the problem. We need great impact players who play impact positions. And after Allen we've been decidedly lacking those type of players in the playoffs. And all you have to do is look at Diggs production the last 6 playoff games (2021 through now) to see that he was far from being an impact player when he was most needed to be one.

By my count Cook dropped 4 easy TD catches and on only one of the drives that he dropped a TD pass did we go on a score a TD. So yes those drops did hurt us. But Cook also made some big plays in the passing game. My expectation is that he will work on the drops reducing them. At the same time as he gains more confidence in a pro passing attack his big plays will balloon in number.

I believe (maybe hope is a better word) that this is a classic case of taking one step back to more easily take two steps forward. If ever there was a WR draft that made this decision easier this year is it.

Don't forget that Cook is likely to play a larger role in the passing game.

To be fair Allen launched three deep balls which on most weekends in the NFL would have been caught. Both the WR's that couldn't make those catches are gone. If they catch 2 of those 3 shots we win that game.

And when you throw in his yearly disappearing act in the playoffs................

This is spot on. Hopefully though McD/Bean have got religion and after taking a step back by releasing Diggs they take two steps forward in the draft and land at least one if not two high end WR's. This is the draft to do it and next years #2 they got for Diggs absolutely should be committed to moving up to draft a better WR.

I am very confident that Curtis Samuel is a #2.

And the Chiefs are doing it big time now.

Bingo. Does this Doopey troll own a TV and watch football? You can't go 5 minutes before seeing a Mahome commercial. The weirdest anti-Allen take on 2BD and there are a couple of doozy's, is the one where Allen party's all off season while Mahomes earnestly study's to be a better QB.

Sure Diggs helped Allen elevate his game in 2020. Allen more then returned the favor by elevating Diggs stats big time for four consecutive years. But if you and others believe what you post then you must have wanted the Bills to trade Allen and keep Diggs? Why don't you just come out and say it?

Not trying to pile on Diggs but these playoff stats are a real eye opener: Going back to the 2021 season Diggs has played in 6 playoff games. His numbers underwhelm: Targets = 46 Catches = 27 (less then 60% catch rate) Yards = 289 (less then 11 yards per catch) TD's = 0 In these 6 games Diggs had only one 100 yard game (7 - 114); the other 5 games saw Diggs with 60, 52, 35, 21 & 7 receiving yards. Over the course of these 6 games Allen was superb throwing the football for 1642 passing yards & 16 TD passes and only 3 INT's. And Diggs was targeted 46 times. Over this period Diggs was the 2nd best player on the Bills just behind Allen. And it's fair to say that Diggs under performed in 5 of the 6 playoff games since 2021. That is not acceptable for a WR #1 in clutch time.

Bean's grade on the trade is "incomplete". Let's see how it all turns out but I have a sneaky suspicion that a year from now Bills fans will be very happy with what down today.

Some folks are poo pooing the 2025 2nd round pick but if you combine it with the Bills #28 pick this year it could enable them to move up in the 1st round or add it to this years #2 pick and maybe jump back into the 1st round. And since it's actually the Vikings 2nd round pick it should be pretty high as Minnesota is looking to have a down season this year.

He's 0 - 1 versus Burrow in the playoffs. If you're going to include regular season games so you can say Allen is "0 - 2 vs. Burrow" then you have to include the regular season between Allen & Mahomes where Allen is 3 - 1. BTW when Dan Marino kept losing to Jim Kelly in the playoffs did we say that Kelly was a better QB then Marino?

Nick Wright will fit right in.

I agree. From my POV Allen and Burrow are equal with both being elite. Any advantage that Burrow may have on ball placement, accuracy and reading coverage is easily matched by Allen's stronger arm, superior running skills and ability to escape pressure. And while Burrow has one Super Bowl appearance Allen has not missed a game in over 5 seasons. As they say, availability is the most important ability. Sure you can blame the Chargers ownership but Herbert has been blessed with excellent offensive skill players the last couple of years. In last season's 31 - 30 playoff loss to the Jags Herbert could only manufacture 3 second half points. IMO Herbert is clearly on a lower tier then Allen & Burrow who are side by side just below Mahomes.

And to anyone paying attention this years Chiefs super bowl win owes more to their defense then to Mahomes or the offense. If the Bills D played as well as KC's did this season in either 2021 or 2023 Buffalo would have at least one Super Bowl.

If you want to have a "reasonable discussion" maybe you should stop calling it "hero worship" when some of us disagree with your takes on Allen? Look, I don't think there is much Allen can do going forward to improve his physical tools. IMO the best use of his time the first couple of months after the season ends is exactly what he appears to be doing: relaxing and decompressing from football. I also think Shaw has identified the one place where Allen could significantly improve and that's in his decision making. But experience will go a long way towards fixing this. Where I disagree with Shaw is that I don't think this deficiency is as important as he does. I believe that Allen is already playing at a level, including decision making, that would win the Bills Super Bowls if the coaching and play from other top Bills talents matched Allen's play in the playoffs. I sense that you don't like Allen's style of play. Here's your quote abut Favre from above: "But I think one can argue Favre cost his team championships with his gunslinger approach." I disagree with this because you are saying that Favre would have been better if he changed who he fundamentally was. IMO he would not have been better and maybe would have had a mediocre at best career if you had your way. From what I can tell you want the same thing for Allen. Well said. When someone like Shaw or Beck point out areas that Allen could work on they do it from the POV of being Bills fans and wanting the team to get better. They also do it without malice aimed at Allen and in full recognition that the path to a Bills Super Bowl might be more likely achieved if Allen tweaked his game then if other parts of the Bills organization pulled their fair share. These are all debatable points but IMO form the basis for an honest, positive discussion about Allen and his play.

Judas Priest now the criteria is SOLE REASON? I don't have time to play games. There are plenty of posters who call out Allen as a problem keeping the Bills from advancing further then they have. None of them are saying he's the sole reason but time after time they claim or insinuate that Allen's play is limiting the Bills. And every time I see this I call out BS, because that is exactly what it is. If you're truly happy Allen is the Bills QB then why do you insist he has to improve for us to reach the next level? On any rational list of what the Bills must do to get over the hump Allen playing better is #99. And please enough with the "everyone can improve" shtick. It's true but completely irrelevant to Allen and the Bills. IMO even if Allen improves as much as he can it won't matter to the Bills getting over the hump if they don't significantly improve other areas of the team. In other words we homers believe that Allen has played more then well enough to win multiple Super Bowls if other parts of the Bills team & coaches improved their game. That's where the focus and discussion needs to be.

Actually quite a few posters over the last couple of months have been saying exactly that. And then when some of us get pissed off and call them out for it you and others accuse us of "hero worship". And for the record no one is saying Allen can't get better, we agree that everyone can improve. What we are saying is that Allen is near peak performance as a QB and he is the LAST THING preventing the Bills from taking the next step and winning a Super Bowl.

Not hard to hear at all. In fact this is very enlightening and tells Bills fans exactly what needs to get better to beat Mahome & the Chiefs in the playoffs - and it ain't Allen. Here's the counter thought to this - in the head to head match ups Allen has played as well as Mahomes in 2 of the 3 games. Factors other then Allen is why the Bills lost both games.

Sorry but yours is not a serious post. If we're going to play the "what if" game how about the 3 dropped long passes, and yes in the NFL I've seen all those catches repeatedly made during the season, that cost us at minimum 10 and probably 17 points. And if you're going to go on about Poyer's fumble keeping the game close, how about the terrible coverage and missed tackles that handed KC 14 of their points? As for the 4th quarter, the Bills would not have been shutout if Diggs catches that TD pass or Bass makes that 44 yard field goal. IMO in all 3 playoff losses to the Chiefs Allen was the least responsible of any Bills player for those losses. Tell me who you think played better then Allen in any of those 3 games? And in any of those games did the Bills coaches outperform the Chiefs coaches?

And you can throw Reid & his coaches in there to. BTW check out Allen's stats after the last 2 playoff games against the Chiefs: 515 passing yards with 5 TD's & 0 INTS; 140 rushing yards on 23 carries with 2 TD's & no lost fumbles. That's 655 total yards with 7 total TD's and 0 turnovers. If you throw in the 2020 AFC companionship game against KC Allen has in his 3 playoff games against Mahomes: 1030 total yards with 9 total TD's and only 1 turnover. Anyone claiming Allen is the reason why the Bills can't get past KC or that Allen must work harder in the off season so he can get past Mahomes should have their NFL football fandom revoked.

No he won't. In his last two playoff games against Mahomes Allen played great. The problem is that the coaching and/or some of the rest of the team did not rise to the occasion. Look at Allen's game stats for these 2 games and tell me he has to play better? This entire thread is madness.