CincyBillsFan

I agree. On that play I think Morris thought the guy was offside and hiked the ball. Allen almost seemed surprised to get it. But at that point of the game just let the 3rd quarter run out and get the 1st down at the start of the 4th quarter. But overall there was a lot to like abut the O tonight. Allen was elite and made great decisions and great throws. He ran just enough to make TB worry about it and then exploited that with some nifty passes. The O line was solid and the Bills ran the ball well. The best part of the night was the fact that 4 different receivers had 5 or more catches for 65 or more yards and 2 TD's. If this is sustainable the Bills could explode offensively in the coming weeks. The key now is McD sitting down and deciding what he wants from his O. IMO he throttled it down to soon. Once the Bills went up 24 - 10 early in the 3rd the strategy appeared to be don't turn the ball over and win the field position battle. This is classic defensive coach thinking from 10 years ago. Today it's a recipe for blowing a lead.

The fact that TB got to midfield and was able to hurl a ball into the end zone with a decent shot at scoring the winning TD is what we're talkign about. I agree that it wasn't as close as some are saying but the fact that it was a lot closer then it should have been can not be denied.

The offense was great. The CHOICE to throttle down was made by the coaches. From an analytics standpoint it was probably the right call and it almost lost us the game. McD will have to decide going forward what he really wants form his offense. Tonight was an example of how it goes when he try's to play the odds and run the O close to the vest with what he assumes was a big enough lead. He was right but barely. Against a better team McD's decision would have cost them the game.

They got the 1st down with the Diggs catch. The Browns got the ball at their own 20 yard line with 21 seconds left. That they actually got within a few feet of winning the game is a trademark of a McD defense. It was almost as bad as "13 seconds".

The offense was great today. Over 400 yards, 25 first downs and 24 points 3 minutes into the 3rd quarter. McD then made a decision to play it safe and protect his D with a 14 point lead. In hindsight it almost bit him in the butt. Over the next 10 days McD has to consider what this team needs from the offense. IMO McD is to quick to use the O to protect his injury riddled defense. But that's the wrong approach. Keep the peddle to the metal and score points.

Go troll somewhere else.

I agree. the punter was in a zone and punting the Bucs inside the 10 multiple times was the right thing to do.

Spot on. That was the Bills and Allen of the last three seasons. Notice how on almost every play the Bills were at the LOS with 20 seconds left on the play clock. Contrast that with last week when it was usually under 10 seconds when they lined up. Last week was by design as was tonight. It's obvious which way is better. What was beyond encouraging was the way Allen spread the ball around. It was fantastic that Four different receivers were involved as key components of the game plan. Going forward this could really drive the offense into the stratosphere. My one complaint is why did it take an injury to Knox to finally get the ball to Kincaid downfield. The guy is smooth and should have been more involved in the O weeks ago. And this is on the coaches. Oh and that toe tap along the sideline was elite. Shakir was also a revelation with his best games as a Bill. If he keeps doing this we suddenly have multiple dangerous weapons.

That also stole a possession from the Bills.

Knocking on wood and saying a prayer but Allen is the QB version of an Iron Man. He's currently riding the longest streak for a QB not missing a game (86 games regular season & playoffs) and I believe it's twice as long as #2. So I wouldn't worry about this to much. Sure, like every other QB in the league he gets banged up but unlike most other QB's his production while reduced still remains relatively high. Look at how Burrow's production fell when nursing a sore calf. And Mahomes has had to deal with foot & ankle injuries a few times as well.

So what the explanation? The defenses the Bills faced in their first 4 games were a lot better then the D's they faced the last 3 games. Maybe we've been overthinking all of this and the reason for the decline is really this simple: A significant deterioration in the O line's play; the London effect; and Allen's sore shoulder.

For what it's worth:

How damaging have Allen's TO's been this season? Unlike last year Allen is not turning the ball over in the Red Zone and squandering points. Nor is Allen turning the ball over in the Bills Red Zone giving away points. Most of his TO's have been around midfield or effectively "punts". Allen has better then a 2 to 1 TD to TO ratio which is good. And was Allen responsible for that fumble at the end of the NE game? That counted as a "TO"? Or what about the INT on what should have been a long completion to Diggs against the Jags? Bottom line is that by any standards Allen has been a remarkably productive QB this season as well as the previous 3 seasons. And this is in spite of his supposedly not being able to read defenses, see the field, abandoning the pocket to soon and being inaccurate. BTW, I agree that Allen could be even better in these things but he is already wildly productive so "fixing" the offense would more realistically involve other things, like adding play makers & fixing the O line, then squeezing every ounce of elite out of Allen.

Hell I'll be happy if they snap the ball with 15 seconds left on the play clock.

I consider total TD's and Total yards to be a great indication of production. This season he is number one on total TD's and I believe over the last 3 seasons he is also #1. No, Allen had a poor first half and an excellent 2nd half. That would tell me he had a solid but not great game overall. Allen led the Bills back from a 2 score deficit in the 4th quarter to take a 3 point lead with less then 2 minutes left only to see our D give up a long TD drive and basically win the game on a walk off TD.

I've been listening to Cowherd for years and understand his act. And you're right to a point. But the guy does make some very astute observations and he has a lot of NFL insiders (former players, coaches & GM's) who provide background for his takes. Cowherd has talked about the Bills offensive issues from the standpoint of having a defensive head coach before. particularly the Bills inability to get the O line right and to find more weapons to compliment Diggs.

Maybe all this psycho babble stuff is overthinking things. Consider the following: * Belicheat is still the greatest defensive mind in the NFL. Allen has torched him for several years now. Does anyone think that hasn't gotten under Bill's skin? Why wouldn't we assume that Bill and his coaches spent the off season figuring out how best to address the Allen challenge. Kubiak pointed out that Belecheat employed an innovative defensive game plan on Sunday. * Diggs made comments about frequent substitution leading to the Bills getting to the LOS late. The announcers also pointed out that the Bills were not snapping the ball until the last moment. How the hell is Allen supposed to change the play or set the right protections when he has very little time to do it? Is it possible that Belecheat noticed on film that the Bills substituted a lot and that they were cutting it pretty close with the play clock? That makes disguising your defense a lot easier when the QB has very little time to change things up. * By every objective measure Allen played well. He wasn't great but he had a solid game. Importantly Allen rallied the Bills in the 4th quarter to take a 3 point lead with less then 2 minutes left. If we're wondering Allen isn't great in every game I'll throw the Greg Cosell quote out again: "If you need your QB to be great every game you have a problem and it's not the QB."

Cowherd had similar observations as he lumped Allen & Herbert together as superstar QB's being held back by not having "that guy" they can work with. To me that was just code for the Bills & Chargers don't have offensive minded coaches that Allen can go to when he's struggling. Cowherd pointed out that almost every elite QB has had that sort of security blanket.

Diggs hinted at this as well. The comment was along the lines that there was to much substitution going on and it was causing them to get to the LOS late. The announcers also mentioned that the Bills were not snapping the ball until a second was left. So how the hell is Allen supposed to effectively audible and set protection if he only has a few seconds to do it and he's trying to avoid using a TO or getting a delay of game penalty? I wonder if Belicheat and his coaches noticed this on film and employed the looks they did knowing that Allen would not have time to change the play/set the right protections? We can trash NE all we want but Bill is still the greatest defensive mind in the NFL.

Interesting thought experiment. Here's my take: First off Reid, McVay & O'Connell would focus resources and effort on putting the best O line as possible in front of Allen. This would be their #1 priority. Second, only Diggs & Kincaid would be unquestioningly put in the starting lineup and schemed around. The rest of the Bills skill players would either be replaced or rearranged on the field. Third, I have no idea what Belicheat would do but I suspect if he got himself another elite QB he would not waste it.

KC has a much better O line. And that is more important then the skill players as long as you have a great QB and at least one elite play maker.

And this fact, and I believe it is absolutely true, is likely playing a bigger part in the offenses struggles then we realize. There is a strategic element, directed by the head coach, that goes into every game and this has to be a major point of emphasis between McD & Dorsey. The problem though is our offense is built around a phenomenal talent at QB who is best at improvisation and an elite WR who meshes well with the QB. The rest of the talent on offense is mediocre (though Kincaid & Cook may soon pop). I don't see that the Bills have the type of talent on O that can efficiently execute the offense that McD wants and the defensive problems require.

That's exactly what these posters seem to be saying in their critiques.

Does it? For sure Allen & Diggs are elite but who else is even very good? I think Cook & Kincaid have the potential to be elite but today they are not. And do we have a single O lineman rated in the top half of their position?

No unless you have an alternative set of Allen's stats then I've seen. BTW I re-watched all the Bills offensive drives from the 2nd half and Allen was outstanding even in the face of serious pressure. Watch the TD throws to Diggs & Cook for a sample.