H2o

Since Daboll left, Josh has been different. He still had a good year last year, but the relationship he had with Dabs went well beyond X's and O's. I would say that Dabs was almost like a 2nd father figure to him. They were that close and talked about all kinds of things. You take such an influential person out of Josh's circle and he hasn't adjusted well. Then you take into account the changes in his personal life. Yes, he may have outgrown his HS sweetheart. Or, maybe he just wanted to throw his pole in different waters. Who knows. But, all of this could be having an effect on him as well. I know we like to think all of these guys are just machines who can play a game regardless of everything going on around them, but they're human beings with the same struggles as everyone else internally.

This is about the only thing that has gone right this year. Ed gets paid, then proceeds to have his best year by far. Great move by the FO.

Florio had reported earlier in the week the Bengals website posted a photo that showed Burrow in a brace of some kind. Then they almost immediately took it down. Obviously they didn't take it down fast enough for people not to have already been talking about it. At the time, there had been no report of any kind of injury to Burrow's hand or wrist. That is where the problem in all of this lies, due to the effect it has on other things. Betting lines, bettors, preparation, things that could have serious repercussions if it is found that Cincy purposely did not disclose the injury.

Shaun Morash - "I think people don't understand because it's all about Allen in Buffalo and the offense might be broken, but last year, the Bills had so many big plays made by Matt Milano and Tredavious White on defense," Uhhhhh, who is Shaun Morash? Tre was out half of last year, returning in November, and everyone was talking about how he looked to be a shell of his former self out on the field. Completely shows the guy's lack of intelligence in regard to Bills football. The Bills aren't trading Allen either. That would be the dumbest move ever. Trade the guy who brought your franchise back to relevance? Oh yes, let's hop aboard that train to mediocrity again. Caleb Williams or Drake Maye have proven nothing, but we should totally start over with either of those guys or Michael Penix. Just more clown convo. Overall, I am swayed in the direction our problems lie more with McDermott than they do Josh Allen. Does Josh seem to make a dumb throw or two every game? Sure does. Brett Favre, a HOF and SB winning QB, had seasons where he threw 24, 23, 23, 21, 29, and 22 INT's. Eli Manning, 2x SB winning QB and possible HOF'er at some point, had seasons where he threw 17, 18, 20, 25, and 27 INT's. The years he threw 20 and 25 INT's, they won the SB. In Josh's defense he's also been the victim of some terrible and untimely drops that killed important drives or lead to turnovers. He's also lead the team down the field late in games to take the lead, then the defense folds up or we have completely inexcusable penalties. There are so many other issues with this team right now as well, and it starts with the coaching. We realistically could be 4-6 right now if the Giants had managed the clock better at the end of the first half and Taron would have been called for his obvious PI on the last play of the game. The playmakers around Allen aren't even on par with the team we fielded last year, outside of the addition of Kincaid. The injuries have killed us otherwise. Josh is still also running for his life once the ball is snapped much of the time. Spencer Brown TRULY is the weakest link up front and needs to be replaced in the offseason. I'll also be glad to move on from Morse. They really need to have a serious retooling to get us back where we should be. We also need some good fortune on the injury front, which we haven't really had in a couple of years.

I think the only way McDermott gets fired is if the team's core players speak out to the owner. Josh, Diggs, Ed, Groot (maybe), the guys this team is being built around. They would all have to be on one accord with the feeling that he's lost the team. Only then would that happen. If we go 2-5 the rest of the way, it may happen.

The only college coach I would take a swing on, outside of Harbaugh, would be Kirby Smart. He's not an offensive guy, but I have full confidence he could put a competent staff together. He's also been an NFL factory at Georgia the last 3 years. I think he would be successful, but I don't think he leaves the college ranks.

Josh should be like, "You want it? Go fetch, Roger."

The injuries continue to hurt us bad. We should be able to overcome them this game, but we really need Bernard. Dodson is absolutely terrible, but McDermott keeps marching him out there week in and week out.

The defense hasn't been good at all since the loss of Milano, Tre, and DaQuan. And they happened all at the same time. We looked to be firing on all cylinders before that. It's not an excuse, it is the truth. Do I hate this Zone defense that most experienced QB's can pick apart? Yes. Even sub-par QB's like Zach, Mac, and Tyrod were successful against us. Our Safeties' ages are clearly showing this year as well. I'm also at a point where I would rather Von not play at all. He does NOT look anything like the player he was prior to the injury last season. Let Floyd, Rousseau, Epenesa, and Jonathan get their run. With us handing the early games to NY and the Pats, it really puts us in a hole. Josh will have to be dang near flawless for us to even have a chance at a WC spot. But if we manage to get in, anything can happen from there. Another problem with that is no one really gets open outside of Diggs and Kincaid. Cook gets open underneath quite a bit too, but even his usage has dipped due to the fact our OL is constantly needing supplemental help from additional blockers. I'm not sure what the answer is. Clean house and start a rebuild in the prime of our QB's career? Do we trust anyone to be able to do that? Is Beane in on this cleansing, or is it just the entire coaching staff? Does anyone think Terry has the sack to do that? I hope that something changes over the next few weeks and we get hot for the stretch run. But hopefully we aren't already out of it by then as well.

How do you not contain the edge there?

Hold on 65 that play

We can't beat the Bengals and the refs. That's what it boils down to. The refs have kept us from being able to put points on the board at least twice.

There will be a trail of tears in the media again claiming Bienemy is getting the short end of the stick if this happens.

He shouldn't even be in the league right now tbh. I can't feel sorry for the Browns, not by any means. They did this to themselves.

And this is where I think the loss of Daboll has effected him the most. Josh is still one of the best QB's in the game, top 3, but the loss of Daboll has taken it's toll on him in this area specifically. Just the breakdown of what he's seeing in front of him, things he and Daboll worked on prior to game day.

Josh is not the problem. I think he is still adjusting to life without Daboll, regardless of what anyone else would say. Their relationship was different. Closer. I think they truly understood one another. Hopefully they get out of Josh's head and just let Josh ball. I can take whatever comes after that, win or lose.

I knew this was coming as soon as NY put him on the block.

It's not really throwing back across his body like you're trying to make it out to be. He is just barely outside the left hash and Cook was at least a full step to the left of the right hash. At the most he is 12 feet off plane to his right. In that case all he had to do was float it over the LB directly in front of him somewhere between the 18-20 yard line, Cook would have run directly to it in stride, and pretty much walked into the endzone.

I miss these days

Love Po, but you can literally see him starting to slow down out there. Father time is undefeated.

There once was a team always cheating Deflated balls, video taping, they were needing A rub with a tug Getting some Asian Spa love Now the team's not the only thing taking a beating

This is the one play Josh missed that got me the most. Cook is wide open for the check down here. There isn't a defender within 5 yards, and that is initially. When Josh began to scramble to his left, Cook headed into the void of the Zone. If Josh hits him, this is likely a walk in TD. There is no one between him and the endzone.

They do the same thing with Mahomes now. Same exact thing. They want to eliminate the big plays and force these QB's to methodically go down the field. For guys with the big arms, who love to push the ball down the field, it's a big adjustment. It also makes the shots you get that much more important to take advantage of. He's not wrong, but he's also not going into the whole story either. I think in many instances, Josh's first read is what the issue may be. I do think some of it has to do with Diggs temperament or need to touch the ball 15 times. I do think at times it is because Allen only really trusts Diggs. Then mix Dorsey into the equation as well with his lack of creativity at times in the passing game. If you watch the All-22 style then you see various guys open at certain points, but Josh's eyes are elsewhere on the plays. Gabe was open a couple of times. Cook was open multiple times. But either do to play design, trust issues, or Josh maybe not seeing the whole field for whatever reason, the plays that could have been made were not. We've seen this offense click and we've seen this offense sputter. Hopefully, this year, we hit that stretch where things are firing on all cylinders when it matters most.

At some point he has to lead this team over the hump. He has the team to do it with, but there are many moving parts and pieces. We have lost 2 All Pro caliber players off our defense for the season. Then we lost another who was playing at a Pro Bowl level on the interior. We are now down 3 of our 11 on defense for the rest of the year most likely. That's a HUGE loss, each of those players on this team. I'm not making excuses for McDermott, but there's a reason the next man up is not the man already on the field. I hope this year more mirrors 2021 than 2022. In 2021 we got hot the last month of the season, after halftime in the Tampa game, and rode it through the Playoffs. If not for the 13 seconds debacle, I think we hoist the Lombardi. Still, if this team loses out to a hotter team in the Playoffs before the AFCCG, I don't think McDermott should get canned depending on how it goes down. Only if it looks like he's completely lost the team. I don't foresee that happening. But if he does, and anyone can see the signs, then it's time for him to go.