finn

The O-line played better than people are saying here. If a team blitzes it's on the quarterback to get the ball out quickly, and Allen often didn't. When he did, he overthrew his receivers or they dropped the ball (Singletary, Beasley, Knox). The Ravens came up with a good defense against Allen: Blitz hard, make him think fast and hit him hard every chance you get. It's easy to fault Daboll, but he did ok. I like how he put Singletary at receiver, and he tried to take what they were giving him. But where were the screens against the blitz? And why not more intermediate routes for the tight ends? Not a bad loss, all things considered. They never quit, the defense showed that it's elite. We're still a tackle and WR away on offense, and Allen needs to keep developing. Amazing he's come along this far already. Been a fun season. Go KC!

This is the turning point in the game. If they score a TD, it's over. A field goal or nothing and it's still a contest.

Reminds me of the Bills-Patriots game. Allen getting hit and not connecting on his throws. Under pressure all day. But still not trying to run it.

Why stress the one thing Allen can't do?

Am I alone in really having no idea how this game will turn out? I don't see a blowout by the Bills, but I think just about every other scenario is possible, especially with winds presenting such a wildcard.

Right. Rationality goes out the window when the media (announcers, online, print) and fans starts swooning over a player--or when the narrative, as you say, takes root that he sucks or is inaccurate or whatever. Facts and data are tailored to the story, and those who disagree are denounced. It's almost like religion and politics, and in fact I wonder if the same psychology is involved. Infatuation, "faith," group-think, hatred of the heretic, eagerness to identify with the successful, fear of being associated with the loser... Maybe part of the satisfaction of following sports is that we get to put aside rational thought for a while and indulge our most primitive impulses. Case in point: Haushka misses the last-minute field goal attempt against Cleveland. Instantly one narrative--Allen as the come-back kid, the defense as tough as nails, the team character as resilient--is replaced by another: Allen is struggling, the Bills' record is an illusion, the defense is meh--and nothing changed except Haushka's kick. That's irrational.

Tied for third, actually. Nice shooting.

Someone mentioned turnovers. That fumble Jackson had against the 49ers seemed to rattle him a bit, and he is a bit loose with the ball when he runs, especially when he's just leaving the pocket. I would coach the defense to try to strip the ball every time they tackle him. One or two turnovers might be all it takes.

To be fair, my dislike of Brady has less to do with his behavior or play than the media adulation he's received over the years. Over a decade of my life listening to how perfect he is in all respects of football and life. I live in New England, where the local beatification picks up where the national deification leaves off. Nauseating.

Let the drum roll of excuses begin. Brady's apologists on ESPN and elsewhere will turn out in force today. It's anyone's but the whiner's fault. Plenty of QBs have lousy receivers, but to the "experts" they're inept compared to Holy Tom. I see an aging, frightened loser back there willing to blame everyone but himself. Did you see him yelling at his receivers? Can you imagine Allen doing that? I hope he continues playing for three more years of increasingly mediocre play.

Actually, I think the Bills are matched up better than most people here are saying. They're establishing a ball-control identity on offense, with Singletary and Gore running nicely and Allen excellent on third down. So you control the TOP, keeping Jackson off the field with the no-huddle limiting their substitutions and bleeding the clock. On defense, you do what the Bills have been doing: make him go the length of the field, allowing no big gains. We have an excellent secondary, create decent pressure with a four-man rush, and our linebackers are fast enough to limit his runs. So like Prescott, he goes up and down the field but doesn't score too much. I don't think the Ravens will be fired up for this game, not after the 49ers game his week. They'll be on the road in a loud stadium against a rested team and coaches who had extra time to prepare for him. Put it all together, and I see both teams scoring points but not scads. A 24-27 type game, if the weather is ok. I give it to the Bills because they have more heart. Plus, I get a sense that their offense has peaked, and teams--maybe us and the 49-ers--are going to figure them out, whereas Allen and our offense is just now coming into its own.

Or if it's a GMO, eh?

Well, I admit even paranoids have real enemies, so a conspiracy is certainly possible. But I notice you only allude to objective, dispassionate, organic (?) evidence. Care to actually provide it? Or are you not among those who "actually research and understand how to get to the most "objective source(s)"? Thanks for the good wishes, btw.

Yeah, and the Holocaust never happened, the Moon walk was faked, Sandy Hook was phony and 9/11 was a Jewish conspiracy. Occam's razor, buddy.

I'm sure I'll be an outlier: Baltimore: W Pittsburgh: W New England: W NY Jets: L

I really doubt there's a conspiracy on the ref level, but there might as well be, because the bias is real and has a real, measurable impact on games. You can find plenty of good books on the subject. Scorecasting by Jon Wortheim, for instance. He shows the statistical evidence of bias against the visiting team in several sports, for instance, as well as other kinds of bias, like against Jeremy Lin of the Knicks. He's Korean so can't be good. So, yeah, poor Tommy is brushed in the pocket and the limbic brain of the ref panics thinking of the consequences that'll ensue if he doesn't protect this god-like figure whose autograph he would love to have. The NFL could make these weekly controversies go away by hiring refs full time and providing them with better training, including bias training. If you're looking for a conspiracy, that's where you're more likely to find it: the owners are perfectly happy to tip the scales in favor of famous players and popular teams whose winning makes them rich. so they're not likely to take these steps.

Yeah, not that it matters objectively, since this is a new team, but doesn't it seem that every time the Bills have been featured on national TV since the Kelly teams they've bombed? I guess there was that one MNF game against the Pats* they lost on the last play.... Still, as a fan, I've learned to keep my expectations low in games where everyone in the football world is paying attention to how good the Bills are.

This game comes at a perfect time for the Bills. If it came early in the season I think they would have been blown out. Now, they've built up confidence, have bonded as a team and are starting to forge an identity on offense. All those wins really helped; in that sense the "soft" schedule we hear about ad nauseum was perfect the Bills. Move these tough games earlier and the easy ones later and we might be looking at a team with less confidence, less chemistry. They're like a boxer who's been brought along just right, never over-matched. Incidentally, I think the Pats* would lose this game (against the Cowboys in Dallas I mean), even with the refs helping out at key moments. They're declining fast, at least on offense, and the Bills are ascending. Still not sure the Bills will win today, but I think it could be a good game: an excellent offense against an excellent defense and an improving offense against an inconsistent defense. Anything could happen.

Singletary reminds me more of Thurman Thomas. Same low center of gravity, shiftiness, patience, and knack for repositioning his feet under his body. Neither had/have breakaway speed, both adept catching the ball, although Thurman probably was better in that respect. He was also three inches taller. Same weight, though. The coaches seem concerned Singletary can't handle a full load, but he had a million carries in college, and he has plenty of weight on that short body. Tough to tackle. A promising back.

McDermott tells him to play fearlessly and Daboll goes up into the booth. Not hard to suspect a connection between the two, especially (as another poster pointed out) how on the sideline Daboll gets into his face after every mistake. Does anyone respond to that? Nice to vent your emotions but not at the expense of a guy who needs to know why he made the mistake and get ready for the next series. I wonder how Daboll would do if McDermott got in his face, publicly, after he makes a bone-headed mistake.

Nice turn of phrase. Hank Stram, circa 1970!

When it rains it pours. RIP Cleveland's season.

Right. To many players, the opposite of "play fearless[ly]" is not "hesitate" and "overthink" but "play with discipline." As far as I can see, the only one who needs to hear the "fearless" message is Allen. Daboll, Mr. "Let's throw downfield into double coverage to a slot receiver on third and short" and "Let's throw it 41 times" is already fearless enough, albeit in the worst sense. By the way, all of us who think Allen does need to play with less fear need to be ready to tolerate the downside that will come from the upside. But I'll take the Allen of late last season, an exciting player who's just as capable of an incredible play as an interception, over a neutered, ineffective game manager who frankly is boring to watch. Let him shine and mess up. Everyone else (except Haushka and Daboll), stay the course.

Carwell Gardner.

I think Allen deserves some slack. The Browns blitzed a lot and his Ford and Dawkins weren't holding up very well. That's hard on any QB, much less a second-year player. "Guys were getting open" doesn't mean much when he has to decide where to go before they do get open. I think Cover 1 pointed out that his hot reads might have been too slow developing; if so, that's on Daboll. Also, he's not getting any credit for scoring two TDs on his own, nor for his scrambles. His receivers aren't helping him much. Knox and Brown both dropped passes (again), and McKenzie, not Allen, might not have been at fault for that missed long pass. And the play calling. I don't think it's as bad as others have said, but let's say it wasn't brilliant. I'm not making excuses for him, just providing balance to the legitimate criticisms he's receiving. Someone pointed out that Bills fans are jealous of Lamar Jackson and it's affecting their judgment of Allen, and I think that's right. People forget he's a development project, not a win-now guy like Jackson and, supposedly, Mayfield. Jim Kelly had two years in the USFL before he joined the Bills, and while he was arguably better than Allen is now, he wasn't Lamar Jackson or Dan Marino in 1986. He needed time, and so does Allen.