Big Turk

He is condensing the formations and bringing in extra lineman to draw more people to the box and give his receivers one on one shots on the outside. Those are usually the play action passes that Allen hits deep shots on and they have been super successful with them. Issue is they are so successful passing out of these, the D now in the last few games many times has not even bothered with the run action and just played pass...it's how that pass intended for Knox INT in the Giants happened...Okereke didn't even bother with the play fake and just dropped into coverage. Pats did the same thing yesterday a few times. Ignored the play action fake and just played pass.

You need to pay attention closer then. They have been near unstoppable in the 2nd halves which is further cemented by the fact that in those 3 games the Bills are 2nd in the NFL in EPA/play on offense only behind KC. It doesn't seem like it because they aren't getting many possessions. When they do, they are scoring TDs almost every time. 1st halves they suck. 2nd halves, they have been scoring at will even if the drives are taking longer than we are used to.

No. The issue that needs to be fixed is figuring out why it takes an entire half to figure out an opponent gameplan and how to protect properly against it. 1st and 2nd half are complete opposites of each other lately. 1st half the O is ineffective, 2nd half mostly unstoppable. This SHOULD be very fixable much sooner than halftime.

The issue seems mostly 1st half related and their protection schemes. Allen under duress most of the first halves lately, 2nd halves he has more time. O has been unstoppable in the 2nd half, they just don't get enough possessions since the D allows long drives and scores also. Last 9 "real possessions" of the 2nd half, 7 TDs, 1 missed FG, 1 TO on downs after picking up 42 yards, 0 punts. Much better than what we actually think, mainly because of very few actual possessions. Weeks 5-7 Bills are actually 2nd only to KC in EPA/play. It's a big overreaction to say the offense as a whole isn't effective. The issue that needs to be fixed is why does it take til halftime to adjust and why can't you make these same adjustments after the 1st or 2nd drive of the 1st half? Fix that and they go back to putting up crazy numbers.

So it seems to be specifically a 1st half issue. Mainly in terms of them being able to protect Allen properly and it takes them until halftime to figure it out. Then in the 2nd half the O is unstoppable mostly. Last 9 "real possessions" in 2nd half. 7 TDs, 1 missed FG, 1 TO on downs after gaining 42 yards. 0 punts. So then it becomes, why are those answers not there after the first or second drive of the first half? What are they doing at halftime specifically that they couldn't do after a drive or two when you keep seeing the same things over and over again?

That's a silent snap count to alert the other OL the ball is being snapped. Every team has a guard that does it when they are on the road. Chargers do it every game since they play 17 road games a year.

Did you see how he got smoked trying to provide help on Hill on that TD throw? They had him doubled and he ran by both of them like neither was there

Bills have been the 2nd best offense in the NFL in EPA/play over the last 3 weeks. Let that sink in for a minute. The problems are not always what you think... Yes, the offense hasn't been good in the 1st half. They have been near unstoppable in the 2nd half but are being hindered on D since they are not getting enough possessions. They need to simply start playing better off each other as a team and they will again turn back into a juggernaut.

The offense is not as big of a problem as you think...Weeks 5-7 Bills are 2nd ranked offense in EPA/play next to KC. It's all situational...and the D not getting them enough cracks when they get on fire in the 2nd half of games. First half, they are not good, 2nd half they have been nearly unstoppable...just no help in the 2nd half from the D to get them more possessions.

Stay clueless my friend.

It wasn't a career day...I think that came last year against the Vikings even tho they lost.

Uhh...because unless he gets up to speed he won't be of use to them later in the year when they need him? This isn't that hard. He isn't being rushed back, if anything they played it safe. This is part of the normal process every player on every team goes thru. Should be common sense by now from seeing these over 20+ years of these injuries, but it seems not to be, which is kinda mind boggling actually that people still don't know how this actually works.

How else do you think he is going to ramp up and get back to normal? Could have said the same with Tre last year. Or with any player the first 6-7 games back from an ACL outside AP. There is no other way. Nobody has a magic wand unless you do and you haven't notified anyone.

Coming off an ACL it makes no sense to expect him to be back to his normal self immediately. Have you ever played sports? It just doesn't work like that...players need to get into game action and ramp up and get back to game speed. Thinking he is going to just come back and be the same player he was last year before the injury is mind boggling since we se this all the time with players and virtually all the time they need at least half a year if not a year to get back to themselves...except if your name is Adrian Peterson.

He had a lot of short, easy throws that gained yards which were helped by the Bills bringing pressure a lot.

The problem specifically seems to be in the 1st halves, because the protection gets better in the 2nd halves.

Your username points to the problem. He is trying to play like Herbert and extend plays outside the pocket to throw downfield instead of taking off running when the opportunities are there. Herbert runs only as a last resort. Last year Allen ran 70 more times than Herbert did. This year they are equal. That's a major problem, IMO. Both for him and for the offense in general. It's causing defenders to not respect that part of his game anymore and simply drop back to cover which means he has a bunch of green grass to run but instead tries to throw into tighter windows. If he starts taking advantage of those green spaces again, it forces defenders to respect it and come up to stop him, thereby opening up those windows again. Literally that's all that he needs to do. The other problem is the team isn't playing with any continuity as a team and playing "complimentary football". When the D is making stops and getting the O the ball back in the first half, they can't do anything, and then when the O starts moving and scoring at will in the 2nd half, the D can't get any stops and allows long drives and the other team to eat time off the clock, lessening the opportunity for the Bills to score more points to pull away. In the last 9 "real possessions" in the 2nd halves of the last 3 games, the offense has 7 TDS, a missed FG and a turnover on downs after picking up 42 yards. That's pretty good...no punts, mostly TDs. The D needs to help them more by getting a 3 and out here or there instead of allowing 15 play 8.5 minute drives for points for the other team. They need to start playing as a unit where the O helps the D and the D helps the O.

Now they need to start working him up the seams more like the Lions do LaPorta. There is no reason in the world why he can't run those routes, the dude is exceptional in that regard.

Typically that's because it usually happens on bad teams. You can't make players become more talented. You can get players on the same page if you think things might be a little disjointed and take ownership of making things right tho. https://www.prideofdetroit.com/2022/11/19/23465240/detroit-lions-defensive-success-catalyst-players-only-meeting-reacts-survey

Roll the pocket and that blunts the effects of all those inside rushes...where has that been at all?

They have attempted to turn Allen into Herbert...a guy who extends plays outside the pocket but only will run if he absolutely has to. It's killing their offense. defenders don't bother trying to stop Allen from running anymore, they go back and take away his receivers, leaving him with plenty of room to run and instead he continues to throw passes into tight windows downfield when he could have those windows open back up if he would take advantage of the open spaces, especially early in games, to give defenders something to think about and put them in a bind. The numbers don't lie. Herbert ran only 54 times last year. Allen ran 124 times. This year they are basically equal(Allen 29, Herbert 28). It's unacceptable and it needs to change if they want their offense to go back to being explosive.

Allen is not running when he has chances outside the pocket anymore really and it's hurting not only him, but also the offense. Defenders don't bother trying to come up and take away Allen running because they know he will simply throw it downfield at some point. He is playing like Herbert who only takes off if everything else is covered and will wait until the last second to try and throw low percentage passes downfield instead of running when he has the opportunity. It's causing tighter windows on plays outside the pocket that have been open for 3 years because defenders simply don't respect Allen running right now and drop back into coverage. They literally are giving him the free yards and he won't take it...Dorsey and McD are so in his head right now about not running and playing from the pocket that he is discouraged from even trying to run when it's best option.

Williams is overrunning/not fitting up well enough in the run game yet...still learning. Dodson settled things down against the run but the D is far less dynamic in the pass game with him on the field than with Williams.

This goes back to them not respecting Allen when he escapes the pocket anymore as a runner. They basically know he isn't going to take off now so they don't worry about trying to run up to stop him from picking up big yards. They run back and cover the receivers instead, making those easy throws downfield that were so open last year much tighter windows that now often are incomplete. The way they fix it? Get Allen on a few runs outside the pocket early in games and force those defenders to respect him running in those situations, even if he wants to throw it...they are closing the windows themselves on their passing lanes by not using his legs.

That's fair, but I think it's pretty clear with all of the comments coming from all sides before the season and during training camp that has been a HUGE area of emphasis and they likely have not figured out a way to compensate properly for it. He is SCARED to run now...or at the very least discouraged from running. Those throws downfield while he is on the run outside of the pocket he used to make all the time? They aren't there because defenders don't respect him running anymore and don't think he is going to do it...they just turn and run with the receivers now and force much tighter window throws. A few runs on those early in the game would loosen all of that up. Yes...D is allowing too many long drives and too many 3rd down conversions. They do well getting teams to 3rd downs but not getting off the field which is hurting them more than if they would let teams get 1st downs quicker and then force FG's later in the drives. Basically when the D is playing OK in the 1st half, the O is sucking and when the O starts playing good in the 2nd half, the D starts sucking. They need to get in sync as a team and play complimentary football... When you hear McD say they aren't playing complimentary football, this is what he means...when the O is playing well, the D isn't getting them the ball back and when the D is playing well and getting the ball back for Allen and company on offense, they are going 3 and out too much. Need to start feeding off each other. Both sides have been disjointed the last few weeks.