WR Technique Q - Overthrow to Foster

[Bing Bong]

9 hours ago, JimmyNoodles said:

Once the receiver breaks open he's going to look for the ball. Best thing QBs can do with single coverage is put air under the ball and let the receiver adjust to it. Allen can throw that a little earlier and a little easier. He's learning that most throws don't have to be rockets.

That was my impression. To someones point earlier, sure, Foster didn't accelerate like the best in the game.. but Allen just didn't arc the ball for Foster to have more time to be able to kick it into that gear. Would have been great if he was dead accurate: ball gets to him faster. But lofting the ball higher and a little farther makes it so much easier for both QB and WR.. even if it slows the play down so that it's not a TD, focus on getting the catch.

[hemma]

10 to 12 mph trailing wind combined with 84 temp.

 

Science.  Embrace it.

[JimmyNoodles]

40 minutes ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

That was my impression. To someones point earlier, sure, Foster didn't accelerate like the best in the game.. but Allen just didn't arc the ball for Foster to have more time to be able to kick it into that gear. Would have been great if he was dead accurate: ball gets to him faster. But lofting the ball higher and a little farther makes it so much easier for both QB and WR.. even if it slows the play down so that it's not a TD, focus on getting the catch.

This. That ball doesn't have to be perfect with single coverage and the man beat. It could be a little inside, outside, or even slightly short as long as the wr can adjust. The receiver has a huge advantage here for a catch or a PI penalty. Focus on the catch.

[Bing Bong]

7 minutes ago, JimmyNoodles said:

This. That ball doesn't have to be perfect with single coverage and the man beat. It could be a little inside, outside, or even slightly short as long as the wr can adjust. The receiver has a huge advantage here for a catch or a PI penalty. Focus on the catch.

Phillip Rivers is the king of those high floaters for big completions.. to the point it looked crazy how well it worked for him.

[1ManRaid]

12 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

 

all the great deep threats have an “it” factor... and what most coaches and scouts see as the “it” factor is the ability of the receiver to kick into “another gear” when the ball is in the air

 

a natural phenomena... 

 

desean jackson , Sammy Watkins, Ty Hilton,  tyreek Hill etc all have a natural ability to kick it into overdrive when the ball is in the air deep down field... add an extra 2-5 mph and track it down 

Sorry, but human bodies aren't built like that.  You know they track the running speeds of players these days, don't you?  The fastest players in the league are topping out at 22 mph, so are you claiming the normal top speed for a human is only 17 mph and they are activating some special superhuman ability available only to a select few NFL players to burst to 22 mph?  I think I would have heard of this mutant ability by now.

 

Running at one speed and then changing speeds to throw off a defender or to catch up to an overthrown ball WHEN NOT ALREADY AT TOP SPEED is not some special "it factor", every receiver does it.  Some players are just faster or have the stamina to maintain their top speed longer than others.

 

Lol seriously if you have to use quotations and vague nebulous terms like it factor, another gear/overdrive, and natural phenomenon then you're just talking out of your ass and don't have an actual point.  There is no evidence of these players suddenly bursting an extra 5 mph downfield, they are just accelerating faster than average, to a higher than average top speed than the defender.  A magic ability like that would actually be more useful to hit gaps at the LOS and get open in the first place.

2 hours ago, Commonsense said:

Best deep ball tracker in the league is Lockett. I have seen him slow down on long passes just so he can accelerate again and get that last second separation so he can avoid being tackled.

May be what the other guy I quoted was actually seeing, rather than some magic nitro button.

[Buffalo716]

16 minutes ago, 1ManRaid said:

Sorry, but human bodies aren't built like that.  You know they track the running speeds of players these days, don't you?  The fastest players in the league are topping out at 22 mph, so are you claiming the normal top speed for a human is only 17 mph and they are activating some special superhuman ability available only to a select few NFL players to burst to 22 mph?  I think I would have heard of this mutant ability by now.

 

Running at one speed and then changing speeds to throw off a defender or to catch up to an overthrown ball WHEN NOT ALREADY AT TOP SPEED is not some special "it factor", every receiver does it.  Some players are just faster or have the stamina to maintain their top speed longer than others.

 

Lol seriously if you have to use quotations and vague nebulous terms like it factor, another gear/overdrive, and natural phenomenon then you're just talking out of your ass and don't have an actual point.  There is no evidence of these players suddenly bursting an extra 5 mph downfield, they are just accelerating faster than average, to a higher than average top speed than the defender.  A magic ability like that would actually be more useful to hit gaps at the LOS and get open in the first place.

May be what the other guy I quoted was actually seeing, rather than some magic nitro button.

No I’m saying most WRs keep a gear until the  ball is in the air. They do not run full speed during the route

 

they reach full speed once the ball is in the air... you run a go route at 85-90% and when the ball flies you kick into that last 10%... and not all WRs can do this , it is natural 

 

i coached  and scouted and played D1 ball. I know for a fact the best deep ball receivers accelerate when the ball is in the air

 

they don’t lose speed they gain it

 

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by Buffalo716

[Herc11]

I've played WR (just high school) as well as outfield in softball. Not only do you not want to watch the ball the entire time, you don't put your hands/glove out to early either, as both will slow you down. Tracking a ball that's directly behind you and making that over the shoulder catch is one of the most difficult catches to make. This is because you can typically follow the ball until a certain point where it enters a blind spot, which is right before it hits your hands. The football helmet usually makes the blind spot even worse. So you have to have the timing to reach out at the perfect time to make the catch. Some people are naturally able to glance at the ball when its first thrown/hit and able to track it immediately. So the idea is, see the ball and make that determination immediately and get "on your horse" to the get to the spot. Foster ideally would have looked back after his break to see Josh throw it and then ran to the spot. As he got closer he could then look back to begin making his adjustment if he needs to slow or is able to run through it.

 

On this pass I think it was a combo of an over throw and running with his head turned too long. He had his man beat from the break, so Josh could have thrown it a second earlier and it wouldn't of needed to be such a long throw. Or possibly put more air on the ball to allow the WR more adjustment time. Losman's bombs to Evans were a perfect example of putting plenty of air under them which allowed Lee to adjust and run through the catch.

[Nextmanup]

5 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

No I’m saying most WRs keep a gear until the  ball is in the air. They do not run full speed during the route

 

they reach full speed once the ball is in the air... you run a go route at 85-90% and when the ball flies you kick into that last 10%

 

i coached  and scouted and played D1 ball. I know for a fact the best deep ball receivers accelerate when the ball is in the air

 

they don’t lose speed they gain it

You can see that this is true on many long throws; just watch the WR.  More often than not, if the WR is going to get to the point where the ball is going to come down, he needs to accelerate, not slow down.  As he reads the ball in flight and realizes that, he accelerates.

 

 

 

 

[Bing Bong]

19 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

No I’m saying most WRs keep a gear until the  ball is in the air. They do not run full speed during the route

 

they reach full speed once the ball is in the air... you run a go route at 85-90% and when the ball flies you kick into that last 10%

 

i coached  and scouted and played D1 ball. I know for a fact the best deep ball receivers accelerate when the ball is in the air

 

they don’t lose speed they gain it

Pretty condescending post thrown at you. I agree with that point. But when Josh is throwing such a low arc it makes it harder for the WR to do what you say. He puts air in the ball and goes a bit longer on it.. it's a slower play albeit but it's easier for the QB and WRs to recognize that acceleration to where the ball is going to go no?

 

I don't know my Xs and O's like you do.. just an observance so correct me if I'm wrong. But Phillip Rivers throws throws these comical floaters that work so well. I have to imaging JA and Foster would be better off floating it up there focusing on the completion even if it doesn't net a home run.

 

 

When the man is beat, he's beat. Phillip understands when he arcs it, the margin for error is significantly reduced and he's more concerned with getting the completion first and letting the WR do what your saying with an easier level of difficulty

 

 

Edited December 5, 2018 by PetermanThrew5Picks

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

Pretty condescending post thrown at you. I agree with that point. But when Josh is throwing such a low arc it makes it harder for the WR to do what you say. He puts air in the ball and goes a bit longer on it.. it's a slower play albeit but it's easier for the QB and WRs to recognize that acceleration to where the ball is going to go no?

 

I don't know my Xs and O's like you do.. just an observance so correct me if I'm wrong. But Phillip Rivers throws throws these comical floaters that work so well. I have to imaging JA and Foster would be better off floating it up there focusing on the completion even if it doesn't net a home run.

 

 

When the WR is beat, he's beat. Phillip understands when he arcs it, the margin for error is significantly reduced and he's more concerned with getting the completion first and letting the WR do what your saying with an easier level of difficulty

 

 

You are absolutely right .

 

A pass on a frozen rope significantly reduces your margin of error to where timing needs to be perfect.

 

a high arcing throw, while takes more time, also give the WR the ability to track the ball and accelerate to it

 

Namath was awesome at dropping it out if the sky. Allen can learn... I think that ball to Foster did have more trajectory than normal 

 

but That is something that can definitely be improved over the offseason 

[Gugny]

Is "both," an option?

[Bing Bong]

10 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

You are absolutely right .

 

A pass on a frozen rope significantly reduces your margin of error to where timing needs to be perfect.

 

a high arcing throw, while takes more time, also give the WR the ability to track the ball and accelerate to it

 

Namath was awesome at dropping it out if the sky. Allen can learn... I think that ball to Foster did have more trajectory than normal 

 

but That is something that can definitely be improved over the offseason 

Also why I didn't exactly love the first half hail Mary as well. We all know Allen has the arm, hail Mary's don't have nearly the shot Rodgers gets with it because Quarterbacks with weaker arms can't throw that far and straight up lob it so your tall recievers have a better chance of finding and getting to the ball in time to play jump ball (which they have an advantage over smaller CBs). Allen can certainly do that. Again, same premise sort of.. some players he can learn from as he develops.

[tcampbell104]

3 hours ago, thebandit27 said:

He missed him...not by much, but yeah, that's a miss.

 

The ball needed to either come out earlier or have more air under it.

 

Could an elite deep-ball tracker like Hill, Hilton, or Watkins make that play? Probably, but Foster isn't that guy, so his QB needs to throw a better ball. It's not like the Clay play where any pass catcher should have that.

as josh and his receivers get more comfortable with each other they will get on the same page (hopefully) 

[Bing Bong]

5 hours ago, vincec said:

Agree. It’s amazing how nothing was actually his fault in this game.

 

overthrow Foster... bad route by Foster

underthrow Clay... drop by Clay

behind Jones over the middle for TD... Jones ran the wrong route

interception over the middle... bad route by Benjamin

 

Apparently he played a perfect game. The greatest rookie QB ever.

His biggest critic needs to be his Quarterback coach. He played well. But not perfect. I simply try to find where he can improve on these plays. 

 

I certainly don't want Allen apologists on this board coaching him. "Eh not your fault, Foster didn't run fast enough".

 

There's ALWAYS room for improvement in JA's game and that's not being negative about his performance it's hoping he improves on these small details so it's no longer everybody else's fault.. it can be his great play in a few years that leaves no one to blame save for a blatant drop.

2 minutes ago, tcampbell104 said:

as josh and his receivers get more comfortable with each other they will get on the same page (hopefully) 

Yep. Chemistry is huge. That play with Zay open in the end zone. Was simply JA going by the play design not knowing where Zay  wanted it lead to him at that specific cover 0 man point in the play with his guy beat. He didn't know how far behind his man was and certainly didn't want to stop and not be open if he had a better man covering him. Fitz to Stevie was a perfect example of chemistry working out when Fitz got a knack for where Stevie wanted to go and expected the ball.

Edited December 5, 2018 by PetermanThrew5Picks

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

Also why I didn't exactly love the first half hail Mary as well. We all know Allen has the arm, hail Mary's don't have nearly the shot Rodgers gets with it because Quarterbacks with weaker arms can't throw that far and straight up lob it so your tall recievers have a better chance of finding and getting to the ball in time to play jump ball (which they have an advantage over smaller CBs). Allen can certainly do that. Again, same premise sort of.. some players he can learn from as he develops.

Of course. Allen is really an enigma in everyway

 

He is very green- not many starts at Wyoming, late bloomer (didn’t attend all the passing camps in California circuit), small conference 

 

and he would have tremendously benefited from sitting behind a vet... BUT

 

People take that last sentence as he is very raw and not NFL ready.. BUT

 

his big time athleticism and knack for the big play has bypassed the sitting period

 

he has a host of things to clean up like lower body mechanics, and going through his progressions and learning to play for another down 

 

but his natural athleticism and escapability and big time arm , plus his heart has already earned him a spot as QB1

 

getting baptized by fire and coming out unscathed will do wonders for his career

[DCOrange]

As others have mentioned, when the ball is traveling that much distance, it's rarely going to be perfect. A little less from Allen and Foster gets his hands on it. I also think Foster could have taken a slightly better angle to potentially get to that ball as well; had he adjusted and moved a little more towards his outside shoulder, he essentially would have given himself slightly more time to make up the distance on the throw (which ended up coming down on his outside should anyways).

[Bing Bong]

7 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Of course. Allen is really an enigma in everyway

 

He is very green- not many starts at Wyoming, late bloomer (didn’t attend all the passing camps in California circuit), small conference 

 

and he would have tremendously benefited from sitting behind a vet... BUT

 

People take that last sentence as he is very raw and not NFL ready.. BUT

 

his big time athleticism and knack for the big play has bypassed the sitting period

 

he has a host of things to clean up like lower body mechanics, and going through his progressions and learning to play for another down 

 

but his natural athleticism and escapability and big time arm , plus his heart has already earned him a spot as QB1

 

getting baptized by fire and coming out unscathed will do wonders for his career

That's what I wanted. Him getting thrown to the fire and exceeding expectations is all the more reason to know he has the confidence and makes no excuses, doesn't feel sorry for himself. I said all year I'm perfectly fine with throwing him to the fire to find out his gumption. I don't believe in "David Carr"ing a QB. Allen has the exact intangibles I look for.

[JimmyNoodles]

1 hour ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

Pretty condescending post thrown at you. I agree with that point. But when Josh is throwing such a low arc it makes it harder for the WR to do what you say. He puts air in the ball and goes a bit longer on it.. it's a slower play albeit but it's easier for the QB and WRs to recognize that acceleration to where the ball is going to go no?

 

I don't know my Xs and O's like you do.. just an observance so correct me if I'm wrong. But Phillip Rivers throws throws these comical floaters that work so well. I have to imaging JA and Foster would be better off floating it up there focusing on the completion even if it doesn't net a home run.

 

 

When the man is beat, he's beat. Phillip understands when he arcs it, the margin for error is significantly reduced and he's more concerned with getting the completion first and letting the WR do what your saying with an easier level of difficulty

 

 

Good video.  You can see that Rivers recognizes and throws quickly.  He takes something off the ball and the receiver slows slightly to make the catch and then regains speed after he has the ball.  The one thing you don't want to do is overthrow.  Give your guy a chance.  

[Bing Bong]

29 minutes ago, JimmyNoodles said:

Good video.  You can see that Rivers recognizes and throws quickly.  He takes something off the ball and the receiver slows slightly to make the catch and then regains speed after he has the ball.  The one thing you don't want to do is overthrow.  Give your guy a chance.  

right? He wasn't even dead on accurate. Didn't need to be. You throw an arc like that and as long as you have the distance the WR has a cakewalk finding the ball. That play simply looks like  a decision by Rivers to forgoe the difficult strike to make it easier for everybody (himself included) to throw and catch.

 

He's got some even more exaggerated comical floaters for 40-50 yard longballs, they're hard to find on youtube but I remember when many were making fun of him for that. But it works so dang well.

Edited December 5, 2018 by PetermanThrew5Picks

[Trogdor]

Yeah not everything needs to be a bullet is the dead horse around here. I've seen some posters suggest they teach receivers to catch his passes vs teach him some touch and I don't think that is going to work. They need these to start connecting to be legitimate deep threat.

[bills11]

2 hours ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said:

Pretty condescending post thrown at you. I agree with that point. But when Josh is throwing such a low arc it makes it harder for the WR to do what you say. He puts air in the ball and goes a bit longer on it.. it's a slower play albeit but it's easier for the QB and WRs to recognize that acceleration to where the ball is going to go no?

 

I don't know my Xs and O's like you do.. just an observance so correct me if I'm wrong. But Phillip Rivers throws throws these comical floaters that work so well. I have to imaging JA and Foster would be better off floating it up there focusing on the completion even if it doesn't net a home run.

 

 

When the man is beat, he's beat. Phillip understands when he arcs it, the margin for error is significantly reduced and he's more concerned with getting the completion first and letting the WR do what your saying with an easier level of difficulty

 

 

Agreed pretty much how I saw it..pass needs more air will come with more chemistry and reps 

[JimmyNoodles]

1 hour ago, Trogdor said:

Yeah not everything needs to be a bullet is the dead horse around here. I've seen some posters suggest they teach receivers to catch his passes vs teach him some touch and I don't think that is going to work. They need these to start connecting to be legitimate deep threat.

I think Allen has made some progress throwing with less velocity.  Sitting for a few games may have helped.  He saw Barkley throw soft balls and get completions.  With that said, I think Allen has some feel for putting touch on the ball.  Even going back to his Senior Bowl highlights...he threw some nice balls with touch.  I think some of it his mindset.  He sees that Foster play and thinks "TD" and really does more than needed  Just a little quicker recognition/reaction will help too.  He'll learn.  

[Straight Hucklebuck]

17 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

That is a difficult question.... when people talk about quarterbacks and they talk about “it” factor , it is almost the same with a Deep threat WR

 

all the great deep threats have an “it” factor... and what most coaches and scouts see as the “it” factor is the ability of the receiver to kick into “another gear” when the ball is in the air

 

a natural phenomena... 

 

desean jackson , Sammy Watkins, Ty Hilton,  tyreek Hill etc all have a natural ability to kick it into overdrive when the ball is in the air deep down field... add an extra 2-5 mph and track it down 

 

Foster sometimes loses a step when he starts tracking... he needs to keep that extra gear and find it when the ball goes up... it’s something he is really inconsistent at

 

He can set up a nice route and beat his man... but when the ball is up 50-60 yards downfield he loses a step

 

He seems to track over his shoulder the whole time which slows him down . He needs to find the ball in the air... then sprint to the spot and then locate and make a play

 

he finds the ball, and then tries tracking it while running which slows him down a tad... he needs to react and just fly 

Sammy Watkins should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Jackson, Hilton or Hill. 

 

Otherwise I agree with all of this. 

 

I was taught to not slow down. Number one is to keep running the entire time, because when the ball is on the way down, there is not enough time to make up the distance if you slowed down earlier in the route.

[Buffalo716]

2 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Sammy Watkins should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Jackson, Hilton or Hill. 

 

Otherwise I agree with all of this. 

 

I was taught to not slow down. Number one is to keep running the entire time, because when the ball is on the way down, there is not enough time to make up the distance if you slowed down earlier in the route.

That is completely fair. He is no where near the receiver of those guys

 

but he has averaged almost 20ypc on a season before . Led the league in that category so he was a good deep threat, albeit  didn’t go to the dirty areas

[CommonCents]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

That is completely fair. He is no where near the receiver of those guys

 

but he has averaged almost 20ypc on a season before . Led the league in that category so he was a good deep threat, albeit  didn’t go to the dirty areas

Lockett/Wilson have a perfect QBR when he is targeted over 20 yards. Only one in the league. Also think he has the most catches over 20 or 30 yards IIRC. If a guy like Foster is trying to “learn” how to track a ball he should workout with Lockett.

 

TBH I doubt anyone at the NFL is going to totally revamp the way they track a ball. Foster’s ceiling is Ted Gunn and the Bills should be ok with that for what they have invested. 

[Buffalo716]

14 minutes ago, Commonsense said:

Lockett/Wilson have a perfect QBR when he is targeted over 20 yards. Only one in the league. Also think he has the most catches over 20 or 30 yards IIRC. If a guy like Foster is trying to “learn” how to track a ball he should workout with Lockett.

 

TBH I doubt anyone at the NFL is going to totally revamp the way they track a ball. Foster’s ceiling is Ted Gunn and the Bills should be ok with that for what they have invested. 

I agree. I missed Lockett and he is absolutely deadly and can track a deep ball 

[cd1]

22 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

Play is 1st & 10 from the Buff 35, 7:56 in the 4th.

 

Most people consider this an overthrow by Allen. 

 

I have a WR technique question for those of you who played WR or have scouted or coached WR.

 

So the start of the route is beautiful for Foster.  Does a great job "selling" the CB, jukes him out of his shorts and blows by him inside.

But at about the Phins 45 yd line, he starts looking back over his L shoulder and keeps looking back, which must inevitably slow him down. 

It's not until he gets to the 20 yd line that he looks ahead and seems to accelerate. 

 

The ball looks to be a yard or so past his outstretched hands.

 

Questions are:

1) is this a route mismatch between Foster and Allen?  Does Foster think the ball is gonna be an intermediate throw and that's why he starts looking for the ball soon as he beats his man?

2) or is this a technique flaw on a deep route - where Foster should not be looking back, he should be running full-out for longer than he is?

3) or maybe it's a perfect route by Foster and an overthrow by Allen?  But I don't recall having seen a WR on a deep route looking over his shoulder for 25 yds instead of "running like hell"

 

Thoughts?

 

Week one against the Panthers - Josh heaves one 65 yards to Foster and Foster just missed (exact same scenario) at the 5 yard line.  Foster started looking over his shoulder at the 20 yard line.  Even Steve Tasker remarked that he should never have been running that far looking over his shoulder.

[leonbus23]

19 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

That is a difficult question.... when people talk about quarterbacks and they talk about “it” factor , it is almost the same with a Deep threat WR

 

all the great deep threats have an “it” factor... and what most coaches and scouts see as the “it” factor is the ability of the receiver to kick into “another gear” when the ball is in the air

 

a natural phenomena... 

 

desean jackson , Sammy Watkins, Ty Hilton,  tyreek Hill etc all have a natural ability to kick it into overdrive when the ball is in the air deep down field... add an extra 2-5 mph and track it down 

 

Foster sometimes loses a step when he starts tracking... he needs to keep that extra gear and find it when the ball goes up... it’s something he is really inconsistent at

 

He can set up a nice route and beat his man... but when the ball is up 50-60 yards downfield he loses a step

 

He seems to track over his shoulder the whole time which slows him down . He needs to find the ball in the air... then sprint to the spot and then locate and make a play

 

he finds the ball, and then tries tracking it while running which slows him down a tad... he needs to react and just fly 

 

Exactly. Cunningham to Moss, for example. 

[Westside Madness]

I want to applaud this thread. Excellent topic, several people providing opinions and insight related to the topic. I feel better educated on QB/WR mechanics for having read it.

[RocCityRoller]

21 hours ago, BillsFan692 said:

Thoughts are that there is no 60+ yard throws that are perfectly accurate 100% of the time.

 

Those are really low percentage plays. I think both did pretty good and it was close. Sometimes they will catch people and sometimes itll be a near miss.

 

At least he ran fast, got separation and dove for it.

 

More than we can say for the bums just cut.

 

With a full off season, the timing will improve.

[PlayoffsPlease]

18 hours ago, BullBuchanan said:

Allen needs to learn how to drop those in the bucket. He just doesn't have that timing down yet. He also did this in college all the time. The zones that Allen is throwing to down the field are much larger right now when compared to the great deep ball throwers in the game today, and some of them don't have anywhere near the arm that he has. In general Allen has a serious flaw, maybe his biggest, with gauging power. You see it on the short throws all the time, and I think it's also happening here. If the kid learns a little touch, he'll be deadly. 

"All the time"     Can you venture to guess how many times this actually happened. 

[BullBuchanan]

 

2 hours ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

"All the time"     Can you venture to guess how many times this actually happened. 

 

Well, there was this time...

 

https://twitter.com/NickiJhabvala/status/956228021945618437

[Warcodered]

27 minutes ago, BullBuchanan said:

 

 

Well, there was this time...

 

https://twitter.com/NickiJhabvala/status/956228021945618437

I wonder if you can find that video of Allen and the other QBs throwing at that tire...or that Soul and Science one where they were throwing at the goalpost.

[greeneblitz]

I'm just happy we finally have a QB with the balls to make those throws even if he doesn't connect, how many times I've seen great QB make those throws seemingly only to get a pass interference call, as long as Allen puts it where only his guy has a chance to get it, I'm perfectly fine with overthrows.

[JimmyNoodles]

Let's revisit this on today's TD to Foster to show that, yes, Allen is learning.  Foster breaks wide open on a deep slant and Allen lays the ball out there instead of the bullet throw.  Foster has no difficulty tracking and adjusting.  Allen also laid one up for Croom.  In fact, I think he did it a lot today.  At least, that was my impression.  I thought he played his best game throwing the ball today and they made him throw.  Lions contained him on the ground.