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Why You Shouldn’t Feel Completely Dejected Over Josh Allen’s Poor Performance


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Like many, I was really disappointed by a bad performance by Josh Allen.  I also was very annoyed to find many excuses to mask what was clearly a below average QB performance.
 

But here is the thing, Baltimore’s defense has been playing really well this season - specifically their pass defense.  While the offenses has been hyped to epic proportions by the media, the defense flies slightly under the radar.  Not unlike Buffalo, their secondary is very good.

 

In Baltimore’s 9 game win streak here is how opposing QB’s performed vs Baltimore:

 

Andy Dalton

21/39   239 yards   0 TD/1 INT

Loss 23-17

 

Russell Wilson

20/41  241 yards 1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 30-16
 

Tom Brady

30-46   285 yards  1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 37-20

 

Ryan Finley

16-31  167 yards.   1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 49-13

 

Deshaun Watson

18-29  169 yards.  0 TD/1 INT

LOSS 41-7

 

Jared Goff

26-37  212 yards   0 TD/2 INT

LOSS 45-6

 

Jimmy Garoppolo

15-21  165 yards  1 TD/1 INT

Loss 20-17

 

Josh Allen

17-39  146  1 TD/0 INT

Loss 24-17

 

So again, I’m not going to give Allen a pass.  He was below average and an average QB performance probably wins this football game.   Of course their were protection issues and dropped passes but we need to see more from Josh - especially on those deep passes that he can’t connect.

 

But outside of Wilson and Brady (2 HOF QB’s), I’m not sure that any of the other QB performances vs. the Ravens wins this football game.  Opposing QB’s have not really put up many yards against the secondary, including several “good” offenses who had opportunities to get garbage time yards.   In fact, Allen’s bad performance is close to how poorly other QB’s have performed - really bad!
 

So It’s quite possible that Sunday’s game was simply Allen struggling against a well-coaches, aggressive defense, with 2 very good corners.   It was frustrating to see our “franchise QB” play so poorly, but I also don’t think one game is enough of a sample size to overreact.  

 

 

 

 

Edited by Phil The Thrill
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Wind led to inconsistent balls thrown early on in the game, and I feel like this led to some drops later once Josh started to get it together.. Couple that with a few mistakes vs a defense that's playing lights out and that's what you get.

 

Grand scheme of things, the Pats loss keeps the division title in reach, so can't be too upset!

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4 minutes ago, Jobot said:

Wind led to inconsistent balls thrown early on in the game, and I feel like this led to some drops later once Josh started to get it together.. Couple that with a few mistakes vs a defense that's playing lights out and that's what you get.

 

Grand scheme of things, the Pats loss keeps the division title in reach, so can't be too upset!

 

 

Agreed, Josh was not at his best yesterday and it followed a trend where he has a very poor start, but i cant blame it all on the wind, he has done that on multiple games this year.  Have to question pre game prep and coaching.

 

I am not "upset" about the loss, we did prove that we can play with the bet team in the NFL.  A few drops and a few accurate throws we could have won that game  (the Ravens incredibly bad timed penalties that weren't needed certainly helped).

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Yes, more than a few drops...at one point there were 3 or 4 in short order.  Not winning play.  Yes, Allen had a subpar stat game...but, he got stepped on, wrapped the ankle and was back out there....he was running for his life.....Ravens blitzed a lot, and Josh/Bills didn't handle it well imho.  All those sacks were only partially Allen's fault.  Lots of cases of guys coming in unabated as they say.  Did I hope for more, yes.  He will do better in the future.....this was a great learning opportunity for a young QB.  As for the long throws...he was ok on them year one.  This year is a problem.  My view is it is a mechanics issue and will get resolved in time.  It also think he is unloading long to fast....the rule is "as fast as possible, but no faster"....he is just firing without stepping into the throw and putting a normal motion on the throws.  Better days ahead.

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28 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Like many, I was really disappointed by a bad performance by Josh Allen.  I also was very annoyed to find many excuses to mask what was clearly a below average QB performance.
 

But here is the thing, Baltimore’s defense has been playing really well this season - specifically their pass defense.  While the offenses has been hyped to epic proportions by the media, the defense flies slightly under the radar.  Not unlike Buffalo, their secondary is very good.

 

In Baltimore’s 9 game win streak here is how opposing QB’s performed vs Baltimore:

 

Andy Dalton

21/39   239 yards   0 TD/1 INT

Loss 23-17

 

Russell Wilson

20/41  241 yards 1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 30-16
 

Tom Brady

30-46   285 yards  1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 37-20

 

Ryan Finley

16-31  167 yards.   1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 49-13

 

Deshaun Watson

18-29  169 yards.  0 TD/1 INT

LOSS 41-7

 

Jared Goff

26-37  212 yards   0 TD/2 INT

LOSS 45-6

 

Jimmy Garoppolo

15-21  165 yards  1 TD/1 INT

Loss 20-17

 

Josh Allen

17-39  146  1 TD/0 INT

Loss 24-17

 

So again, I’m not going to give Allen a pass.  He was below average and an average QB performance probably wins this football game.   Of course their were protection issues and dropped passes but we need to see more from Josh - especially on those deep passes that he can’t connect.

 

But outside of Wilson and Brady (2 HOF QB’s), I’m not sure that any of the other QB performances vs. the Ravens wins this football game.  Opposing QB’s have not really put up many yards against the secondary, including several “good” offenses who had opportunities to get garbage time yards.   In fact, Allen’s bad performance is close to how poorly other QB’s have performed - really bad!
 

So It’s quite possible that Sunday’s game was simply Allen struggling against a well-coaches, aggressive defense, with 2 very good corners.   It was frustrating to see our “franchise QB” play so poorly, but I also don’t think one game is enough of a sample size to overreact.  

 

 

 

 

Your absolutely right. The Ravens d has been really good flustering a lot of qbs who have been around.

 

Josh knows he has to better and that’s what I love. No excuses, he will learn from it and grow better for it.

Edited by loveorhatembillsfan4life
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The lack of touch on deep balls is what drives me nuts. Throughout the season, he has missed wide open guys. Its happened several times when he has had time to throw and was not hurrying to complete a pass. I could give him a break if it was just at the Ralph where the wind has been awful in a few games this year but it has happened away from home as well. I don't know how you fix this but if he had connected on even one of those 3 misses on long passes yesterday, I think we win that game.

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27 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

Like many, I was really disappointed by a bad performance by Josh Allen.  I also was very annoyed to find many excuses to mask what was clearly a below average QB performance.
 

But here is the thing, Baltimore’s defense has been playing really well this season - specifically their pass defense.  While the offenses has been hyped to epic proportions by the media, the defense flies slightly under the radar.  Not unlike Buffalo, their secondary is very good.

 

In Baltimore’s 9 game win streak here is how opposing QB’s performed vs Baltimore:

 

Andy Dalton

21/39   239 yards   0 TD/1 INT

Loss 23-17

 

Russell Wilson

20/41  241 yards 1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 30-16
 

Tom Brady

30-46   285 yards  1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 37-20

 

Ryan Finley

16-31  167 yards.   1 TD/1 INT

LOSS 49-13

 

Deshaun Watson

18-29  169 yards.  0 TD/1 INT

LOSS 41-7

 

Jared Goff

26-37  212 yards   0 TD/2 INT

LOSS 45-6

 

Jimmy Garoppolo

15-21  165 yards  1 TD/1 INT

Loss 20-17

 

Josh Allen

17-39  146  1 TD/0 INT

Loss 24-17

 

So again, I’m not going to give Allen a pass.  He was below average and an average QB performance probably wins this football game.   Of course their were protection issues and dropped passes but we need to see more from Josh - especially on those deep passes that he can’t connect.

 

But outside of Wilson and Brady (2 HOF QB’s), I’m not sure that any of the other QB performances vs. the Ravens wins this football game.  Opposing QB’s have not really put up many yards against the secondary, including several “good” offenses who had opportunities to get garbage time yards.   In fact, Allen’s bad performance is close to how poorly other QB’s have performed - really bad!
 

So It’s quite possible that Sunday’s game was simply Allen struggling against a well-coaches, aggressive defense, with 2 very good corners.   It was frustrating to see our “franchise QB” play so poorly, but I also don’t think one game is enough of a sample size to overreact.  

 

 

 

 

Nice post! Thanks for the data, I wonder what the average looks like for the other guys.

 

You have to give credit where credit is due, the Ravens defense played and coached outstanding ball. Excellent team.

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Allen needs to calm down to begin big games. NE and Baltimore he both appeared a little over emotional to start. Allen didn’t play in front of the big college experience like a lot of the other QB’s in the league. When Allen played in front of his home crowd in college it was to 29,000 people cheering. Even Miami has more home fans than that. ?
Allen is fine and showing steady progression. The entire offense was wildly inconsistent yesterday. 

Edited by atlbillsfan1975
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4 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

I'm sorry.  17/39 is putrid.  Needs to be better.  Yes, some drops, but also at least 5 poorly thrown balls that would have led to at least 14 points


Don’t get me wrong - I’m not making any excuses for Allen.  I would agree that he needs to play much better to handle blitzing , and more accurate.  But you have to consider that this was a very good defense who has been making more established QB’s struggle in comparison.  I do think that Baltimore’s defense is really good and is a little

underrated.  Their offense on the other hand is a little overrated IMO

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7 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

I'm sorry.  17/39 is putrid.  Needs to be better.  Yes, some drops, but also at least 5 poorly thrown balls that would have led to at least 14 points

 

Yeah that is the sad reality, his composure on pressure was often terrible, he also bailed on one where he just threw the ball wildly in the air, lucky that wasnt intercepted.

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11 minutes ago, bigK14094 said:

Yes, more than a few drops...at one point there were 3 or 4 in short order.  Not winning play.  Yes, Allen had a subpar stat game...but, he got stepped on, wrapped the ankle and was back out there....he was running for his life.....Ravens blitzed a lot, and Josh/Bills didn't handle it well imho.  All those sacks were only partially Allen's fault.  Lots of cases of guys coming in unabated as they say.  Did I hope for more, yes.  He will do better in the future.....this was a great learning opportunity for a young QB.  As for the long throws...he was ok on them year one.  This year is a problem.  My view is it is a mechanics issue and will get resolved in time.  It also think he is unloading long to fast....the rule is "as fast as possible, but no faster"....he is just firing without stepping into the throw and putting a normal motion on the throws.  Better days ahead.


He was running for his life, but on a few of those situations, he didn’t need to be.  The right move was to hang in the pocket and to step up.  
 

If the Ravens blitz and play Cover 0, that means one man is coming unlocked.  Josh needs to recognize where the pressure is coming from and make them pay.  
 

Yea it was a bad OL performance but I think Allen was a bigger letdown.  Regardless, I think the fan base can’t base everything on this one game.  Baltimore has been really good vs opposing QB’s

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3 minutes ago, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Allen needs to calm down to begin big games. NE and Baltimore he both appeared a little over emotional to start. Allen didn’t play in front of the big college experience like a lot of the other QB’s in the league. 
Allen is fine and showing steady progression. The entire offense was wildly inconsistent yesterday. 

All true and i thought he was going to come out and drop a turd against Dallas ion Thanksgiving, his first national prime time game but he didn't.  

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Just now, RoyBatty is alive said:

 

Yeah that is the sad reality, his composure on pressure was often terrible, he also bailed on one where he just threw the ball wildly in the air, lucky that wasnt intercepted.


This is something they will work on in practice no doubt.  Defense sending the house and beating Cover 0 coverage.  
 

What might work in Allen’s favor is that Pittsburgh plays a lot of zone, whereas NE and BAL play man-to-man because their CB’s are strong.  

16 minutes ago, Sundancer said:

I'm not dejected. They lost to what is probably the best team in the NFL by 7 points. Josh had a bad game but so did the line and his receivers. IT happens especially against a good D. Two more tough defenses coming. 


You might not be dejected but there were several emotions responses on Bills Twitter.  They boiled down to:

 

”Josh Allen sucks”

 

”Josh Allen doesn’t suck, but his OL and WR’s do”

 

”Brian Daboll sucks and needs to be fired.”

 

All of these are severe overreactions after a bad performance to a defensive secondary that is very good 

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Honestly, I'm in the minority here, but I actually was encouraged by Josh's performance. Obviously I would have preferred he come in and light the world on fire and throw for a zillion yards and crush the Ravens, but this seemed like a really really good "bad game" from him for 2 reasons:

 

1- When it got bad, and nothing was working, and he couldn't complete the deep ball and the line decided to take the day off and go bird watching (get it- bird watching? watching the ravens run by them... I'll be here all week, unfortunately) he never reverted to his poor decision hero ball mentality that leads to disaster. In fact, aside from some normal QB mistakes (missing passes, not seeing the blitz, etc) he didn't have any devastating mistakes or mind boggling decisions. He stayed in there and took the beating and kept getting up. I liked that. 

 

2- He found his rhythm, he put the early part of the game behind him, and he played better football. He didn't fix every issue, and we couldn't do enough to win, but he got us within striking distance of the best team in the NFL whose Defense is playing very well right now. 

 

 

These two things were very encouraging to me, and if my QB needs to have a bad game, I want it to be with these things displayed. I also want it to be against the best team in football and the SB favorite, cause it stings a little less. If he does this against the Dolphins it's harder to be positive. 

 

All that to say, I think Josh will learn and he'll bounce back from this. 

 

22 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

I'm sorry.  17/39 is putrid.  Needs to be better.  Yes, some drops, but also at least 5 poorly thrown balls that would have led to at least 14 points

 

When you factor in the obvious drops - Singletary 2x, Knox 2x, Beasley 1, and maybe McKenzie (some debate on that) he's goes from 43.5% to 58.9%. That's before counting in throwaways of which there were at least two or three.

 

All that to say, adjusted % puts him much closer to decent. He definitely struggled and theres some passes he wants back no doubt, but the whole of what he did this game is hard to glean from the stat sheet. 

Edited by whatdrought
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Im not particularly worried about Josh. He took the one on ones when he got them...he just has to do better in throwing them. 

 

A couple of times Josh should have anticipated the blitz. 


What i did not like is how long it too for us to start adjusting versus the blitz.

 

We had 10 days and you didnt draw up a screen or quick passes until the 2nd half?

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