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The Lateral


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Call me as crazy as the decision itself, but I think you got to credit Josh’ for his killer instinct going for that lateral at the end of regulation. 

It appeared Knox clear path to the end zone and a full head of steam. If they connect, it’d be the next Minneapolis miracle and you’d see it replayed every year during playoff time.  

 

Also, unless Allen completely lost his mind, my assumption is the lateral  is something they’d at least messed around with in practice before. I can’t see It being a completely rogue decision on the fly. Knox didn’t do him any favors by looking as bewildered as the rest of the country, but that’s probably more due to the pressure of the moment.  
 

That’s just the way Allen plays, he wants to win no matter what it takes. Whatever the hell it is he has will alternately frustrate you and dazzle you. We saw what “ball control” got us at the end anyway. The simple fact is the longer you let teams hang around, the more vulnerable you become  to bad calls, bad bounces, etc. Good on him for trying to put it away right there. 
 

All this at the end of the day  is supposed to be entertainment, give me one of the most exciting players in the league with a ton of upside as our QB and I’ll gladly strap in and enjoy the ride when he decides to try and flip the next one.  

 



 

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I think you might be on to something here.  And for the record over the many years I've watched college & pro football I've seen that play made a number of times.  In fact it used to be standard procedure for the trailing guy like Knox to hang back in the expectation that the runner might lateral the ball.  I think other old timers would agree that this is how it used to be done.

 

My guess is Allen had two thoughts that triggered the lateral:

 

1)  the first was to get the ball out of bounds

 

2) the 2nd was that Allen probably noticed that there was nothing between Knox and the end zone.  Sure they would have probably run him down but who knows.  And gaining 20 more yards and getting out of bounds isn't such a bad thing.

 

Bottom line is that the play did no damage and might have been huge if Allen/Knox had pulled it off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You're both nuts.  He threw the lateral while falling to the ground after the hit.  It was careless and I'm sure he could take that decision back if he could.  Just a lack of situational awareness as we had enough time left.

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I think you might be crazy on this one.  Knox didn't have a clear path to the endzone, and it wasn't befuddlement that kept the play from working, it was that Allen threw the ball over his head.  I'm all for this team trying to put the game away, but this didn't look like a rehearsed, go-for-broke decision, it looked like a desperate move when there was still enough time on the clock to make a play.

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3 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

You're both nuts.  He threw the lateral while falling to the ground after the hit.  It was careless and I'm sure he could take that decision back if he could.  Just a lack of situational awareness as we had enough time left.

 

That's not how I remember it.  He looked right at Knox.  The problem and I guess the situational awareness issue was that Knox was moving towards him and he lateralled the ball where Knox had just been.

 

 

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18 minutes ago, BillsGuyOutWest said:

Call me as crazy as the decision itself, but I think you got to credit Josh’ for his killer instinct going for that lateral at the end of regulation. 

It appeared Knox clear path to the end zone and a full head of steam. If they connect, it’d be the next Minneapolis miracle and you’d see it replayed every year during playoff time.  

 

Also, unless Allen completely lost his mind, my assumption is the lateral  is something they’d at least messed around with in practice before. I can’t see It being a completely rogue decision on the fly. Knox didn’t do him any favors by looking as bewildered as the rest of the country, but that’s probably more due to the pressure of the moment.  
 

That’s just the way Allen plays, he wants to win no matter what it takes. Whatever the hell it is he has will alternately frustrate you and dazzle you. We saw what “ball control” got us at the end anyway. The simple fact is the longer you let teams hang around, the more vulnerable you become  to bad calls, bad bounces, etc. Good on him for trying to put it away right there. 
 

All this at the end of the day  is supposed to be entertainment, give me one of the most exciting players in the league with a ton of upside as our QB and I’ll gladly strap in and enjoy the ride when he decides to try and flip the next one.  

 



 

 

Wow. What a brazen attempt to sugar coat s*** right here. Sad part is I know you actually believe what you are saying. TERRIBLE decision by a professional QB in that situation. He unnecessarily put the whole game at risk with that decision. You simply CANNOT make such boneheaded, backyard football decisions. That was like preseason rookie mistake stuff right there.

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34 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

You're both nuts.  He threw the lateral while falling to the ground after the hit.  It was careless and I'm sure he could take that decision back if he could.  Just a lack of situational awareness as we had enough time left.

And I think your nuts. we have watched Tyrod, EJ, Edwards play "safe ball" and the payoff be what? Edwards running OB for a sack 11 yard loss on a 4th down to keep drive alive? I would much rather have the aggressive competitive player Josh is, than the scared ball we have seen for 20 years

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38 minutes ago, PolishPrince said:

And I think your nuts. we have watched Tyrod, EJ, Edwards play "safe ball" and the payoff be what? Edwards running OB for a sack 11 yard loss on a 4th down to keep drive alive? I would much rather have the aggressive competitive player Josh is, than the scared ball we have seen for 20 years

I won't pick on you too much as the Polish people have to put up with enough playful ribbing already.  You're right.  I want my franchise quarterback with the game on the line to lateral it while falling down even though he already picked up the first down and had plenty of time left.  Thank god Knox was smart enough to knock it out of bounds.

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19 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I won't pick on you too much as the Polish people have to put up with enough playful ribbing already.  You're right.  I want my franchise quarterback with the game on the line to lateral it while falling down even though he already picked up the first down and had plenty of time left.  Thank god Knox was smart enough to knock it out of bounds.


i mean, i just want to say thank you for this - it couldn’t be said better. 

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1 hour ago, BillsGuyOutWest said:

Call me as crazy as the decision itself, but I think you got to credit Josh’ for his killer instinct going for that lateral at the end of regulation. 

It appeared Knox clear path to the end zone and a full head of steam. If they connect, it’d be the next Minneapolis miracle and you’d see it replayed every year during playoff time.  

 

Also, unless Allen completely lost his mind, my assumption is the lateral  is something they’d at least messed around with in practice before. I can’t see It being a completely rogue decision on the fly. Knox didn’t do him any favors by looking as bewildered as the rest of the country, but that’s probably more due to the pressure of the moment.  
 

That’s just the way Allen plays, he wants to win no matter what it takes. Whatever the hell it is he has will alternately frustrate you and dazzle you. We saw what “ball control” got us at the end anyway. The simple fact is the longer you let teams hang around, the more vulnerable you become  to bad calls, bad bounces, etc. Good on him for trying to put it away right there. 
 

All this at the end of the day  is supposed to be entertainment, give me one of the most exciting players in the league with a ton of upside as our QB and I’ll gladly strap in and enjoy the ride when he decides to try and flip the next one.  

 



 

As you wish...

You're crazy.

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37 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

I won't pick on you too much as the Polish people have to put up with enough playful ribbing already.  You're right.  I want my franchise quarterback with the game on the line to lateral it while falling down even though he already picked up the first down and had plenty of time left.  Thank god Knox was smart enough to knock it out of bounds.

Ah sweet prince of 80's media. You are right, the play totally effected the game. I wont pick on you too much for your many late ***** remakes, but thank god the play had 0 bearing on the outcome of the game. But please, like the others lets keep nitpicking this Josh Allen play trying to win vs 5 linemen, losing to a 3 man rush within a second when the game is on the line... or Singletary rushing for less attempts than Hyde... or the bogus blindside block, or the taking 6 pts off board when Houston KR forgot the rules. You are right, the lateral was the play to define it all - when it meant nothing with the outcome.

 

How do you view Watson's potential pick 6 that Siran Neal (our lke 5th string CB) dropped at their own 25? It was a play that happened that ended up having 0 bearing on the game. Imagine if Houston lost, and their fans go "man deshaun watson almost threw that pick six!" its the same thing. a possible bust play that didnt even happen, yet thats what we are latching on to lol... but yes this is all because of "Polish people." 

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34 minutes ago, JoPoy88 said:


i mean, i just want to say thank you for this - it couldn’t be said better. 

you are both nuts. Its not the franchise QB's fault refs got over ruled based on "possible intent" on a KR. or a a Cody Ford "illegal blindside block" that no one else agrees with, including neutral fans and the head ref... Its not having Singletary rush for less attempts than Hyde yet being twice as effective. Its not having Gore come close to splitting 50-50 carries with Singletary. its not on Duke Williams dropping a perfect pass from Allen in endzone (yes covered and difficult). No its not on John Brown failing to toe tap sideline on a third down 20 yard almost completion. Its all on our young QB making a questionable aggressive decision to lateral to knox which ended up having 0 final bearing on the game. If the lateral is clean, knox might have 20 extra yards and its a genius play. Regardless the ball was dropped and slapped out of bounds for a complete non-factor.... but lets call that the bad play that cost us the game. Real smart, obviously major impact.

PS: please suck on Doc's D more, I am sure he needs it. Just as bad as our D needs to stop Watson on 3rd and 18 in OT

Edited by PolishPrince
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If Josh Allen had lateraled the ball earlier, then I would have been fine with it.

 

That was a terrible decision on his part.

 

I like Josh Allen, and his attempt to do everything and anything to get a win. I want him to succeed with the Bills, and I think he can. That being said, that play was a dumb move on his part.

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Well, it was the full Josh Allen experience, he almost single-handedly lost the game for us on that play (and a few more), and he almost single-handedly willed his team to victory. Think about this, after all that, if it weren't for the terrible call on Ford, he made three great plays in OT to put his team in positon to win the game (we were in FG range without that call).

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1 hour ago, PolishPrince said:

And I think your nuts. we have watched Tyrod, EJ, Edwards play "safe ball" and the payoff be what? Edwards running OB for a sack 11 yard loss on a 4th down to keep drive alive? I would much rather have the aggressive competitive player Josh is, than the scared ball we have seen for 20 years

Josh took a 20 yard sack on 4th and 23 that almost ended the game except BOB inexplicably went for it on 4th and 1.

Edited by BringBackOrton
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2 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

You're both nuts.  He threw the lateral while falling to the ground after the hit.  It was careless and I'm sure he could take that decision back if he could.  Just a lack of situational awareness as we had enough time left.

I seem to remember a famous lateral pass for a TD as the receiver was being tackled. Can't remember who it was, though. I believe they threw it backwards over their head while being tackled.

 

EDIT: It was Randy Moss I think.

Edited by MJS
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