Think The Empty (Or Mostly Empty) Stadiums Improved Allen's Performance

[Irv]

I'm wondering if the empty stadiums helped Josh this year.  Maybe helped him change plays, see a little better against a solid backdrop.  Maybe without the crowd he didn't get too hopped up?  Before you ask:  Yes. I am working from home and....no, I don't have anything better to think about.  And, yes, I do need to get a life. 

[DrDawkinstein]

I mentioned this somewhere else yesterday.

 

Josh has said that he changed his pregame music this year from harder, pumped up rock and rap to smoother, more relaxed stuff like Sinatra. Helps him stay settled and cool. And he said he notices he starts much better now.

 

I'm a little worried that the fans at the game tomorrow will get our team a little too jacked to start.

[Mynamemike]

I've thought about this a lot and i think the no crowds was huge for Josh this year especially at home games.   He's talked about getting too amped up before games and how he's changed the music he listens too before games to settle the nerves  I also think it's been a big factor with being able to be so effective with his cadences and drawing defenses Offside.  

[jletha]

Id be lying if the thought didnt cross my mind. Ive even joked with friends that if Josh isbad in the home opener next year no fans are ever allowed back into the stadium haha.

 

But even if it did help him he has certainly learned how to play no matter what. Some teams did have fans as well.

[WhoTom]

Correlation does not equal causality.

 

He played well under pressure at Dallas and Pittsburgh in 2019, in front of hostile crowds on national TV. I'd say his improvement this year was due to another year of experience and off-season training, not the absence of crowds.

[Inigo Montoya]

It's a fair point and something I've thought about throughout this season.  The fact that Allen had a better road record last season played into the thought that he got too amped up at home and played a bit too manic at home, the Kyle Brandt "Sugar High Allen".   The lack of a crowd this year could have  let him focus more on the game and less on the atmosphere.

 

We'll know that answer in 24 hours.

[DrDawkinstein]

1 minute ago, jletha said:

Id be lying if the thought didnt cross my mind. Ive even joked with friends that if Josh isbad in the home opener next year no fans are ever allowed back into the stadium haha.

 

But even if it did help him he has certainly learned how to play no matter what. Some teams did have fans as well.

 

Ive made the same joke "If we lose this playoff game, it is on all Bills fans to stay out of the stadium next year"

[SCBills]

I think that thought has probably crossed most people’s minds, but I’m not too worried about it.  
 

His best game last year was against Dallas, sold out Thanksgiving Day. 
 

The improvements are noticeable in his mechanics, progression and ability to read defenses. 

 

Edited January 8, 2021 by SCBills

[jletha]

5 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

It's a fair point and something I've thought about throughout this season.  The fact that Allen had a better road record last season played into the thought that he got too amped up at home and played a bit too manic at home, the Kyle Brandt "Sugar High Allen".   The lack of a crowd this year could have  let him focus more on the game and less on the atmosphere.

 

We'll know that answer in 24 hours.

Id like to think that if it did ultimately help him calm down he will have learned that about himself and takes steps to keep calm tomorrow.

[Don Otreply]

I hear ya Irv, it could be that in effect a quite classroom/stadium allowed Josh to grow into who he is now at a much faster rate, because truthfully who expected the level of play this year? I for one believed Josh would improve considerably, but not to this level, you might be on to something with this line of thought, but hey, what do I know...noise cancelling helmet headphones could be in his future 😁

 

Go Bills!!!

[RoyBatty is alive]

I think it helped  him because he was able to shout  out directions/ blocking assignments easier.  His rapport with Diggs is extraordinary in one year and I think him being able to communicate easier with him helped build rapport quicker.

 

I would also say the lack of crowd noise let him focus and also didnt get him so excited as before.  He was under control pretty much through the entire year.

 

By next year a 4 yr guy he will be more a master of communication with his receivers and more in control of his emotions so he can use the excitement from the crowd to feed off of.

[george c]

Absolutely I do. 
Crowds cause distraction from both home and away games...

Having said that, 6,700 fans will not make much of a difference.

[RoyBatty is alive]

4 minutes ago, SCBills said:

I think that thought has probably crossed most people’s minds, but I’m not too worried about it.  
 

His best game last year was against Dallas, sold out Thanksgiving Day. 
 

The improvements are noticeable in his mechanics and progression.  
 

 

 

I have been to a Bills game in Jerry World and I only have two comments.

 

1) Cowboy fans suck, there was very little noise and that was a Dez Bryant year when they rolled us for 40 something points.

2) The Stadium is SO large and vacuous, it is very hard to generate a lot of noise regardless.

[Kwai San]

I too worry about the Bills and JA, but more the Bills as a whole being too jacked up for this game.  Hopefully McD has the answer and they come out firing on all cylinders.  One of the first games I am hoping they lose the toss and get a score on the first drive......

 

Go BILLS!!!!

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, Kwai San said:

I too worry about the Bills and JA, but more the Bills as a whole being too jacked up for this game.  Hopefully McD has the answer and they come out firing on all cylinders.  One of the first games I am hoping they lose the toss and get a score on the first drive......

 

Go BILLS!!!!

 

I will say my worry is tempered by the Cant Touch This video from yesterday. The boys look loose and ready to have a good time.

[RoyBatty is alive]

1 minute ago, Kwai San said:

I too worry about the Bills and JA, but more the Bills as a whole being too jacked up for this game.  Hopefully McD has the answer and they come out firing on all cylinders.  One of the first games I am hoping they lose the toss and get a score on the first drive......

 

Go BILLS!!!!

They didnt look to jacked up the way they were dancing and goofing around today.

[CincyBillsFan]

Sorry but this idea seems like a refuge for the last of the "wrong Josh" crowd.

 

I buy into the notion that no fans on the road has helped a lot of QB's.  That makes sense to me. And sure the over hyped up Allen was a real thing but I believe it was more then the fans but rather his entire pre-game mindset that needed to be adjusted.  And from what we've seen & heard it has.

 

I addition to his nagging injury I think we saw a bit of sugar rush Josh against KC.  That was a huge game and he seemed over hyped to me.  If he comes out riding a high it will not be due to the fans IMO (all 6,000 of them) but rather that it's a playoff game.  And as long as he gets past it by the 2nd quarter it won't have much of an impact beyond a couple of early punts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BuffBillsForLife]

I've been worried about this for weeks.  That said the Superbowl will have some amount of fans so I wouldn't want that to be the first game he plays with them 😉

[MDH]

I think its helped all offenses. There is a reason scoring is way up this year.

[Gen2]

I firmly believe that the development of a QB is as much a maturation process as it is a "learning the playbook" sort of thing. Josh's first two years I would assume he has learned the playbook, and this year he's digging deeper into pre snap reads, post snap adjustments, and communicating those reads & adjustments to the rest of the team. IMHO Josh has been helped immensely by both the consistency within the organization and easier communications due to the lack of crowd noise (this year) .  

Edited January 8, 2021 by Gen2

[BuffaloBobs]

1 minute ago, MDH said:

I think its helped all offenses. There is a reason scoring is way up this year.

 

I think somewhere there was an analysis of the way that refs have been calling games to favor the offense too FWIW.

[msw2112]

I do think it helped Josh, but I also think it helped ALL QB's across the league.  Assuming it did help, I also think that he'll be fine when the full compliment of fans come back.  I believe he would have developed either way, but this may have helped him develop more quickly.  I also agree that some of Allen's best performances in the past - the Minnesota game as a rookie, several Miami games, the Dallas and Pittsburgh games last year, etc. were in front of fans and he did just fine.

[1ManRaid]

21 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

I mentioned this somewhere else yesterday.

 

Josh has said that he changed his pregame music this year from harder, pumped up rock and rap to smoother, more relaxed stuff like Sinatra. Helps him stay settled and cool. And he said he notices he starts much better now.

 

I'm a little worried that the fans at the game tomorrow will get our team a little too jacked to start.

 

Yeah, wouldn't want to be too jacked up, might accidentally blow them out by 40 and really reinforce our newfound reputation for being disrespectful and running up scores.

[The Frankish Reich]

8 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

I think it helped  him because he was able to shout  out directions/ blocking assignments easier.  His rapport with Diggs is extraordinary in one year and I think him being able to communicate easier with him helped build rapport quicker.

 

I would also say the lack of crowd noise let him focus and also didnt get him so excited as before.  He was under control pretty much through the entire year.

 

By next year a 4 yr guy he will be more a master of communication with his receivers and more in control of his emotions so he can use the excitement from the crowd to feed off of.

I think that's true around the NFL in general. Crowd noise when your team is on defense is used to create home field advantage by disrupting signal calling. But even the lower db crowd noise when your team is on offense makes it harder to change things at the line of scrimmage.

This may be sacrilege, but ... I liked it. I mean, I want crowds, I want noise, but I'm a little tired of the 120 db Seattle 12th man stuff or even the slightly lower Bills noise. Great offense is great football, particularly in the modern era where we no longer celebrate or even allow the "big hit" on defense.

[RoyBatty is alive]

5 minutes ago, MDH said:

I think its helped all offenses. There is a reason scoring is way up this year.

 

That and the officials which have, imo, followed the directive to call less penalties.

2 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I think that's true around the NFL in general. Crowd noise when your team is on defense is used to create home field advantage by disrupting signal calling. But even the lower db crowd noise when your team is on offense makes it harder to change things at the line of scrimmage.

This may be sacrilege, but ... I liked it. I mean, I want crowds, I want noise, but I'm a little tired of the 120 db Seattle 12th man stuff or even the slightly lower Bills noise. Great offense is great football, particularly in the modern era where we no longer celebrate or even allow the "big hit" on defense.

 

Great post and I agree.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

23 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

I mentioned this somewhere else yesterday.

 

Josh has said that he changed his pregame music this year from harder, pumped up rock and rap to smoother, more relaxed stuff like Sinatra. Helps him stay settled and cool. And he said he notices he starts much better now.

 

I'm a little worried that the fans at the game tomorrow will get our team a little too jacked to start.

 

He said in a number of interviews last year that he listened to Elvis and so forth last year, not hopped up rock.  So I don't think this is a "this year" change.

 

I think the difference is upstairs.   Last year after the NE game when Josh "got religion" that he needed to work more on decoding NFL defenses and their confusing coverages, he worked hard to prepare before the game but I think he went into a lot of them with the feeling "I hope the preparation was enough".   I think he worked very hard during the off season to improve there, and then "leveled up" in his pre-game prep even more after the Titans and KC games.  So now he goes into games with the feeling "let's see what they've got for me and if it's something I haven't seen before we'll figure it out".

 

Preparation makes a huge difference to nerves for many, if not most, people.

 

The other factor, I believe, is that whereas before Allen felt it's on him, he's got to be amped up and give it his all to make it happen, right now it's starting to seep into his pores that he's got a team around him and all he has to do is give them the chance to make a play.

 

 

[Einstein's Dog]

I agree with most JA was already on an excellent improvement trajectory.  The combination of factors lack of crowd/officiating helped all QBs/Offenses.

 

I think the person who most benefited was Bass.  It seemed like a great way to develop a rookie K.  Bass' troubles were early and seemed a little pressure related.  Now  he has the hang of things and will slowly integrate crowd pressure into the mix.

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

He said in a number of interviews last year that he listened to Elvis and so forth last year, not hopped up rock.  So I don't think this is a "this year" change.

 

 

 

 

I mean, he just said it in a recent interview so... 🤷‍♂️

 

Maybe Elvis IS hopped up rock to him compared to Sinatra.

[BillsFan619]

32 minutes ago, Irv said:

I'm wondering if the empty stadiums helped Josh this year.  Maybe helped him change plays, see a little better against a solid backdrop.  Maybe without the crowd he didn't get too hopped up?  Before you ask:  Yes. I am working from home and....no, I don't have anything better to think about.  And, yes, I do need to get a life. 

Like others, I’ve definitely thought about this as well. I believe it could’ve played a factor.

 

That said, I think he’s grown, and it won’t be necessarily a factor down the road playing before the crowds again.

[The Wiz]

I'm more worried about myself than the crowd affecting Josh.  Can it be tomorrow already. 

[KGun12TD]

42 minutes ago, Irv said:

I'm wondering if the empty stadiums helped Josh this year.  Maybe helped him change plays, see a little better against a solid backdrop.  Maybe without the crowd he didn't get too hopped up?  Before you ask:  Yes. I am working from home and....no, I don't have anything better to think about.  And, yes, I do need to get a life. 

 

Kudos to you for covering all angles from getting destroyed by this board. To answer your questions, I think maybe partially. However, he still had to read the defenses and make the throws...

[The Frankish Reich]

11 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

He said in a number of interviews last year that he listened to Elvis and so forth last year, not hopped up rock.  So I don't think this is a "this year" change.

 

I think the difference is upstairs.   Last year after the NE game when Josh "got religion" that he needed to work more on decoding NFL defenses and their confusing coverages, he worked hard to prepare before the game but I think he went into a lot of them with the feeling "I hope the preparation was enough".   I think he worked very hard during the off season to improve there, and then "leveled up" in his pre-game prep even more after the Titans and KC games.  So now he goes into games with the feeling "let's see what they've got for me and if it's something I haven't seen before we'll figure it out".

 

Preparation makes a huge difference to nerves for many, if not most, people.

 

The other factor, I believe, is that whereas before Allen felt it's on him, he's got to be amped up and give it his all to make it happen, right now it's starting to seep into his pores that he's got a team around him and all he has to do is give them the chance to make a play.

 

 

Agreed. I'm not one of our All 22 obsessives (though I do enjoy their comments), but just watching the games this year: in his first two years we saw criticism of Allen's accuracy and also his inability to spot the open man. This year, I honestly can't recall a comment from anyone who knows their stuff about Allen throwing into coverage or getting sacked when there was an open receiver he failed to see.

[RyanC883]

it may of helped him to an extent, but there were away games with fans, and I think that would be a bigger determent.  I think he will be fine with fans.  I think if anything the D will benefit from having fans there.  Even if JA comes out too jacked up, McD and Diggs will be able to calm him down, and it generally results in overthrows from JA, so I'm not too worried, but a good topic.  

[billsfan1959]

I think his improvement is due less to the issue of fans (or no fans) and more to the hard work he has put in, more experience in the system (for Josh and his teammates), additional talent (Diggs), and more trust in those around him. He's a smart kid with a strong work ethic and an incredible desire to be better.

[Cheektowaga Chad]

I do think it helped him progress more than what he would have been able to with the crowd

 

Its provided the perfect atmosphere to train a young QB

 

[Doc Brown]

Yeah I do.  Just looking at the Bills record against the spread since Allen started there's a difference between the home and away games.  IMO, with a home crowd behind him that eagerness to please can make him play hero ball too often and gets him overly amped before a game impacting his accuracy.

 

Home: 2018-2019 (6-8)          2020 (6-2)

Away: 2018 -2019 (9-3-2)       2020 (5-3)

 

 

 

 

[Scott7975]

I think the hard work he puts in everyday, the addition of Diggs, and the third year in the same growing offense is where his improvement came from.

[HOUSE]

Zay Jone's empty locker helped him more

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

36 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

I do think it helped Josh, but I also think it helped ALL QB's across the league.  Assuming it did help, I also think that he'll be fine when the full compliment of fans come back.  I believe he would have developed either way, but this may have helped him develop more quickly.  I also agree that some of Allen's best performances in the past - the Minnesota game as a rookie, several Miami games, the Dallas and Pittsburgh games last year, etc. were in front of fans and he did just fine.

 

I agree here - makes it easier to get your playcalls in, and your hard counts are much more effective.  But a lot of the pre/post snap stuff isn't really affected by noise imo.

[BillsToast]

1 hour ago, Irv said:

I'm wondering if the empty stadiums helped Josh this year.  Maybe helped him change plays, see a little better against a solid backdrop.  Maybe without the crowd he didn't get too hopped up?  Before you ask:  Yes. I am working from home and....no, I don't have anything better to think about.  And, yes, I do need to get a life. 

 

It helped every QB across the board, the question is next year and if he continues the progress he's shown. There is still the possibility of regress from acclimation, but I still think there "aint no mountain high enough" for Josh....... Rosen

 

And get a life hahahaha j/k