Very good write-up on Josh Allen and the Bills this postseason

[Simon]

Thought this was an accurate and well-done article with some telling video embedded

 

The ups and downs of Josh Allen's hyper-aggressive style, and where the Bills go from here

 

 

 

[jethro_tull]

The Dolphins are a talented team that know us very well.  I fully expected a close game.  

[3rdand12]

Yep
that about covers it

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

This may seem trite but the transcendent athletes in every sport all break the mold.  Josh's best game comes with about twice as many mistakes as the average QB and about 5 times as many highlight reel plays.  Can he improve on his decision making?  Yes.  But only to a point because the risk taking is in his DNA somewhere.  Let Josh be Josh.  

[JohnNord]

28 minutes ago, Simon said:

Thought this was an accurate and well-done article with some telling video embedded

 

The ups and downs of Josh Allen's hyper-aggressive style, and where the Bills go from here

 

 

 

I read this earlier today.  Chris did a great job with the write-up. Hoping they really make balancing his decisions a focal point this week

[Solomon Grundy]

Shady McCoy continues to "Speak" highly of Josh. On his show today he says he thinks Josh plays to the level of his competition and that he's not worried about his play. Also said that McDermott is a no nonsense type coach and will communicate with his team without being direct/confrontational. 

[Magox]

I agree with what Trapasso is saying which I was making a similar point in another thread.   
 

The Bills had almost completely abandoned the deep pass throughout their win streak and suddenly emerged with lots of success in the New England game.   I’ve been clamoring for it to re-emerge in the playoffs and am very happy to see they went after it in a bigly way against the Dolphins.

 

Could and should he have taken some shallower options against them, perhaps yes but I definitely don’t want to see it scaled back in any sort of a meaningful way provided we have 1 v 1 matchups with no safety help.

 

There is no QB in this league that compares with Josh in his ability to push the ball down the field with the velocity and strength he does and he’s accurate as well.

 

If the Bills are going to win the Super Bowl then they are going to have to let Josh be who he is which is a down the field passer who can kill you with both his legs and arm.

 

I expect a lot of Josh runs from here on out.

[oldmanfan]

A very good article.  My daughters and I talk before every game about needing the good Josh vs. the bad.  The article I think correctly shows how we get the good and bad Josh in each game. Certainly more good than bad most of the time, but the bad is what will lose playoff games.

 

The other thing the article suggests is that Dorsey’s play calls and designs give Josh shorter options, but sometimes he chooses not to use them.  When Daboll was around I can recall him screaming at Josh for bad decisions.  Maybe Dorsey should.

 

One last thing.  The author correctly describes how we don’t have the same overall WR depth, O line quality, or offensive imagination as other teams.  All the more reason why our record is incredibly impressive.

[CincyBillsFan]

Nice review of the Allen show.  My only quibble is that unlike in 2018 & 2019 when Allen would often be responsible for getting sacked this season the pass blocking at times is bad and exposes Allen to pressure right off the snap.

 

From the article this sums it up very well IMO:
 

In an offense not as imaginative as Kansas City's nor as deep at receiver as Cincinnati's with an offensive line not as sturdy as Philadelphia's or San Francisco's, Buffalo's coaches and Allen have decided to explore every possibility afforded by the bazooka attached to the right side of his body and the ultra-aggressive style in his DNA. 

 

[K-9]

32 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

This may seem trite but the transcendent athletes in every sport all break the mold.  Josh's best game comes with about twice as many mistakes as the average QB and about 5 times as many highlight reel plays.  Can he improve on his decision making?  Yes.  But only to a point because the risk taking is in his DNA somewhere.  Let Josh be Josh.  

Which is why I’m totally OK with him going deep when he sees Cover-0. It’s there for the taking and he just needs to hit a couple to damage an opponent. That said, there are times and situations where the more prudent play is to move the chains, get a few first downs, give your D a rest, and burn some clock. But I’ll never get mad at Josh for it, either. 

[jahnyc]

Very insightful and thoughtful analysis.  I thought this quote really sums up why things are the way they are with Josh and the Bills:

 

With an average blocking unit, Stefon Diggs, and a solid but inconsistent support cast beyond the elite receiver, this is what an offense is going to look like with Allen at quarterback. He's doing what is most sensible in his mind to elevate this Bills team -- sling rockets, often, all over the field, even if doing so is a little dangerous. 

 

I don't think most people outside of fans of the Bills realize how dependent the offense and team are on Josh.  He is the most gifted QB I have ever seen play.  In the quote above, I think we can quibble about the use of the word "solid" to describe the supporting cast beyond Diggs.  Not sure if that is true.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

Which is why I’m totally OK with him going deep when he sees Cover-0. It’s there for the taking and he just needs to hit a couple to damage an opponent. That said, there are times and situations where the more prudent play is to move the chains, get a few first downs, give your D a rest, and burn some clock. But I’ll never get mad at Josh for it, either. 

 

Agreed.  I was thinking of an analogy to baseball earlier today.  Modern analytics have shown that teams actually score quite a few more runs by embracing a higher variance strategy of hitting more home runs and striking out more, which is counterintuitive to the classic strategy of having a couple power hitters and filling out the rest of your lineup with guys who will hit singles, bunt, steal bases, hit and run, etc.  Old hats still consider the latter to be the "right" way to play the game but statistics show it doesn't actually work.  

 

Of course, even within that paradigm, there come plenty of game situations where it's best not to swing for the fences.  Runner on 2nd and nobody out in a tie game?  Yeah, move him over to 3rd.  Just like Josh probably shouldn't have thrown those two bombs down the sideline when we wanted to chew clock midway through the 4th quarter.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

17 minutes ago, Magox said:

I agree with what Trapasso is saying which I was making a similar point in another thread.   
 

The Bills had almost completely abandoned the deep pass throughout their win streak and suddenly emerged with lots of success in the New England game.   I’ve been clamoring for it to re-emerge in the playoffs and am very happy to see they went after it in a bigly way against the Dolphins.

 

Could and should he have taken some shallower options against them, perhaps yes but I definitely don’t want to see it scaled back in any sort of a meaningful way provided we have 1 v 1 matchups with no safety help.

 

There is no QB in this league that compares with Josh in his ability to push the ball down the field with the velocity and strength he does and he’s accurate as well.

 

If the Bills are going to win the Super Bowl then they are going to have to let Josh be who he is which is a down the field passer who can kill you with both his legs and arm.

 

I expect a lot of Josh runs from here on out.

 

 It disappeared because he was injured. He only played 1 series vs Cincy before Damar's injury and game stoppage. Sometimes good things come from tragic events and this was one of them. Josh got his cannon back.

 

 Now he needs to start running because this offense is almost unstoppable once he commits to taking off. 16-2 when Josh rushes 10 times or more. Run Josh run! GO BILLS!!

 

 

[Beck Water]

48 minutes ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

This may seem trite but the transcendent athletes in every sport all break the mold.  Josh's best game comes with about twice as many mistakes as the average QB and about 5 times as many highlight reel plays.  Can he improve on his decision making?  Yes.  But only to a point because the risk taking is in his DNA somewhere.  Let Josh be Josh.  

 

The real concern (IMO) are the strip sacks and the beating Josh took while trying to run.  Strip sacks are particularly dangerous because they're a lucky bounce away from becoming 6 points for the other team.

[ganesh]

18 minutes ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Nice review of the Allen show.  My only quibble is that unlike in 2018 & 2019 when Allen would often be responsible for getting sacked this season the pass blocking at times is bad and exposes Allen to pressure right off the snap.

 

From the article this sums it up very well IMO:
 

In an offense not as imaginative as Kansas City's nor as deep at receiver as Cincinnati's with an offensive line not as sturdy as Philadelphia's or San Francisco's, Buffalo's coaches and Allen have decided to explore every possibility afforded by the bazooka attached to the right side of his body and the ultra-aggressive style in his DNA. 

 

I think there is a failure on Dorsey's part to use James Cook in this offense.   Disagree that we don't have talent at these positions.  We may not have superstars at each of the position, but together they form a very diffcult to defend bunch.   Knox, Singletary and Davis are no pushovers when they are together.   The sum is greater than the individual part for the Buffalo Bills.  Go Bills !

 

Dorsey needs to be creative to get James Cook more touches. Good things will happen

[HardyBoy]

Remember the 2nd dolphins game McDaniels when asked why they didn't keep running and he said something along the lines of you need to be careful falling into a trap of a defense getting you out of your identity by making things seem easy? 

 

Feels a bit like Allen fell into that trap yesterday. The dolphins knew the only real chance they had was blitz and not necessarily sack Allen, but hope he'd try and take deep shots and they could get lucky on a string of incompletions, which is what happened.

 

Singletary likely has a 60 yard catch and run for a td if Allen looked off the first read there for a second.

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

2 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I think there is a failure on Dorsey's part to use James Cook in this offense. think there is a failure on Dorsey's part to use James Cook in this offense.   Disagree that we don't have talent at these positions.  We may not have superstars at each of the position, but together they form a very diffcult to defend bunch.   Knox, Singletary and Davis are no pushovers when they are together.   The sum is greater than the individual part for the Buffalo Bills.  Go Bills !

 

Dorsey needs to be creative to get James Cook more touches. Good things will happen

 

 I have been pounding the table for a month about this. Cook ended up tied for 14th in 20+ yard runs by a RB this year with only 89 carries. The next lowest of the RBs tied or ahead of him was 176 carries, twice what Cook had.

 

 For an offense looking for dynamic players outside of Josh & Diggs, I would love to see some plays with Cook & Hines in the backfield together. You instantly add a ton of speed to the offense. Give defenses something else to deal with.

 

 

 

[Coach Tuesday]

1 minute ago, HardyBoy said:

Singletary likely has a 60 yard catch and run for a td if Allen looked off the first read there for a second.

Yup that was a monster play that didn’t happen.  You want Allen to start to feel those outlets.  Teams basically give those throws to the Bills because they know Allen will likely ignore them.  There HAS to be a balance between easy first downs and keeping the threat of the long ball.

[VaMilBill]

The dump off to singletary on that second video probably results in a 49

yard gain. Josh has got to look down to the checkdown more often. We all saw James Cook wide open in the flats against the patriots numerous times last week too and no targets there

[Solomon Grundy]

41 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

 

One last thing.  The author correctly describes how we don’t have the same overall WR depth, O line quality, or offensive imagination as other teams.  All the more reason why our record is incredibly impressive.

I remember when the Bills were first courting Smoke Brown, he was considered to be a good route runner with speed. I'm wondering why when teams are playing Cover 0 against us Brown, Diggs and Davis aren't on the field together? Brown clearly still has the wheels to go deep with Diggs and Davis on the intermediate routes. 

[Big Blitz]

No one has any idea what to expect.  
 

Love it. 

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, Simon said:

Thought this was an accurate and well-done article with some telling video embedded

 

The ups and downs of Josh Allen's hyper-aggressive style, and where the Bills go from here

 

 

 

This is AWESOME, @Simon. Related, go to the discussion of the bills in the bill barnwell podcast here — it starts at around the 23 minute mark: 

 

 

[Punching Bag]

Quote

But in a totally off-the-rails wild-card win over the Dolphins, we essentially got the entire Allen experience -- seven sacks, three fumbles, two picks, and seven big-time throws. The only thing missing was a hurdle of a linebacker. 

 

We are also missing him receiving a pass and stick arming through a defense player for a TD,

 

I wonder if Josh can punt.  Bills appear to be going for it on 4th and 16 and he backs up and punts it when no one on defense is expecting it and Brown runs down field and downs it in end zone.

[97bills]

13 minutes ago, LOVEMESOMEBILLS said:

 

 I have been pounding the table for a month about this. Cook ended up tied for 14th in 20+ yard runs by a RB this year with only 89 carries. The next lowest of the RBs tied or ahead of him was 176 carries, twice what Cook had.

 

 For an offense looking for dynamic players outside of Josh & Diggs, I would love to see some plays with Cook & Hines in the backfield together. You instantly add a ton of speed to the offense. Give defenses something else to deal with.

 

 

 

I don’t think Dorsey can draw up those plays , the season almost over and he’s done nothing exotic. I think that’s one reason Allen has so many turnovers defense have a bead on us , 

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

1 minute ago, 97bills said:

I don’t think Dorsey can draw up those plays , the season almost over and he’s done nothing exotic. I think that’s one reason Allen has so many turnovers defense have a bead on us , 

 

 I agree. Daboll always would call some trick plays or misdirection plays when defenses got ultra aggressive. I don't believe Dorsey has called a single trick play. I always loved it when Daboll would have a WR option pass. He knew just when to call it, it always seemed to work.

 

 

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, oldmanfan said:

A very good article.  My daughters and I talk before every game about needing the good Josh vs. the bad.  The article I think correctly shows how we get the good and bad Josh in each game. Certainly more good than bad most of the time, but the bad is what will lose playoff games.

 

The other thing the article suggests is that Dorsey’s play calls and designs give Josh shorter options, but sometimes he chooses not to use them.  When Daboll was around I can recall him screaming at Josh for bad decisions.  Maybe Dorsey should.

 

One last thing.  The author correctly describes how we don’t have the same overall WR depth, O line quality, or offensive imagination as other teams.  All the more reason why our record is incredibly impressive.

 

Allen lobbied hard for Dorsey.  Have to wonder if it's a situation where he wanted him for the job, but still thinks they are in the same relationship as they were last year as his QB coach who'd kind of make suggestions, give him him a pat on the back and understand him.  He doesn't really respect him as a boss.  He's not knowingly trying to disobey him, just figures things are like they were last year.

 

I relate it to situations you sometimes see in office environments where a bunch of people who worked together, all got along well as peers.  Then one of them gets promoted to boss, but the others just continue to see him as their buddy and peer.

 

Assuming the Bills don't win the SB, would McD replace him or just sit down with him and tell him, this year was your one mulligan, you were inexperienced.  I'm giving you one year to figure things out, else next year you're gone

[Wraith]

12 minutes ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

Allen lobbied hard for Dorsey.  Have to wonder if it's a situation where he wanted him for the job, but still thinks they are in the same relationship as they were last year as his QB coach who'd kind of make suggestions, give him him a pat on the back and understand him.  He doesn't really respect him as a boss.  He's not knowingly trying to disobey him, just figures things are like they were last year.

 

I relate it to situations you sometimes see in office environments where a bunch of people who worked together, all got along well as peers.  Then one of them gets promoted to boss, but the others just continue to see him as their buddy and peer.

 

Assuming the Bills don't win the SB, would McD replace him or just sit down with him and tell him, this year was your one mulligan, you were inexperienced.  I'm giving you one year to figure things out, else next year you're gone

I think you are massively under rating the offense under Dorsey. His job is not at risk. The offense under Dorsey this year was much much better than last year under Daboll. 

[Mark92]

I've said it for about 3 years now.  Josh Allen reminds me of Brett Favre.  Live and die by his style of play.  He will usually make a crazy play but sometimes.... 😩. Take for example the end of the half TD to Cook in the Patriots game at New England.  He totally waisted 8 seconds running around with 2 timeouts left and no shot at a field goal.  Yet he tossed across his body and found Cook for the TD.  I love the kid though and would follow him to hell and back.  

Edited January 17, 2023 by Mark92

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 minute ago, Wraith said:

I think you are massively under rating the offense under Dorsey. His job is not at risk. The offense under Dorsey this year was much much better than last year under Daboll. 

 

If that's the case people on this board surely have a strange way of showing they agree with that.  Granted not that posters here are exactly experts on NFL play calling even though we think we are.

[Juice_32]

There have been stretches over the past 3 years where Josh has been really good at taking the check down. It makes me wonder if the Daboll to Dorsey switch has something to do with over aggressive Josh returning. Dorsey is a known maniac.

[ganesh]

11 minutes ago, Mark92 said:

I've said it for about 3 years now.  Josh Allen reminds me of Brett Favre.  Live and die by his style of play.  He will usually make a crazy play but sometimes.... 😩. Take for example the end of the half TD to Cook in the Patriots game at New England.  He totally waisted 8 seconds running around with 2 timeouts left and no shot at a field goal.  Yet he tossed across his body and found Cook for the TD.  I love the kid though and would follow him to hell and back.  

He is OUR Quarterback !  Go Bills !

[AlfaBill]

Maybe it’s just me but I absolutely despise the sugar high Josh moniker. I find it insulting. 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 hours ago, JohnNord said:

I read this earlier today.  Chris did a great job with the write-up. Hoping they really make balancing his decisions a focal point this week

No one is asking Josh to stop the go routes. Just be smart enough to take the shorter routes, if for no other reason than to keep the defense honest.  

Edited January 17, 2023 by LABILLBACKER

[Eastport bills]

I love these empty suits who come out of the woodwork to criticize Josh for being prone to mistakes after a couple of picks that were really avoidable if Smoke and Beasley made plays on the ball. The strip sack was on him and he owned it as he always does. The anti-Bills sentiment gets expressed in picking apart Josh’s penchant for throwing the ball downfield to much. Do we remember all the QBs the last 2 decades that average 7 or 8 yds an attempt. The thing that gets overlooked is that Josh puts up huge numbers and always finds a way to win. He plays down to the level of lesser teams sometimes,(Jets,Vikes,Dolphins)and rises to the challenge of good teams(LA,KC,Balt,Tenn, Detroit, NE) Pick against him at your own peril. The rest of the schedule are the best teams.

[Beck Water]

13 hours ago, Limeaid said:

 

We are also missing him receiving a pass and stick arming through a defense player for a TD,

 

I wonder if Josh can punt.  Bills appear to be going for it on 4th and 16 and he backs up and punts it when no one on defense is expecting it and Brown runs down field and downs it in end zone.

 

Well.....apparently Burrow was seen practicing punts before the cancelled Bills game

[NORWOODS FOOT]

13 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

You want Allen to start to feel those outlets.  Teams basically give those throws to the Bills because they know Allen will likely ignore them.  There HAS to be a balance between easy first downs and keeping the threat of the long ball.

 

This exactly.

 

Besides needing to draft more offensive talent, this is where the Bills (Josh) can improve the most.

 

Checking down will keep drives alive, keep the opposing offense off the field, lead to more time of possession, AND open up more deep passes. 

 

Love Josh. Want him to take the next step in smart quarterback play. If we are going to beat elite teams consistently this is what it's going to take. He needs to be a bit more Brady and less Farve.

[clayboy54]

I laugh when fans say, "this will never work against the best teams." Christ, we are THE best team, with the very best QB. What are you even talking about?

Edited January 17, 2023 by clayboy54

[Scott7975]

Dorsey's initial comments kind of apply to this topic

 

 

[Fan in Chicago]

16 hours ago, Simon said:

Thought this was an accurate and well-done article with some telling video embedded

 

The ups and downs of Josh Allen's hyper-aggressive style, and where the Bills go from here

 

 

 

Pretty much on point. We can accept that shorter plays are being given up in favor of deep shots and that is to come with the Allen territory. But, I would like to see one issue see "fixed" immediately - turnovers. Cut them down to, say, 1 per game and we will win it all. 

[Eastport bills]

2 hours ago, NORWOODS FOOT said:

 

This exactly.

 

Besides needing to draft more offensive talent, this is where the Bills (Josh) can improve the most.

 

Checking down will keep drives alive, keep the opposing offense off the field, lead to more time of possession, AND open up more deep passes. 

 

Love Josh. Want him to take the next step in smart quarterback play. If we are going to beat elite teams consistently this is what it's going to take. He needs to be a bit more Brady and less Farve.

Always could have been more efficient, smarter, check down more. For 2 decades we couldn’t get out of our own way. Finally we are winning divisions, achieving the home field thru the playoffs, beating the best teams in the conference and our record setting QB must “take the next step in smart QB play “. Only 8 WINS in a row. This is why most QBs don’t own turnovers. It’s always “we have to play better “, not Josh. On two picks, both should have been either caught (Beasley) or knocked down (Smoke), Josh took full responsibility. That left short fields and Miami took advantage. How many “smart” QBs throw for 3 TDs and 354 yds, scoring 34. We’re playing the divisional rd at home, favored by 5 against the hottest team in football. Why would Vegas think a team with a QB that” needs to take the next step in smart QB play “ could win against the Bengals?