Allen and sacks this season

[dave mcbride]

3 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

Imo it's more instructive to look at last season as an aberration than the norm

 

We had an unheard of negative play avoidance rate last yr. Now that it's come back down to earth we are experiencing more typical offensive production wrt our personnel/scheme

Allen had the lowest sack rate in 2023 too.

[90sBills]

1 minute ago, Sojourner said:

Your guess is as good as mine. He’s getting older and he’s absolutely essentially for any future success. Limiting as much of that as possible might be the reason?

 

Who knows if that’s something the coaches have even asked him not to do? We’ve seen less designed runs for Josh but a large portion of his best was always scrambles. This year the scrambles are more often than not too late and getting wrapped up as he’s about to get out of the pocket or he’s extending it for a potential pass downfield. 

The Atlanta game was the first time I noticed Allen looked slow. I’m not sure if he has lost a step or is not in the same physical shape as prior seasons but it was noticeable to me just watching on TV. 

[Sojourner]

Just now, Yobogoya! said:

 

The play where he ran around for about 100 yards and 20 seconds like a madman behind the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball seemed like the culmination of him being pretty sick and tired of no one being open, lol. 

Well there was the play in the Panthers game where he was running around back there playing chicken with what? 3 or 4 defenders before Nic Scourton got his first sack of the year. 
 

Something’s off. Coaching asks, Josh himself or lack of talent. Very sad to see our guy be less as impactful with his legs. 
 

The use of Josh on the ground always had a dedicated defender to account for him and him alone. That always helped. 

1 minute ago, 90sBills said:

The Atlanta game was the first time I noticed Allen looked slow. I’m not sure if he has lost a step or is not in the same physical shape as prior seasons but it was noticeable to me just watching on TV. 

Maybe like @Yobogoya! said… he’s just sick and tired lol

[GoBills808]

Just now, dave mcbride said:

Allen had the lowest sack rate in 2023 too.

Different offense for half a season tho

 

i really believe it's just less favorable game script and more tape on Brady than anything. We're not as fortunate w the bounces this yr so defenses are being put in better positions where previously we've been able to keep ahead of them. Snowball effect if you will

[Livinginthepast]

Its definitely on this terrible crew of receivers. People are not really getting open unless the play breaks down. Bizarrely they make a real effort when that happens. 4 years ago we had several people who got open right away: Brown, Beasley, Diggs and Davis. There was always an option. Now there isnt. Josh also seems to have lost a bit of the confidence in taking off and running with it so there is that split second of hesitation which I think is resulting in more sacks. Did the coaches caution him on running?

[harmonkillebrew]

I mean, it's not like the WR issue is brand new and we're just grossly speculating. The board has been calling on Beane to get Josh more weapons for years now.

Ever since they let Beasley, Smoke and Sanders go and we realized Gabe wasn't good enough, we've been calling for it. Then they went and traded away Diggs and let Gabe walk. They traded down multiple times and got no one's favorite WR Keon Coleman, who showed no ability at the college level to separate. Last year was a dumpsterfire at WR, leading them to blow a 3rd on a Cooper for half a season. Now this past offseason, they sign Palmer, who has never been better than a 3rd option and say Keon is going to make a leap.

The WR problem has been obvious for years, so when Josh and the O are struggling now and there is no one open to throw it to, it's not exactly a big surprise

[ScotSHO]

1 hour ago, Artful Dodger said:

 

But did the Bills have any more wide receiver talent last year than they do this year?  They lost the guy who liked to play in bare feet and eat with his hands and picked up a couple of JAG's, but other than that, it's pretty much the same.  

I think the coaching staff believes they have regressed, and that's all that matters.  They have changed the way they attack defenses in response by eliminating the position.

 

Personally, I think the WR room has severely regressed:

- Shakir is the same at <10 yard targets.

- Coleman looks lost, not an NFL talent.

- Samuel is slowing down.

- Moore is not explosive or fast (think of the McKenzie role).

- Shavers is Hollins - a great blocker minus the getting open & catching the ball part.

- Palmer is Cooper - he can get open, but will miss half the season before it's over.  Plus Cooper could run a 9 route, Palmer can't.

 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Sacks are really bad. Usually, they are drive killers. Luckily for the Bills, Josh Allen is really good at avoiding sacks. Like, REALLY good. And it's not as if he's lost a step. Yet he is being sacked at a very high rate this season: 7.1 percent, his highest rate since 2019. His offensive line is both very good and healthy, so I'm not blaming either him or the line. At any rate, note the rates in the last column below. He led the league in 2023 with the lowest sack rate, yet was even better last year: a ridiculously low 2.82 percent. Derek Carr was somehow the league leader but he missed nearly half the season, so I'm giving the crown to Allen. That means he basically led the league two years in a row at being the best QB in avoiding sacks. His sack rate this year is perhaps the strongest indictment there is of wide receiver talent and passing game design. Jeff Ulbrich taught the league that you can relentlessly blitz Allen (which the Dolphins did yesterday) without a ton of fear given the wide receiver talent and (possibly; I don't know enough) the passing game scheme. With regard to scheme, is Allen not being given answers in blitz situations? He used to absolutely DESTROY blitzes. Not this year.

 

i’m seeing a lot of coverage sacks against Allen which is directly the result of bad receivers. 

[bigK14094]

appears to me that Allen is being instructed not to run sometimes.  He did not run once in the first half against Miami, seemed to be leashed.  They are trying to make force JA into the role of pocket passer. they let him run in the second half. He needs to go when he smells an opening, and is hanging in to long.  They are messing w his style.  This doesn't in any way oppose the argument the the wideouts are weak as a group.  shakir is fine, after that not much.  Coleman is big, not fast, and unreliable.  He snagged one td yesterday and had another one he couldn't get to on the deflection.  Those contested balls were supposed be his thing, but that isn't working out.

[SoonerBillsFan]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

Sacks are really bad. Usually, they are drive killers. Luckily for the Bills, Josh Allen is really good at avoiding sacks. Like, REALLY good. And it's not as if he's lost a step. Yet he is being sacked at a very high rate this season: 7.1 percent, his highest rate since 2019. His offensive line is both very good and healthy, so I'm not blaming either him or the line. At any rate, note the rates in the last column below. He led the league in 2023 with the lowest sack rate, yet was even better last year: a ridiculously low 2.82 percent. Derek Carr was somehow the league leader but he missed nearly half the season, so I'm giving the crown to Allen. That means he basically led the league two years in a row at being the best QB in avoiding sacks. His sack rate this year is perhaps the strongest indictment there is of wide receiver talent and passing game design. Jeff Ulbrich taught the league that you can relentlessly blitz Allen (which the Dolphins did yesterday) without a ton of fear given the wide receiver talent and (possibly; I don't know enough) the passing game scheme. With regard to scheme, is Allen not being given answers in blitz situations? He used to absolutely DESTROY blitzes. Not this year.

 

When all you have to do is load up against our run game and go after allen, his sack numbers are going to go up

[Nuncha]

Dawkins quit on a play yesterday and it led to Josh being sacked.  The dude just stopped blocking.  Not sure what his issue was, maybe the heat got to him.  It was late in the game.