Stevie Johnson interview by Dunne

[PoundingDog]

I like the two points he made. 

 

First, he mentioned something he had with Fritz where Fritz gave him a Y sign, meaning a fade or slant of his choosing. This is the kind of trust a QB and a WR had which is very difficult to defend as it is outside of a normal play structure. For Allen, the only person I think he had that trust was Beasley and at the height of it, you feel like easy money on the table (undefendable) EVERY SINGLE time for 6 yards  --  Allen to Beasley. Mahomes have that with Kelce his entire career in NFL - just think of that for a moment! I don't know Keon is going to be that guy even if he develops. I thought Kincaid could be that guy when he was drafted but after 3 years I'd say no, and that is not because of his injuries. Shakir is not either. And THAT is what we call easy buttons for Allen, not necessarily deep ball threat.

 

Second, Stevie casually mentioned that Allen's pass to Knox at the end of the Denver game was something not all QBs can make because a hand in his face. I'm guilty of blaming Allen on that play. But NFL players know, like Stevie as a former player. It shows why Allen is considered the top top QB in NFL, but I also think from the other side, the lack of Bills D making plays like that on QBs like Nix, which may not show on stats sheet but really impacts the outcome of the game.

 

 

[T.E.]

It's insane that we have not been able to replicate the quick slant to Beasley with Shakir. It's right there on the table, and they just choose not to run it.

[KentuckyBillsFan]

Honestly, the missed throw to Hardman was by far worse than the throw to Knox. Hardman was wide open. Maybe he should've caught it but that's just a throw that has to be made more accurately.

 

Oh well, it is what it is.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Who’s Fritz? 😁

[DrDawkinstein]

Who TF is FRITZ???

 

8 minutes ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

Who’s Fritz? 😁

 

lol exactly

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, PoundingDog said:

I like the two points he made. 

 

First, he mentioned something he had with Fritz where Fritz gave him a Y sign, meaning a fade or slant of his choosing. This is the kind of trust a QB and a WR had which is very difficult to defend as it is outside of a normal play structure. For Allen, the only person I think he had that trust was Beasley and at the height of it, you feel like easy money on the table (undefendable) EVERY SINGLE time for 6 yards  --  Allen to Beasley. Mahomes have that with Kelce his entire career in NFL - just think of that for a moment! I don't know Keon is going to be that guy even if he develops. I thought Kincaid could be that guy when he was drafted but after 3 years I'd say no, and that is not because of his injuries. Shakir is not either. And THAT is what we call easy buttons for Allen, not necessarily deep ball threat.

 

Second, Stevie casually mentioned that Allen's pass to Knox at the end of the Denver game was something not all QBs can make because a hand in his face. I'm guilty of blaming Allen on that play. But NFL players know, like Stevie as a former player. It shows why Allen is considered the top top QB in NFL, but I also think from the other side, the lack of Bills D making plays like that on QBs like Nix, which may not show on stats sheet but really impacts the outcome of the game.

 

 

I don’t know.  Former QB’s Chase Daniel and Dan Orlovsky said that it’s a throw Josh can make and he is going to want that throw back.   
 

I’m the answer is somewhere in the middle 

[dave mcbride]

17 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

I don’t know.  Former QB’s Chase Daniel and Dan Orlovsky said that it’s a throw Josh can make and he is going to want that throw back.   
 

I’m the answer is somewhere in the middle 

He had to avoid a sack there too and there was a defender bearing down on him from the rear. You absolutely 100 percent cannot take a sack in that situation. A rushed incompletion is way better than that.

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, PoundingDog said:

 

 

Second, Stevie casually mentioned that Allen's pass to Knox at the end of the Denver game was something not all QBs can make because a hand in his face. I'm guilty of blaming Allen on that play. But NFL players know, like Stevie as a former player.

Yeah this was brushed over by a lot of people but that was a tough throw and Knox still likely wouldnt have scored.


 

 

[MJS]

1 hour ago, T.E. said:

It's insane that we have not been able to replicate the quick slant to Beasley with Shakir. It's right there on the table, and they just choose not to run it.

They instead chose Coleman to be the one to run slants occasionally, although I don't think they've done that in awhile. I remember one time the ball bounced off Coleman for an INT.

[JohnNord]

18 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

He had to avoid a sack there too and there was a defender bearing down on him from the rear. You absolutely 100 percent cannot take a sack in that situation. A rushed incompletion is way better than that.

I’m just sharing what former NFL QB’s said about the situation.   It was a golden opportunity 

[dave mcbride]

9 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

I’m just sharing what former NFL QB’s said about the situation.   It was a golden opportunity 

No doubt. It's a play that could have been made, but it was higher difficulty than it initially appears. The funny thing is that I doubt Knox scores there. I assume he gets tackled at the 1 or 2 yard line (which happens so often to him anyway). They would have had no timeouts with around 13 seconds to go. That gives you probably one and maybe two quick shots at the EZ (sacks can't happen), and for safety's sake it's probably one play if there's any sort of scrambling on play one (i.e., a 6-second play). That is, unless you want to risk it on a last play and go for the win instead of a tie.

22 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Yeah this was brushed over by a lot of people but that was a tough throw and Knox still likely wouldnt have scored.


 

 

Hadn't seen this when I wrote the above. Yes, I doubt he scores there. Also, how many times has Knox been tackled between the goal line and the two? I remember a few such plays.

Edited February 4 by dave mcbride

[T.E.]

15 minutes ago, MJS said:

They instead chose Coleman to be the one to run slants occasionally, although I don't think they've done that in awhile. I remember one time the ball bounced off Coleman for an INT.

Coleman seems like he should be used exclusively for 50/50 balls downfield and in the endzone. It seems obvious and yet...

[The Wiz]

2 minutes ago, T.E. said:

Coleman seems like he should be used exclusively for 50/50 balls downfield and in the endzone. It seems obvious and yet...

Because for him, 50/50 has been like 10/90 in success rate.

[reddogblitz]

24 minutes ago, Einstein said:

Yeah this was brushed over by a lot of people but that was a tough throw and Knox still likely wouldnt have scored.

 

Yeah maybe it was a hard pass. Just the kind of pass I would expect a reigning MVP QB, best QB in the NFL, with a chance to get to the AFCCG with a good pass to make.  

 

Look, I love Josh, but enough with the excuses.  He had the chance to win the game but choked and made a bad pass just like he did vs the Eagles to a wide open Shakir.  Can we not just admit that?

 

He was off all year off and on. I just hope he can get his head screwed on straight for next year.

[Figster]

Having referred to S J when it comes to Keon Colemans development it was good to hear Stevie's perspective. More importantly, it was good to know Coleman is hearing it.

 

I agree, lack of targeting for Coleman to get on the same page with 17 is key. It's also what's been missing.

 

Great interview IMO.

[JohnNord]

27 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

No doubt. It's a play that could have been made, but it was higher difficulty than it initially appears. The funny thing is that I doubt Knox scores there. I assume he gets tackled at the 1 or 2 yard line (which happens so often to him anyway). They would have had no timeouts with around 13 seconds to go. That gives you probably one and maybe two quick shots at the EZ (sacks can't happen), and for safety's sake it's probably one play if there's any sort of scrambling on play one (i.e., a 6-second play). That is, unless you want to risk it on a last play and go for the win instead of a tie.

Hadn't seen this when I wrote the above. Yes, I doubt he scores there. Also, how many times has Knox been tackled between the goal line and the two? I remember a few such plays.

I don’t think it’s as long of a shot as you are projecting.  Josh had made that throw before and I bet if he’d have another chance he hits him.  Also I wouldn’t bet that goes down before the goal line.  He had a chance 

[Doc Brown]

8 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

Yeah maybe it was a hard pass. Just the kind of pass I would expect a reigning MVP QB, best QB in the NFL, with a chance to get to the AFCCG with a good pass to make.  

 

Look, I love Josh, but enough with the excuses.  He had the chance to win the game but choked and made a bad pass just like he did vs the Eagles to a wide open Shakir.  Can we not just admit that?

 

He was off all year off and on. I just hope he can get his head screwed on straight for next year.

It's somewhat refreshing to actually say that Allen did have an impact on us losing again.  Find me an all time elite all time QB that didn't have a bad playoff game.

[Bermuda Triangle]

10 minutes ago, reddogblitz said:

 

Yeah maybe it was a hard pass. Just the kind of pass I would expect a reigning MVP QB, best QB in the NFL, with a chance to get to the AFCCG with a good pass to make.  

 

Look, I love Josh, but enough with the excuses.  He had the chance to win the game but choked and made a bad pass just like he did vs the Eagles to a wide open Shakir.  Can we not just admit that?

 

He was off all year off and on. I just hope he can get his head screwed on straight for next year.

He could have, and maybe should have, made that pass.  But ignoring the fact that the dude had a broken bone in his foot kind of seems like bad faith.

 

Someone else pointed out that the incompletion to Hardman was worse.  Romo said that Hardman was supposed to have flattened that route out.

 

Ideally, he's not throwing his two most important passes of the season to late-season waiver wire pickups.

[sven233]

6 hours ago, Bermuda Triangle said:

He could have, and maybe should have, made that pass.  But ignoring the fact that the dude had a broken bone in his foot kind of seems like bad faith.

 

Someone else pointed out that the incompletion to Hardman was worse.  Romo said that Hardman was supposed to have flattened that route out.

 

Ideally, he's not throwing his two most important passes of the season to late-season waiver wire pickups.

 

Yeah.....that Hardman throw was completely on Hardman.  Allen is throwing to a general spot , but Hardman, because of him rounding off the route instead of just cutting like Allen was expecting, threw to landing spot of the ball off just enough.  In the NFL, the little things matter and I have no doubt a legit NFL WR that runs crisp routes makes that catch easily.  

 

PS.  On top of the poor route he ran, man.....he sure didn't show any desire or urgency to lay out and make the play anyway either.  But it goes to your point.....we shouldn't be throwing the most important balls of the season to Hardman and Knox.  We should have some real weapons that can actually make a play for Allen once in a while instead of it being pretty much 100% the other way around at all times.  You watch all these other Playoff games and there are spectacular catches left and right on balls that are off the mark.  We just never get one of those.  Heck, we struggle getting plays when the balls are on the mark!

Edited February 5 by sven233

[stevewin]

3 hours ago, PoundingDog said:

I like the two points he made. 

 

First, he mentioned something he had with Fritz where Fritz gave him a Y sign, meaning a fade or slant of his choosing. This is the kind of trust a QB and a WR had which is very difficult to defend as it is outside of a normal play structure. For Allen, the only person I think he had that trust was Beasley and at the height of it, you feel like easy money on the table (undefendable) EVERY SINGLE time for 6 yards  --  Allen to Beasley. Mahomes have that with Kelce his entire career in NFL - just think of that for a moment! I don't know Keon is going to be that guy even if he develops. I thought Kincaid could be that guy when he was drafted but after 3 years I'd say no, and that is not because of his injuries. Shakir is not either. And THAT is what we call easy buttons for Allen, not necessarily deep ball threat.

 

Second, Stevie casually mentioned that Allen's pass to Knox at the end of the Denver game was something not all QBs can make because a hand in his face. I'm guilty of blaming Allen on that play. But NFL players know, like Stevie as a former player. It shows why Allen is considered the top top QB in NFL, but I also think from the other side, the lack of Bills D making plays like that on QBs like Nix, which may not show on stats sheet but really impacts the outcome of the game.

 

 

That was cool to see.  Stevie was my son's favorite player during that time.  A few years ago we were in town for a game and my son found out that Stevie was signing at some sportswear memorabilia store.  He went down there with his Johnson jersey and got it signed.  Said no one was there so he talked with him for a bit - said extremely cool guy