Buffalo Bills: 2020-2021

[JujuFish]

7 hours ago, SwampD said:

People are stupid.

What has Josh done to prove he's a franchise QB?

 

That said, after Tyrod and a long line of Captains Checkdown, he is a breath of fresh air.

[Weave]

33 minutes ago, JujuFish said:

That said, after Tyrod and a long line of Captains Checkdown, he is a breath of fresh air.

Comfort with risk is entertaining.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

Comfort with risk is entertaining.

Depends on perspective.  Favre & Packer fans would agree.  The reporter he sent pictures to might not.

But, on the football field, your words are dead on. 

[SwampD]

5 hours ago, JujuFish said:

What has Josh done to prove he's a franchise QB?

 

That said, after Tyrod and a long line of Captains Checkdown, he is a breath of fresh air.

I suppose I should have used different language in my original post. You are right. He has not proved that. But he has absolutely proved that he has the potential to be a franchise QB. And isn't that all we really should expect after only not even 2 full seasons of play. He took the team to the playoffs with the worst receiving corp in the league.

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Depends on perspective.  Favre & Packer fans would agree.  The reporter he sent pictures to might not.

But, on the football field, your words are dead on. 

And Jim Kelly fans. People forget how many games we lost early in his tenure here because of an overconfident throw that led to a game ending interception. Favre did the same thing.

[That Aud Smell]

^
One pair of story lines I don’t quite get: (1) The Bills had a bottom of the barrel set of wide receivers last season. (2) The Bills have arguably the best set of (3) wide receivers this* season.

One or the other could be true, but not both. My guess is that neither is true.

[JujuFish]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

I suppose I should have used different language in my original post. You are right. He has not proved that. But he has absolutely proved that he has the potential to be a franchise QB. And isn't that all we really should expect after only not even 2 full seasons of play. He took the team to the playoffs with the worst receiving corp in the league.

We definitely didn't have the worst receiving corps in the league. Hell, we didn't have the worst in our own division.

 

But I agree that Allen has shown franchise potential. The Dallas game in particular sticks out to me. He showed up and played well against a decent team in a nationally televised game in which he was a considerable underdog.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, JujuFish said:

We definitely didn't have the worst receiving corps in the league. Hell, we didn't have the worst in our own division.

 

But I agree that Allen has shown franchise potential. The Dallas game in particular sticks out to me. He showed up and played well against a decent team in a nationally televised game in which he was a considerable underdog.

Doesn’t the chart that started all this kinda say that very thing.

[That Aud Smell]

5 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Doesn’t the chart that started all this kinda say that very thing.

I'm not sure what exactly that chart shows. The guy who posted it essentially said "take it with a grain of salt." As others pointed out in the replies: That chart encompasses more than just wide receivers. Also, that chart doesn't reveal how "drops" are being assessed. There's dropping a ball that Brees float-zip-dropped into your hands, and then there's dropping a ball that is technically catchable but was needlessly rocketed at or just above your head.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

^
One pair of story lines I don’t quite get: (1) The Bills had a bottom of the barrel set of wide receivers last season. (2) The Bills have arguably the best set of (3) wide receivers this* season.

One or the other could be true, but not both. My guess is that neither is true.

Absolute bottom of the barrel last year was an exaggeration, because they had a very good #2 that was forced into a #1 role & a very good slot WR; both of whom were smurfs.  They lacked a true #1 (now have Diggs), their depth was close to trash (maybe 1 of the rest of last years crew makes the squad as a WR rather than a returner, but at least 2 others are gone, replaced by the rookies with size), and the TEs were 2 rookies, a career backup who couldn't get on the field due to injuries, a glorified tackle that couldn't go a game without a penalty, & the owners' daughter's  boyfriend (pretty sure something about Ferris is supposed to be the next part of his description). 

There were worse receiving corps, but there were at least 20, and possibly more like 26 that were better.  If 2nd year guys & rookies play at even 85% of potential, this team's receiving corps is top 15 and quite possibly top 10.  We're looking at the same improvement from 2 years ago (which probably was THE worst in the league) over 2 seasons that we saw w/ the OL over 1.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

Absolute bottom of the barrel last year was an exaggeration, because they had a very good #2 that was forced into a #1 role & a very good slot WR; both of whom were smurfs.  They lacked a true #1 (now have Diggs), their depth was close to trash (maybe 1 of the rest of last years crew makes the squad as a WR rather than a returner, but at least 2 others are gone, replaced by the rookies with size), and the TEs were 2 rookies, a career backup who couldn't get on the field due to injuries, a glorified tackle that couldn't go a game without a penalty, & the owners' daughter's  boyfriend (pretty sure something about Ferris is supposed to be the next part of his description). 

There were worse receiving corps, but there were at least 20, and possibly more like 26 that were better.  If 2nd year guys & rookies play at even 85% of potential, this team's receiving corps is top 15 and quite possibly top 10.  We're looking at the same improvement from 2 years ago (which probably was THE worst in the league) over 2 seasons that we saw w/ the OL over 1.

I think it is important to note how bad the receivers have been. You don't end up as top in the league for drops multiple years in a row because you have good receivers. Also your point about the extra TE we carry for only one reason made me laugh. 

If Allen improves even a little and the drops go to league average, that will be a huge step up for this team. Also Brown and Beasley can slot in correctly with Diggs at the top of the pile. 

[tom webster]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I think it is important to note how bad the receivers have been. You don't end up as top in the league for drops multiple years in a row because you have good receivers. Also your point about the extra TE we carry for only one reason made me laugh. 

If Allen improves even a little and the drops go to league average, that will be a huge step up for this team. Also Brown and Beasley can slot in correctly with Diggs at the top of the pile. 

It’s not only the drops but the lack of contested catches. I remember Knox had a couple last year but when was the last time a Bills receiver made a “wow” catch. Every once in awhile you need those.

[nfreeman]

32 minutes ago, tom webster said:

It’s not only the drops but the lack of contested catches. I remember Knox had a couple last year but when was the last time a Bills receiver made a “wow” catch. Every once in awhile you need those.

I thought John Brown had a number of terrific plays last year.

Separately:  while I don't dispute the number of drops the Bills had, I think there was something either upthread or floating around elsewhere that essentially indicated that the high number of drops didn't translate into that much in terms of reduced scoring.

[tom webster]

2 hours ago, nfreeman said:

I thought John Brown had a number of terrific plays last year.

Separately:  while I don't dispute the number of drops the Bills had, I think there was something either upthread or floating around elsewhere that essentially indicated that the high number of drops didn't translate into that much in terms of reduced scoring.

Brown was terrific at getting open but I can’t remember a pass were he caught a ball that he should not have. He might have, but I don’t remember one.

[DarthEbriate]

18 hours ago, SwampD said:

And Jim Kelly fans. People forget how many games we lost early in his tenure here because of an overconfident throw that led to a game ending interception. Favre did the same thing.

Favre carried it through to the end of his career. Back in the day, Favre was fun, and simultaneously scary, to watch. Especially with the 4:3 aspect ratio he'd whip the ball off the screen before the camera could pan....   But often those big picks were effectively punts. 3rd and long, chuck it 40 yards downfield and hope there isn't much of a return.

[Eleven]

41 minutes ago, tom webster said:

Brown was terrific at getting open but I can’t remember a pass were he caught a ball that he should not have. He might have, but I don’t remember one.

Here's one:  https://www.buffalobills.com/video/highlight-john-brown-makes-one-handed-grab

He threw a good ball in the playoffs too!

[tom webster]

43 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Here's one:  https://www.buffalobills.com/video/highlight-john-brown-makes-one-handed-grab

He threw a good ball in the playoffs too!

Not bad but those have become rather routine. But I will give you that.

[#freejame]

15 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Favre carried it through to the end of his career. Back in the day, Favre was fun, and simultaneously scary, to watch. Especially with the 4:3 aspect ratio he'd whip the ball off the screen before the camera could pan....   But often those big picks were effectively punts. 3rd and long, chuck it 40 yards downfield and hope there isn't much of a return.

The good ol’ third down arm punt. I would like to see more of this from the Bills. 

[Tondas]

Ed Oliver arrested for DWI and a weapon.   Look, 22 year old kids make mistakes.  But, drunk with a pistol?  I can honestly say that I have done one of those crimes in my younger years (and you know my affinity for Marker's Mark bourbon), but never both.  With all the programs the NFL has, why.?  But, I guess a 22 year old black man may not feel or relate like the 58 year old white guy I am.  I may never feel the fear of a "random" traffic stop or the indignity of being followed in a shopping mall or the pain of one of my family and/or friends being arrested or even shot due to their skin color.  If so, I'm sure I'd have a much different perspective.  It just leaves me shaking my head and sad for Ed.  He seems like a good kid.  But why a 22 year old needs a pistol for protection (and I have no problem with the second amendment) is disappointing, but not surprising, unfortunately.  If Ed is a gun collector/enthusiast and merely left this pistol uncased in his car by mistake, I will gladly eat crow and apologize for this post (the gun part that is).

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/05/17/ed-oliver-arrested-for-dwi-unlawfully-carrying-a-weapon/

Edited May 17, 2020 by Tondas

[That Aud Smell]

The news about Oliver is discouraging, but not distressing.

The report implied that he may have been impaired by a substance other than alcohol. And he had an open container of beer in the car. Not great.

The pistol is hardly surprising. Not having it licensed is dumb.

[Pimlach]

Bad decisions by a 22 year old.   Open beer  while driving and an unregistered gun.   

The league will act but I expect that McDermott will take care of this his way. 

Edited May 18, 2020 by Pimlach

[tom webster]

Just another piece of the puzzle proving they have risen back to the top of the league. More great, high profile players increases the chance of this happening. There must be some analytics stat for this.

In all seriousness, he’s a 22 year old kid. In my day the dwi part was rather routine. Thankfully it’s not today.

[darksabre]

Really buying into the #BillsMafia culture eh? 

[Tondas]

Can't believe Kyle Williams is too happy about this.

[Eleven]

2 hours ago, Tondas said:

Can't believe Kyle Williams is too happy about this.

I would be absolutely *astonished* if I learned that Kyle Williams had never driven around in a truck with a gun in it, after having a few beers.

[darksabre]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

I would be absolutely *astonished* if I learned that Kyle Williams had never driven around in a truck with a gun in it, after having a few beers.

You can take the southerner out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the southerner. Seems like driving around with an unregistered firearm in the car is just the thing to do down there regardless of race, vocation, or economic status.