Allen 2020 stats (MVP in any other year): 69.2% comp, 7.9 YPA, 107.2 Passer Rating, 46 TDs, 16 TOs (End of season talk starts pg 6)

[Nanker]

We could be watching one of the greatest Bills team of all time. 

[Beer__League__Hockey]

32 minutes ago, Ann said:

I just thought he looked so much better last night. After a pretty poor first half, the halftime adjustments were a marvel. And that last drive where they controlled the play for 7+ minutes to end the game? What a series.
 

The Thurman lead Bills closed out games like that routinely.  These guys are learning quickly!

 

13 minutes ago, Nanker said:

We could be watching one of the greatest Bills team of all time. 

 

They are worthy of a “tear the goalposts down” celebration. We will see how this shakes out.  I told everyone that last year was our 1988 year, maybe this will be our 1990 year.

[transplantbillsfan]

10 hours ago, Ann said:

I just thought he looked so much better last night. After a pretty poor first half, the halftime adjustments were a marvel. And that last drive where they controlled the play for 7+ minutes to end the game? What a series.
 

 

The first half was poor offensively, but there were 2 throws I thought Gabe Davis should have caught (including that one on the sideline that he just couldn't keep both feet in) combined with Knox learning to hold onto the damn ball that would have made the 1st half not nearly so poor.  There were a couple other passes to Knox I thought he could have caught (including the one the DB got flagged for DPI) that he just didn't.

 

I'm also a little annoyed about some of the dialogue about the interception.  Watching GMFB this morning, Schrager said "Josh Allen threw a bad interception in the 1st half" and then went on raving about how he didn't let that get him down.

 

The truth was that interception had nothing to do with a bad decision or bad accuracy.  Allen's arm got hit by Heyward.  That's the entire reason that ball was intercepted.  If his arm weren't hit, it looked like Diggs might have scored a TD.

[transplantbillsfan]

I posted this tweet again because Joe B Makes commentary on it in his post-game reflection:

https://theathletic.com/2259667/2020/12/14/bills-steelers-josh-allen/

2) The unheralded, yet critical play to secure the win

The Bills’ passing offense woke up in the third quarter and helped extend the lead to 16 points. The Steelers then answered with a touchdown drive to pull within eight points in the fourth quarter, making the Bills’ ensuing drive a vital one to close out the game. After one first down, the offense started to unravel. The offensive line allowed two straight pressures that forced Allen to get the ball out of his hands too quickly. Each of his throws, on first and second down, went past his intended target. Two incompletions later, it was 3rd-and-10 from the Bills’ own 47-yard line. There were still over 10 minutes left in the game, so a failed third-down attempt would have given the Steelers the ball back with a chance to tie the game.

 

Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll got Isaiah McKenzie onto the field and split him out to the far right of the formation. On the same side of the field, but on the inside of McKenzie, were Diggs and tight end Dawson Knox. With the Steelers in man-to-man coverage, Daboll had both Diggs and Knox run short routes to the boundary to create traffic for McKenzie to run a short crossing route and, ideally, enough separation to get a first down. The route was there immediately and Allen got ready to throw the ball, but left guard Ike Boettger lost control of his pass-blocking assignment and Allen had to tuck the ball and side-step the pressure. After neutralizing the threat, Allen climbed the pocket and still found McKenzie, who then gained 12 yards for the first down. If Allen doesn’t have the presence of mind to reset and climb the pocket and then make an accurate throw, the Steelers likely would have gotten the ball back within five plays with plenty of time left on the clock. Instead, Allen and McKenzie made a play, and the Bills got down the field and kicked a field goal to pad their lead even more.

[Fansince88]

4 minutes ago, transplantbillsfan said:

I posted this tweet again because Joe B Makes commentary on it in his post-game reflection:

https://theathletic.com/2259667/2020/12/14/bills-steelers-josh-allen/

2) The unheralded, yet critical play to secure the win

The Bills’ passing offense woke up in the third quarter and helped extend the lead to 16 points. The Steelers then answered with a touchdown drive to pull within eight points in the fourth quarter, making the Bills’ ensuing drive a vital one to close out the game. After one first down, the offense started to unravel. The offensive line allowed two straight pressures that forced Allen to get the ball out of his hands too quickly. Each of his throws, on first and second down, went past his intended target. Two incompletions later, it was 3rd-and-10 from the Bills’ own 47-yard line. There were still over 10 minutes left in the game, so a failed third-down attempt would have given the Steelers the ball back with a chance to tie the game.

 

Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll got Isaiah McKenzie onto the field and split him out to the far right of the formation. On the same side of the field, but on the inside of McKenzie, were Diggs and tight end Dawson Knox. With the Steelers in man-to-man coverage, Daboll had both Diggs and Knox run short routes to the boundary to create traffic for McKenzie to run a short crossing route and, ideally, enough separation to get a first down. The route was there immediately and Allen got ready to throw the ball, but left guard Ike Boettger lost control of his pass-blocking assignment and Allen had to tuck the ball and side-step the pressure. After neutralizing the threat, Allen climbed the pocket and still found McKenzie, who then gained 12 yards for the first down. If Allen doesn’t have the presence of mind to reset and climb the pocket and then make an accurate throw, the Steelers likely would have gotten the ball back within five plays with plenty of time left on the clock. Instead, Allen and McKenzie made a play, and the Bills got down the field and kicked a field goal to pad their lead even more.

Last night truly was a thing of beauty. 

[TtownBillsFan]

On 12/9/2020 at 7:31 AM, BuffaloHokie13 said:

I should've also included media darling Kyler Murray too!

I love Kyler, and hell, love me some Baker, being an OU guy.  And I wanted Buffalo to get Baker in 2018.  I don't think I'd trade JA for ANY QB in the league right now, and likely not in the next 15 years, to be honest.  His arm is THE strongest in the game today, and very likely one of the strongest to ever play (I know, high praise, but really, have you seen what he can do on the run - it's almost ludicrous!)  Yeah, everyone loves Mahomes.  He's clearly a stud.  But would JA be as good in KC, or would Mahomes be as good in Buffalo?  I don't think either would be what they are, if not where they are.  JA has absolutely BLOOMED in Buff, once we got a good-to-great set of WR (can we get an awesome TE, next, please!!!!)  I think every QB will look a bit better if they have Kelce-level TE play, and Tyreek Hill is just a super-stud.  And when you have Sammy as a 2nd or third, I think JA is still doing more, with only slightly less.  Give us back Brown, and we have similar (or better 1-2-3 WR).  But dang it, Kelce is just a dream for any QB.  If Knox could grow hands similar to Kelce, GAME OVER! 🙂

 

[TtownBillsFan]

21 hours ago, Nanker said:

We could be watching one of the greatest Bills team of all time. 

Ugh, give me a Bruce on the other side, and THEN we're talking.  I DO think (short of a TE) we have the most talented (come on back, Smoke!) offense we've had in AGES!  Now, some of those O-lines we had during that time were just unheard-of-good.  But complete hats-off to Bobby Johnson and his staff for keeping an O-line with rotation going, as they have.  And I don't know who made the line adjustments in blocking scheme in the second half of the Squeelers game, but they deserve props out the whazoo!!!

 

But short of having a Bruce!!! and a Tally, I think we're doing well-awesome on D.  We have a better secondary (sorry, Kelso!, with love), but if we had a bad-things-man-Bruce level player, with a Spyder-man, THEN (but only then), can you compare.  I'm hoping several can pan out, but the beautiful part is, they're doing it as a team.  You can't afford a Bruce, if you want a really awesome secondary, which we have (much-love, Tre/Jordan/Micah/Wallace!  Gonna Miss you Taron!)

 

This might be, no, this IS the most well-rounded team since 90/91, no doubt!  And we CAN and WILL make the SB this year!!!!  The great this is, we are now set up to do this, for at least four consecutive years.  THIS TIME, we have a TEAM ready to WIN three or four in a row!!!

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by TtownBillsFan

[TtownBillsFan]

21 hours ago, BeerLeagueHockey said:

The Thurman lead Bills closed out games like that routinely.  These guys are learning quickly!

 

 

They are worthy of a “tear the goalposts down” celebration. We will see how this shakes out.  I told everyone that last year was our 1988 year, maybe this will be our 1990 year.

I'm LOATHE to say, in my reply below (or earlier), that I don't think;  hell, I know, TT is not on this team.  Thurmal was a SPECIAL RB.  His ability to run, block, AND catch passes was perhaps unmatched.  No, he wasn't Barry in running (only Barry and AD were close), but he could block better.  And his ability as a pass catcher was CRAZY for a RB.  I like our guys, but come on, we don't have TT on the team.  To say otherwise would be unfair to Thermal. 🙂

 

[Beer__League__Hockey]

4 hours ago, TtownBillsFan said:

I'm LOATHE to say, in my reply below (or earlier), that I don't think;  hell, I know, TT is not on this team.  Thurmal was a SPECIAL RB.  His ability to run, block, AND catch passes was perhaps unmatched.  No, he wasn't Barry in running (only Barry and AD were close), but he could block better.  And his ability as a pass catcher was CRAZY for a RB.  I like our guys, but come on, we don't have TT on the team.  To say otherwise would be unfair to Thermal. 🙂

 

Don't get me wrong, Singletary and Moss are no where near what Thurman could do - he was after all the NFL MVP in 91, and had a super long productive career for a RB.  And you're right, he could do it all.  And was asked to play way more snaps than a current RB does.  It's tough to compare the position to what they were expected to do in the 80s & 90s.  Be damned new age analytics.  

 

I was speaking more to the mindset of a complete offensive football team.  When you get the ball with a lead and 4-5 min left on the clock, you need to run the ball, bleed the clock, and suffocate the defense with boring 4 yard gains.  And they did that on Sun.  They'll need to do that a few more times this year, especially when the other team's offense is better than the dink and dunk Steelers.

[Alaska Darin]

1 hour ago, BeerLeagueHockey said:

Don't get me wrong, Singletary and Moss are no where near what Thurman could do - he was after all the NFL MVP in 91, and had a super long productive career for a RB.  And you're right, he could do it all.  And was asked to play way more snaps than a current RB does.  It's tough to compare the position to what they were expected to do in the 80s & 90s.  Be damned new age analytics.  

 

I was speaking more to the mindset of a complete offensive football team.  When you get the ball with a lead and 4-5 min left on the clock, you need to run the ball, bleed the clock, and suffocate the defense with boring 4 yard gains.  And they did that on Sun.  They'll need to do that a few more times this year, especially when the other team's offense is better than the dink and dunk Steelers.

It helps to have a passing game that you can be successful with at any time, from any formation.  After that first JA run was called back because of Morse's holding penalty, the next 3 plays were passes (9 yards to Diggs, incompletion, 16 yards to Knox).  It's just critical to have a real threat at QB AND a running game that must be respected.  One dimensional teams have a tough time closing out games.

 

The NFL is clearly a passing league now but the best teams have serious threats in the running game.  Pittsburgh might be the worst 11-2 team I've ever seen.  They can't run the ball, can't complete anything beyond 12 yards with consistency, and the middle tier of their defense is decimated by injuries.  They'll be lucky to win a playoff game.

[transplantbillsfan]

How about this year for Allen? Just unbelievable!

 

This was just one of those games for Allen. And if not for penalties, Allen would have had even more passing TDs!

 

Closing in on Kelly's passing TD record for Buffalo after breaking his total TD record last week. 

 

Closing in on 40 total TDs.

 

300 yard passing games are now routine.

 

Another game 70% completion percentage after throwing 40+ times.

 

It's stupid, but I wanted us to keep throwing it in the 4th quarter, but oh well.

 

With Allen at the helm, we'll  be competing for Super Bowls for the next couple decades if he can stay healthy.

 

And I sure do hope Diggs is healthy  🙏

 

[transplantbillsfan]

 

[transplantbillsfan]

 

[Doc Brown]

17 minutes ago, DC Tom said:

 

Listening to Bruschi talk about the Bills, he sounds like he's going to have another stroke.  He just can't deal with the Bills being good.

 

And his concerns aren't invalid.  Put Josh in a big game right now, put him behind by two scores, and does Juggernaut Josh turn into Sugar High Josh and start trying to do everything by himself?  It's a possibility.  But Bruschi is such a Masshole about it.

There was some prime time game (I think it was against us) where Bruschi came back to play his first game after his stroke.  The most nauseating fawning commentary I can remember not directed at Marsha. 

[Doc Brown]

Does Bra-dy automatically turn into Marsha?  If so, that's high level stuff from the mods.

[Nanker]

According to Pro Football Reference, Josh already has eight 4th quarter comebacks and 11 game winning drives. Have another stroke you &#%$in chowderhead Brewski. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm

 

4QC -- Comebacks led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter, with the team trailing by one score, though not necessarily a drive to take the lead. Only games ending in a win or tie are included.

GWD -- Game-winning drives led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter or overtime that puts the winning team ahead for the last time.

 

 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Nanker
Clarity

[Alaska Darin]

4 hours ago, Nanker said:

According to Pro Football Reference, Josh already has 84th quarter comebacks and 11 game winning drives. Have another stroke you &#%$in chowderhead Brewski. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm

 

4QC -- Comebacks led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter, with the team trailing by one score, though not necessarily a drive to take the lead. Only games ending in a win or tie are included.

GWD -- Game-winning drives led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter or overtime that puts the winning team ahead for the last time.

Tedy B. has always been a bit of a cement head.  Most of the national guy's entire exposure to the BILLS before the last couple of weeks was the KC game and that's where their "informed" opinion comes from.

 

They'll learn the hard way.

[Chandemonium]

On 12/23/2020 at 6:15 AM, Nanker said:

According to Pro Football Reference, Josh already has 84th quarter comebacks and 11 game winning drives. Have another stroke you &#%$in chowderhead Brewski. 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm

 

4QC -- Comebacks led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter, with the team trailing by one score, though not necessarily a drive to take the lead. Only games ending in a win or tie are included.

GWD -- Game-winning drives led by quarterback.
Must be an offensive scoring drive in the 4th quarter or overtime that puts the winning team ahead for the last time.

 

 

I just looked at the all time list. Josh is ahead of Mahomes in both those categories with one less year in the league, but you don’t hear anyone leveling that criticism at Mahomes. Granted, a lot of why Josh is ahead could be because KC has rarely trailed in the 4th quarter, but the same can be said for the Bills this year, as Josh’s comebacks/game winning drives have dropped from 5 last year to 3 so far this year. To tie in a theme from another thread, all of those games were before the bye. (Miami, Rams, New England).

Edited December 24, 2020 by Chandemonium

[Chandemonium]

Since I have time this morning, I’ll piggyback off my above post with the following:

 

In 2018, the Bills were tied or trailed in the 4th quarter in 13 games. 3 were comeback/GWD games for Allen, 10 were losses. The Bills finished 6-10.

 

In 2019, the Bills were tied or trailed in the 4th quarter in 11 games. 5 were comeback/GWD games for Allen, 6 were losses. The Bills finished 10-6.

 

In 2020, the Bills have been tied or trailed in the 4th quarter in 6 games. 3 have been comeback/GWD games for Allen, 3 losses. The Bills are 11-3. 
 

A couple things jump out at me here:

 

1) his first two years in the league, half the teams wins were due to Allen-led 4Q comeback/GWD. Not only has he shown he can do it, he was showing it before anyone outside of Buffalo thought he was or could be any good.

 

2) for all the fan griping about not putting teams away that we saw mostly earlier in the season, the Bills have half a seasons worth of games under their belt where they led the entire 4th quarter, with 2 games left. I’m not sure how that stacks up against the rest of the league, but I’m guessing it’s probably pretty good.

[Alaska Darin]

And in the Arizona game, JA left the field after his last drive with the lead.  I think video games and college football have wrecked people's perspective on sports.  The professional level of sport is just different.  There's a reason that a team like the Jets is able to beat the Rams when on paper there's almost no chance that should happen.  Games aren't played on paper and the rules are completely skewed to offensive success.

 

We have truly turned a corner because there isn't anyone who regularly watches the BILLS now who doesn't completely believe if we have the ball with under 2 minutes, needing a score, that we're not going to get it.  Compare that to the most recent QB, Tyrod Taylor, who was given exactly that opportunity at home against New England and predictably threw the game losing interception.