Alright, so I usually do my post-game recap right after the game, but I needed a couple days to decompress after this one and re-watch it. This won’t be your usual game recap. It’s more of a sentiment towards Josh Allen and this Buffalo Bills team, while also highlighting some glaring problems. Buckle up because this one’s a read.
The Buffalo Bills beat the Los Angeles Rams 35-32 on Sunday thanks to a 3 yard TD pass from Allen to tight end Tyler Kroft with just 15 seconds left in the game. I think I felt the ground shake throughout Erie County as Bills’ fans erupted with elation.
I’m as excited as anyone. The Bills beat a good 2-0 Rams team to move to 3-0 on the season and Josh had another MONSTER 5 TD game…but we should have never been in a position that we needed a last minute score. We had a 21-3 lead at half and 28-3 (which is now the worst lead in Football) early in the second half. Then the Rams scored 29 (TWENTY FUCKIN’ NINE) unanswered points in a 15 minute stretch to take a late 32-38 in a game they were down in for over 3 quarters.
That’s something that truly elite teams CANNOT let happen. Yes, we got the win. Yes, we looked like the best team on the planet in the first half, but there is cause for concern. Whether it be coaching adjustments that take our foot off the gas pedal, conditioning issues or that we get too comfortable with a lead; but we are flat out a different team in the second half of games under McDermott.
In Week 1 against the Jets we were outscored 14-6 in the second half, 18-14 by the Dolphins in Week 2 and 29-14 this last Sunday. You see the trend yet? It’s infuriating. With the high caliber offenses that are commonplace in today’s NFL, you have to keep your foot on their throats and BURY teams out of halftime with a lead. Stop getting cute at half and changing the game plan to be more conservative after successful first halves because, news flash, other coaches are good at adjusting too (*cough* McVay *cough*). We are far too reliant on our defense to close out games at times and end up wearing them out which puts the offense now in a poor position and under a lot of pressure.
Thank the heavens we have Josh Allen then, right? The Buffalo Bills always have a chance to win down a score late and the ball in our quarterback’s (giant) hands. He delivered on that again yesterday. Allen in 30 career starts, has 10, yes 10, game winning drives. That’s already good for 17th (tied) most in the NFL’s modern era, not bad for a 24 year old in the early stages of his third season.
That really is encouraging from a young signal caller who EVERYONE outside of Buffalo (and Adam Schein) doubted.
The first half for Allen was jaw dropping. I was ready to crown him MVP at halftime after making a myriad of smart, skilled passes. He showed great composure on the first TD drive, having two TD passes called back and executing on 4th-and-goal to hit Lee Smith (Yeah, the glorified RT playing TE that loves penalties, Lee Smith) for a 1-yard score to give us the lead ate in quarter one.
Allen ramped things up in the second quarter and really started to fluster the Ram’s secondary. The 39-yard throw to Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis at the sideline between defenders was a thing of beauty. Then three straight QB designed runs (which included a cool jets sweep option I’d like to see more of) by Allen get us in the end zone and up 14-0. The next Bills’ drive Allen hits Beasley with an absolute rope to the Rams’ 4-yard line followed up with a lob to a wide open Kroft for the score. You could see Josh really reading the field at this point, finding targets outside of Stefon Diggs and John Brown, who were the focus of LA’s secondary.
Halftime comes and the Bills lead the Rams 21-3
The Bills started the second half off well, with Allen hitting his favorite new toy Stefon Diggs for a short score to put us up 28-3 at this point. I thought this one was over and the Rams would rollover and play dead.
I was SO wrong.
The following drives went as followed:
- Rams TD (Bills 28-10)
- Phantom INT (this was not an interception, not being a homer for the Bills, that was EGREGIOUS officiating, Mike Pereira was even flustered)
- Rams TD (Bills 28-17)
- Bills punt
- Rams TD and 2 point conversion (Bills 28-25)
- Allen fumble, Donald recovers
- Rams TD to take their first lead with 4:30 remaining (Rams 32-28)
Just ABYSMAL play by the offense in this stretch, but more importantly, the defense. To allow a team to score 29 unanswered points in the second half is not only embarrassing, but it really showed some potentially big problems in the defense that’s supposed to be a juggernaut this season.
I can’t avoid saying it, this was Tremaine Edmunds worst game as a Buffalo Bill since early in his rookie season. He was over pursuing almost every play, missing or making ineffective tackle attempts and did a poor job of filling in the gaps (our gap integrity this whole game STUNK) between the lines that allowed Darrell Henderson Jr. to run rampant on us. It was a bad look for the captain of our defense who might have rushed back to play from injury.
The secondary showed that it’s not short of problems too. Rams’ QB Jared Goff was consistently getting the ball out quick to his receivers on short routes. This allowed them to create havoc after the catch and our defense was just flat out sloppy trying to adjust. Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are no slouches, but we’ve come to expect more out of this secondary. Tre White looked pedestrian again, Levi Wallace had a nice INT but still isn’t back to his form of last year and Taron Johnson was really only an asset against the run. This unit NEEDS to have more discipline and awareness. Josh Norman should be back from IR soon and we have rookies Came Lewis and Dane Jackson itching for some snaps. DC Leslie Frazier’s play calling in the second half was questionable as well, some of the coverage left us extremely vulnerable in the flats and sidelines.
In the same timeframe, almost as much blame can be passed on Josh Allen. He was erratic and lost almost all composure for a majority of the second half. It didn’t help that he had Rams’ defensive tackle Aaron Donald in his face every other play (Fuck Brian Winters, we need Feliciano back) but he was a shell of his first half form.
Josh Allen losing composure, his forcing of throws under pressure and being out of rhythm in the second half is a problem. I think it’s a combination of toned down offensive play calling when we have a lead, him trying to do too much and questioning himself when something bad happens. It’s an absolute rollercoaster with him at times. Throws he will makes on the first read earlier in a game, he will then second guess and screw up when the pressure of a close game starts to creep up on him. It’s something a young QB can definitely improve on, but it’s going to make it hard to win meaningful games against good teams if it continues this season.
I would be remiss not to bring up the INT that should have never been called and that definitely was a blow to Allen and the offense’s confidence and momentum. I mean, it’s a ball Josh should have never thrown, but Kroft went up and made the catch and an awful call negates that. Funny Allen’s only INT on the season is a completion to his own receiver…but shit happens.
Then down four points, needing a score with less than five minutes on the clock, the MVP-caliber Josh Allen we saw in the first half pulled himself out of the mud. Allen started feeding Cole Beasley (including a crucial conversion on third and 22), stood up to pressure of Aaron Donald in his face and did whatever he could possibly do to win this game. Finding himself on a fourth & 8 from the Rams’ 13…and an incompletion…BUT WAIT! Buffalo gets a makeup call by the refs with questionable defensive pass interference on Gabriel (not Gabe) Davis that gave us a first down on LA’s 3-yard line. A collective sigh of relief rang out through WNY.
That’s when Josh Allen said “fuck it” to the previous 15 minutes of collapse and hit Tyler Kroft on a crossing route for the game winning TD with just 15 seconds on the clock to put the Bills ahead 35-32.
While his overall performance was, for lack of a better term, a rollercoaster; Allen showed us the first two games were no fluke but that there is still room for improvement. He was maybe the best QB in the world the first half, a complete train wreck (get it!?) who lost all composure and confidence for a majority of the second half and then back to the resilient, play making QB we’ve come to know and love that final drive. He wants to win more than anyone else on the field. I mean the man avoided a sack by grabbing a defenders facemask and using him as a shield, absolutely manhandling him. That’s just ridiculous, although it was a penalty.
So I’m ready to say it, Josh Allen is a top 5 QB in the NFL right now and probably the favorite for MVP behind Russell Wilson through 3 games. Trying to think of who I would take over him right now (age a major factor) it would probably only be Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson for sure. Then I go back and forth with guys like Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow and Deshaun Watson and I think I would take Allen over almost all of them.
He’s excelled on the ground, through the air, extending plays and executing Brian Daboli’s offense. His ball distribution has been fantastic and he takes advantage of all the weapons in his arsenal. Allen is reaching the point he’s the one elevating guys around him and not the other way around.
Through 3 games, Allen’s stats are STAGGERING.
- Record: 3-0 -T1st
- Accuracy: 81/114 (71.1%) – 7th
- Passing Yards: 1038 – 2nd
- Passing TD: 10- 2nd
- Interceptions: 1 – T1st
- Rating: 124.8 – 2nd
- Rushing Yards: 84 – 7th
- Rushing TDs: 2 – T3rd
….Yeah, that’s legit MVP level play. The thing that stands out the most to me honestly isn’t the touchdowns, but the completion %. A jump from 52.8% his rookie season to 58.8% last season was nice…but 71.1% so far this season exceeds my highest expectations of Allen’s accuracy coming into this season. It’s only a 3 game sample size, but if Allen can hover around 70% this year that would be just incredible. I can’t leave out the fact he’s scoring touchdowns at an elite level as well (12 total in 3 games). Brian Daboli has done an awesome job catering the playbook to Josh Allen too. We’ve run either 11 or 10 personnel sets (3WR or 4WR, a spread offense) at a crazy high rate which has opened up the field for Allen and his weapons.
Allen’s development has given all of #BillsMafia legitimate hope for immediate and future success of the Bills. I think we can finally relax knowing we have our franchise quarterback after years of being on edge with uncertainty at the position.
I no longer regret trading back in the 2017 draft for Tre’Davious White and “passing” on Patrick Mahomes. I drive down the street and see “Allen/Diggs 2020” signs all over Buffalo. I see national media and fans of rival teams coming out in support of Allen, admitting they were wrong. Most importantly, we go into Sunday every week with a real shot to win against any competition now.
So come hop aboard the Josh Allen hype train if you haven’t already folks. Bills Mafia is welcoming and the most fun, passionate fan base there is. This team and it’s young QB are legit and ready to bring us back to the glory days. Just make sure you submit your apology forms first.
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-MereKat (@Merekatkat) #BILLIEVE