The mighty Bills from Buffalo will take the AFC this year.
For two decades I watched people say the Patriots window was closed, that their time was dwindling, that it was all over… seemingly every time those predictions happened, the Patriots went and won another Super Bowl.
A lot of doom talk simply because we lost to the Bengals in the playoffs. Let us not forget that the Bills watched their brother DIE on the field just a few weeks prior. Their heart was simply not in it. If it had been, the Bills would have captured the AFC last year.
The Bills have won 2 of their last 3 in Arrowhead and they’re ready to make it 3 of the last 4.
Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar:
I'm not buying lack of weapons as an excuse. Allen's had solid weapons for several years now, and better weapons than Mahomes the last two years. Plus he's always supported by a top defense.
Last year he had Kincaid/Diggs/Knox/Davis/Shakir/Cook, along with good tackles and a solid all around OL. The fact that fans complained about a lack of weapons only proves that Allen isn't nearly the "Superman" he's said to be.
When I say 'inappropriate weapons,' I'm not talking about the relative talents of his WRs. It's a fact that he didn't have a running game the last couple seasons. The OL was a part of that, but empirically they didn't run the ball effectively with the journeyman RBs they had, unless Josh ran the ball consistently.
They didn't seem to know how to use Kincaid very well. Gabe Davis turned out to be their version of MVS. Fast, but not reliable.
On top of all of that, their OC didn't seem to know his job.
Their season turned around last year after they fired that guy and started running the ball more consistently. A large percentage of that was Josh taking off more often, iirc. Another piece was basically using Diggs as a decoy, or so it seemed, considering his yards/gm went from 80+ to 40/gm.
And that was a seachange from how he approached the game since Diggs became a Bill. At the beginning and until half-way through last season, Josh just found Diggs and threw it at him; he didn't really have a plan B. Sometime after they fired their first OC, Josh started to consistently find other receivers. And they ran the ball a lot more consistently. I think that was a big part of their success in the last half of the season.
All of that said, I never said Josh was Superman. Obviously at the start of his career he was an incredible athletic talent with a 10-cent head. I think he's progressed from that, but I still believe he's not near Pat in terms of football IQ. To me, he's kind of Cam Newton with a much better arm.
The question this season will be can he progress beyond Cam Newton level football IQ, or no. Because they won't have Diggs to create problems for defenses. No more double teams or rolling coverage towards Diggs, leaving everyone else 1v1. Defenses will be able to come at him with more disguises and different looks.
it'll be interesting to see how he handles it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Rainbarrel:
Allen is 28 now. He going to have to freeze some of his eggs. If he wants to lay them in some Buffalo Super Bowls
Right about that age where running QB's start to drop off from all the beating. I know Allen is as big or bigger than most but collisions have consequences... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
Meh. Lamar was always questionable as far as being a pocket passer. Josh can play from the pocket. I don't think he's elite in that regard, but compared to Lamar he's Steve Young.
Josh's problems have been he has a defensive HC with an insecurity problem, and a lack of appropriate weapons. For a few years Diggs was his security blanket, but then Diggs started to meltdown or whatever happened. Last year Josh's OC found ways to win without Diggs, so I'm guessing he's matured enough that he doesn't need a top-10 WR anymore to bail him out every other play, the way Tua or Hurts do.
We'll see how far Josh has come this season when defenses no longer have to commit double-teams on Diggs.
Josh has had better weapons then lamar most of their career, even last year he had more offensive help while Lamar got further, it's no more excuses
It's expected for the bengals to be contender and there most likely losing higgins, elite qbs elevate their offense [Reply]
