Manish: Josh Allen, Sam Darnold going in opposite directions; Bills quarterback is turning into star

[DonMaynardFan]

He is electrifying, mesmerizing and giving a figurative middle finger to anyone that doubted him. He is flawed and fabulous. He is getting better every second of every day.

Give credit where it’s absolutely due: Josh Allen has become one of the game’s most dynamic young quarterbacks, a 6-5, 237-pound tank of hope for the Buffalo Bills.

He is without question the best signal caller in the AFC East right now, scratching the surface of his world of potential.

Critics like yours truly initially couldn’t see past the raw ball of clay, pointing to things he couldn’t do at Wyoming rather than seeing what he could become in a stable environment.

Allen’s sub-par completion percentage and errant passes emboldened naysayers. They became paralyzed by his shortcomings. They couldn’t envision that he would work, adapt and improve at the next level.

They couldn’t believe that brilliance was all around him, too.

They couldn’t imagine that the Bills brain trust would foster such a solid setting to help Allen evolve during this critical stage of his development by bringing in as much help as possible.

Buffalo knew that asking a kid out of college to leap tall buildings in a single bound was unfair. It could cause irreparable damage to the player and organization.

The Bills knew that it would take a village. So, general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott built up Allen’s world by supplying him with protection and playmakers in a fast and efficient manner.

They created a manual on how to develop a promising young quarterback, trusting that offensive coordinator Brian Daboll would guide his pupil the proper way.

They didn’t strike gold on every decision, but the rope was pulling the right way so fast. They nailed a litany of moves that have the Bills in position to take over the AFC East for the foreseeable future.

The proof is staring all of us in the face.

Bills' Josh Allen has quietly shifted to the top of the AFC East.

Allen has grown so much since the Bills traded up to draft him with the No. 7 pick in 2018. The guy is far from perfect, but he’s made staggering improvements. There will be valleys along the way, but the arrow is pointing to the heavens.

Allen joined Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 700 passing yards, six touchdown passes and no interceptions in the first two weeks of a season. He set career-highs in passing yards in the first two weeks, rallying his team with a 417-yard, four-touchdown eruption in a come-from-behind win last week that earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Allen leads the league in passing yards (729) and ranks third in passer rating (122.9) and fifth in yards per attempt (9.0). His 70.4 completion percentage (eighth) is leaps and bounds better than his 57.7 career rate.

“He’s got ice water in his veins, man,” McDermott said. “There’s no moment too big for him. That was true from the very start when we got him here.”

Allen, frankly, is a killer. He exudes confidence. He plays with a fearlessness that makes teammates want to rally around him. He’s tougher than quantum physics.

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Allen’s athleticism made it easy to pick apart his game in the pocket. Critics were blinded by his ability to escape trouble with his feet. So, they viewed him as nothing more than a glorified running back. It was an easy trap.

Sure, Allen could beat you with his legs, but sooner or later, he would have to come through as a “real quarterback” to be taken seriously, right?

Well, that time has arrived.

Allen’s 54 total touchdowns and 21 interceptions have helped him go 17-13 as a starter.

He’s blossoming thanks, in part, to decision makers who added playmakers like Stefon Diggs. He’s evolving before our eyes as a passer even though he clearly has plenty of room for improvement in that area.

He’s far from a finished product. He’ll have some forgettable moments this season.

He’s still learning.

Allen ran entirely too much in the season opener against the Jets (12 runs and two kneel downs). The Bills would love if he could win consistently with his arm like he did against Miami in Week 2 (only three runs and one kneel-down).

However, Allen’s dual-threat powers makes him dynamic. Finding a happy medium is the next logical step.

A long season lies ahead, but no young quarterback has improved more and faster in the past two-plus seasons than Allen.

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“I’ve always played with a lot of confidence,” Allen said, “But as far as knowing our playbook, knowing protections... the comfortability of the offense, it’s really good right now.”

It’s really great right now.

In so many ways, Allen reminds you of a younger Cam Newton, who looks re-born in the early stages of his second act with the Patriots. Allen and Newton are a cut above the talented Sam Darnold, who has been tasked to carry a lost franchise, and veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick at the moment.

Allen landed with the exact right franchise and the exact right people at the exact right time. His ceiling touches the heavens. Critics like me owe him our sincerest apologies.

[DonMaynardFan]

I pasted the article so you don't have to click on his link, but here it is if you want it.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-josh-allen-20200925-wohah2rawratre2pmlepgbj3fm-story.html

[nico002]

Remember when Fitz opened with like 3 400 yard games in a row two years ago? I do. 

[slimjasi]

Allen looks good to me. The Diggs trade looks like a big, big win for that team. It's almost like WRs matter or something . . . hmmm. 

 

The only thing that still gives me pause about him is that I could see him being a concussion guy. He plays with a reckless abandon that I admire, but he takes a lot of big hits and already got one concussion last year. 

[The Crusher]

Slats be like....

 

[IndianaJet]

Hey man....he's not lying.  Allen has looked great the first two weeks.  Of course, it was agains the Jets and the Dolphins, but he's looked great.

This week will be a big test for him.  The Rams got some playmakers on defense.

[SAR I]

Let's see, the hype is about victories over the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.  LOL.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills have yet to beat an NFL team with a winning record with the sole exception of the perennially 9-7 pre-Tannehill Tennessee Titans.

Chiefs
Patriots
49ers
Seahawks
Steelers

Wake me later in the season if the Bills beat one of them.  Until then, they're just another wannabe who can beat the scrubs and can't beat the elites.

SAR I

[pdxgreen]

So who did Manish steal his quotes from this time?

[freestater]

[Icer]

A broken clock is right twice a day.

[Mogglez]

This isn't a Josh Allen forum.

Stop making threads about Josh Allen.

[varjet]

We should all be happy for Josh Allen.  He works hard, has a good HC, OC and GM, and they are unequivocally building around him.  

All things that the Jets did not do, and are not doing, for Sam Darnold, even though out of college people thought Darnold was much better.

Josh Allen has elite physical skills.  I said from the beginning that he was McDermott's and Beane's Cam Newton.  Lots of similarities.

They have a window now while Josh is inexpensive and he his not hurt yet.  They are taking advantage of it.

The Jets are not, mostly because the roster and cap space was too damaged by Maccagnan and they made a bad HC/OC hire.  

[Lurker89]

1 minute ago, varjet said:

We should all be happy for Josh Allen.  He works hard, has a good HC, OC and GM, and they are unequivocally building around him.  

All things that the Jets did not do, and are not doing, for Sam Darnold, even though out of college people thought Darnold was much better.

Josh Allen has elite physical skills.  I said from the beginning that he was McDermott's and Beane's Cam Newton.  Lots of similarities.

They have a window now while Josh is inexpensive and he his not hurt yet.  They are taking advantage of it.

The Jets are not, mostly because the roster and cap space was too damaged by Maccagnan and they made a bad HC/OC hire.  

[Irish Jet]

40 minutes ago, SAR I said:

Let's see, the hype is about victories over the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.  LOL.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills have yet to beat an NFL team with a winning record with the sole exception of the perennially 9-7 pre-Tannehill Tennessee Titans.

Chiefs
Patriots
49ers
Seahawks
Steelers

Wake me later in the season if the Bills beat one of them.  Until then, they're just another wannabe who can beat the scrubs and can't beat the elites.

SAR I

The Dolphins have looked good.

[jetstream23]

23 minutes ago, Icer said:

A broken clock is right twice a day.

 

Our clock has no hands....kinda like our wide receivers.

[SAR I]

22 minutes ago, Irish Jet said:

The Dolphins have looked good.

At home in September, the Dolphins always look good, it's a major homefield advantage.  And the Jags?  They looked like crap, just as they are forecasted to.

SAR I

[JoshAllenSZN]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

Let's see, the hype is about victories over the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins.  LOL.

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills have yet to beat an NFL team with a winning record with the sole exception of the perennially 9-7 pre-Tannehill Tennessee Titans.
 

Like most of what you say, this simply isn't true.

Last year the Bills beat the Cowboys -- who had a winning record at that time-- on national TV on Thanksgiving.

They also beat the Pittsburgh Steelers -- who had a winning record at that time -- on Sunday Night Football to clinch a playoff spot.

If your response is "well those teams didn't have a winning record at the end of the season", my response is "what does that have to do with the Bills?". You can only play who the schedule makers put in front of you.

It's funny how the narrative always changes about Josh Allen. Leading up to the Jets game, a lot of folks told me how Gregg Williams and the Jets improved defense were going to give him fits. They didn't, and afterwords suddenly everyone said "oh, it was just the Jets". Then, leading into the Dolphins game, most people said the cornerback trio of Byron Jones, Xavien Howard, and Noah Igbenoghene were going to shut down the Bills receivers. They didn't. Then afterwords everyone said "it was just the Dolphins". Last night, the Dolphins D looked pretty darned good...

Quit moving the goalposts. Quit living in denial. Josh Allen has improved leaps and bounds since he was drafted. He's still imperfect, but the arrow is pointing up. It's clear as day. The Bills front office surrounded him with a good offensive line, great receivers, and a creative play-caller. The Jets did none of those things for Darnold. I'm sorry that your guy hasn't turned out the way you want so far (personally, I blame it on the Jets, because Darnold is talented as hell), but to continue to live in denial that Josh Allen is turning into a good player makes you look silly.

[slimjasi]

55 minutes ago, varjet said:

We should all be happy for Josh Allen.  He works hard, has a good HC, OC and GM, and they are unequivocally building around him.  

All things that the Jets did not do, and are not doing, for Sam Darnold, even though out of college people thought Darnold was much better.

Josh Allen has elite physical skills.  I said from the beginning that he was McDermott's and Beane's Cam Newton.  Lots of similarities.

They have a window now while Josh is inexpensive and he his not hurt yet.  They are taking advantage of it.

The Jets are not, mostly because the roster and cap space was too damaged by Maccagnan and they made a bad HC/OC hire.  

I agree with all of this

[bitonti]

everytime someone talks crap about Jordan Palmer "ruining" Sam Darnold, keep in mind Palmer trained both players all quarantine. Allen and Darnold shared a house. these two literally got the same amount of Palmer attention

one of them is dominating the other can't set his feet when he throws 

start James Morgan 

 

[slimjasi]

Just now, bitonti said:

everytime someone talks crap about Jordan Palmer "ruining" Sam Darnold, keep in mind Palmer trained both players all quarantine. Allen and Darnold shared a house. these two literally got the same amount of Palmer attention

one of them is dominating the other can't set his feet when he throws 

start James Morgan 

 

If only there was something else different about their situations . . . 

[slimjasi]

47 minutes ago, jetstream23 said:

 

Our clock has no hands....kinda like our wide receivers.

But WRs don't need hands as long as you have a franchise QB!!!!

I read it right here on JN!!!

[THE BARON]

1 hour ago, DonMaynardFan said:

I pasted the article so you don't have to click on his link, but here it is if you want it.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-josh-allen-20200925-wohah2rawratre2pmlepgbj3fm-story.html

The compelling difference here is the coaching staff.  McDermott is a very good coach and he has built a very good CS.    He has Dabol as his OC and Dorsey as his QB coach.  All three of them working together is the reason Josh Allen has been able to improve so dramatically.  If Gase was Allen's coach, Allen would already have been written off as a bust.

Darnold has regressed rather than improve.  

Gase is the reason.

Gase is a horrible coach. 

[bitonti]

5 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

If only there was something else different about their situations . . . 

thats the thing tho

not having weapons or a good HC is irrelevant to mechanics

Sam can't control everything but he can control his form. Which is sh*tty

 

[playtowinthegame]

1 hour ago, DonMaynardFan said:

Allen joined Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Patrick Mahomes as the only quarterbacks in NFL history with at least 700 passing yards, six touchdown passes and no interceptions in the first two weeks of a season. He set career-highs in passing yards in the first two weeks, rallying his team with a 417-yard, four-touchdown eruption in a come-from-behind win last week that earned him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Allen leads the league in passing yards (729) and ranks third in passer rating (122.9) and fifth in yards per attempt (9.0). His 70.4 completion percentage (eighth) is leaps and bounds better than his 57.7 career rate.

Props to Josh Allen and the Bills organization. This seems like their year to make some noise in the playoffs.

[slimjasi]

Just now, bitonti said:

thats the thing tho

not having weapons or a good HC is irrelevant to mechanics

Sam can't control everything but he can control his form. Which is sh*tty

 

I really think the mechanics stuff is grossly overrated. 

I've seen a lot of good QBs display questionable mechanics and have success, but I really don't want to belabor the point. 

In April, we'll get our chance to draft another QB with perfect mechanics and start over . . . again.

yay

[munchmemory]

Allen and Newton are a cut above the talented Sam Darnold, who has been tasked to carry a lost franchise,

Gotta prove that part before folks can say it out loud.   So far, It's landing like a thud.

[Drums]

6 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

I really think the mechanics stuff is grossly overrated. 

I've seen a lot of good QBs display questionable mechanics and have success, but I really don't want to belabor the point. 

In April, we'll get our chance to draft another QB with perfect mechanics and start over . . . again.

yay

I tend to agree but there are some clear instances, especially game one where Sam missed throws simply because of his mechanics. I think it was Joe Blewitt with the breakdown on Jets Xfactor. If he made all the throws anyway, it would not be a big deal, but he definitely has some habits that hinder him and therefore hinder the team. 

[slimjasi]

Just now, Drums said:

I tend to agree but there are some clear instances, especially game one where Sam missed a throw simply because of his mechanics. I think it was Joe Blewitt with the breakdown on Jets Xfactor. If he made all the throws anyway, it would not be a big deal, but he definitely has some habits that hinder him and therefore hinder the team. 

Agreed. 

[Charlie Brown]

12 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

I really think the mechanics stuff is grossly overrated. 

I've seen a lot of good QBs display questionable mechanics and have success, but I really don't want to belabor the point. 

In April, we'll get our chance to draft another QB with perfect mechanics and start over . . . again.

yay

Thank you!

And having lived and went to school (UB) during the Bills SB runs I am so happy for the fans and team up there.

I will never forget being in the freezing cold going into TOPS (a grocery store) and the Bills games being pumped through the store loud speaker and everyone, and I mean everyone in that store to the checkout person watching (listening) and be glued to every play.  That time changed me from a Jets fan alone to a FOOTBALL fan!

But one thing I learned while I was there is organizations win Championships and the Jets have been a poorly run one for decades with anomalous occurrences happening here and there.

Instead of making fun of the Bills the Jets should be learning from them....

[jgb]

Manish isn't wrong on this but he's the reason McDermott isn't Jets HC. Although I blame Johnson for listening to him.

[BROOKLYN JET]

Bugs Bunny, Sam Darnold going in opposite directions;

[artemusclyde]

19 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

I really think the mechanics stuff is grossly overrated. 

I've seen a lot of good QBs display questionable mechanics and have success, but I really don't want to belabor the point. 

In April, we'll get our chance to draft another QB with perfect mechanics and start over . . . again.

yay

Those great qbs are great because they can make those throws with terrible mechanics. Which is besides the point, because if you look at Rodgers resurgent year, he literally cleaned up his mechanics. Also, look at all the top qbs, Brady, Manning, Brees etc. Those guys were known for having great mechanics.

[jgb]

 

32 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

If only there was something else different about their situations . . . 

Josh Allen proved he is worth building around, Darnold hasn't.

Nothing influences an organization's decision-making more than their starting QB's play. Good QBs make their own luck.

[Jetsfan80]

6 minutes ago, jgb said:

Manish isn't wrong on this but he's the reason McDermott isn't Jets HC. Although I blame Johnson for listening to him.

Wasn't that Marrone, not McDermott?  Or was it both and I just forgot?

[jgb]

2 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Wasn't that Marrone, not McDermott?  Or was it both and I just forgot?

I'm also confused I think. All of the atrocious decisions and comic follies of this organization are coalescing into one big ball of hate.