Tag: Josh Allen

Josh Allen on John Brown: ‘I wouldn’t trade him for anybody’

Allen adds he thins Brown is a Pro Bowl WR.

Following a 37-20 victory over the Miami Dolphins, that saw the Bills improve to 7-3 on the season, there was plenty of praise for Buffalo’s offense.

One player in particular who was applauded, was Bills wide receiver John Brown.

Brown finished the day with nine catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

During Josh Allen’s postgame interview on CBS, the quarterback had high remarks for his top wideout.

“He’s unbelievable,” Allen said. “The things that he can do. How well he runs routes. How well he communicates… he’s the ultimate teammate too. He’s a Pro Bowler in my eyes. You know, I love having him and we’re lucky to have him.”

Allen was later asked by members of the media what makes John Brown special.

“He’s been fantastic for us. Just how he goes about each and every day,” Allen said. “He goes and attacks. All-time teammate. Guy that no one can say anything bad about. Just a guy that goes in and works and wants to get better. Doesn’t care about stats. Doesn’t’ care about touchdowns. He cares about winning and when you have a recipe like that, you’re determined for success. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”

John Brown himself was asked about the difference this week, for a Bills offense that has struggled throughout the season to put up points.

“We just knew what we had to do,” Brown told reporters. “We had to eliminate the mistakes we were making and we wanted to be more dialed in than we ever been. We haven’t played our best game yet…”

Brown also returned the praise for Allen, when discussing the 40-yard touchdown strike from his QB.

“He just made a perfect throw,” Brown told the media. “Most people don’t make that throw, so hey, he got a cannon.”

At 7-3, the Bills control their own destiny when it comes to making the playoffs, however the road ahead gets much tougher.

Over the next five games, the Bills will face the third-toughest schedule, based on opponent win percentage.

In order for the Bills to continue their march towards the postseason, the Allen/Brown connection and the offense overall, will have to continue to find a way to make plays, just like we saw today.

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Instant analysis: Bills offense dominant in sweep of Dolphins

The Buffalo Bills got back on the right side of the win column with a convincing 37-20 win Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

The Buffalo Bills got back on the right side of the win column with a convincing 37-20 win Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. The Bills allowed Miami to stay within a reasonable distance throughout the afternoon but in reality, the game was in Buffalo’s grasp all day.

It was a solid day for Josh Allen, who just seems to thrive when facing Miami. He accounted for four touchdowns on the day–three through the air and one on the ground.

Each of the aerial scores were impressive plays. John Brown found a space along the sideline against the Dolphins’ cover-two defense and beat the safety for a 40-yard touchdown reception. Dawson Knox displayed his power on a 23-yard touchdown reception, breaking a tackle and rumbling between the center of the field to score on a play where the Dolphins sent an all-out blitz.

To seal the deal, Allen rolled to his right and found Brown for a nine-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Bills a three-score lead in the final frame.

Allen ended the day 21-of-33 for 256 yards through the air. He also added 57 yards on the ground prior to the team’s victory formation.

John Brown was the big winner out wide, as he led the Bills with 137 yards receiving on nine catches. He found space all afternoon in Miami’s secondary, and Allen was decisive in getting the ball in his wideouts hands.

Buffalo’s brass made a concerted effort to get the ball in the hands of Devin Singletary. The rookie shouldered the load throughout the game and helped close out the game in the fourth quarter. Singletary ran 15 times for 75 rushing yards. It’s apparent that he will be the focal point of Buffalo’s ground attack going forward. He did fumble twice, but the Bills recovered both miscues. Still, it’s something that the Florida Atlantic product will need to clean up going forward.

Defensively, Buffalo was in Fitzpatrick’s face all afternoon. The Bills tallied seven sacks. Shaq Lawson, Jordan Phillips, Ed Oliver, Star Lotulelei, Jerry Hughes, and Corey Liuget registered sacks, while Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds split a sack.

Outside of a Devante Parker 50-yard reception, the Dolphins did not produce much on offense. Miami put up some numbers in the fourth quarter after the game was in hand, so the 323 yards allowed through the air is a bit deceiving

Parker ended up with a nice stat line, but he, along with Miami, had little to show for it. Parker reeled in seven catches for 135 yards on the day.

The Bills run defense, which was gouged the past few weeks, made progress this week. Buffalo finished with nine tackles for loss on the day, allowing only 23 yards on the ground.

Buffalo benefited from Maimi’s mistakes. The Dolphins were guilty for six accepted penalties, thwarting progress on several occasions. In addition, wide receiver Allen Hurns fumbled a reception on his own, which Jordan Poyer recovered.

The only concern on the day was the special teams unit. Jakeem Grant ran a kickoff back 101 yards at the end of the first half, a play that he outran the entire coverage unit moving from left to right. There were several players on the Bills unit who were merely diving at air. Grant would average 39.6 yards per kick return.

The unit was out-smarted on an onside kick, one in which Miami kicker Jason Sanders recovered a ground kick by himself.

While the coverage units left a little bit to be desired, the Bills had a sign of relief as Stephen Hauschka returned to form, connecting on all three of his field goal attempts in addition to four successful extra-point tries.

This was the type of game that Buffalo needed. They were the superior team on paper, and they showed it on the field. The Bills’ offensive and defensive units played an ideal game. Buffalo looks to build upon this victory next week, as they take on the Denver Broncos Sunday at New Era Field.

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5 takeaways from the Bills’ 37-20 win over the Dolphins

Five takeaways from the Buffalo Bills’ win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 11.

There were some concerns for the Buffalo Bills heading into their Week 11 meeting with the Miami Dolphins.

The Dolphins entered the game on a two-game winning streak. Could the Bills make that three? Turns out, the answer is now as the Bills topped the Dolphins 37-20, earning a 7-3 record in the process with the win.

With that, here are five takeaways from the Bills’ win over the Dolphins:

Buffalo Bills kicker Stephen Hauschka. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Stephen Hauschka is back

To keep Stephen Hauschka or not keep Stephen Hauschka? That has been the question for the Bills. In Week 10, Hauschka cost the Bills. First he missed an easy kick from 34 yards in the first half against the Browns in an eventual 19-16 loss. Then the more glaring miss was a wide kick on a potential game-tying kick, but it was a hard one. It was from 53 yards. However, Hauschka missed five-straight kicks from 50-plus yards. It had started to become a concern.

Hauschka put any concerns to rest against Miami. He converted on three kicks against Miami, including his first, from 51. Hauschka also hit from 34 and 21 yards in the win. He said all week he needed to maintain his composure heading into his team’s meeting with the Dolphins after an off-week, and he certainly did.

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ESPN tabs Josh Allen 2nd best 2018 QB

Josh Allen is ranked as the second-best quarterback from the 2018 draft according to ESPN’s Matt Bowen.

The Buffalo Bills Josh Allen may have been the third quarterback who heard his name called at the 2018 draft. However, he’s moved up a spot in the position, according to ESPN.

ESPN currently ranks Allen as No. 2 on his list of quarterbacks from 2018 cohort, settling in behind Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.

Comparison of quarterbacks drafted in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft through November 15, 2019, via Pro Football Reference.

According to ESPN there isn’t much to differentiate between the middle portion of the grouping behind the electric Jackson.

Here’s how ESPN explains that middle grouping:

“Let’s be honest here – Nos. 2-4 on this list are extremely close, and it’s not because they’ve all been excellent. After a season’s worth of starts, Allen, Mayfield and Darnold all have major issues and rank near the bottom of the league in multiple statistical categories. But this is my ranking, and I have Allen just barely ahead of Mayfield because of his development in a Bills system that has highlighted his natural tools.”

While several pundits have questioned the offensive identity for Buffalo’s unit, ESPNfeels the staff has done well with Allen, adding “the Buffalo coaching staff continues to put the former No. 7 overall pick in favorable positions that cater to both his arm talent and movement skills.” In addition to his arm, Allen has been lethal in the run game, leading this group with 14 rushing touchdowns to date.

He’s also the best among these quarterbacks with respect to QBR in the red zone.

ESPN also tabbed Allen’s arm strength as his best trait. Allen is completing 64.4-percent of his passes traveling 10-20 yard range, which ranks seventh in the NFL.

Allen, while still a work in progress, is inching his way up the rankings among his contemporaries. Being No. 2 is not a bad thing at this point and his play could get even better.

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Bills at Dolphins: 5 matchups to watch

The Bills will travel to Miami to face the red hot Dolphins who are coming off two wins.

The Buffalo Bills are coming off a disappointing loss on Sunday to the Cleveland Browns, after a last minute touchdown from Baker Mayfield.

The Bills now face the streaking Miami Dolphins who are coming off two unexpected wins. If the Bills can pullout the victory in Miami they can help secure themselves in one of the two Wild Card positions.

That being said, the Bills must win the games within the game to defeat Miami. Here are five matchups to watch during Bills vs. Dolphins:

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Allen vs. Ryan Fitzpatrick 

Josh Allen has been compared to a lot of quarterbacks during his career, including two former Buffalo quarterbacks: Tyrod Taylor, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

While playing Cleveland on Sunday, Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw the ball 41 times, tying his career-high. He also threw for 266 yards, which is his career-high. That 41 attempts may seem like an outlier, but Allen and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll seem like they want to make that the norm. 

During the week, Allen said that he had the “green light” to take more shots down the field. This could be an excellent week to try this new approach, Miami’s secondary is one of the worst in the NFL, allowing on average 244.9 yards per game. If Allen can take advantage of this green light it may be a long day for the Miami defense. 

If there’s one quarterback in the NFL that always seems to have the green light, it’s Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bills fans remember Fitzy’s time in Buffalo, he had plenty of big moments, but just as many disappointing ones too. 

Fitzpatrick has shown that same inconsistency with the Dolphins. In his first game against Buffalo he showed off his playmaking abilities. He threw for 282 yards, one touchdown, but a crucial interception in the red zone. Fitzpatrick has led the Dolphins to two straight victories, which seemed almost impossible at the beginning of the season. 

If either of these two gunslingers can get their offenses on track early, it will be a tough outing for both defenses. 

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Josh Allen reveals what Sean McDermott told offense

The Bills offense hasn’t been great in 2019 or in recent years. 

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The Bills offense hasn’t been great in 2019 or in recent years.

Quarterback Josh Allen is the centerpiece of that unit, which is ranked 23rd in the NFL in yards per game and 25th in points per game.

Allen has made some strides in Year 2. He’s not throwing as many interceptions and his completion percent, while not great, is up from 52.8 to 59.9 percent.

But perhaps those trends are indicating Allen is playing it safe and as a result, the scoring is down because the offense isn’t taking many risks. According to the QB on Wednesday, Sean McDermott sent a message to the offense which indicates the head coach wants to perhaps start rolling the dice.

“At the beginning of the year, I wasn’t doing a good enough job of protecting the football. I’ve made that very important to me,” Allen said. “[This week], Coach sat us all down today and said ‘play fearless.’ To have that green light and that confidence from him still, that means a lot. Not saying I’m gonna go out there and be reckless, they’re two different terms for a reason. Just being very aware of what’s going on but not trying to be gun shy about anything.”

Earlier that same day, McDermott spoke to reporters prior to practice. After fielding numerous questions about the offense, the coach walked out of his press conference. It was not a famous, headline-grabbing, fist-slamming type of exit, but McDermott answered a question with 14 words and left in under 10 minutes of his presser. Usually his press conferences last double that.

But heck, maybe that’s a good sign. We don’t know when McDermott told his QB to “play fearless.” Was he pissed about the presser that just ensued and it lit a fire in him? Most observers of the Bills would be fine with that.

Had the coach already told that to him at press conference time? Well that probably explains some frustration. In McDermott’s mind, he was probably figuring, “Guys, I know.”

Now we wait to find out what playing fearless is.

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Sean McDermot won’t compare Josh Allen, Tyrod Taylor, but we will

Comparing current Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen to Tyrod Taylor and what Sean McDermott said about it.

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As the story goes, the Bills replaced quarterback Tyrod Taylor with current second-year thrower Josh Allen.

Allen is now 20 starts into his NFL career, he’s 11-9 overall in those games. First compared by Jerry Sullivan from 1270: The Fan radio on Wednesday, the Bills have had strikingly similar numbers from one of their other most recent QBs.

That so happens to be Taylor.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was asked to compare those two. He ushered in the exit of Taylor for Allen, after all.

McDermott declined to do so.

“I’m never going to compare or try to compare two players. I know they play the same position but both players are different players. A lot of respect for Tyrod. The player I’m most concerned with right now is Josh Allen, in terms of this question. Josh is focused on working and improving and it’s important that we keep improving around him as well. He takes great ownership and great accountability in that and as we go offensively, it’s important that we work on scoring points, that’s the name of the game. Score points and give yourself a chance to win,” McDermott said.

But here’s your big comparison. Both players have one excused outing in those last 20 games thanks to Nathan Peterman. He started the 2018 opener and then Allen jumped in. In 2017, he shockingly started over Taylor against the Chargers and Taylor replaced him. So in both of those outings, the outcome didn’t factor into the numbers for Allen and Taylor.

Having said that, Taylor was also 11-9 in his last 20 games as the Bills’ starting quarterback.

In addition, in that same time span, Allen has averaged 196 yards passing per game. Taylor lands at 195 in that same category.

 

Looking deeper, as dual-threat QBs, Allen has 34 total touchdowns in that time frame to 18 interceptions. Taylor is at a 34-8 ratio. Taylor has also thrown for 4,652 passing yards with a completion rate of 62 percent. Allen clocks in at 3,919 and 56 percent.

Breaking down this comparison, there’s still two sides of the coin to consider. First, the last 20 starts for Allen are the first 20 of his career. While there are skeptics, Allen is still young and hopefully there’s room for growth.

Having said that, Taylor wasn’t 22 like Allen, he spent a few years on the bench as a backup with the Ravens. But he wasn’t getting any playing time then, either. He was so basically a rookie as well.

Plenty of variables here to compare as well. Talent around the QBs, etc.

So, make what you will with the comparisons, but those are hard numbers.

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Sean McDermott shows frustration, abruptly leaves presser

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott displayed some rare frustrations in front of the camera on Wednesday.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott displayed some rare frustration in front of the camera on Wednesday ahead of his team’s game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 11.

It’s no secret that the Bills have a better defense than offense. The defense is the NFL’s third-best, while the offense ranks No. 23 out of 32 teams.

The Bills’ bench boss was asked about any frustrations he may have with how the offense looks so far. After answering numerous questions about the unit, McDermott abruptly, for his standards, ended his press conference early.

“Am I concerned with… am I concerned with, the success of our offense?” McDermott responded when asked about his level of frustrations with the unit. “Move the ball, score points. If we don’t do that, I’m frustrated… Simply put.”

The press conference was then over at about nine minutes in length. McDermott walked away without fielding another question after this answer when such press conferences tend to last in the 15-20-minute range.

Here’s McDermott shutting things down via WKBW-TV:

While not quite a Herm Edwards’ “you play to win the game,” or Dennis Green’s “they are what we thought they were,” this isn’t usually the calm, cool, and collected public relations wizard the Bills have as their coach. A full video of the interview shows McDermott asking for the question to be more specific.

McDermott also was asked to compare Josh Allen and Tyrod Taylor, who McDermott decided to move on from. The coach wouldn’t do that, and it’s worth noting that Taylor was 11-9 in his last 20 starts with the Bills. Allen is 11-9 in his first 20.

Everyone can have their opinion on Allen or Taylor, but one thing seems for certain: McDermott wasn’t happy with the line of questioning.

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6 storylines to watch for during Bills at Dolphins

Here are six storylines to follow entering this weekend’s divisional battle between Miami and Buffalo.

The Buffalo Bills are coming off a disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 10. However, the team has a great chance to rebound against its divisional rival, the Miami Dolphins.

The Bills beat the Dolphins at New Era Field only four weeks ago, with Buffalo storming back to score 22 points in the fourth quarter in a come-from-behind victory.

Even though their games are only separated by just about a month, quite a bit has changed for both teams.

Here are six storylines to follow Week 11’s Bills-Dolphins matchup:

Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary. Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Can the Bills score points?

There was much to be frustrated about last week for Buffalo. Even with a struggling offense, the team still had the ball in their hands with an opportunity to tie (or even win) the game on their final drive.

There was ample criticism with how the offense has struggled to take a major step forward this season, often relying on the defense to keep them close. There’s only so long that this defense can carry the load.

Fans and analysts alike will watch closely to see if offensive coordinator Brian Daboll can put together a more imaginative plan of action for the offense. The Bills are 25th in the league in scoring offense, averaging 19.3 points per game. This slots them as the lowest-scoring offense among prospective playoff teams. That’s not a promising sign for the Bills.

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Bills-Patriots Week 16 clash flexed to Saturday

The Buffalo Bills will play another nationally televised game this season. The NFL has announced that Buffalo’s Week 16 contest at New England will be moved to Saturday afternoon.

The Buffalo Bills will play another nationally televised game this season. The NFL has announced that Buffalo’s Week 16 contest at New England will be moved to Saturday afternoon.

The move makes complete sense, as it puts two prospective playoff teams on display. New England is on its way to yet another AFC East crown and has first-round bye playoff implications for the six-time Super Bowl Champions. Meanwhile, this penultimate game for the Bills could go a long way at seeing Buffalo earn a Wild Card playoff berth.

Buffalo lost to New England during Week 4 action, as the Patriots won 16-10 at New Era Field. During that game, Bills quarterback Josh Allen received a vicious helmet-to-helmet, rendering him unavailable to finish the game.

 

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