We have arguably the best quarterback in football, one of the best running backs in football and one of the top offensive lines in football, correct??? Then why, week after week, do we struggle offensively against poor to mediocre defenses? Yes we beat the Dolphins and Saints and Jets by double digits, but did we really look that good in doing so? But for a stupid call by Saints coach when he had a running back throw to an open receiver in the endzone (great interception by Bishop) and but for a bad pass by Tua which Benford intercepted, the Bills were dangerously close to losing both of those games. Yes the Bills have put up points but last nights game against a very good run defense (but a very poor pass defense) causes huge concerns. We have Josh Fucking Allen. He has time in the pocket to throw all night. Why weren’t there more open receivers? It’s almost as if every throw he makes has to be perfect in order to have a completion. Why?
My answer to this question is simple: the Bills wide receivers are not that good. This whole “everyone eats” concept does not work against good defenses. The Patriots took away the run and yet were able to guard our receivers, mostly in one-on-one sets, through out the game. There is no separation. There are no receivers running open in the secondary like we saw Stephan Diggs do last night. We have a bunch of re-treads that are only decent because we have Josh Fucking Allen. Just look at these guys: Samuel- $7.4M, Knox-$9.5M, Palmer-$10.7M, Moore-$5M, Shakir-$15M. Other than Dalton Kincaid the WR talent is mediocre at best. This whole “everybody eats” works against bad defenses. It doesn’t work against good ones like NE or KC or Philly. Just look at last nights ending. Bills ball 1st and 10 at NE 27 with 2:47 left in game. A TD should win the game. On three straight dropbacks, with little to no pressure, we had nobody open. The first down call was abysmal-the old wide receiver screen to Shakir. How many times does Brady have to call that play before realizing it rarely works? Even if Shakir had not dropped the pass he was going nowhere. On second and third downs Josh Fucking Allen had no open receivers. In fact, for whatever unknown reason, Kincaid wasn’t even in the game on the second down play. Here is a guy with 6 targets, six catches and over 100 yards on the night who isn’t even on the field at this point of the game? Why???
This gets back to the Beane/Brady dilemma. Whose fault is it? I blame both but I blame Beane for not giving Josh the tools he needs. Remember when Josh had a real #1 in Diggs? 1,500 yards, 127 catches, offense hummed. Diggs consistently got open, just like he did last night. He made Gabe Davis a better receiver because other teams defenses were worried about Diggs. We have nobody that other teams prepare for in the passing game. This has been a pattern with Bean for years. Bring in re-treads and hope that Josh Fucking Allen makes them good. From bringing back Beasley, John Brown, Gabe Davis, Sherfield, Harty, McKenzie, Cooper, Sanders, Crowder, etc… to the recent signing of Samuel and Moore. It’s re-tread after re-tread and none are good. In past two seasons Josh Fuckin Allen has had the second most time to throw in the NFL. In spite of that the Bills are 28th in the league in target separation, and 24th in yards/attempt. Those stat point to one thing: the Bills WRs don’t separate. Josh has to be perfect. Yes he threw an interception last night-Big Fucking Deal. That happens when every throw needs to be perfect.
This team has real problems. Beane has done little to shore up the defense other than by over -paying Rousseau, keeping an always injured Milano, signing role players who are suspended, doing nothing to shore up a bad secondary other than the first round pick, bringing back an old washed up T. White (sound familiar?), and generally hoping that we will win because we have Josh Fucking Allen.
Atlanta Monday night will be illuminating as to whether this team can win on the road against a decent team. This team shouldn’t have to rely on turnovers to win. Get Josh some talent around him. Get him a #1. We can’t continue to waste this guys talent.