Josh Allen and the Bills came out firing in Week 1, but the results were mixed at best as they barely squeaked out a divisional road win against the Jets.
The Good: The Bills’ gameplan apparently was to throw the ball like they had Peyton Manning under center and, for the most part, it was working fairly well. Allen was throwing accurate balls on short and intermediate routes for most of the day and the Bills were moving the ball well for most of the game. The game winning TD pass to John Brown was a thing of beauty, and he dropped a few dimes to Sweeney, Jones, and DiMarco that were big chunk plays. I also saw him changing a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage, something that a second year QB doesn’t usually do well, but the results were generally pretty good. That’s a positive step in Allen’s development as a QB.
The Bad: Well, Allen was credited with 4 turnovers, a pair each of interceptions and fumbles. To be fair, I really only think one of them was entirely on him, the strip sack that killed an otherwise very impressive opening drive (by the way, that was the only sack the Bills gave up all day against a very talented DL). The botched snap never even touched Allen’s hands and both of his INTs were off deflections. I don’t think you can really put those on the QB. But aside from the the turnovers, there were some questionable pass choices made, a few throws that were late and behind the receiver, and a nagging refusal to slide instead of taking a hit for two meaningless extra yards. Play smarter, Josh.
The Ugly: The turnovers that might have been. The horrible decision that resulted in an INT that was negated by a questionable defensive holding penalty. The drop by Marcus Maye on a bad throw, made on the run by Allen without setting his feet. The throw into the midst of three Jets who simply weren’t paying attention enough to make a play on it. All of these could have – should have – lost the Bills the game. Allen is a developing QB, still raw, but these are the kinds of plays that need to be the first thing to go. The kid has talent coming out of his ears, but he needs to start using what’s between those ears more and stop relying on being the best athlete on the field.
On an Unrelated Note:
Man, Singletary can ball. Give this kid more touches early.
Is this defense really that good or is the Jets OL just that bad? The pressure they put on Darnold was tremendous and it really helped keep the game in hand for the comeback to even be possible.
John Brown is not a prototypical NFL #1 wide receiver, but he looks like he’ll be a great addition to the arsenal for Allen.
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