Why do I love 'Wide Right'?

[LennG]

I was rooting heavily for the Bills, but on hearing 'Wide Right' even in pain, brought a smile to my face.

Poor Buffalo, they will never hear those 2 words and smile.

[Ed Vette]

I felt bad for them this time but, they had their opportunities. They got two gifts from the Football gods, one on the touchback after that stupid attempt to go for in their 30s's own territory and the missed pick 6. Josh Allen played well and made some amazing throws and runs, but he missed two key passing opportunities on that last drive.

[kartanoman]

I felt bad for them this time but, they had their opportunities. They got two gifts from the Football gods, one on the touchback after that stupid attempt to go for in their 30s's own territory and the missed pick 6. Josh Allen played well and made some amazing throws and runs, but he missed two key passing opportunities on that last drive.

I completely agree with you, Ed and Lenn. I was pulling for them, as well. But after those two amazing plays, which gave them second chances to redeem themselves, and then another infamous "wide right" FG attempt (NOTE: this one more attributable to the winds than just a pure miss), I then realized and accepted that KC deserved to win in the end after an outstanding effort on defense to shut down everything the Bills were doing to them over the previous three quarters. The more I thought about it, the more I feel a KC-Baltimore AFC Championship is the best matchup with the Champs taking on what many believe are a team of destiny; I think KC may have a surprise for them, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Peace!

[Ed Vette]

I completely agree with you, Ed and Lenn. I was pulling for them, as well. But after those two amazing plays, which gave them second chances to redeem themselves, and then another infamous "wide right" FG attempt (NOTE: this one more attributable to the winds than just a pure miss), I then realized and accepted that KC deserved to win in the end after an outstanding effort on defense to shut down everything the Bills were doing to them over the previous three quarters. The more I thought about it, the more I feel a KC-Baltimore AFC Championship is the best matchup with the Champs taking on what many believe are a team of destiny; I think KC may have a surprise for them, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Peace!

I know that the Ravens and Niners are favorites but these are games where any team can win. You're right, that KC deserved to win. Maybe the key injuries hurt Buffalo more than KC's. 

[Bob In PA]

I also rooted for the Bills, but in the end decided KC deserved to win. Sorry for the Bills fans, though. Bob

[spiderblue43]

That was  way...way wide right  Kicked almost into the parking lot. Yeah..thought if the 90 team, then got depressed quickly presently 

[MightyGiants]

I will confess I fell asleep watching the 4th quarter of the game. I recorded it, and I rewatched what I missed last night.  I really think that game was all qued up for Josh Allen to bring home a victory.  As I am watching it, I wondered how on earth the Bills ended up losing the game.   Josh made a couple of mistakes in that last drive.  Of course, the punter missed, and Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins had that terrible pass block that made Allen miss a TD thrown (of course, Allen should have taken the quicker, shorter route that would have given them a fist down and allowed them to continue to control the game.

[DaveBrown74]

I will confess I fell asleep watching the 4th quarter of the game. I recorded it, and I rewatched what I missed last night.  I really think that game was all qued up for Josh Allen to bring home a victory.  As I am watching it, I wondered how on earth the Bills ended up losing the game.   Josh made a couple of mistakes in that last drive.  Of course, the punter missed, and Pro Bowler Dion Dawkins had that terrible pass block that made Allen miss a TD thrown (of course, Allen should have taken the quicker, shorter route that would have given them a fist down and allowed them to continue to control the game.

In hindsight Allen certainly should have just hit Diggs on the safer, crossing route. If any QB can be relied on to make the big throw into the end zone in that situation though, it's him, and to be fair the guy was open in the end zone so it's not like he was forcing it in to some tight window there while foregoing the easier play.

With the above said though, one could be critical about his pocket awareness on that play. I have never been of the belief that when a QB gets affected by the D it's always automatically the fault of the blockers. Pocket awareness is a real thing in my opinion, and Allen had a lapse of it on that play. And to his credit, he said exactly that about himself in the postgame.

Allen also put the ball on the ground late in the 4th quarter, albeit it was recovered by his teammates. Still, it is fair to say he was less than perfect late in the game when the situation was most dire.

Apart from that, I thought he played fantastically throughout. His receivers let him down in a pretty glaring way on a number of plays, and had those gaffes not happened he might not have been in a situation where he was depending on his kicker to make a long field goal in freezing weather in order to extend the game.

[MightyGiants]

In hindsight Allen certainly should have just hit Diggs on the safer, crossing route. If any QB can be relied on to make the big throw into the end zone in that situation though, it's him, and to be fair the guy was open in the end zone so it's not like he was forcing it in to some tight window there while foregoing the easier play.

With the above said though, one could be critical about his pocket awareness on that play. I have never been of the belief that when a QB gets affected by the D it's always automatically the fault of the blockers. Pocket awareness is a real thing in my opinion, and Allen had a lapse of it on that play. And to his credit, he said exactly that about himself in the postgame.

Allen also put the ball on the ground late in the 4th quarter, albeit it was recovered by his teammates. Still, it is fair to say he was less than perfect late in the game when the situation was most dire.

Apart from that, I thought he played fantastically throughout. His receivers let him down in a pretty glaring way on a number of plays, and had those gaffes not happened he might not have been in a situation where he was depending on his kicker to make a long field goal in freezing weather in order to extend the game.

Here's the thing, we expect QBs to have some pocket awareness.  He should have noticed Dawkins being driven back and went to a quicker option.  If I recall there was another play on that drive where Romo faulted Allen's progression and choices.

[DaveBrown74]

Here's the thing, we expect QBs to have some pocket awareness.  He should have noticed Dawkins being driven back and went to a quicker option.  If I recall there was another play on that drive where Romo faulted Allen's progression and choices.

There may have been. Romo was speaking with near-reverence about his play for the vast majority of the telecast, and I thought it was justified (with the context that Romo tends to speak in extreme language).

I would give Allen no less than an A- for that game. He played nearly perfectly for almost the entire game. His receivers let him down on multiple occasions, and on plays where there was nowhere to go he ran very effectively with speed and power. I am fine with dinging him for the incompletion play where Diggs was open, but to stick the loss on him in any way would be insane in my opinion (I'm not saying you are doing that MG). They would have been obliterated in that game with a less talented (but still solid) QB like Goff.

[MightyGiants]

There may have been. Romo was speaking with near-reverence about his play for the vast majority of the telecast, and I thought it was justified (with the context that Romo tends to speak in extreme language).

I would give Allen no less than an A- for that game. He played nearly perfectly for almost the entire game. His receivers let him down on multiple occasions, and on plays where there was nowhere to go he ran very effectively with speed and power. I am fine with dinging him for the incompletion play where Diggs was open, but to stick the loss on him in any way would be insane in my opinion (I'm not saying you are doing that MG). They would have been obliterated in that game with a less talented (but still solid) QB like Goff.

I wish you were this easy when you were grading Daniel Jones      That game-winning drive (or not having that game-winning drive) is often the metric we use to measure QB greatness.   There are QBs who will put up great passing stats, like Dak and Cousins, but the special ones come up big with the game on the line.  Were conditions ideal?  Not really, but they were no worse than what Eli Manning faced. en route to two SB championships.   The great ones overcome and win the critical games, not make excuses about why they came up short.

[DaveBrown74]

I wish you were this easy when you were grading Daniel Jones      That game-winning drive (or not having that game-winning drive) is often the metric we use to measure QB greatness.   There are QBs who will put up great passing stats, like Dak and Cousins, but the special ones come up big with the game on the line.  Were conditions ideal?  Not really, but they were no worse than what Eli Manning faced. en route to two SB championships.   The great ones overcome and win the critical games, not make excuses about why they came up short.

I look at performance in its totality. I don't throw away the first 58 minutes and only look at what a QB does in the last 2 minutes and then slap a grade on his whole game. Having said that, I absolutely do weigh the last 2 minutes considerably higher than any other 2 minute segment of the game for obvious reasons, but the bottom line is the only reason why the Bills were in the position to tie the game with a makeable field goal was because of Allen's play all game. He was by far the best player on his team in that game (not even remotely a discussion), which was a razor close loss to the defending champs. No way I'm giving him a B grade for that game. He played great.

I think I have been very fair with Jones. Hell, I said up until this past year that I rated him as a middle of the road starting QB, somewhere in the 14th-18th range. Because I rated him that way, I was grouped in with the "hater" community here, but it now appears that if anything I was generous. Does anyone in the league besides John Mara and maybe Gettleman still think he's in the 14th-18th range? We know they didn't before this season (see the Athletic poll), so there is no way they do now. When he had good games I noted that he had good games and was always objective about that. So I don't think your remark about my treatment of Jones (which I get had a smiley face next to it and wasn't intended to be an aggressive dig) was a bit off base.

[MightyGiants]

I look at performance in its totality. I don't throw away the first 58 minutes and only look at what a QB does in the last 2 minutes and then slap a grade on his whole game. Having said that, I absolutely do weigh the last 2 minutes considerably higher than any other 2 minute segment of the game for obvious reasons, but the bottom line is the only reason why the Bills were in the position to tie the game with a makeable field goal was because of Allen's play all game. He was by far the best player on his team in that game (not even remotely a discussion), which was a razor close loss to the defending champs. No way I'm giving him a B grade for that game. He played great.

I think I have been very fair with Jones. Hell, I said up until this past year that I rated him as a middle of the road starting QB, somewhere in the 14th-18th range. Because I rated him that way, I was grouped in with the "hater" community here, but it now appears that if anything I was generous. Does anyone in the league besides John Mara and maybe Gettleman still think he's in the 14th-18th range? We know they didn't before this season (see the Athletic poll), so there is no way they do now. When he had good games I noted that he had good games and was always objective about that. So I don't think your remark about my treatment of Jones (which I get had a smiley face next to it and wasn't intended to be an aggressive dig) was a bit off base.

To the point in bold, and I appreciate not everyone likes PFF grades


Bills players

David Edwards- 90.4 (21 snaps)
Dion Dawkins- 81.2 (77 snaps)
Von Miller- 90.5 (15 snaps)
Tyrel Dodson- 89.3 (39 snaps)
Greg Rousseau- 81.3 (32 snaps)

Josh Allen- 79.6 (77 snaps)

Pat Mahomes- 90.2 (50 snaps)

[DaveBrown74]

To the point in bold, and I appreciate not everyone likes PFF grades


Bills players

David Edwards- 90.4 (21 snaps)
Dion Dawkins- 81.2 (77 snaps)
Von Miller- 90.5 (15 snaps)
Tyrel Dodson- 89.3 (39 snaps)
Greg Rousseau- 81.3 (32 snaps)

Josh Allen- 79.6 (77 snaps)

Pat Mahomes- 90.2 (50 snaps)

Fair enough. I generally like and use PFF, but more as a broad tool than a single game tool. In any event, while I acknowledge these grades and do not think they're without merit, I would just make the very obvious point that Allen's role in the game was singularly much more important than any other individual's. So even if he was not the actual best player at his position (and I don't know that BTW, just that PFF is saying that), I would stand by my assertion that he singularly had more of a positive impact on the game than any other individual. Whether one wants to equate that to being "the best player" is a semantics debate.

In any event I have acknowledged (both with my grade and with my descriptions) that he was not perfect in this game. I just personally believe he played very well overall in the game against a very good defense.

[DaveBrown74]

Going back to the subject of the OP, I found this pretty amusing. Don't show this to any Bills fans you're friendly with though. It's the Bass miss on Korean TV.


https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1749576935519265005