Buffalo Bills Have Quarterback Who Makes All the Difference, Unfortunately
An overtime loss on a punt return was a perfect ending in its way. Fuming about a rather egregious lapse for an alleged pro team is an afterthought in a sign of just how superbly the opener went, specifically not quite very. The most atrocious punt coverage in memory was merely the exclamation point. Now is the time for questioning every statement. Winning a coin toss after doinking in a tie meant the club can’t kvetch about not getting breaks. Instead, the Bills beat the Bills.
Josh Allen was the deciding factor. That’s supposed to be good news. Losing on his lonesome is the variable fans weren’t expecting if anyone enjoys surprises. Inflicting a handicap is one way to ensure parity. But making it fair isn’t in his job description. This isn’t golfing, although he may have done too much of that. The good news for him is that nobody’s going to care who he’s dating.
We wanted desperately for the Jets to use the Aaron Rodgers blink of a tenure as an excuse. Instead, the Bills couldn’t capitalize on how he wasn’t going to tackle or cover receivers no matter how long he played. The four-snap era led to the Jets needing the Bills to squander the most glorious of chances, and they naturally obliged.
The only way losing to Zach Wilson could get more mortifying is when he’s thrust into playing after presuming he was going to spend the evening swiping potential OkCupid matches on the sideline. Doing so should shame any respectable franchise into proficiency. A night off for MILFs turned into the same for the Bills. Even his cadence on “Green 18” sounds hollow.
Bills fans should be delighting in memories of Wilson’s prototypical interception that he would’ve thrown even on an alternate DC Comics Earth where Rodgers is a Titan and the new/old/new guy had the entire offseason to prepare like a starter. Taunting him should lead to a gain of 15 yards.
As for the quarterback he beat, the stubborn refusal to read coverages is the wrong style of defiance. An interception where it looked like there wasn’t another Bill in New Jersey was as bad as making Stefon Diggs play defense. Fumbling a snap by not looking at the ball was a nice touch if the throws into oblivion weren’t infuriating enough. We’re trying to combat a story about Allen’s ghastly decisions as he adds another chapter. That settles it: I’ll take the cash if I win West Herr’s giveaway and not the truck.
Calling Allen a gunslinger shames qualified profession members. He’s shooting at the Sun. Aiming recklessly differs entirely from playing riskily. His decisions reflect someone who thinks he has to win games singlehandedly while losing them on its own. Irony is tough to appreciate while watching him make decisions bad enough to make Doug Whaley shake his head.
Wholly unnecessary gambles are not an aberration from last season but now part of his profile. He’s reached the point where it’s on him to change the perception, as he didn’t do so during the offseason. Number 17 hits on 19; if he gets an ace, he hits again.
Allen is presently a bad player. That sounds dramatic for an acceptable reason. A failing 62.6 rating is atrocious and still doesn’t encompass how he cannot be trusted. The one thing better than criticizing himself is not once again putting himself in position where he needs to do so. A new season offers an opportunity to start fresh, and he turned it down. Instead, he sounds like a drunkard promising to sober up before sneaking sips from a schnapps bottle.
This isn’t part of the Josh Allen experience. Trying to throw through small windows is distinct from seeking to throw through closed doors. He hasn’t always been careless with attempts. It wouldn’t be okay if he was, but this unfortunate habit has only become an issue since partway through last season. Maddening decisions are avoidable if you seek hope. The problem is the habit seems to have taken hold.
Recklessness is thorough. Worst of all, there’s no beneficial result in exchange for the tradeoff. Take his daft final play of the first half, which featured him jumping pointlessly for a few extra yards far from the line to gain and in the red zone, which he needs to be informed means the placekicker is already within range. We’d be more upset about one bad decision if it was the worst he made and not maybe in fifth place.
A few missed tackles almost seem like a quaint issue. Leslie Frazier was coordinating from home. We can’t blame him except for his legacy. Sean McDermott seemed distracted as feared. The same defensive lapses as usual would ideally be the most glaring issue.
Prison thinking leads to obsessing over outcomes that likely won’t happen. The only way to exacerbate endless hours for pondering is to let theoretical narratives take root. The offseason sentence led some fans to either conclude the Bills were destined to cruise or doomed to have missed their chance. An unanticipated scenario involving remedial quarterback play didn’t come to mind that entire time in a mental cell.
We still only know one game despite the urge to project results on the next 16. The Chiefs and Bengals aren’t surrendering because of their respective underwhelming losses. But the fixes aren’t headlights that turn on automatically when needed. Teams made to wait the longest to start get the shortest interval before going again, which is good news for one in particular that needs to prove their self-destruct sequence isn’t their most prominent play call.
The opener confirmed the narrative, or didn’t. That narrows it down to all the possibilities in the universe. Buffalo doesn’t necessarily have to be defined by a game that was frustrating even by historical franchise standards. But Tre White needs to start regaining his form. Spencer Brown has to learn how to play offensive lineman. And Buffalo’s most prominent resident must stop trying to do it all on his own, especially since he’s doing the opposite.
Everything feels different on September 11. Sports seem both unimportant and treasured if the schedule happens to coincide. A day for reflection leads to appreciation for things we enjoy. If you’re a Bills backer, it then leads to returning to everyday aggravations.
Games go on even if tenures end before taking seats. The Bills were struck by lightning about half a dozen times last year. The Jets learned from their rival’s precedent and didn’t use getting hit by a lava meteor as an excuse.
A Trent Edwards/Dick Jauron-worthy performance is the unwelcome kind of throwback. This season’ first outing ended as unnecessarily ignominiously as 2009’s horrid opener with the additional cruelty of having seen incumbents perform far better. The Jets cashed in on facing a quarterback who wouldn’t have performed differently if he were trying to lose.
The same franchise that’s broken your heart before dipping it in liquid nitrogen to shatter it hasn’t changed despite recent exceptions. That was only one game. But the Bills used their opening shot to demonstrate they’ve reinforced their worst tendencies.
