The Smell is In The Air Baby | Way Too Early Nerves | Cry in the Dojo

What Josh Allen & The Bills Will Need to Overcome in 2021

As summer bleeds into mid July, as the smells of a Western New York summer so sweet and so short fade, it's time to get ready for some football. Okay, maybe not for everyone, but anyone who's played the game knows it's time to start getting in shape for camp now, so you can swing into a great season. There are a few new gamblers in town, with Tua returning for Miami, and the Jets and Pats drafting hired guns as well. Everyone thinks they can find the next new gunslinger to don the belt buckle of The Baddest MF on the field. 

Good luck with that, with number 17 on the field of battle. 

Allen, AKA The General is truly a 1/1. It's tremendously inspiring to see the arc his career has begun to take, it being so early in his journey, and how unrelenting the path was for him to get this far. How did he get here? How did he reach these heights? "You can't fix accuracy." 

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My brother is a coach, and a damn good one. I have him to thank for many things I have in my head and heart today, as a competitor, a leader, and as a person. He taught me many valuable things as a player and quarterback growing up here in WNY. He continues to teach and lead young men on the basketball court, but because of the things he and other great leaders taught me, it was easy for me to spot Allen's greatness based on the leadership elements he demonstrated on and off the field, almost as soon as he touched down in Buffalo. 

Allen's physical gifts are remarkable, but his willingness to improve, raw passion for football and leadership, and his fight are how he got here, and how we all got here.

I look forward to the next chapter of Allen's story, and as I sit and watch the team on Good Morning Football on NFL Network talk about whether or not the Pegula's should pay Allen now, or hold off, it's got me feeling a little nervous! Football is coming!  

So let's lean into our fears and train our minds after a hell of a party last year and take a look at some things Josh Allen and the Bills will need to overcome if they want to win the big one. 

Opposing Fans in Stands

Can Josh demonstrate the same cool hand on his delivery and follow through on his ball when the fans are jeering him? We saw incredible play by him last year, and one thing that didn't hurt was silence. He was cool, calm, and collected. I'm not saying we WON'T see him be great with people in opposing stadiums, but I am saying you will see mistakes. He is a gunslinger at heart, and a fighter. I hope to God he never changes that!

In all reality, in terms of football, quiet stadiums may have been the best thing for he and other young QBs, to have a chance to develop in live NFL gameplay with little to know crowd noise. Not every young QB did what 17 did though.

17's Never Say Die Attitude

Staying on the field will always be a challenge for a guy with no fear.

We are the hunted now, and Kim Jones noted that Allen has taken a different look at how he approaches each game, ridding himself of the "hero" ball mindset. Allowing his teammates to make plays. This is great, especially considering playmakers WANT to be with a guy like him. 

He will die on the battlefield with whoever he plays with, but he is attracting talent to come here to play with him, which is good because it will give a guy like him confidence to spread it instead of do it himself. 

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Guys like Emmanuel Sanders, Jacob Hollister and Matt Breida should help make a few more plays. Isaiah Hodgins is also intriguing in the seams/1on1. A Healthy Zach Moss and rebound Devin Singletary should also help matters.

Personally I'm impressed with the way Allen has been able to control being hit, and staying safe, hope to see more of that in 2021. (Don't forget about when Joey Bosa fell on his knee) This to me is the biggest aspect of "Heroball" he must be careful with, his personal physical safety. 

We need the Golden Goose in order to have the Golden Eggs.

Overcoaching / Overthinking

I've seen so much talk of Jordan Palmer and the mechanics work he's done, and continues to do with Josh Allen. I'm satisfied and impressed by what he's managed to do in helping 17 slow his arm velocity when needed, get a better hand spin control, and flick the wrist, amongst the lower body balance and performance. Fixing / adjusting QB mechanics is like learning to dance and box at the same time.

Cry in the Dojo Rant - Though Palmer has done a great job, I think I'm done messing around "in the lab" now. Allen's ball is starting to look more like a Palmer ball, looping up and over with control....but I want him to keep the same punch, drive, and fight in his ball that the greats like Rogers, Favre, Ben, but understand the benefit of machine like consistency like Manning, Brady, Brees. But none of those guys ever had what Allen has, and neither did Jordan Palmer. I'm concerned with making a natural robotic, but....

But what I will say is having someone in your corner outside of the locker room, a mentor who never had what you had, is great to have, and Palmer is truly deserving of credit for the sharpening of Allen's toolbox. Palmer is sharp, and he and Ken Dorsey along with Davis Webb are all instrumental in the Heavyweight Contender's success. A good fighter, especially one as cerebral as Allen, needs a good fight corner to match the craft and intensity of his pursuit of greatness, and Allen's got that. 

Let's hope that he continues to let his natural gifts be great and admire him, and hope he never changes the way he plays the game at heart.

Home Fans

I hope to see growth and evolution from the fans of Western New York, as we have a responsibility now to our team to not give up on them, shit on them, or quit on them. Sure, many if not the majority of the "Bills Mafia" are loyal longtime fans, but many are loyal longtime haters who keep coming back and being negative and puking all over everything. 

At any point from now until the end of the 2021 season, if you hear any "same old Bills" jaunts... let them know... No... It's not the same old Bills anymore. 

Whether the gunslinger throws a pick, or the defense gives up 50 and we lose by 2, we should be the favorite in almost every game this year. 

It's going to be odd to be the hunted. Recognize that we will get every team's best effort. The old Bill's may surprise a sleeping hunter with a lucky drunk Sunday 1pm upset, but now every team who comes to WNY will be trying to cut our heads off, including the QB. 

He must be protected, from the opponent, himself, and fan's expectations of grandeur. My message to 17, and the fans...Just have fun and play ball, we're all going to enjoy it regardless if we Win or Lose, and that's something to be truly grateful for. Can you imagine this place with full capacity!?

We must protect this house!

The smell is in the air Buffalo. It's just getting to be that time for the guys on the field.(or the has-beens and never-was's!) I hope the team carries the same oneness and closeness as they did on the climb, as they do now with the target on their shoulder-pads. It's still just a game. Have fun Men!

I hope they understand that they are not responsible for the happiness of this region, but this region is responsible for the support of them. We as fans have the players, coaches, and front office to thank for being here, not the other way around.

I hope that the past few years' nationwide struggle has not effected our locker room, and that they overcome struggle and use the game to demonstrate leadership and class for the world, as they did last year. 

The Bills and 17 showed the class, dignity, fortitude that our entire country can embody if we hold ourselves to their standards as a team.

Win or lose, I cant wait for Sunday's in Buffalo this Fall, and now... this winter... and now.. for as long as 17 is throwing fastballs. 

Summer is short in WNY. The days get shorter, the air gets colder. Hope of another summer lost in history. The smells of the fair and lawn fete's turn into the crisp Friday night dew of leather and lights.

Summer ends when football begins. Fall in Buffalo usually ends when the hopes of the Bills do, usually before Thanksgiving..

Thanks to The General Josh Allen for giving everyone in WNY something to look forward to through February. 

Not bad for a farmboy. Turns out you can turn a farmboy into a machine afterall. What do you get when you mix Rocky Balboa with Ivan Drago? 

We got ourselves a heavyweight contender.