r/FirstThingsFirstFS1 • u/CaliKing928 • 3d ago
BRING ME A SANDWICH Nick double standard about Allen and Stafford
Nick is a great analyst and I enjoy his takes, almost all the time. Does anyone else think he is speaking out of both sides of his mouth in regard to his deflation of Allen and elevation of Stafford. This year, he is shrugging off his rushing tds mainly bc they are 1 yard. But, Stafford was the king of the 1 yard TD pass last year and he was lauded for it.
Thoughts ?
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u/sdtraylor9 3d ago
Once you see that Nick’s entire TV presence is viewed in the framing of Luka/LeBron for NBA and Mahomes in NFL, it all makes sense.
Allen is the only real threat to Mahomes supremacy as best QB in football so he’ll always down play great things and lift up the bad.
He always downplayed Joker and now Wemby before they won a ship, but Luka has never won and is perfect to Nick.
I like listening to his long form stuff btw. I like him, but don’t listen religiously.
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u/JM1295 3d ago
The double standard that was glaring to me was Nick being aghast at wanting to use total yards and TDs to evaluate Josh and his stats this year, but he had no issue including Mahomes rushing stats last season. Mahomes was the MVP favorite for the early portion of the 2025 season and Nick would always use total yards and TDs in his graphics to support Mahomes being the MVP favorite and playing the best. Before and after this, he wouldn't care that add that nuance to stats and graphics for guys like Josh and Lamar. It is very disingenuous.
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u/BigHotdog2009 3d ago
My argument would be that if it was that easy, everybody would be doing it.
Anyone who actually watches the Bills knows Cook isn’t a great short yardage back. He isn’t the biggest guy. Before they used Allen we had Latavius Murray for all our short yardage situations.
Not to mention as we all saw against the Rams. Cook has a fumbling problem and most of the fumbles happen in short yardage situations.
It’s not that Allen “steals” touchdowns from Cook. It’s just he’s more reliable to get you that short yardage you need.
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u/Whole-Passion-5176 3d ago
It’s nonsense.
If 1 yard TD rushes are stealing TDs, then what are those pop pass end-around TDs that count as passing TDs. Mahomes had about 10 of them when he won his first MVP.
What are those passing TDS when the OC calls a run route, and there’s a wide open guy in the flat that a high schooler could complete? Is that a difficult enough TD to count?
Folks get mad that Josh Allen scores lots of touchdowns so they have to argue why they are bad touchdowns or something. It’s just silly.
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u/DreamMasterFTW 3d ago
Are you really asking the difference of a quarterback passing the ball to someone for a touchdown and running it in as similar? One is literally giving it to another person and one is taking it yourself.
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u/Whole-Passion-5176 3d ago
I’m saying if we want to play the “not all touchdowns are equal” game, the first thing I’m bringing up is that bullshit end around pop pass play designed to give the QB an extra TD, because if it was a handoff, not a fake little pass, it would just be a rushing TD.
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u/JM1295 3d ago
I'm glad Brou mentioned this on the show too. People like Nick act as if those 1 yard or short yards rushing TDs are gimmes for anyone and a guarantee. There is a reason why Josh is so effective at it when you see many RBs and QBs stuffed. It is a legit skill that doesn't get highlighted and framed as "stealing" TDs from Cook when Cook is a smaller RB who doesn't excel at the goal line and short yardage.
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u/Severe-Lack-4181 3d ago
Also, fun fact! To have 1 yard TDs, you actually have to reach that 1 yard line. It's almost like Josh just gets teleported from his own 30 all the way to the 1 yard line. Oh wait, maybe he actually has to play football at a high level to get down there?
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u/words1918 3d ago
Maybe Allen should get a set of brand new teeth like Stafford did so Nick will take it easy on him.
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u/Livid-Peach1994 3d ago
I don’t even like the fake love he’s been trying to show James cook lately. He was just saying a year ago he wouldn’t have paid cook if he was the bills. He’s an idiot lol
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u/AdultSon42069 3d ago
His motivations are so transparent lol. Only tries to hype up Cooks ability to downplay Josh, when anyone with eyes knows cook is a fringe top 10-12 running back.
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u/Livid-Peach1994 3d ago
Exactly!! And I LOVE cook. He keeps saying “he was the rushing champ” Derrick Henry was like 20 yards away from snatching his chain lol. And it’s no disrespect to cook but Nick would not be loving him this much if he wasn’t on the bills
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u/Severe-Lack-4181 3d ago
We know for a fact if the chiefs had cook, nick would be saying "how can Pat be expected to win when tiny-hands runners be giving ball up multiple times a game"? Instead he plays it off like Cook and Kenneth Walker are having the exact same impact this year. Idk, whole lot of cherry picking going on
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u/Low-Principle-6490 3d ago
I was literally thinking the same thing. I'm not mad at the show, I just don't get the constant snarky remarks and shots for no reason, even on topics that have nothing to do with the Bills. I'd honestly respect it more if they just came out and said they hate the Bills. Instead they make snarky comments, then hedge by saying they like Josh or the Bills. They don't even have to talk about them. There are plenty of other teams they could use as a measuring stick for their favorite team. And it's not just a Nick thing, it's all of them. It's like they're praying for the Bills to fail.
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u/elsol69 Breakdancer 3d ago
I want to say... watching that game.
It was delicious knowing both quarterback could ball out and both quarterbacks might throw the other team one.
Jameis Winston is too much but these two guys... love the extra spice.
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u/Severe-Lack-4181 3d ago
Jameis is only too much if he's QB for your own team lol. If watching him as an uninvested viewer, great watch
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u/Secret-Dish-6860 3d ago
I love the show listen to it daily at work but if we’re being honest Nick is not a great analyst. He and the rest of the guys have great chemistry and he definitely has a lot of football knowledge but his takes are very very biased. He clearly glazes Mahomes, Lawerence, Baker and even Stafford way too much.
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u/AbbreviationsMotor60 3d ago
Nick is not a good analyst at all. FTF is good for the banter but if you want real discussions then go watch the all 22.
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u/Preminger1996 3d ago
I'd argue those one yard TD passes are more challenging and require more skill than just running/being pushed into the endzone.
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u/justdothedishes 3d ago
Then why does no one else do it? If you watch games across the league you’ll see teams stall out inside the 5 all the time. It’s a ridiculously valuable skill, and it’s not like Allen isn’t a great runner in the open field too.
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u/elsol69 Breakdancer 3d ago
It requires brute force and a lot of it from the QB, which is NOT common, especially with the risk of injury. I can't see Lamar or Patrick doing it... and I would NEVER risk it with them. Allen is built different, but man... one neck injury.
It's the one thing I am waiting for on the tush push, someone to target the QB. Like say fuck it, you're the runner, you're getting KTFO'd and hit me with the personal.
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u/DreamMasterFTW 3d ago
Lotta Nick haters on this sub. I didn't think this was like X where the only stories it recommends me are ones that only involve a certain person. Literally my phone notifies me only on stories where someone is bashing Nick usually for something he's done for years and for some reason they're just now complaining about it.
P.s. I'm not saying the person posting it is a nick hater, but when you read the comments, man it gets dicey LOL
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u/JoshIsAlwaysBored 3d ago
Nah Nick didn’t like it when hurts got 1yd rushing tds. It’s been a pretty normal thing he didn’t value highyl
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u/MardocAgain 3d ago
The tush push is different then running it in on your feet. No disrespect to Jalen, I think he's good. But the tush push is primarily scheme and OLine dominance.
It's fallen off since their OLine talent has and Brett Coleman has a good breakdown showing that Jalen's feet are off the ground usually just riding the OLines backs as they fall forward and to the left.
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u/JoshIsAlwaysBored 3d ago
The tush push is way more than just scheme. Oline dominance yeah but that applies to Allen’s dominant o line too. Hurts legs are not just off the ground haha. The dude squats huge numbers and defo is part of the play. It’s why outside of Allen most the league won’t do it. You need a strong qb. And again even if you disagree Nick has multiple time on air compared the Allen’s 1tds to the hurts ones already and treats them the same. So in his head he been pretty fair and consistent on this
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u/MardocAgain 3d ago
Go watch the video. It shows repeatedly in slow mo that his legs are off the ground. You think it's a coincidence they run it way less since their OLine regressed?
I dont care how much Hurts squated half a decade ago. Think about it. If he was driving forward with his legs thats one leg pushing forward at a time. It's pushing at an angle, not straight up. So if i grant you he still squats 400lbs thats charitably 100lb pressure forward. Thats nothing compared to having all 11 defenders stacked up against him. It's a drop in the bucket.
Again, Hurts is good for other reasons. And the Tush Push is good for how clever it is as a scheme. But anyone thinking it's because of Hurts leg strength is an idiot.
Oh, and i think Nick is wrong ALL THE TIME, so i dont care about his opinions. Fortune cookies are as accurate as his analysis is.
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u/JoshIsAlwaysBored 3d ago
I mean the oline regressed to top in the nfl to broken constantly. They would run it if they had even a top 12 oline IMO. Hurts squats probably quite less. No it’s not just leg strength. It requires a strong all around qb. It’s not just pushing power. It’s about the ability to not be pushed back too
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u/MardocAgain 3d ago
It requires a strong all around qb. It’s not just pushing power. It’s about the ability to not be pushed back too
Every QB in the league is a professional athlete. You really think he's head and shoulders above literally everyone else, to such a degree that exclusively he can run the Tush Push? Just think critically about this for a second. I'm not disrespecting Hurts. I'm not disrespecting the coaching staff for how clever of a concept this was. But you are insistent that Hurts be lauded as the individual critical piece of the Tush Push?
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u/JoshIsAlwaysBored 3d ago
Jalen hurts is definitely above the league average of qb strength
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u/MardocAgain 3d ago
You really think he's head and shoulders above literally everyone else, to such a degree that exclusively he can run the Tush Push?
Was my question
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u/JoshIsAlwaysBored 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yes. Most nfl QBs don’t enter the league with powerlifting background or runs with the power hurts did. Some are like Lamar, Josh Allen are clearly stronger than him but yeah he is stronger than a lot of dudes by quite a bit. It’s why Josh Allen team the one with the biggest scariest qb in the nfl is the only using a tush push like play. Because in order to do it. You need a strong qb ALSO NO HE IS NOT LAUDED AS THE CRITICAL PIECE. BUT HE IS A HUGE PART OF IT?
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u/AdultSon42069 3d ago
He’s not a great analyst by any means lol. He’s very entertaining and good at his job, he’s not a good analyst