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Buffalo Bills News and Discussion

Archives for January 27, 2021

Vic Carucci: McDermott’s response to second-guessing shows he has grown as coach

‘“Even with that, that’s still the one that – I’m very open with you here – I still think about,” McDermott said. “Maybe I should have gone for it there. Fourth-and-3, I felt like if we could get it to fourth-and-2, fourth-and-1, I know for sure we would have went for it. So, maybe third down, sticking a run in there, getting that one or two yards (rather than Allen throwing incomplete for Stefon Diggs), we would have felt a little more comfortable going for it there. So, score came into play a little bit there.”’

Five takeaways from Sean McDermott’s season-ending news conference

‘“There’s always people that want to look at your team and maybe pull people off of your team, off your staff,” McDermott said. “That’s to be expected. I think both of those two (Frazier and Dorsey) are highly qualified and I have a lot of confidence in both of those two men. We’ll see what the future holds for both of them and we’ll go from there.”’

Bills receiver Stefon Diggs weighs in on painful AFC championship loss to Chiefs

‘”We were getting ready to close the locker room doors. I was getting ready to address the team and I got word that Josh Norman and Stef were still out there, so I wanted to go out there and bring them in,” head coach Sean McDermott said Tuesday during his end-of-season video news conference. “When I got to both of them, Stef was the first one that I got to, and he was emotional. He was visibly upset. So, listen, I can understand why he wanted to stay out there and watch that. I’ve been around this game, and those games enough, including the Super Bowl, where, I can tell you I don’t want to watch it anymore, because I know how hard it is to watch it. But you learn from it, and that’s part of what he needed to do to get closure and also learn from it. … I just wanted to be there for him as a teammate – nothing really more than that. Love him and care for him, whether it was Stef Diggs or the last man on our roster, I would have done the same thing.”‘

Bills sign 13 from practice squad to reserve/future contracts

‘A reserve/future contract guarantees a player a spot on a team’s roster, which expands from 53 to 90 players with the start of the league’s new year in March (it also prevents them from signing with another team before then). It contains all the regular rules as it pertains to minimum salaries for veterans, but does not take effect until the start of the league year, which for the 2021 season comes March 17.’

Jim Kubiak: Chiefs compressed the pocket to make Josh Allen uncomfortable in AFC title game

‘As time wore on and the Bills fell behind, the offensive patience necessary to get back into the game wore off. The Chiefs’ coverage and an evenly distributed pass rush compressed Allen in the pocket and shrunk the space his receivers had to work in down the field. The Chiefs utilized a steam-drum pressure mentality, minimizing workable areas in the pocket and across the field. At times, the Chiefs’ blitzed while also pressing the Bills’ receivers at the line of scrimmage. At other times, Kansas City played Cover 1 or Cover 2 man with press on the receivers and four-man rushes.’

Erik Brady: Even in heartbreak, our unbreakable bond with Buffalo Bills goes on

‘“Sometimes I question why I expend so much time, emotion, and money on something as menial (and disappointing) as my @buffalobills,” Bart wrote. “But when I look back on this year — a year as tough and unexpected as we could ever imagine — there were the @buffalobills to provide a weekly (and daily) distraction to it all.”’

Bills coach Sean McDermott knows the climb is difficult, but vows to grow and rebuild

‘“It’s probably premature to get into it too deep right now but generally speaking, we’ve got to improve,” McDermott said Tuesday during a 45-minute season-ending Zoom call with reporters. “I’ve got to improve, our teams’ got to improve, our staff has to improve. Here’s what I know from experience: If you sit here and say, ‘All we need to do is do this much more to make it to the Super Bowl’ you’re wrong. You’ve got to start over.”’

5 things Bills’ Sean McDermott said in season-ending press conference

‘“(The Chiefs are) in year 8 and we’re in year 4,” McDermott said. “That’s a little bit of a feel for how long they’ve been building their program and where we are. There’s a lot that we’ve improved in in terms of what’s gotten us to where we are, but … there is still a gap in terms of where they are and where we are. It’s not just one answer that solves that problem. … They have a good roster and they played better than we did. They coached better than we did. But this is a learning experience for us. A lot of our players had never been in a game of that magnitude on that stage. ”’

Bills will get two third round picks if Texans hire Leslie Frazier. Here’s why

‘The employer-club of a minority employee who has been hired by another club as its Head Coach or Primary Football Executive (General Manager) shall receive Draft choice compensation in the form of a compensatory Draft pick in the third round in each of the next two Drafts for an employee hired as either a Head Coach or Primary Football Executive, or for the next three Drafts if it has two employees hired for both positions. The reference to the hiring of employees into “both positions” could be by the same club or different clubs.’

Bills players put cap on ‘20 season, look ahead to ‘bright future’

‘“Plain and simple to get to where we want to be, that’s going to be the team that we are going to have to go over to beat. We have to find a way to beat them,” said White. “The pieces that they have, how dynamic their offense is, how great their defense is at taking the ball away. That’s the team that if we want to get to where we want to go, that’s the team, that’s the standard there.”’

Sean McDermott says ‘there is still a gap’ between Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs

‘”There is still a gap in terms of where we are and where they are. It’s not just one answer that solves that problem,” McDermott said. “We all have to, starting with me, we all have to continue asking ourselves the hard questions of the what-ifs and the whys and the hows. We as a staff have to get better and improve, we have to improve our roster, we have to improve our operation and what we do.”‘

Josh Allen says 2020 season proved the Bills ‘didn’t make a mistake by drafting me’

‘What Allen accomplished in 2020 was MVP-caliber, even if he won’t take home the league’s highest individual honor. Allen set the Bills’ franchise record for passing yards in a season (4,544) and passing touchdowns (37), finishing with a 107.2 passer rating. He finished fourth in the league in completion percentage (69.2), fifth in passing yards, fifth in passing touchdowns, and fourth in passer rating — while also rushing for 421 yards and eight touchdowns.’

Bills’ Cole Beasley ‘selfishly’ pleased Brian Daboll will remain in Buffalo: ‘He’s an incredible coach’

‘Daboll found himself fielding interest this year for head coach vacancies because of his ability to create a prolific offense in Buffalo, fueled largely by the leaps and bounds progression from quarterback Josh Allen, but is now expected to stay put with the Bills, barring an unexpected turn of some sort with the Houston Texans in their search for a new head coach. Needless to say, this pleases Beasley greatly because while he wants what’s best for Daboll, he also wants what’s best for a Buffalo offense that ranked No. 2 in the league this season.’

McDermott: Bills will learn from AFC Championship Game experience

‘”It’s just not one answer that solves that problem. We all have to, starting with me, continue to ask ourselves the hard questions of the what ifs, and the whys and the hows. We, as a staff, have to get better and improve. We have to improve our roster. We have to improve our operation in what we do.”‘

McDermott ready to turn the page as Bills “start over”

‘”You have to take that growth mindset approach because to think, well, we won 15 games and lost four, well, we’re perfect. No, we’re not, and even if we were, you need to take the growth-mindset approach. That’s what you do when you’re a winner and that’s what you do when you’re hungry to be the best. That’s what we’re going to continue to do as long as I’m the head coach here, you’ve got to do that.”’

Bills players reflect on special 2020 season

‘“We have a lot to be proud of. To come in, do the things we were able to accomplish, to do it without an offseason, to do it with a lot of new guys, a lot of new pieces, not having those OTA’s to be able to gel and get the reps and continuity going,” Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White said. “What we did is an amazing thing. It’s something to be proud of.’

Josh Allen’s growth in year three was the Bills’ biggest win this season

‘“I believe that it’s certainly a benchmark or or a landmark to where we’ve gotten beyond now and I think that speaks well for the future of this organization moving forward. There’s not a lot of teams that can answer that question and say yes we have our quarterback. I can tell you Josh Allen is a very good quarterback and one we can win with for years to come,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said on Tuesday.’

4 Notable Quotes: Sean McDermott

‘“The one before half I really felt like morale was a big piece to that they had momentum they were getting the ball after half as well and I felt like we needed to come away with points at that one. Even though sometimes analytics may say one thing, whether it said it or not on our chart, I think there’s a human element to the game at the end of the day and I felt like we needed to come away with points.”‘

From the Producer’s Desk: Bills Offseason

‘Today we will start on the offensive side of the ball. The first is a no-brainer and one which I believe Brandon Beane will take care of sooner than later, signing quarterback Josh Allen to a mega contract to keep him here for the foreseeable future. This is a must do and most people would agree, but this will take up a good portion of the Bills cap space and some big decisions will need to be made, especially on the defensive side of the ball. (I will get to the defense tomorrow).’

A touching moment: Bills fan scatters dad’s ashes during the AFC Championship game

‘”I knelt down and opened up a necklace that I had around my neck for the last year that had about half a capsule of some of my dad’s ashes, so I let him out into the seat next to me so that he was physically there, but I also wanted to make sure before I left that stadium that I did that so he can be a season-ticket holder for eternity,” Kimmick said.’

Report: Jon Bon Jovi says world would be ‘better off’ if Trump bought the Buffalo Bills

‘“I was really shocked at the depths [Trump] went to. He wasn’t even qualified to buy the team, because you have to submit your tax returns, and he never filed the paperwork. Instead, he did this dark shadow assassination thing, hoping to buy the team at a bargain basement price. But I just couldn’t understand how this misinformation was being put out there. It was seriously scarring,” Bon Jovi told The Guardian.’

McDermott reflects on 2020 season

‘”Here’s what I know from experience,” McDermott said. “If you sit here and say, ‘All we need to do is this much more to make it to the Super Bowl,’ you’re wrong. You gotta start over. Yes, you carry a lot of things over, but every year you gotta start over. You gotta rebuild the football team. You gotta grow as an individual. You gotta take it upon yourself just because we had success to ask yourself the hard questions. You gotta take the growth mindset approach. That’s what you do when you’re a winner. That’s what you do when you’re hungry to be the best, and that’s what we’re gonna continue to do as long as I’m the head coach here. You gotta do that.”‘

Bills find franchise quarterback in Josh Allen

‘”Josh Allen is a very good quarterback and one we can win with in years to come,” Head Coach Sean McDermott said. “Josh’s development this season was a huge step in our growth as a team, was a huge step in his growth as a player on and off the field. I bet if you pulled anyone inside this building, in particular, you’d get a unanimous vote that Josh Allen certainly proved himself and what he can do. Does that mean he’s perfect? No. Does that mean he has work to do? Yes. Just like all of us.”‘

10 things we learned from Sean McDermott’s final press conference of the 2020 season

‘”We accomplished a lot,” McDermott said. “We won a division, won 13 games, hosted and won two playoff games. There’s one game after the game that we just played. Do we make it a goal to make it to the AFC Championship Game? No. The goal is to win the World Championship. So we came up short, disappointed in that but extremely grateful for what we were able to accomplish this season. Believe me, we’re going back to work. We’re already back at work to assess where we are and how we can move our team forward. I feel good about what we’ve done, not satisfied.”‘