st pete gogolak

I agree with this 100%. I always wondered how those games would have turned out if you take Haley and Thomas Everett (another offseason Cowboy pickup) off the Cowboys and put them on the Bills. Have a hard time thinking any team would be able be beat a Bills team with Haley and Bruce Smith rushing the passer.

Giants - had a party at the house; Redskins - wife gave birth to our daughter during the game; Cowboys I - watched it alone; went for a bike ride the second half; Cowboys I I - went golfing.

The recent back and forth whether to move on from McDermott because he “can’t get us over the hump” takes me back to one game: Super Bowl XXVII against the Dallas Cowboys. The Bills had an up and down 1992 season, failing to win the division and losing Kelly to injury last game of the season. The playoffs, however, were memorable, starting with the Comeback against the Oilers, followed by impressive road wins against the Steelers with Reich again at QB, and the Dolphins, with Kelly back at QB. The Super Bowl, however, was a debacle and an embarrassment. No question Cowboys had a very strong team and frankly a better team. It shouldn’t have been a blowout. It’s interesting to look at stats and play-by-play from the game. Bills had more first downs and total yardage was relatively close. Final score - 52 - 17! Two key sequences. Down 14 - 7, Bills has second and goal from Dallas one. Two runs and an interception followed. Later, Bills down 21 - 7, Bills had first and goal inside the Dallas 5 and settled for a FG. That was pretty much all she wrote. The embarrassing part was that the Bills fumbled eight times and lost five and threw four interceptions, two each by Kelly and Reich. Nine turnovers in the biggest game of the year!!!! It’s hard to imagine a less well prepared team going into a big game. Levy was a good coach, not a great coach. It was clear after that game that he’d never lead the Bills to a SB win. Do you fire a coach who has led you to three straight SB’s? In hindsight, the answer is, yeah you probably do. Blow it up and let your GM start the rebuild. Instead we fire the GM and keep the coach. Does this give any insight to our present situation? I think yes. McDermott should be on the hot seat this year. Super Bowl or bust. If we don’t do in 2024, time to move on.

13 seconds infinitely worse. Why? Because the last 13 seconds - from the screw up on the kickoff to the ridiculous defensive alignments on the following two plays - raised the legitimate question whether this HC and this staff were capable of winning a Super Bowl. Jury is still out on that (unless the verdict has already been returned). The other thing. Immediately after 13 seconds, I was convinced we beat Bengals at home and beat Rams in SB. Do you really believe that now? I don’t. Cinci went into Arrowhead and won. That certainly had the capability to go into Highmark and win. Same thing this year. Yeah, Jackson stunk but Ravens D is legit. Close game but 50/50 whether we go on the road and beat the Ravens.

Let’s do better than 4 - 2 in the division and schedule won’t look too bad.

So even though our D has been statistically very good in the regular season the last four years, good offenses have blown us up in the playoffs each of the last four years. Is it players, schemes, injuries, or something else? Not sure but I lean toward scheme. I would love to see us imitate the Rams “Greatest Show on Turf” defense. It wasn’t particularly talented but it complimented a high powered offense by being super aggressive, causing a lot of turnovers and playing well with a lead. Do we have the personnel to blitz more, play more press coverage? Have no idea. Will Babich have the authority to remake the defense? I’m guessing no. We’re clearly going to pick a bunch of players on the defensive side in the upcoming draft so we’ll have a better idea about the direction of the defense at the end of April.

If Reid retires after the SB, would Spags or EB be in line for HC? Would Spags be po’d being passed over for a 30 something offensive guru?

Bingo! You can design special teams that actually disposes with special teamers. Every kickoff goes into the end zone (eminently doable); every punt goes OB or at least angled (this is where Azaria could come in - long punt but no hang time? Doesn’t matter if it is OB); kickoff returns? Always take the start on the 25.

Re “no stopping Mahomes two years ago”. Bengals D says hold my beer.

Hate to say it, but I envision Josh winning a Super Bowl similar to Dominic Hasek’s Stanley Cup. One of the all time greats traded near the end of his career and winning it all with a new team. Hope to God it doesn’t work out that way.

Can’t tell anymore. Is this sarcasm?

So, let’s say Mahomes is traded straight up for Allen this offseason. Bills win the Super Bowl next year, right? Allen’s playoff numbers are great. In the last four playoff losses, the numbers for the Bills’s defense are staggeringly bad. If Allen and Mahomes had traded places five years ago, Allen would have a couple of rings and Mahomes wouldn’t have any. Mahomes may be better than Allen but the difference isn’t a gulf, it’s a puddle.

Realignment because Patrick Mahomes is too good? Eh, no. Realignment because present setup is stale? I’m open to that. How about geographic realignment (Pats, Jets, Giants, Eagles in one division, etc.). How about four 8 team divisions, 16 playoff teams (no byes!).

Quick reminder of Allen’s greatness, yes greatness in the playoffs: 10 games - passing 272.3 yards per game, 65% completion, 21 TD’s, 4 INT’s; rushing 563 yards, 6.8 average, 6 TD’s, 2 fumbles. Oh yeah, 1 reception for 16 yards and a TD. If the defense was average in the playoffs, Allen would have a couple of rings.

There isn’t any need for a “rebuild” next year. The offense is going to come back intact (except maybe Morse as a cap casualty). They will most likely add a WR in the first round. It has the potential to be great. Not good, great. Yeah, lot’s of questions on D but there is no way next year should be a rebuilding year.

Agree, other than, I don’t know, the 10 - 12 quality picks in the last three drafts. Ridiculous take.

I’d certainly add McVay to that list. Peyton? Tomlin is a McDermott clone with a SB ring.

Correcto Mundo! Staggeringly bad numbers.

Elway won two.

More fun facts: 24 regular season losses over the last five years. Of those losses, only six have been by more than one score. Five post-season losses. Two by more than one score. Zero and four OT record in regular season; 0 - 2 OT record in the playoffs. Only one regular season loss in the last three years by more than one score. That’s a really remarkable stat.

You could have had a genetic hybrid of Montana and Brady QB’ing the Bills in the Cowboy Super Bowls and you ain’t beating the Cowboys. Kelly was actually pretty good in the last SB. The loss certainly wasn’t on him.

This is sarcasm, right? Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

The quarterback debate is, well, stupid. It’s not Conners v. McEnroe. The question I always ask is if the QB’s changed teams would the outcome be different. If Manning and Brady changed teams would Brady still have six rings with the Colts? Of course not. How many would Manning have if he played for the Pats? A hell of a lot closer to six than the one he won for the Colts. Would the Bills have beaten the Cowboys if Aikman played for the Bills and Kelly played for the Cowboys? Of course not. Same with Allen and Mahones. Do you really believe the Bills win a Super Bowl if Mahones had been our QB the last five years? Do you really believe Allen doesn’t win a Super Bowl being coached by Reid and throwing to Hill and Kelce? The ongoing arguments are pretty damn stupid.

Name Impact Play #2 from Kelsey.

What if this is the deal - Terry Pegula is an awful owner and manager of a sports franchise (see Rex Ryan hire; 2012 - 2024 Buffalo Sabres). He did get very lucky once hiring McDermott, who is a good coach, and Beane, who is a very good GM. Do you really want him to be making any more decisions with the Bills? What if there is a team with a better coach and staff, make better personnel decisions and have a QB as good or better than ours? What if there is another team with an elite QB who presents a nightmare matchup for the Bills? It’s horrible. It isn’t fair but, personally, I keep McBeane in place and upgrade at OC and DC. Maybe that will be enough to get us over the hump.