BADOLBILZ

I'm not sure why some people think that this was ever either a valid reason or excuse.

My hope is Brees ends back up in Indiana with the Colts. That team is pretty loaded and has a lot of cap space. Glad they didn't get a long term solution in Stafford.

I could see Beane trading for Von Miller. It wouldn't be a first round pick........maybe not even a second because his team control(team option year) ends after this season and he is in the middle of some controversy(which I think will blow over).......so it might not qualify as a blockbuster but that's the kind of move that could really help change the defense in the short term.

Brees is certainly the greater QB historically..........but it's my contention that the reason why the Saints failed in their most recent few years is because the older, weaker armed Brees was physically spent when they reached the playoffs. This year......with the broken ribs.......was just an exclamation point on that point. Stafford is a younger, much stronger armed QB. I also really like and trust McVay. He got a ton out of Goff.......Stafford is the far superior talent.

I think they will play it like the Saints did the past 3 years and push that debt down the road. Their rationale would be having a "#1 defense" right now justifies going for it.

The Bills didn't have a defense that was good enough to keep Mahomes off the field. I thought Daboll did a poor job preparing the team for the playoffs late in the year.......he took a lot of low hanging fruit from teams that were mailing it in rather than sharpen his run game..........but they were going to need to make some stops on defense and they weren't coached/prepared well enough there to do that. They gotta' become more multiple on defense. That Giants team was built on a dominant front 7 and they literally went to a 3 man front in SB XXV...........that kind of system versatility is not something McDermott has ever shown.

1) Jefferson was a curious signing because he really isn't a good DE or DT. I assumed they thought he was an ascending player but he was underwhelming. I would assume that they cut him? 2) I think they can move on from Milano. He's a very good weak side LB but they have Edmunds or Klein or possibly Dodson all who could move there and be good. 3) I don't think Brown ever got healthy. I see them moving on from Brown for cap reasons but I don't think they should just hand the job to Davis. If they get to pick 30 and the best player on the board is a potential stud WR that shouldn't be passed on to address a perceived need in the moment.

The point of the 1 tech in this defense is supposed to be to set up the instinctive MLB to be able to make plays in run defense. Doesn't even make sense with a guy like Edmunds behind it. I think they roll with this setup for another year and eventually have to change out the MLB or change the positioning up front. Wouldn't hurt this defense OR offense to be able to be multiple like recent champs NE and KC have been able to be. The 1 tech's mostly did their job this season once the rotation was set in the second half..........Vernon Butler basically cloned the performance of Star Lotulelei(which wasn't hard) and Phillips was an improvement over what they had in the WC game in Houston last year(Liuget) so IMO the 1 tech position overall was improved. As I said the regression statistically with the defense was mainly the MUCH better schedule and the significant loss of pass rush.

There really isn't any footage out there to support the notion that Lotulelei did a better job helping the defense defend the run. He was ineffective...........he didn't even always draw the double because a key to causing the double from the 1T(as opposed to the nose) is threatening the gap between the center and guard........which he wasn't athletic enough to do. The defense was going to see a statistical regression this season...........for the first time they had a legitimately difficult schedule........the linebacking corps was banged up.........there were a ton of new faces in that front 7 and they lost a bunch of sacks in Phillips, Alexander and Shaq. Ed Oliver had a down year.........one of the reasons wasn't the loss of Lotulelei though.......Phillips and Butler comparably replaced Star's 2019 1T reps.........it was the lack of a 350# gap shooter alternating with him at 3T. The combination of Oliver and a motivated Phillips was a long days work for a guard.

They aren't a wasted down but Josh Allen at 8 yards per pass attempt trumps a range of 4.0-5.0 yards per rush. Tyrod at 6.5 yards per pass and McCoy/Karlos/MG at 5.5 yards per rush was a different story.

The long term success is about Mahomes........anyone with a top 5 QB is set up for a long period of contention..........and Mahomes has the ability to become the GOAT. But it's very common when you have a bunch of stud playmakers as the Chiefs do now to mistake the level of incoming young players who are protected/propped-up by those playmakers. During the 90's when the Bills had a cast of HOF'ers they routinely drafted late and they seemed to nail tons of later picks.......... but as the playmakers aged it became clear that those guys weren't nearly as impactful as they looked while the playmakers were in their prime. Now........with shorter rookie contracts it's even harder to keep teams together. Not that the Chiefs haven't drafted well but don't mistake role players for difference makers.

Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson were no more productive in 2020 than the players Beane replaced them with. I know some people refuse to believe that players raise their off-season prep and in-season games to the max in contract years but it's a reality............Shaq and Phillips were THOSE kinda' guys........that was their character/MO for several seasons to start their careers.........underachievers......and predictably huge disappointments for their new teams.

The 1T position between the guard and center forces a double team. Whomever the Bills used at 1T got the double team this season.......Phillips, Butler, Oliver, Zimmer.... The 3T lines up on the outside shoulder of the opposite side guard. The positioning of the 3T makes it very difficult to double team that player...........counterproductive in most cases. Ed Oliver simply needs to work on his game more this offseason........and the Bills need to get some better pass rushers on the rest of the DL. 1T plugger was not the problem with this defense.

The cause and correlation in the Bills defensive rank regression was a MUCH tougher schedule and a loss of pass rush. They struggled integrating some new pieces early but ultimately when they wanted to stop the run they did. They held the 2,000 yard rusher Henry to his lowest output of the regular season and they shut down the NFL's top rushing attack in the divisional round. The 2019 defense had Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson in contract years and they totaled 16.5 sacks. Not signing them was the right move.........they basically did nothing with their new teams.........but that pass rush production was not replaced. Star screwed them by making them use Butler at 1T.........he was supposed to replace Jordan Phillips in the 3T rotation..........but that's about the extent of the impact. Butler achieved the exact same results from the 1T that Star did. He absorbed double teams and couldn't get off blocks to make plays just like Star.

Josh Allen with the ball in his hands should have been enough confidence for them. Again, hopefully lesson learned.

Playing scared was a bad decision...........I gave McD too much credit........I really didn't expect him to actually turtle up like that again. Guess the lessons learned in the WC last year and in so many unnecessarily close games earlier this season were lost after a long winning streak that coincided with an aggressive mindset. Sounds like McD regrets it so hopefully lesson is hardwired in now.

"tackles aren't the problem" You shouldn't use the early rounds of the draft to fill immediate needs. They change. Fast. I remember starting a thread about drafting Aaron Donald a couple weeks before that draft and everyone who responded basically said "yeah, no way....can't you see we have all these stars on the DLine.....the defensive line isn't the problem!". QB Pass rusher CB1 LT WR1 or potentially great TE(rare) Trust the process or trade out. Yeah some teams break from that and have some success.......but when McBeane chose to basically rid the team of all the prior regimes 1st and 2nd round picks for pennies on the dollar they lost quite a bit of margin for error time-wise in their re-build. They really need to use those early picks to keep those big dollar type positions stocked.........and hopefully longer term.

Brady made it a point to step on your necks for 20 years.....it was important to keep Buffalo down.........yet you are going to root for him? Mmmmkay. I guess it's time to acknowledge that we have Red Sox and Celtics fans on our wagon too.

Yeah that 36-3 stretch really exposed the Bills run game.

McDermott admitted he played it wrong. End of thread, chicken heads/

Timmie Smith had a great run behind the Hogs in the playoffs in 1987. You can get aberrations in production from RB's in small sample sizes. Michel has been a pretty huge disappointment. Singletary averaged 5.0 ypc on a much larger workload in 2019.....you are ready to move on from him. We'll see if the Pats pick up Meh-chel's 5th year option.

That's what you THINK........Harris and Etienne were playing on dominant teams and both had over 600 carries in college.......not low mileage. The Bills have to fix their running game.........it was astonishingly unproductive considering the threat of the pass.........but IMO that is an offensive line issue. Mitch Morse undermines their running game, IMO. Feliciano would be better there than at guard and much better than Morse in the run game. It's a strong OT class.......they might find a LT that can play RT right away with that pick. If they pay Williams at RT they could address a pass rusher or a CB. Or perhaps they trade a high pick for a proven stud pass rusher or CB. Real, high-dollar, important positions that also help you unseat the Chiefs. Then find a James Robinson later in the draft or maybe Moss and Singletary run for 5.0 ypc behind a better OL and scheme. I think there are many ways to skin the cat and get past a KC........throwing their weight into the RB position is short-sighted but I don't doubt they'd do it because they already have used two "starting" level picks on RB's the past two seasons.

Dominated? That's box score scouting. The Eagles lead that entire game until a minute left in the 3rd quarter and the refs missed a couple brutal PI's that held the Eagles back. But the Eagles were driving to what looked like an inevitable game winning TD when a pass went right thru a wide-open Alshon Jeffries hands around the Saints 20 yard line for a game saving gimme-pic.........just saving the Saints from an earlier playoff choke job that season. As for the Patriots rushing production..........great OL....maybe their best ever......lead by the greatest OL coach ever. Sony Michel has been JAG and often unavailable in 3 NFL seasons. The premise that SB champs usually need a star RB is not supported. A better running game would be nice but that doesn't have to come from spending important chips on the RB position.

Meh-chel is more like it. Devin Singletary was better as a rookie and has been much more efficient in the NFL than Michel. Much better in that pass game in particular. Michel was a very regrettable use of a draft pick..............they had been finding better RB production from everywhere except using a high pick for such a long time.........so I was quite pleased when they made it. Lynch was a top 10 pick by a dumb drafting Buffalo team..........his career turned out to be near HOF level but it's important to note........that was made possible by going to a place that didn't have to use a top pick on him. I think the situation where it can be a wise expenditure is exceptional. This isn't one of those situations, IMO. It would be nice to have but it's not worth a blue personnel chip or a market contract. The refs bailed them out the week before against Foles and the Eagles. Eagles were the better team at that point......the Saints shouldn't even have been in that game versus Rams. The Saints came up small time after time in recent years in the playoffs.

Rex Ryan might have run the most complex defense in NFL history. Most fans consider him to be a buffoon. It's somewhere in between but the reality is that you don't need to be a genius to understand the game of football.