BADOLBILZ

Most overrated Bill ever. "he's smart" 😂 Just one outstanding season in 4 years with the Bills and that was in an offense where the other Bills RB's produced big in 2015 and 2016. Because Greg Roman is a great run game designer. His other 3 seasons in Buffalo he was a below average RB statistically. The attention desperate, celebrity knob-polishing of Bills fans loved Shady though.

I don't think you make the decision about whether to use the franchise tag on a player based on whether you think that player will report to camp or not. It's generally proven to be a terrible decision for the player to not to be out there opening day. There is enough data on it and players generally just roll with it and take that big guaranteed paycheck. Worked past couple times Bengals did it. Letting a valuable asset like that walk for nothing when you have plenty of immediate cap space to tie them up would be malpractice, IMO.

I don't need to watch it, I knew they dropped the ball by not selecting Mahomes in 2017. THAT team and THIS franchise passing on a QB in that draft was preposterous. The excuse that they needed more than 4 months to evaluate a QB class() was the first of many ridiculous excuses made by McBeane. The Mahomes hype in summer of 2017 was huge.....his lone start backed up the hype......and by the time he went off in the opener of the 2018 season I could already envision our new young QB perennially being 2 steps behind even if he turned out to be as great as his athletic ceiling. The reason I thought that far ahead was because the Chiefs had been eating the Bills lunch since Reid arrived. They dealt some critical blows to the playoff hopes of Marrone and Rex teams that were about equally talented. They outmaneuvered the Bills for Alex Smith. They were a problem and as big a rival to me as anyone outside of NE. But for most Bills fans they were just another team on the schedule. I was very irritated to hand them a QB........with a below market value trade no less........when we were so desperate for our own QB. When Allen was just playing like a wild man with mixed results in 2018 and Mahomes was being the most prolific passing first year QB I was already figuring "best case" scenario was that Allen could be Jim Kelly to Mahomes' Dan Marino. Marino had excellent individual and team success at the beginning but 5-6 years in Kelly started winning the majority of their matchups because of a better roster and the Bills team surpassed Miami. Allen held up his part of the bargain by improving quickly............Beane just proved to be to much of a work in progress as a GM and never was able to out-personnel the Chiefs. As I've said before though.........it was wishful thinking that the Bills organization could go from decades of dysfunction and terrible stewardship and suddenly hit on the perfect GM and HC and QB combination all at once. I like Beane and think he could actually eventually live up to the BS "wizard" hype he got early on.........but it's entirely possible that his best work won't line up perfect with the prime of JA17. The lesson is that sometimes the initial moves a regime makes can be the most impactful.

I've assumed that the Bengals would just use the franchise tag on him. They are one of the few teams that has used it regularly in recent years. They used it on AJ Green in 2020 and Jessie Bates in 2022 and avoided long term commitments to either. Green never bounced back from injury but Bates was very good for that 1 year and bought them time to draft and develop a replacement. I know the Bengals can be cheap but this seems like an easy decision.........dump Boyd........get one more year of Higgins........draft his replacement this spring and allow that player to develop as WR3 in place of Boyd.

Yeah but they can't run him 9 times per game all season like they just did under Brady. 200 carries needed to win a SB isn't feasible. They have had the right idea early in seasons........save Josh's running for late season/playoffs.........but they just haven't been able to execute it like they did in 2020 because they haven't had the playmakers around him to do so. The Bills need to invest in the talent around him. Instead of hoping to find their WR2(Davis) and WR3(Shakir) in the 4th and 5th rounds they need to find equivalent defensive players in those rounds instead.

Yeah that's about what we were discussing in the stands during the 2 minute warning. Seemed like a pretty obvious strategy. Especially with a QB who set the NFL record for rushing TD's in a season and 2 TO's. But your 5 plays doesn't include the extra point conversion and 2-4 plays of pass defense. Which is why I say about 10 "executable" plays. Nothing spectacular was needed. We are in alignment but the last 3-5 plays of regulation aren't a given..........as 13 seconds and HR throwback taught us in prior playoff games.

He stood out in the Missouri games I watched. But not late first round type, IMO. I was thinking more 3rd-4th round during the season. But some guys move up and edge players who have good workouts always get overdrafted. Not a very good DL class in general. I see lot's of rotational players, not many guys you want on the field 70-80% of the snaps. The people who would consider Sweat in round 1 probably would have been happy with Mazi Smith in round 1. And then were unaware he was on the field for Dallas when the Bills ran for like 300 yards against that front.

Not that I recall. But the Shakir TD catch had to be single digit catch probability. As with his catch/conversion near the goal line on that low throw. And another bullet behind the LOS he caught reaching back was incredible. They executed a lot of plays to get where they were despite only gaining 4 yards per play on offense. The 2 deep incompletions to Sherfield were just cases of throwing the ball to a bad player who hadn't caught those type of passes all season. The Diggs deep drop actually may have worked to their advantage by forcing them to work the clock and execute 14 plays and have 2nd and 9 deep in Chiefs territory with just 2 minutes left. The good players on the offense ultimately didn't leave much on the table, relatively speaking.

I will say I think the 13 seconds game was a closer fight. Coin luck gave KC two extra possessions in that game. That mattered more than the missed 4 points off of kicks(which happened early enough to perhaps change the Bills offensive strategy in the 3rd quarter, which is where they really lost that game). But your point stands though, IMO. The Bills haven't been the better team in any of the 3 playoff losses to KC. And as closely as the teams are matched, you'd think that once in 3 times the lesser team would win. That's how the NFL works and when you see such a game the clock was quite often a big ally of the team that springs the upset. The Bills had it in their hand but they only proved less competent in defeat because of it, IMO. I'm still aghast at 2nd and 9. That's the same as 13 seconds to me.

I'd say they were about 10 executable plays away from winning that game. It was do-able and it was the route to victory. But 2-3 is seriously downplaying it. But OK, if 1 was the TD to Shakir.......the other 2 were what? A sack that they have never had in 3 playoff games against Mahomes? An interception when they hadn't turned the ball over offensively and his receivers were largely running wide open all day?

Yeah I miss those 50 years between franchise QB's in KC. Those were the days.

IDK he's done well for himself. He married Stiffler's mom for money and was last seen vacationing in Sicily at the White Lotus. Can't see him moving to Buffalo to work for assistants pay for a lame duck regime.

That reaction would sum up why I stopped doing full-on draft analysis. After about 10 years of my 1st round board being consistently better than John Butler and Tom Donahoe's......and watching players I had first round grades on for the Bills still passed over in subsequent rounds.........Donahoe broke me with his foolishness. But I think I have agreed with more of Beane's 1st round picks than I did any of the prior 30 years of #1 picks combined.

@thebandit27 was also the first guy on TSW on the "we need Patrick Mahomes he is going to be great" bandwagon back in spring of 2016. And another truth is that Josh Allen was already being whispered up as the potential #1 pick in the 2018 draft in the middle of his 2016 season..........at a time when Mahomes was not really even getting any 1st round buzz for the coming 2017 draft.

In fairness, the Bills were outplayed on their home field, got the biggest bounce of the game to even keep them in it (benefiting from a nonsensical rule that probably won't exist next year) and probably needed to execute about 10 more plays somewhat successfully to kill the clock, score a TD, burn KC's timeouts and stop them on their subsequent drive in order to win that game in regulation. Looking forward to next year(as always) but that season was just ugly for a team that showed such promise in September. The ending was very appropriate.

Yeah Babich isn't even young for a first time DC. I was more referring to all the young coaches moving up in general. I don't know if McD will let him call the defense but if he doesn't do well it won't be because he's too young or inexperienced.

They are getting pushed up the ladder quickly.........but too quick? I would say *probably* not? These young coaches are a lot more familiar with advanced X's and O's at much younger ages than those of the same age in decades past. It's sort of like the young QB's and WR's entering the league...........they are far more advanced entering the league than they have ever been. Except with coaches, you aren't contending with "planet theory". The idea that there are only a very limited amount of humans with the right combination of athletic traits to even qualify. With coaches the only real qualification to this point is that you still need to be an adult male.

That was actually my first thought. I think Johnson is a little hotter of a candidate but if the Lions regress next year those flames can cool.

Yeah now is certainly the time to throw some picks at the position. Going to be one of the best WR drafts ever and they should come out of it with 3, IMO. 2 early picks. Get these guys in........get 4 productive seasons out of them........replenish in 2027 when the next super-draft of WR's hits. Might be 3 guys better than Marvin Harrison Jr in that one and tons of depth.

They had a nice run this year but I wouldn't characterize the Lions as set up for great future success by any means. Green Bay looks poised to blow by them in their division, IMO. The Lions had 4 picks in the top 45 and took a lot of low hanging fruit........4 non premium positions. They had that luxury because they had some premium positions already addressed........but I hate drafts where you know you won't be able to justify extending 1st and 2nd round picks if they hit their ceiling. Reminds me some of the Bills Wood/Levitre/Byrd and Lynch/Poz/Edwards drafts.........players who were poised to start right away........but at positions that always look good until you have to pay them. Wood ended up being the only 1 of those 6 to get an extension. I love LaPorta though. He is their extension candidate from that group, IMO. I was really hoping he'd have declared in 2021 and the Bills could have stolen him in a middle round.......but he took the risk and stayed for his senior year. Bills likely wouldn't have extended Knox once they saw him in minicamp.

Technically 2024 will be his 4th season calling plays in the NFL. Got fired late in his second season as OC in Carolina and OC'd 9 games for Buffalo last year. He also had experience as the passing game coordinator of the greatest college passing offense ever at LSU in 2019. I agree that he has a lot to prove yet but he will at least be more experienced designing and calling plays than Dorsey was in 2021-2022.

Yeah and in the 9 games under Brady Josh Allen rushed 9.2 times on average. He never ran the ball as many as 9 times in any of Dorsey's 2023 games and the rush count was 4.8 per game. Those extra risks kept chains moving and put points on the board that the offense under Dorsey's restrictions wouldn't have been able to. I was in favor of the switch and the timing because Dorsey was replaceable and they needed a morale boost AND because I was certain that the desperation mode they were entering would make Brady look good to a fanbase that largely misunderstood what ailed the Bills offense in the first 10 games. Of course none of us knew Diggs would play like sh!t from that point out so real statistical improvement never materialized but the defensive improvements and winning made it seem better. But if they don't get Brady some WR help he is going to turn into a pumpkin next October just like Dorsey. The offense was never fixed. Allen carried a disjointed passing game a long way.

People think I hate on Beane when I point out his (and McD's) costly early pro personnel mistakes and assorted draft errors............but I have always maintained that what Beane brought to the table as an executive was more important than what he lacked as a personnel evaluator. You can always find scouts. Finding a GM who could basically run the franchise for an ownership group that really is WAY out of their area(s) of expertise like the Pegula's.....and at the same time surround himself with good people and keep them happy while he learned how to make better personnel decisions was quite fortunate, IMO. People complain about how we can't beat the Chiefs but the fact that we are in the mix with a football-family run organization like the Hunt's....given where this organization started......is an accomplishment in itself. This could easily have turned into another Dan Snyder Washington Comanches situation with the Pegula's if they didn't find someone who could convince them to hand over the keys.

Thanks for the content and takes. Did you change your mind on Brian Thomas Jr. or did you just slot Troy Franklin behind him because you think those teams will not see it the way you felt last week(that Franklin was a better prospect than Thomas Jr.)? Also, I sorta' expect Beane to botch his second round pick.........not been a great round for him..........but I just can't get behind drafting for positional need at safety there. They can find value at that position in day 3. Follow the free agent board Beane.......the safety position is usually stacked come mid-March. And if they aren't worth extending at market value if they pan out........well they aren't worth using early round picks on. Both of their starting safeties the past 7 years were day 3 guys and I could easily see Bullock just curing on the pine all of 2024 behind some $1.7M vet.

You're wrong.......you have only a very rudimentary understanding of the salary cap and clearly haven't done any research on the subject. It would be a lot easier to explain if we knew what the salary cap figures were going to be years in advance.........because it's just simple arithmetic(add/subtract/multiply/divide). And that is the excuse that Brandon Beane is using about the salary cap hiccup 4 years ago impacting what he can do ever since and going forward. See if you can follow this.........maybe don't spend $100M on what would amount to about $10M worth of production in free agency in 2018..........and then when the salary cap decreases by $16M in 2021 you aren't crying poor. That's what we are talking about here.........Beane thought the salary cap would increase by about $15M in 2021 and instead it fell by $16M.........a net difference of only $31M. That's 1/3 of what he wasted on that 2018 FA class. And it bears note that the next offseason(2022) the cap jumped up slightly disproportionately to an additional $25M.......so that further lessens the overall impact that covid is having on NFL spending today..........and why those who didn't mismanage their salary cap in the years immediately preceding 2020 aren't still complaining about it. Beane is in the jam he's in now simply because of bad pro personnel decisions early in his Bills tenure. He just made a bunch of absurd, overpriced signings/acquisitions. If you weren't shocked by the waste that was going on then you clearly weren't aware of the impact it has. And this on the heels of calling the previous regime fiscally irresponsible for only leaving McDermott $32M under the cap when they took over in 2017.