GunnerBill

And to be clear if it's going up like 2 or 3 spots (an Elam / Kincaid trade up) if he gets to 27 or something, sure, I'm all in. But I think his floor is Pittsburgh at #20 and I don't think he is of a the "worth giving away a second round pick" level in terms of both his ability and his fit for this team.

Agree with that. Lurie disempowered Howie once when he hired the ego maniac from Oregon who wrecked the roster in 2 years. He will never make that mistake again.

Absolutely not. But he does work for HANDS DOWN the best General Manager in football. The gap between Howie and #2 on that list is probably as big as the gap from #2 to #32. He is that far ahead.

Yea they pressed more than the Bills and then bailed into zone. But they didn't do that every play and the Bills did press some last week (although most of their press did come in man coverage). But I think by far the biggest difference was they have Darius Slay and the Quinyon Mitchell at corner we played most of the game with a has been and a never has been. Oh and they are just better up front. I think Philly had a great plan but they had great players too.

And Philly didn't play much man coverage. It was predominantly zone and some press bail technique.

The played a bit more press than the Bills (they have two elite corners, it helps) but it is not the case that the Bills played no press in the AFCCG and the Eagles played all press last night. The two biggest difference between their D succeeding and ours failing was: 1. They played their defense and we played something other than our defense in an attempt to change it up. 2. By far the biggest: talent.

The reason I didn't have Mahomes as the all world talent he has become coming out was his feet. They were a mess at Texas Tech, Reid spent his rookie year essentially re-teaching him footwork and every now and again when he feels stress they fall apart again.

Agree. Although obviously we don't know if they'd have swung on Carter. It's speculation.

I understood it because LT is so much more important. Ultimately at the NFL level when you are that bad at one of the premium spots - QB, boundary receiver, pass rusher, outside corner, left tackle - eventually it catches up with you. Although Reid refusing to run the ball on those first 3 or 4 drives before it got out of hand to slow the Philly rush down and possibly open up some play action opportunities was baffling. If might not have worked but it was evident straight away that the Oline could not hold up if that became a pure dropback football game.

Well Basham was a bigger dude. How did that work? It isn't about scheme, or small vs big, it is about talent evaluation and they haven't found enough difference makers because they haven't evaluated talent well enough. Simple as that.

Beane is all in on process guys too. Trust me coach and GM are in total alignment on that. I fear you might be right on Jalen Carter though. The 8 NFL GMs who let that guy get to 9 (even in a decent top 10) should hang their heads in shame. Disagree. I think it is the players and then the last two years (particularly this year) I think the gameplanning and the playcalling and the adjustments have been questionable. That is distinct from the scheme, but more the way they are trying to execute it.

Suamataia couldn't play left tackle in college. Imagining he'd be able to in the NFL was a predictable fail. Bolton, Smith, Reid are big players for them and I'm sure they'd love to keep Hollywood and one of their 1Ts (Wharton or Nnadi). I imagine Reid walks and Jordan Hicks gets a shot at the job after playing well in spot duty as a rook. They might be able to get Wharton back on a cheap deal and I think they will try to retain Bolton. But they definitely have some tough decisions to make and they MUST absolutely MUST find a way to acquire a proper left tackle.

The worst case scenario for me was losing a Superbowl to Philly. Losing a Superbowl would suck whatever. But losing to that franchise... man that would have properly depressed me.

I won a bet on Worthy and AJ Brown both to score! Was the bright point of the night.

Yea Philly are the best combined trenches team in football. And it is ALWAYS where Howie starts his team builds from. In fairness nobody could accuse Brandon Beane of ignoring the Dline. He has poured resources into it. He just hasn't gotten it right in the way Howie has.

It is interesting because I saw Nick Wright last week saying "look the Bills will beat KC in the playoffs at some point, it will happen, I am just not sure they will be able to get up again after it because that will be lile their Superbowl." Well turns out it is the same for them beating us. The reality is we always seem to get KCs best shot in the playoffs. They used plays in the AFCCG in two critical spots that they have not run all year. They put a hell of a lot into beating the Bills. Maybe Nick Wright's argument works the other way too.

The only way it plays out differently if it is the Bills is if they'd got ahead early. But the Eagles are built to front run. The moment the DeJean pick 6 happened it was over. You are not digging out of a 17-0 hole against that team. But to be honest I think Buffalo would have lost too. That Philly roster is just too darn talented. I can't ever remember a Superbowl where I thought "that was so explicitly a General Manager victory". Although with a large side helping of Vic Fangio.

Make up call

That is a horrible call.

I see the logic I just cannot see the Rodgers - Tomlin dynamic at all. The first time he shrugs his shoulders at Tomlin that is a tinder box waiting to go off. Or lose the conference championship game? Full Favre?

Yea agree with that too. This D doesn't have peak Jordan, Micah, Tre and Milano anymore. Those are big losses.

Shame. He was great. For the Bills.

Agree totally with this. Every word of it. If the argument previously has been too predictable on D this year it was too much randomness. They never had a "go to." Go back to that Ravens game week 4. Come out in their nickel base, Henry breaks a big one and they suddenly go to a 3 linebacker set despite being down to the bare bones at the postion and even worse when they hadn't played it at all the previous 3 weeks. It felt completely panicked and throw stuff at a wall. I felt like they did that a LOT on defense in 2024.

Oh I am Chiefs all the way tonight. The Eagles are the most horrible, insufferable, despisable franchise in the NFL. I cheered for the Patriots in two Superbowls. I'd cheer for Miami. I'd cheer for the Jets. Anyone. And I do mean ANYONE over the Eagles.

It wouldn't me either. But if they do, they need to spend a lot of resources on the secondary.