Nihilarian

Wouldn't it strike you as unbelievably stupid of Beane/McD if they didn't heavily investigate this sole issue? I'm thoroughly certain they did, just as I did before the draft. Allen talking with Mike Mayock at the combine. Allen was aware of his accuracy issues and he understood it was mostly his footwork that was off at times. As soon as the college season was over Allen went to work with Jordan Palmer on his mechanics, footwork. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIb-B4sGd8&t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7l5BD8SaJ0 I couldn't be more encouraged about Allen after watching him play in the season finale against Miami. The Bills were up by 7 near the end of the second quarter and Allen threw a pick 6. Now it's 14-14 going into the third quarter. Instead of getting down about that pass, Allen led four TD drives and threw for two TDs and ran for another TD in the second half. Buffalo won that game 42-17 and Allen just dominated with his arm and legs. Here is another video with Rich Eisen talking with Trent Dilfer and John Brenkus. Watch it and you just might feel better about the upcoming season.

Let's revisit what I said. Both Beane and McD saw that Josh Allen wasn't ready to start in the opener so they gave the job to Peterman who did perform better in preseason. Allen didn't get any first team reps in preparation for the Ravens game as Peterman was announced as the starter. The only other NFL QB Josh Allen had to lean on was AJ McCarron who stated he was there to win the starting QB job and not mentor anyone. Hence a big reason as to why they traded McCarron Sept 3rd to Oakland for a 5th round pick. No loss there. QB Derek Anderson didn't sign with Buffalo until Oct 9th as he was contemplating retirement and later on GM Brandon Beane stated that this was a mistake in waiting so long to bring in a veteran QB to mentor Josh Allen, Nathan Peterman. BTW, Anderson started two weeks later against the Colts in that 37-5 rout. Anderson was never supposed to start and was brought in primarily as a mentor. Josh Allen was injured in that week 6 Texans game and was out for four games. Then once the Bills FO saw how poorly Anderson had played with that crappy surrounding cast they brought in Matt Barkely in case Anderson couldn't start against Chicago. Instead, Peterman started and it was another blowout by Chicago 41-9. Matt Barkley started against the NY Jets week 10 and it was a blowout for Buffalo 41-10. NOW, there is a stark reality as to why Barkley looked so good against the NY Jets and why Peterman, Anderson and Allen looked so poorly previously at times from week one to week 10. It was the result of the Bills OC calling for far, far too many deep passes with an ineffectual pass blocking offensive line along with some lousy receivers. Bills OC Brian Daboll was calling about 30% of the pass plays for deep throws. Matt Barkley started that Jets game and his very first pass was a 47 yard bomb to Robert Foster (this play clearly stunned the Jets defense) the next play was a 28 yard TD run by McCoy! The rout was on! The next series Barkley threw another deep pass incomplete to Zay Jones and out of the next eight passes 3 more went deep. The Jets defense was reeling and the Bills defense was having a field day against Josh McCown, 8 QB hits, 3 sacks, 2 INTs. The Bills offense was very lucky in this game because Barkley hit Foster with that 47 yard deep bomb in the opening play and it had the Jets on their heels the rest of the game. Suddenly that failed Buffalo run game was working as the Bills rushed 46 times for 212 yards and 2 TDs. McCoy went 26 for 113. Why hadn't the Bills offense looked this good in other games? The biggest reason I noticed was that the Bills OC was calling for deep pass plays 30% of the time and most went incomplete. Those deep pass plays require time in the pocket for a 5-7 step drop back which needs 3-5 seconds in the pocket. The Bills O line was lucky to keep it to a two second pocket most of the time. Hence, all the sacks, hits, hurries on Bills QBs. The 2018 Buffalo Bills offensive line was so bad that it really wasn't very smart to call for so many deep passing plays as the QBs rarely had the time in the pocket to complete those deep passes. Not to mention that the run game by the RB's was basically nonexistent most games. Consider that Bills OC Brian Daboll, while having spent time in NE as an assistant coach. His record as an NFL OC was not very good in his previous stints. 2 years with the Browns 2009 (yds 32, pts 29)-2010 (yds 29, pts 31). One year with Miami 2011 (yds 22, pts 20). one year with KC 2012 (yds 24, pts 32) and Buffalo in 2018 yards 30th, points 30th. In 2018 Buffalo allowed 101 QB hits, 41 sacks and I can only imagine those numbers being astronomical had Peterman or Anderson remained as the starters Again, Yes, Allen was a rookie QB who was not as polished a QB as Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen. If you go back and read the draft profiles on Allen many state that he is not a day one starting QB and needs time to sit and learn, "In the NFL: Allen’s pure talent will have him considered as a top 10 pick, but a team that drafts him must be aware of his faults, if they want to develop him to his full potential. For Allen to reach his full potential, he should go to a team in a coaching situation that is offense oriented, with coaches who have developed QB’s in that past, and can do it again. Allen is not a day-1 starter in the NFL. It would be ideal for Allen if he went to a situation where he can learn behind a QB for at least half a season. Allen has the best arm I have ever seen in my time scouting QB’s. If Allen reaches his potential, he could be one of the best QB’s in the NFL." https://www.nfldraftdiamonds.com/2018/01/josh-allen/ Now, go back and look at what happened over the first half of the 2018 Buffalo Bills season.

What so many Bills fans seem to forget is that Josh Allen wasn't supposed to start in 2018. He was supposed to sit and learn while Peterman played behind that craptastic line with the inferior receiver corps and he would take the beating. Allen was graded as a developmental project and the Bills FO acknowledged this and had Peterman taking all the first string reps. Then Allen was thrown into the fire, unprepared to fight that fire, and what a fire! It was a full blown dumpster tire fire with an OC who had never fielded a better then 23rd passing offense in his previous four years in the NFL as an OC. A QB coach who had never been an NFL QB coach. No veteran QB on the roster to help this rookie learn the NFL ropes. We already talked about the bad line and receiver corps. Yes, Josh Allen had a rocky NFL start in his first season. Allen had 11 game starts and went 5-6 with an inferior offense around him and like at Wyoming in his final year he basically needed to carry the entire offense on his shoulders. There was no real run game by the Bills RB's as Allen was the teams leading rusher with 631 yards, 8 TDs. The teams top two passing targets had 80 missed targets between them and thus the reason as to why one WR outright cut while the WR coach was replaced. In 2018 QB Josh Allen WAS the offense while LeSean McCoy was averaging a measly 3.2 YPC avg while Josh Allen was averaging a crazy 7.1 YPC avg. That 5-6 win/loss record would more then likely be 6-6 if Allen didn't get hurt in that Texans game and Peterman throwing two INTs with a pick 6. The NY Jets finished 4-12 with their rookie QB picked at the #3 spot. Cleveland was only one game better with the #1 overall pick on a much better team. The majority of this board wanted Josh Rosen in the draft and he went 3-10 at Arizona with a QBR of 26.6. Get a grip folks, he was a rookie who didn't do so bad with one of the worst offenses the Bills have ever fielded. I for one am very excited to see what the kid can do with a decent line, decent receivers and now given the time to learn the offense. I can see playoffs year after year for Buffalo in the near future.

He was the No. 3 overall pick in 2011, and in his six-plus years, he did not live up to his draft status. Dareus was a good player for Buffalo, and he was selected to two Pro Bowls, but he was never the difference-maker the Bills hoped he would be, and then he became a drain on the budget when former general manager Doug Whaley stupidly gave him a $96 million contract extension that included $60 million in guaranteed money. Trading Dareus enabled the Bills to offload his massive salary, and while they ate some dead cap money, they rid themselves of a player who just didn’t seem totally bought into Sean McDermott’s process, nor his defense. Oh, and there was the off-field nonsense they would no longer have to be worried about. https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/sports/2018/01/05/buffalo-bills-marcell-dareus-trade-jacksonville-jaguars-nfl-playoffs/1005697001/

Just a few short seasons after blasting former Bills general manager Doug Whaley for making him look bad due to poor production relative to his draft position, Watkins is content with being the 97th-most targeted receiver in the NFL (47). Watkins recently opened up about how his outlook on the game has changed drastically since joining Los Angeles, explaining that he is more team-oriented than he was during his tenure in Buffalo. “I was a statistics, an ego guy in Buffalo. I was all about numbers and it wasn’t healthy for me, my teammates, or my coaches,” Watkins said, via the Rams official site. “So now I really focus on my teammates being happy and winning. And so far it’s been going well.” “I felt like I was consumed, and I was angry,” Watkins said. “It was affecting my relationships with the coaches and with the players. I wanted to be great so bad, but I was also selfish, too. Because there were some games that we won and I didn’t get the ball, and I was upset.” https://billswire.usatoday.com/2017/12/01/rams-sammy-watkins-cant-stop-talking-selfish-he-was-bills/ 10 games, 9 game starts with KC, 40 rec for 519 yards, 3 TDs all for the mere price an average annual salary of $16,000,000. per.

Man, all this negativity... all these negative waves... I look at this years receiver corps and see a kid who only had three game starts last season, but put the fear of god into defensive secondaries with his deep speed. One guy like that is nothing and with two it helps ensure one should get open... and now the Bills have three WRs with 4.5 or better speed in Zay Jones, John Brown and Robert Foster. With Allen's arm it means defenses will need to cover the entire field. Deep bombs everywhere! I look at Cole Beasley and see first down after first down whenever needed. The Bills version of Wes Welker, Julian Edleman! Plus, they have Duke Williams and David Sills who are both 6'3'' and 225, 211 lbs respectively, both big tall red zone targets. Williams brings experience to the equation and is a big, powerful WR. Not to mention new TEs in Dawson Knox and Tommy Sweeny to go along with Jason Croom, Tyler Kroft. I look at the Buffalo Bills receiving corps and see a ton of possibilities, opportunities in the passing game for Josh Allen to go to. Now look at the upgrades to the offensive line to realize that this season Allen should have the time to throw whatever pass is needed. Right now I see no weak links anywhere on the line. Not like in the past where that right side was so susceptible to a pass rush at both RG, RT. By the same token the Bills run game by the RBs should be greatly improved with both Shady and Gore taking turns killing the defense now that they will have actual holes to run through. I look at the 2019 Buffalo Bills offense and see a top 10-15 unit or better... along with reversing last seasons record to 10-6.

I bailed awhile ago on this... People must be bored.

This is the pitchforks and torches I was taking about in an earlier post. The majority of this board saw and knew that the 2018 offensive line was in real trouble without Woods, Incognito. We knew the replacements weren't very good. We also already knew that run game coordinator/O line coach Juan Castillo was the wrong guy for the job. Although, some were in a wait and see mode for the line. Most of us also knew starting Peterman against the Ravens in the season opener was going to be a mistake. That not having a seasoned, veteran NFL QB coach was going to be a big problem with such young, inexperienced QBs at the starter and backup positions after the team traded AJ McCarron. What I'm saying is, a lot of us were expecting the results we saw for the 2018 season and trust me a lot of us also were complaining as the season progressed. So no, I don't consider the 2018 season a failure considering that the GM's hands were tied to bringing in top quality free agent replacements for Wood, Incognito due to cap space restrictions. Same thing goes for the receiving corps. So much that was wrong with the 2018 season that this GM/ HC has addressed and corrected, ie, players, coaches. Bottom line is that this team is going to field a second year QB still learning his craft as an NFL pocket passer. And let's face it, Josh Allen doesn't have Andy Reid coaching him, nor does he have a trio of stars at RB, WR, TE like Patrick Mahomes had last season. He doesn't have a Sean McVay or a Matt Nagy either. What he does have is a defensive minded HC with an OC who in his five seasons as an NFL OC has never had a passing offense better than #23rd in passing yards and 3 of 5 of those seasons were worse than 30th. Brian Daboll does have a back ground with some good coaching staffs (Patriots) so there is hope that he can do a better job. We can expect the 2019 Bills defense to be in the top ten or better and hopefully the offense will take a big step up with the upgrades on the O line and at WR. Should the offense fail this season I can see changes made with the OC and not the HC/GM.

All Watkins was in Buffalo was an expensive decoy and all that money for his potential... that the team that owns him might never see as the guy is always injured. I don't expect 2019 to any different. Sammy has been in the NFL for five seasons and he has only played in one full season and in that year he was constantly nursing one injury or another. As for Gilmore and Darby, they didn't fit what the Bills wanted to do and if anything... this coaching staff knows their stuff when it comes to DBs as they had the #1 pass defense in the league last season. Robert Woods didn't want to stay in Buffalo and wanted back in LA. Yes, KB was a mistake as was waiting so long to sign a veteran QB in Anderson, as he wasn't sure if he was ever going to play again and was contemplating retirement. Beane admitted this was a mistake. Nathan Peterman was a mistake, a big mistake and the HC must have had input from the OCs on that mistake. AJ McCarron came to Buffalo and pulled a Flacco by saying he wasn't here to mentor anyone, good riddance! Yes, they almost got Josh Allen killed with a bad offensive line. Bad O line coach/run game coordinator, bad WR coach, bad QB coach, bad ST coach. Although, unlike all the past regimes since the Butler era all the issues have been addressed. Trust me when I say I used to be the pinnacle of complaining when things went wrong and although a lot went wrong last season. However, a lot went right this off season too. Here is a concept, how about we wait until until the team actually falls on it's face before we bring out the torches and pitchforks. I can see this team winning 9 or 10 games or even more if the run defense is as good as the pass defense.

You know when I knew the future Buffalo Bills would be great? It was in 1987 week 12 against Miami on an unusually sunny November day. The Bills won that game 27 to 0 and the Dolphins didn't cross the 50 yard line for the entire first half. The Dolphins with HC Don Shula benched Dan Marino after he went 13 of 28 for 165 yards, 3 INTs. He had a passer rating of 25.7. QB Don Strock came in the game and drove them down to the Bills goal line...where they promptly turned the ball over... Earlier that year on Halloween, Bill Polian had made a trade with the LA Rams, Colts in a 10 player deal. To set this up, I was kind of heartbroken to see the Colts draft LBer Cornelius Bennett as I loved watching him tear it up at Bama. The Colts drafted Bennett with the 1987 #2 pick and like John Elway, he didn't want to play for Indy so he remained unsigned. In that trade the Bills got Biscuit, the Colts got Eric Dickerson, the Rams got a bunch of picks with RB Greg Bell, RB Owen Gill. The Buffalo Bills gave up RB Greg Bell and the Bills 1988 #1 pick, their 1989 #1 pick, 1989 #2 pick. The next year in 1988 that Bills defense was #3 in points allowed, #4 in yards allowed. The 88 Bills ended up 12-4 and went to the AFC championship game in Cincy. Think I still have an orange air horn from that game. Those things weren't supposed to be allowed and yet the stadium as filled with them. My favorite game that year was a low scoring 9-6 slug fest with the NY Jets in a downpour! The Jets at that time were 8-7-1 and the Bills were 10-1. The Bills won that game in overtime with Fred Smerlas blocking a FG. This win gave the Bills the record for the fasted win to the AFC East Championship. Oh, BTW. That was the "FAN-DEMONIUM" game in which the Bills fans ran on the field and tore the goal posts down! Most fun in a downpour I've ever had! The next year the Bills ended up 9-7 and still won the AFC East in 1989. They ended up in Cleveland for a wildcard game. Some jackass Browns fan had brought in a diesel air horn along with a huge battery and the noise from it was deafening! Thurman Thomas had a 1982 Kellen Winslow type performance with 13 receptions for 150 yards, 2 TDs. Browns LBer Clay Matthews stepped in front of a JK pass to end the Bills last drive in that 34-30 loss. Just before that INT, Bills RB Ronnie Harmon missed a catch in the end zone that would have won the game. Man 0 man he never lived that down. There were some great years before the super bowls too.

This is it exactly, at least in this thread. Yea, 2016 Buffalo Bills offense was excellent...if you're living in the 60's...even then, the 1965 AFL Champ Buffalo Bills were 7th in passing yards, 8th in passing TDs. 30th in passing yards and 27th in TD passes in today's age of a passing league...stinks anyway you look at it... or any year you look at it. As for KB, I was ecstatic when I read that the Bills had traded for him. Even when he was covered, he was open. I loved the kid when he was drafted and he had some good years at Carolina before injuries. Nobody knew that his heart for football had withered and died. At least Vontae Davis had the balls to know and say he was done. I go back and look at free agents like Levi Wallace, Robert Foster who were drafted as #1 picks when CBS sport did a 2018 re-draft. Then add those two to the two #1's in Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds. Beane did an amazing job. Now think about all the people that wanted the Bills to draft Josh Rosen and even trade up with the NY Giants @ the #2 spot to draft him. They wanted the Bills to give up the 2018 farm and even some wanted to give the Giants a 1st round 2019 draft pick. Beane stood his ground and waited patiently to grab his guy at the #7 spot in beating out Arizona for him! Now fast forward to the 2019 draft and Beane got his man in Ed Oliver @#9 . Then managed to get another projected first round pick in the second round at #38. Cody Ford's tape is among the best and most fun of the 2019 offensive line class. Some of you can nit-pick, or rag on this regime all you want. Yes, they have made some mistakes... and corrected them. The one thing I faulted them for was drafting a QB in the first round and putting him behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. That was Whaley-esque. Beane corrected that this free agency and draft. I'm still not entirely happy with the LT, LG positions. although it remains to be seen if their play will improve with better players next to them. Should this team take a 2-14 nosedive into the ceramic convenience in 2019 for some inexplicable reason. I can see a change at HC and on the offensive side. I can't see these owners even thinking of replacing Beane. That won't happen though as I can see 9 wins minimum and possibly 10,11 or 12. A lot will depend on how well the Bills can stop the run! Jets, Le'Veon Bell, Giants, Saquon Barkley, Cincy, Joe Mixon, NE, Sony Michel, Tenn, Derrick Henry, Miami, Frank Gore...oh wait

I agree on Tyrod Taylor as some coaches do want to see how a player performs in their circumstances, their coaches, their scheme, their system. While I don't think they looked at Taylor as the long term solution at QB, they wanted to see how he play for them. The reason Taylor was benched after that NO Saints game was he was mostly ineffectual by going 16 of 28 for 135 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. It wasn't just him though as the run game disappeared too. The Saints dominated the clock 41 min to 18. Still, Taylor was sacked 2x in his last drive and he went out with an injury? That blowout game week 10 by the Saints 47-10. Out of 10 Bills offensive drives, FG, punt, punt, punt, punt, INT, punt, punt, Downs, TD. Peterman entered the with 4:53 left in the fourth quarter with the Bills down 40-3 and led the Bills to a 6 play, 75 yard TD. So, I can see why the Bills coaches wanted to give him a shot the next week against San Diego

Aaron "Mr.P90x" Maybin gets my vote. Good thing the Bills traded up in the first round to draft, John McCargo... For third place it's a tossup between AJ McCarron *(I'm not here to mentor anybody) or Kevin "rubber mat" Kolb.

Thanks As for the rebuilding, I seem to recall some media posts from 2017 where they both stated they didn't want to rebuild. "As a first-year coach facing the NFL's fifth-hardest schedule, the odds are stacked against McDermott succeeding in the short term, but he refuses to use the word "rebuild" to describe the philosophy being embraced by him and new general manager Brandon Beane. "That's not it at all. It's about winning football games," http://www.espn.com/blog/afceast/post/_/id/83848/buffalo-bills-coach-sean-mcdermott-avoiding-rebuilding-label-in-2017 Bills not ready to talk rebuild https://www.lockportjournal.com/sports/bills-not-ready-to-talk-rebuild/article_5d109a32-d307-5e51-83ba-fe986288aa00.html I think you're right on the tank vs rebuild thing as those two links were all I could find.

You would think that Reid would have a plan in place for a backup and Morse was injured last season and they didn't offer him more to stay. "For one, the Chiefs have a decent backup set to takeover Morse’s spot in Austin Reiter. He played in 11 games last year and did just fine in his role as a starter. The second reason the Chiefs moved on is because of Morse being injury prone. The sole reason Reiter got to prove himself in the starting center role is because Morse was banged up all the time." https://kckingdom.com/2019/03/12/kansas-city-chiefs-moving-on-from-mitch-morse-not-surprising/ His injury history: 2015: concussion Week 12, missed one game 2015: concussion Week 17, missed playoffs 2017: foot sprain Week 2, missed 5 games 2017: re-aggravation foot sprain in Week 13, placed on IR, missed 5 games 2018: concussion Week 6, missed 5 games https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2019/3/14/18265043/2019-free-agency-should-buffalo-bills-be-worried-mitch-morse-concussion-history-kansas-city-chiefs Currently, Bills C Mitch Morse underwent core-muscle surgery. Morse is sitting out OTAs because of the issue, but it is unlikely it lingers into training camp. Morse is expected to start at center after signing a four-year, $44.5 million contract in March. https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/8759/mitch-morse

Considering the EJ pick, if I'm McD I don't trust Whaley or his scouts to find a QB in that draft. If put myself in McDs shoes, Tre While was a great pick while adding the Chiefs 1st round pick @ #27, a third round pick and the Chiefs 2018 1st round pick. Mahomes was ranked the second best quarterback by SI.com, the third best by ESPN, and the fourth best by NFLDraftScout.com Let's see if Mahomes can carry that offense this year without his star RB, WR. After all, he still has his star TE and Sammy.

I think that both men took the Buffalo Bills job not thinking that it was going to be a rebuild and in fact Beane even stated that fact. That said, I don't think it was their first decision to rebuild the entire roster. It just happened that way. They went into the 2017 playoffs with Tyrod Taylor at QB and came away thinking we now need a franchise QB. As good as Taylor was at helping the run game, he just wasn't a good enough pocket passer. What happened then was they started evaluating players and came away thinking that they needed to bring in players that would buy into what they wanted to do in Buffalo. Some players weren't buying in and those players needed to be moved out! You mention that 2014, 9-7 team. Go look at that 2014 roster and who is there that is still with the team? Jerry Hughes is the only one I see. Who is still on the roster from 2016? LeSean McCoy on offense, Jerry Hughes, Lorax, Adolphus Washington. I may have missed some, but nevertheless that number is astounding! Draft choices, how many are here from the Nix/Whaley eras since 2010? 2016 first round pick Shaq Lawson? Wow! 2010-2016*, 55 players drafted, one left! Beane needed to purge some of the overpaid star players on the Buffalo roster and at least he managed to acquire some draft picks for them. A 3rd rounder for QB Tyrod Taylor, WOW QB Cardale Jones, 7th rounder WR Sammy Watkins and a 6th round pick for EJ Gains and a 2018 2nd rounder. Sammy Watkins signed a 3 year, $48,000,000 contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, including a $21,000,000 signing bonus, $30,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $16,000,000. All for 40 rec, 519 yards, 3 TDs! CB Ronald Darby for WR Jordan Matthews and a 3rd round pick. Reggie Ragland for a 4th round pick. Marcel Dareus for a 6th round pick. all for one sack, one FF, 23 solo tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 QB hits, one SFTY. Marcell Dareus signed a 2 year, $28,085,000 contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, including a $5,000,000 signing bonus, $7,835,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $14,042,500. What Brandon Beane has done with the Buffalo Bills in his short time here is amazing in my view and something that hasn't happened in a long, long time. Build a solid roster, clear the cap space and find a franchise QB. Barring some disaster of unknown origin, I think we all can agree that this year should be the start of something special going forward for the Buffalo Bills and the fans.

I can't say I was miserable over the last decade of losing... but it was very frustrating watching the ineptitude year after year, regime after regime. Every time I would point out the mistakes, screw ups, bad choices in coaching hires, players I would get slammed by Bills fans over and over. It was difficult dealing with the eternal optimism that was the main constant from Bills fans over the years. Most never gave up and kept thinking the next year will be "our" year! the koolaid drinkers were almost insufferable by constantly blowing sunshine everywhere. I was often accused of having mental issues because I was negative about the team. I also bitched about Russ Brandon, the marketing guy being involved in the football side and certain posters would jump all over me defending him for what we all now know was that he was very heavily involved in the football side of the Org. Most Bills fans here didn't want change and wanted to keep Chan Gailey, Rex Ryan and one poster defended Dick Jauron over and over for several hundred pages. How can the team ever get better if they keep firing the GM, HC? In my eyes it was easy once you realize you hired bums! At this point I think most Bills fans are so down beaten by all the bad player choices and bad coaching hires that they don't want to give anyone more then three years. Some of guys need to have some patience as this GM looks be the very best we have had since Bill Polian. While I am 100% confidant in Beane, I'm not so certain about McD and his choices for assistant coaches. Again, I must point out that he from a defensive background and is learning the offensive side as he goes. I have to agree with ya JaCrispy as this is the most optimistic I've felt about the team since early 90's AND the team now has ownership that wants to win!

Yea, the only reason I went back that far is because I feel some Bills fans can relate more to their Buffalo Bills. Going back to the main discussion. I also think that it shouldn't take a quality HC, GM long to build a competitive team. Just defending this current regime due to certain circumstances. Chuck Knox did it in 1978 without a good GM, Stew Barber . Knox traded away OJ for good picks, rebuilt the roster and brought in a few experienced veteran NFL players to be leaders, rah rah type guys for the young players. Knox himself was an ex- O line player, coach and although the team already had a decent offensive line crew from the OJ days nicknamed the "Electric Co". In 1980 Knox drafted OG Jim Ritcher #16 overall who went on to play 16 years in the NFL, 14 for Buffalo. He was there for the 1980 playoffs and all the 90's super bowls. It took Knox only three years in Buffalo. It took Polian only three years in Buffalo. It took Polian only two years to go from a brand new franchise in Carolina in 1995 to 12-4 and the conference championship in 1996. It took Polian only three years in Indy to go from back to back 3-13 seasons in 1997, 1998 to 13-3 in 1999. Marty Schottenheimer was another HC who could build a competitive in a short time, usually three years. Andy Reid inherited a 2-14 team in KC, 2013. Then had them in the playoffs the very next season. Unlike Adam Gase who got the Dolphins to the playoffs in his first year (2016) in Miami or the NY Jets HC Todd Bowles who got to 10-6 in his first year in 2015. Andy Reid has had the Chiefs in the playoffs five of the last six years. Let's hope McD is not like Gase, Bowles and more like Reid. More recently Sean McVay inherited a somewhat decent Rams roster in 2016 that already had Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley and then drafted QB Jered Goff #1 overall. McVay is a young offensive genius and he runs that offense, while being smart enough to hire Wade Phillips as his DC.

And yet you went back nearly twenty years... The point was made that these are both a first time head coach and GM. Now go back though that list to see how many had great success as a first time HC, GM...only one team! I never mentioned anything about it taking a half a decade to become relevant and I agreed with Fan In Chicago that we should should see positive results on the field after the third season. I also agree with you that we should see some positive results on the field this season! This year will be McD's third season and it's only Beane's second draft, full off season. Actually this is the one season where his hands weren't tied up with the salary cap. Someone made mention that this regime has had the same record as "awful" Doug Whaley after two seasons @ 15-17. Yet, McD's 2017 Buffalo Bills made the playoffs for the first time in twenty years. This alone should allow the HC some extra time to get things together. (Are Bills fans blind to this?) He is after all a defensive mined HC and the 2018 Buffalo Bills were the #2 overall defense with the #1 pass defense in the league. As I mentioned several times in this thread that the weak link on this team might be the current Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator who has been terrible in the pass game in his past jobs. Daboll has six seasons of being an NFL OC and this is his NFL fifth team. Should the passing offense not greatly improve away from that 30th ranking then McD should be able to make another change to a more successful NFL OC. Josh Allen deserves that. When was the last time that this franchise had a quality offensive coordinator with the offensive talent like a Sean Payton, Doug Pederson, Sean McVay? Like almost never? Perhaps ex-Colts HC Ted Marchibroda, who taught Jim Kelly to call his own plays so after he quit to become the Colts HC again he wouldn't be missed?

Hey, I agree and want results too. I would love to see the Bills sweep the Patriots which is something they haven't done since 1999? I also agree that if this years team isn't competitive that changes should be made. Let me go back to my dislike of the offensive play calls last year. Aside from major injuries all over the roster in 2019, I don't see how it would be possible for the Bills to be worse then 9-7. That record got them in the playoffs in 2017. Also realize that teams can go 11-5 and still miss the playoffs. Should the 2019 Buffalo Bills crap the bed with anything less then 8-8. Let me reiterate that Beane stays no matter what! The GM should have the chance to select his own HC. While I like McD, his choice for OC should be on the hot seat if the offense doesn't take a giant step away from the worst in the league after six years of him being an NFL OC. Daboll's offenses have been 32nd, 29th, 23rd, 32nd, 31st in passing yards in his fourth stint as an NFL offensive coordinator.

If look at the history of most teams that eventually get to the super bowl... it usually doesn't happen after two seasons. There is usually a progression that follows that growth and even as amazing as the 90's Buffalo Bills were they suffered some extremely bad 2-14 back to back seasons in 1984-85 to get the chance to draft HoFer Bruce Smith number one overall in 1985, Andre Reed was a 4th round pick that year. The Bills GM at that time was Terry Bledsoe, but they did happen to have Bill Polian as director of player personnel who took over as GM in 1986. Even as good as Polian was at building a great team quickly it even took him three years and he already had Bruce, Andre, Darryl Talley, Pete Metzelaars and signed Jim Kelly to the richest QB contract in the league. Also, what helped build that super bowl team so quickly was that the USFL folded and that brought in center Kent Hull. Although this is Brandon Beane's third season he wasn't here for the 2017 NFL draft and that entire scouting dept was fired and replaced which is a difficult task to handle for a first time GM. We fans don't know what can happen in a season beforehand so why say this regime has to do better then 9-7 considering the injuries that can happen to derail a season? The 2013 Atlanta Falcons have one of the very best franchise QB's in Matt Ryan and one of the best GM's in the league in ex Patriots man in Thomas Dimitroff and that year the Falcons went 4-12 after just being in the conference championship. From what I see is this new GM is building a team for the long term and bringing in players that fit what they want to do here. Look over the players that the team still has on the roster from the Doug Whaley, Buddy Nix days and look at their drafts! Just look at the top free agents from 2017, in Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, Stephen Hauschka. Undrafted free agent Jason Croom. 2018 (now think of the limited cap space the team has had to get the top free agents this year.) Trading Tyrod Taylor for a 3rd round pick was sheer brilliance by Beane! Trading away Cordy Glenn (who was recently moved to OG)with his health issues to Cincy to help move up to draft QB Josh Allen for the 12th pick which they then traded up with the Bucs to the 7th pick. The Bills traded their sixth-round selection (195th overall) and wide receiver Sammy Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for the Rams' second-round selection (56th overall) and cornerback E.J. Gaines. Yeah, 16 Mill per for a decoy WR that is always injured... The majority of this board wanted the Bills to trade up to the #2 spot with the NY Giants to draft...Josh Rosen! In doing so it would have been okay to give up the farm and the Bills 2019 first round pick. Beane held his ground and got his man at the #7 spot. He basically did the same this year with Oliver. C'mon man, how can you not be so very optimistic about the 2019 season and upcoming years when you look at what this GM has accomplished in his short time with Buffalo? This only thing I see is McD might not be the guy at head coach as I'm not sold on Brian Daboll as the Bills OC. Not after watching all those deep throws with that bad O line and crappy KB at WR, with no run game from the RB's. While we found out what a great runner JA is...he shouldn't need to be the teams leading rusher. In my view, Beane stays no matter what!

Yes, both McD and Beane are a first time HC, GM. Now look back over the history of this franchise to see how many first time HC's, GM's have great success in their first two seasons. In looking back over the last two decades of failure of the Buffalo Bills all I see are inept coaches, GMs, pseudo GM's and a bad owner. All making stupid coaching hires, wrong player moves and bad choices by not putting a competitive team on the field. In taking over the mess that Rex Ryan, Doug Whaley had left, McD managed to get to 9-7 in his first season. Which as enough to get the team over the 17 year playoff drought that has plagued this franchise. PLAYOFFS!! BTW, Rex went 8-8, 7-9 while ruining one of the best defensive lines in the league. What we have seen is the 2018 Buffalo Bills fielded the best defensive secondary in the league! While the overall end result was a bad 6-10 year it was mainly because the team was starting a rookie QB, a bad O line, lousy receiver corps. Peyton Manning's first year 3-13. Troy Aikman's first year 1-15 and the reason I bring up these two QB's is because those men had about the same crappy surrounding casts as QB Josh Allen did last year. I've been very skeptical of just about every coaching, GM hire this franchise has made since 2000. For the first time since John Butler this team finally has a real GM in Brandon Beane that looks to know what he is doing. Not a GM that lost a power struggle to the HC (Bill Cowher) and was fired by Pittsburgh in Tom Donahoe. So the owner hires him and promotes him to team president This man hires two first time HC's that fail so the owner fires him. Then this owner hires his old friend in an ex HC of the Bills to be the new GM... who is clueless on how to be an NFL GM. Then when he retires, this old owner makes the marketing man his new GM, but doesn't name him so he has no accountability This pseudo GM later hires a retired 70 year old ex-scout to be the new GM! (Buddy Nix–who “resigned” and/or was strongly encouraged to golf instead of ***** up NFL drafts.) When this GM steps down he is replaced by another ex-scout whose claim to fame was porn emails sent throughout the team All I know is for the first time in a very, very long while I'm very excited by what we have seen the Buffalo Bills do the last two seasons! Because for the first time since 1986 the team might have finally found their franchise QB! The Dolphins are still looking for their Dan Marino. The NY Jets might have found their Broadway Joe and those Jets went 4-12 in 2018. While It is okay to be skeptical of a team that went 6-10 and didn't rebuild the line correctly the first time or find the right receivers on the first attempts. And while I'm somewhat still skeptical that the Bills FO didn't do enough to build up the O line or receiver corps for the 2019 season. It's still only Beane's second year as an NFL GM. Like I mentioned in an earlier post I think he is on par with what Bill Polian did in his first two years. The 2019 Bills should be 9-7, 10-6. Beane didn't inherit a Bruce Smith or Andre Reed either. JMHO

I love what Beane has done in his time here! While both Beane and McD have made mistakes in certain players and some hires for assistants they have been fairly quick to make changes. Beane brought in a big, tall WR that the team has needed in forever and it just so happened that the player just didn't want to do his job. Charles Clay was somewhat in that mold. McD replaced OC Rick Dennison, WR coach Terry Robskie, ST coach Danny Crossman, Run game coordinator/ O line coach Juan Castillo. When these men failed to do a good job they were replaced! Beane in free agency added some experienced tough veteran players and in the draft he went to BPA and filled a need at the same time. In the 2018 draft QB Josh Allen was a need and BPA, Tremaine Edmunds was a need and BPA. In the 2019 DT Ed Oliver was a need and BPA, Cody Ford was a need and BPA. Not to mention some of the gold the man has found in free agent aside from the free agency period in CB Levi Wallace and WR Robert Foster who could both be tops at their positions this season. Gotta love the wheeling and dealing to move around in the draft to get the players they want...and without giving up the farm or two first rounders to do it. Bills fans should be as ecstatic as I am because this looks like Bill Polian all over again.

My favorite "no huddle" attempt by a regime was with Dick Jauron when he announced they would run the no huddle offense. Needless to say is was fubar from the start in preseason as the Bills cut their starting RT because he couldn't get to the line quickly enough (Langston Walker). Then, two weeks before the opener Jauron fired his OC in Turk Schonert and promoted QB coach Alex Van Pelt to OC. Trent Edwards started the season and the offense was such a mess that they scrapped the "no huddle" after a few weeks. Meanwhile, Edwards running for his life after getting sacked 23 times in 7 games he was benched after they fired Jauron and replaced him with Perry Fewell. Good thing the Bills FO (Wilson/Brandon)extended Jauron's contract before the season.