Logic

I'd like to continue to add to the offense in a big way this offseason regardless. Specifically, they suddenly seem pretty set at OL, TE, and RB1 (and obviously QB). Go get a 1st round WR (trade up if need be), another mid round WR, and a viable RB2, and they'll be rolling. As it is, the offense has a much brighter long term prognosis going forward, given the career trajectories of Cook, Kindcaid, Shakir, and the OL. But that's no reason to stop adding. MAKE LIFE AS EASY AS POSSIBLE ON JOSH ALLEN. But this is all a discussion for AFTER we win the Super Bowl.

The thing that stands out to me is that our passing offense simply looks to be "behind the times". When I look at the passing offenses of Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur, Kyle Shanahan, Mike McDaniel, Bobby Slowik -- so, basically, all of the Shanahan coaching tree guys -- I see creativity, cheat motions, orbit actions, variety, legal pick plays, and receivers who are schemed wide open. When I look at the passing offense of Dorsey and now Brady, I see more or less static formations, less creative personnel usage and deployment, less variety, and much less of receivers being so open that you wonder "how the heck did that happen?". To be clear, it's not that there's NONE of this stuff. This offense does, at times, show some of these things. It's just that if you watch it over the totality of a whole game, and then compare it to the Texans, Rams, Packers, etc, it just doesn't seem nearly as dynamic and modern. I don't believe this is something that can be fixed in-season. I'm hoping the Bills do a thorough offensive coordinator search in the offseason. Let Brady interview and give his vision for the offense going forward. If he wins the job, then so be it, but don't just hand it to him. I want more modernity and creativity in the Bills offense. I want to see what Josh Allen would look like in a truly forward-thinking offense that makes life easier on him.

Fallout? Not sure there would be much. Beane remains GM. McDermott remains HC. Joe Brady will either be named OC or they'll do a more thorough search. I'd bet on a defensive coordinator being hired, likely Babich or Washington. The Bills will draft and sign some players. Some players will leave in free agency. Then they'll line up and play again next year and be top five in Super Bowl odds again, because they're a good team with a good roster and an elite QB. The window is open and will remain open.

Absolutely agree. That was my favorite part of the article.

I'll post just the intro, but there's obviously more to the article. Just thought it was funny that this has picked up enough national steam to warrant an article on The Ringer. https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/1/18/24042427/buffalo-bills-pit-highmark-stadium-2024-nfl-playoffs-josh-allen Orchard Park, New York, is a strange place. First of all, not a ton of orchards there, in my experience. Far more Tim Hortonses. But more specifically, Orchard Park is an unassuming bit of flat land located 12 miles away from downtown Buffalo. Founded in 1803 by a man named Didymus and his wife, Phebe, it sits just off of Lake Erie, in the heart of a snow band that consistently pummels the area while other nearby towns remain dry. The wind swirls mercilessly and painfully. And as the home to the Buffalo Bills and Highmark Stadium (née Ralph Wilson Stadium), Orchard Park is a plastic-table graveyard that also regularly sees grown men covered in ketchup and mustard, hard liquors of all colors consumed out of bowling pins, and a man/child/golden retriever who’s so gloriously ungainly that his juke moves are confused for fake slides. But currently, there’s something going on that’s weird even by Orchard Park standards. Something supernatural. Something that eludes explanation and exceeds whatever good mojo might come from donating to opposing players’ charities and whatever bad mojo might come from still having O.J. Simpson’s name emblazoned on your team’s Wall of Fame. There is a pit now, and it must be fed. And you’re telling me this hole in the ground has magical properties? Yes, I am. The Buffalo Bills came into the season as one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl. Then Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles in a game against the Bills in Week 1, and everything went ***** bonkers: The Bills lost that game on an overtime punt return; then, in a blowout win over the Dolphins in Week 4, cornerback Tre’Davious White tore his Achilles (and linebacker Matt Milano broke his leg a week later); and then the Bills went on to lose games to the Jaguars, THE PATRIOTS, and, most embarrassingly, the Broncos (on a last-second field goal that happened only because the Bills had 12 men on the field on the previous missed attempt). Buffalo fired offensive coordinator and expected-points-added merchant Ken Dorsey after that loss to Denver, even though he had no connection to the special teams unit (but let’s not get into that). After another overtime loss, to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bills went into their bye at 6-6, with just a 15 percent chance to make the playoffs and with games remaining against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Miami Dolphins. Somehow, the Bills haven’t lost in the six games since. They took down the Dolphins in Week 18 to win their fourth straight AFC East title and then last weekend defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round. They’re now set to host the Chiefs—a team previously responsible for reiterating how cursed the Bills franchise is—in the first true road playoff game in Patrick Mahomes’s career. As the thinking goes, this is all thanks to the Pit.

It's really quite simple. Nick Wright is a carnival barker. An old timey wrestling heel, like Rowdy Roddy Piper or Ric Flair. He is PURPOSEFULLY playing the role of "antagonistic villain", because it gets viewership, clicks, and online engagement, which equals more money for Nick Wright and his employers. He is playing a persona. A character. He's like Skip Bayless or Stephen A Smith. If you've ever heard Nick Wright speak seriously on a topic, then you know that the "Nick Wright" you see on your screen every week is nothing more than a bit, a put-on, a ruse. His character loves the Chiefs and hates on the Bills. It works again and again and again, because Bills fans take the bait again and again and again. I stopped getting mad at him a long time ago because I recognized what he is and what he's doing. You should, too. All I can do now is stand and applaud him for being so good at what he does, which is to antagonize and troll people into continuing to engage with him and the programs he's featured on.

You shut your filthy wh0re mouth, Beck.

Meanwhile, on Twitter...

Pluto TV is free, apparently. I just pulled it up on my work computer and am streaming now instead of doing my work. Thanks for this! Never knew this existed.

Same. On touchdowns and special teams plays, especially. I'm STILL waiting for a flag on the Harty run-back in the Miami game.

The life of a Bills fan in a nutshell. My version of this is that I never exhale until the clock hits double zeroes. 11 point lead and 90 seconds left? Don't care. I'm a Bills fan. Seen this movie too many times before. When the clock hits zeroes and the coaches and players start pouring onto the field, THEN I can accept that it's a win. Never, ever before then.

I'm very curious to know, if the KC roster is better than last season's on offense, why the Chiefs score 8 less points per game than they did in 2022. The defense? Sure. It's better. Absolutely. Best Mahomes has ever played with. But the offense? If the roster is better than last year's, why do they score over a touchdown less points per game? I'm not being antagonistic. I'm genuinely curious. Is it Bienemy being gone? Was he better than everyone thought? Is it Kelce being less effective this year? Going from 29 PPG to 21 PPG is a significant drop in just one season. What accounts for it?

For those having fun with all of this and posting funny pics and memes and making jokes....good on ya. This is a funny thing to poke fun at. For those who legitimately have a problem with Swift or claim she's "attention mongering" or any of the other ridiculous stuff you see on Twitter and elsewhere...get a life. Swift has done nothing since all this began but show up to the games and root for the person she's dating. Big f'n deal. She is literally just existing. Just living her life. And the NFL needs/wants Taylor Swift around FAR more than Taylor Swift needs to be associated with the NFL. The league gains a ton from her presence. She gains...well...nothing but headaches and harassment for showing up, I would imagine. If the mere presence of a talented, successful, famous woman at an NFL game legitimately triggers or angers anyone, then said person has some issues that go far beyond a sports league's coverage of said famous woman. All of that having been said...I hope Ms Swift has a lovely time in Orchard Park watching her boyfriend get eliminated from the playoffs.

Our ideal DT foursome against the Chiefs, IMO, would be: Oliver Jones Joseph Phillips Oliver and Phillips are your 3Ts. Jones and Joseph your 1Ts and run stoppers. Guessing Settle will play over Phillips this week. Bills seem to like him more than I do.

I think that the ridiculous amount of injuries on defense have dampened spirits a bit more than usual around here. Combine those with the fact that we've lost the last two playoff games against the Chiefs and many probably won't believe the Bills can get past them until they see it with their own eyes and...there you have it.

You guys absolutely nailed it. These descriptions are just exactly perfect. Kudos. And just to keep things on topic: I enjoy saying Reggie Gilliam's last name. Gill-ee-um. It's fun.

I take your point, but...against the Chiefs, of all teams, let's say the Bills wind up being without Bernard, Benford, and Johnson. Very possible. That would be...significant. To be down to second stringers at both linebacker positions, Cam Lewis instead of Taron Johnson, and Dane Jackson instead of Benford...those are potentially outcome-swinging injuries.

Yeah... I'd be lying if I said I felt confident about this weekend. I WOULD...if our roster wasn't so decimated by injury. Knowing how good Mahomes and Reid and Kelce are at taking advantage of the middle of the field, and knowing the Bills may be without Bernard, Dodsen, Johnson, and Rapp (and will definitely be without Milano, obviously), makes me just feel...sad. I feel like we finally are getting our home playoff game against the Chiefs, but they get a two day rest advantage, our defense is absolutely ravaged by injury, and our team may miss one or two practices this week due to bad weather. That's not me making excuses, that's just me acknowledging the crappiness of the Bills' situation this week. It will take a few of our injured players returning to the field, a "playoff Josh" game from #17, and an insane Highmark Stadium crowd to turn this game into a victory for the Bills. But gosh, I'd sure feel a lot better about things if we weren't a walking MASH unit right now...

I just hate that the Chiefs have the league's youngest defense, coordinated by Steve Spagnuolo, and that it's already very good this year and is likely only going to get better. Between drafting a physical freak QB who thrives out of the pocket a year before Buffalo, fixing their o-line a year before Buffalo, and now going with a youth movement on defense, it seems that the Chiefs are always one step ahead of the Bills. Add to that the fact that they get to have Spaguolo locked in as defensive coordinator, and that he is very unlikely to get poached by another team to be head coach, and I'm even more annoyed. They have the stability of Andy Reid -- one of the greatest offensive minds ever -- to run the offense, and Spagnuolo -- one of the best defensive minds in the game today -- to run the defense. I am irritated, I am jealous, and I am sick of losing to the Chiefs in playoff games. I hope the Bills beat them by three scores. I do hope that Ms Swift has a nice time at the game, though. She seems like a nice person, and the people who get upset at her for merely existing are weirdos.

Wait, is that true? We have Chiefsplanet lurkers? If so, and you're reading this: your forum is a toxic cesspool. One of the absolute worst places on the internet. Your awful excuse for a message board allows the most vile, disgusting, unfunny, sophomoric, in-extremely-poor-taste, downright horrific commentary imaginable. You're an embarrassment to Chiefs fans. God Bless!

Absolutely. As a matter of fact, that just came up in the Dolphins game. That 4th down prayer that Josh Allen winged 40 yards downfield, into the endzone? The Dolphins player should have knocked that down instead of picking it off. Cost his team a lot of yards. It was also an instance where throwing an interception in the end zone was a better outcome for the Bills than Josh throwing an incomplete pass there, which illustrates that not all interceptions are created equally. But of course the national narrative around Josh's turnovers isn't ready for that level of nuance. **Edit: All of that said, it's probably hard in the heat of the moment and with all that adrenaline flowing to remember to knock a pass down instead of catch it. Everything a DB does in his career is geared toward "pick it off!". There may also be financial incentives in various players' contracts for interceptions or for Pro Bowls (which interception numbers help).