Success

So, it looks like rushing the passer is really a thing....

Games can really come down to a few plays. We've been hand-wringing about "what went wrong" all week, but if Allen hits Diggs when he's wide open in the 1st quarter, or if Cincy doesn't bat down a few balls at the LOS, that game could have unfolded much differently.

No offense - but this is sort of a classic "hot take" evaulation. Elam is likely to be our #1 corner in the next few years. Cook came on strong at the end of the season - someone said he could be our Kamara w/ a bit more work, and I'd agree w/ that. Shakir also came on strong at the end, and will be a starter for this team in pretty short order. Benford was a late-round find and I'd bet he's starting at safety next year.

Lower expectations - but still winning the division. Get in the playoffs & anything can happen. But I don't expect a SB berth like I did this past year. And that's probably not a bad thing.

I had (and still have) very high hopes for Brown, but he didn't break out this season like we had hoped. I don't know enough about offensive line play to make a good judgment on the question in the OP. For the guys who have a better understanding on that stuff - does he get a pass on '22 because of the injury? Can he be part of a revamped & stronger line? Or is this a position Beane has to look at filling this offseason or next?

I hate everyone today. Side note: obviously, you want to advance in the playoffs 10x out of 10. But if there is any silver lining to today, it's that I can't be devastated.

We DO have guys who are more physical. I'd probably add Phillips, Dane Jackson, Edmunds & Knox. It's a "team thing", though - overall, we don't play a physical, hard-hitting style of football. You could see it against Cincinnati, who does play that way. I don't know what makes for the distinction, but I'm sure coaching plays a part of that. I don't think Cincy has more physical players - but they play a more physical style. I suppose a bruiser sort of RB would help, at least on O.

Would certainly be better if we kept Hodgins. I really had higher hopes for Epenesa - I thought he showed some flashes early in the season, but then kind of disappeared again. Good write-up. Agree w/ most of the assessments. Not a bad draft, certainly - but not great. We need hit on more picks going forward.

He's the Bills' Rocky Bleier. Needs some time.

"The Sting" is awesome. It still holds up.

I 100% agree w/ the OP. It's too easy to say "every team faces adversity" and expect these guys to be robots. After Hamlin, the season flipped for me. I went from riding the SB train, to just hoping he'd be alright. The season didn't even seem to matter anymore. When Hines returned that 1st kick against the Pats, I was sort of back in - hey, maybe they can really do this. But even that game, they were kind of going on fumes. Without the TD returns, we might have lost that game - to a much worse team, at home. Adversity does reach a kind of critical mass at some point, and we got there this season. It just wasn't in the cards. Eyeroll & vomit away.

Yes! I can totally see it. We're pretty set at corner if Tre gets back to form - Elam on the other side, Johnson in the slot. Benford is talented, a real late-round find & has the physicality to play safety. Then, we can let Poyer walk (hate to say that, as he's one of my faves, but it's the smart business move), and not have to expend draft capital to fill that void.

I've made peace w/ this. The Bills WERE a dominant team for stretches this season. We had just a few too many injuries, and then all of the crazy stuff w/ 3 games in 10 days/moving one game to Detroit, and what happened w/ Hamlin. It's not like running it all back dooms us. We'll still be a top team.

He's still pretty young. I don't think this was a "contract year" thing as much as a guy who has finally grown into the position at the NFL level. He reminds me a bit of Polamalu. I'm hoping they figure out how to keep him. I think he'll only get better.

The other teams are getting stronger - but my hope is that we still find a way to win the division, not just next year, but in a few of the years ahead. I'd like to see us do what the Pats did to the division all of those years - all 3 other teams would get impatient w/ coaches and QB's, and often be quicker to move on from both than they normally would be.

I don't know enough about O-line schemes. But how much can our issues be tied to coaching? I look at what Scarnecchia did for years in NE, and then also what Cincy did with 3 starters out, and 1 playing hurt. I feel like we don't need THAT much of an upgrade in personnel. Dawkins & Morse are both very good, and I think Brown is still developing. Bates & Boettger are solid.

I do hope we keep Edmunds, without overpaying. Probably too much to wish for - but he has been really good for us and one of our playmakers on D.

How about "the last playoff loss before their historic dynastic run?"

Very true. But I actually wonder now if it might not be better to sneak in, play on the road & have low expectations.

Patriots - their D was better than ours this year, and one of the top D's in the NFL. If we had that D last week, we'd be playing this coming Sunday. Now, they have an ACTUAL OC coming in, to coach a QB who will never be elite, but isn't as bad as we always say. Jets - I thought they should have made the playoffs this year. And that was with bad QB play for most of the year. They are going for a vet - Rodgers, Jimmy G., who knows. Their D is already one of the top units in the league, and they have some great young players. I think Saleh is the real deal. Dolphins - obviously, the greatest threat. If Tua was healthy all year, things might have played out very differently over the past few weeks. They are a very good team, on both sides of the ball. I think the AFC East could be historically good as a division. It will be such a fight - I'd still pick us to come out on top, but there will be a few close games that will likely decide it in the end. Thoughts?

Not really. 13 seconds was easy. This was just a playoff loss.

I'm going to go w/ "2 kinds of badness." 13 seconds was the ultimate gut-punch. I can't think of too many big games in any sport that turned like that, that quickly. That was sheer IMMEDIATE pain, and took me longer to get over. Weeks. I already feel the pain of the Cincy loss - which wasn't nearly as bad when it happened - dissipating. But it's a more disturbing loss. As the OP and others have stated, it just kind of showed some flaws that might be hard to overcome. I'm actually less optimistic than I was after 13 seconds. So, that in a way is worse.

It's probably where I'm at after the Cincy game that's causing this - but all I read was, they have a great team but they need everything.

I also look at guys that moved on to other teams - Moss played well in Indy the last part of the season. Teller, Hodgins, even Breida & Feliciano. It seems like guys we had play better on other teams. We're not maximizing talent.

We do. We need a legit WR2. We have Diggs and a bunch of solid receivers who are 3 or 4 guys. You need someone opposite Diggs who create match-up problems for defenses and stretch their coverage. And I kept thinking at the end of the season - what if Diggs gets injured? The drop-off is too big. If you get a legit WR2, it just gives you a better chance if something like that happens. As it was this season, an injury would have ended our chances. Definitively.