Success

The talking heads forgot that football isn't tennis. And I agree - if the Ravens win, it will be because of great defense. But the narrative will be "Lamar bests Mahomes!"

I agree w/ this. It's a perfect situation for him, in every way. And I think he knows that whoever hires him, he's just coaching. I hate to say this, but I think not hiring him may be a profound regret at some point. There is no one I would trust more to finally push this team through for a title.

Most in the media thought Allen was a big-armed bust when he was drafted. Everything since is their lame attempt to justify their original prediction. Allen can play a game like Sunday, where he carried the team and should have left that field w/ even more points if Diggs makes a catch and Bass makes a FG - but the narrative since Sunday is almost exclusively, "But that throw! That throw to the EZ when he had Diggs underneath! Hero ball!" Meanwhile, Mahomes misses 2 guys who were wide open in the endzone, and has a defense that actually made stops. But it's all "Mahomes magic - again!" for him. Complete double-standard. Even when Allen wins it all, they'll probably just compare him to Flacco or Gannon....that one "lucky" run.

Great post. Josh Allen is 27. I also think of Michael Jordan, who lost to the Pistons 3x before breaking through, and Jim Kelly, who didn't make his 1st SB until he was in his 30's and went to 4 of them. I can't imagine Josh Allen retiring without at least 1 ring.

I think Vrabel would make this team mentally tougher, which we need. My 1st choice would be Belichick, but after that, I'd be really happy w/ Vrabel. He has never had a QB like Allen or close to it. So much of what is holding this team back right now is psychological, and I think he'd give the team the edge they need to overcome that.

I like the idea of a young coach, who we can have for the remainder of JA's career if he's good. It makes for some built-in continuity. But it's also risky. We're still in Allen's prime, an if you try a "new" coach, you could be wasting 3 more prime years if it doesn't work out. This is the best offseason I can remember in terms of "proven" coaches being available - including the best who ever coached. If we make a move, it has to be for one of those guys.

And here it is. The reason I tuned out after Sunday, and will remain tuned out on football coverage until September. The sports media is TERRIBLE. I can't even ask "are they overrated," because everyone rates them as TERRIBLE. Clowns, hacks & hot-take artists. Fools, all.

Just talking to the family about EXACTLY this.

And just a last thought - imagine the change in narrative if we hired Belichick. Right now, we're the 2nd coming of the Rivers/Chargers teams. We've hit our ceiling. And worst of all - we'll never get past KC. We're really the subject of some ridicule today, and while I think everyone respects that we're a decent team, no one takes us too seriously. In the fall, it won't matter if we're going undefeated. Everyone will say "show it to me in the playoffs for once." Bring in Belichick, and the NFL world would be turned upside down. There would be fear.

I thought about that. But he may be more flexible on that kind of thing, since he likely won't coach for enough time to cover a rebuild of any kind. It's probably a longshot. But the guy went to the SB every other year, and was a regular in the AFCCG.

No way. If McDermott stays, it's always going to be his vision on D. And Belichick will likely only take a HC job.

Been thinking about this all day: If we hire Belichick - who would likely come here - do we stand a better chance of advancing farther in the playoffs, or a worse chance? That is the ONLY question right now. And it's a no-brainer of an answer.

Hadn't really thought about this - but every time the Chiefs have beaten us in the playoffs, they lost the following week.

I think McDermott has done a good, solid job - and we're an annual contender now. But man - the greatest coach of all time is available. The guy was in the SB every other year - and quite a few times w/ teams worse than what we have. He loves Allen, and would love to be able to beat the Pats twice a year. Hiring him would be an immediate change in mindset, energy & culture. If he coached for at least 3 years, we'd make the SB. That's basically a guarantee. Fortune favors the bold.

Some of the responses on this thread are astounding. Being a professional athlete is huge dedication. They work like crazy all season. Some fans are upset that he takes in a little golf before starting more offseason workouts & training? I don't get it. Not only is that a sure recipe for burnout - it's ridiculous.

Most teams lose a lot. The Bills have had more historical heartbreak, but I don't believe in curses. To me, that just says that our best days are ahead, given the odds.

Anyone know the details on this contract? I know it's been discussed - but can we save any money if we cut him?

Wasn't our defense a shell of itself also?

Man, I'm so tired of the dissecting of Allen's decision to go to the EZ on that play. This kind of analysis just doesn't happen 20 years ago. But now we have hundreds of pods, websites, shows, et al, with all of the "experts" weighing in. The fact that this one play is getting so scrutinized is more a symptom of where we're at in terms of sports culture than any kind of reasonable assessment of a game.

I did. We got "hot" at the right time. We were rolling. The games were close, but we were stringing the W's together. Even w/ Bernard, we were better than this KC team. And I would have liked our chances against the Ravens. I did think this might be the year.

I know what you mean here. I feel a little the same way. I think it's just the history. I was way more excited about the Texans playoff game, and the Colts & then the Ravens. But as time has gone on and we keep fizzling, it feels heavier. Almost a jaded feeling. At this point, my expectations for a title are so much lower than they were after 13 seconds. I plan to just enjoy Bills football now, and if we get one eventually, it will just be an amazing surprise that I'll relish.

I promised to stay away from the media - but failed. It's making me sad how the game has become one more in this neverending referendum on Josh Allen. The expectations of him are comical at this point. And if you point out that once again, he carried the team & got almost no help, you're "making excuses" for him. Because he's just not a "big game player." And all anyone talks about is his "choice" to go to the EZ instead of to Diggs - like he had time to draw up a list of pros and cons, and look at all of the options in front of him w/ about 2 seconds. And he likely gets hit on a throw to Diggs also. We're not talking about a 2 INT game where JA just didn't show. Every one of those 24 points was his play, which was as good a performance as many that have been nationally praised for other QB's, because their teams happened to win.

We'll be a good team next year - possibly as good. If we can stay just a little healthier, I'll feel good about our chances. We lost on a couple of plays yesterday. That's how it goes. It doesn't mean we're all of a sudden not a contender.

How can anyone who watched the endless quest for a QB since Kelly suggest trading Allen? That makes no sense, at all. If Allen is "worse" than Mahomes and Burrow somehow, it ain't by much. It's fantastic to have this kind of QB. It's quite likely that Josh Allen will go down as the best QB in Bills history - even 100 years from now. He's amazing.

It's hard to watch that Diggs play. His 1st couple of years here, he just caught everything - or at least it seemed that way. He was the one guy I always trusted to make the play. I know he's been off, and he might be playing hurt - but if he catches that, I'm gonna bet this board is a different place today, and the media narratives are all pretty different about "underachieving" Allen.