Shaw66

I hear you. You may be right. As I think about it I think you're really right about the cap being higher than we might think. A drastic cap drop is really disruptive to the teams and really unfair to players who became free agents at the end of this season. Make cap artificially high for the coming season and a bit low next season to average it out. I bet you're right about that.

I think this is wrong. Without COVID, the 32 teams were, relative to each other, were in better or worse cap situations going into 2021. Since COVID, relative to one another, they're in the same cap positions. For just about all teams, if they want to make moves, they're going to have cut people to create room to sign rookies and others. New Orleans always was going to have cut players, they just have to cut more. The Bills were going to have to cut players, now they may need to cut more. The real result here is that the players who get cut are going to take big pay cuts. There's no way around it. It sounded in Beane's press conference like Milano is gone. Whenever Beane says "it's a business and he is free to get paid what he can," he usually means we've had a preliminary conversation with his agent, and it that's what he wants, we're not going there. The problem is that this is horrible year to be a free agent, because NO ONE is going to have enough cap space to write contracts like they did last year. Guys on multi-year deals are protected, guys on one-year deals are not. So, yeah, New Orleans or whoever may be letting more players go than the Bills, but if all those players stay in the league, they're going to be paid a lot less than they thought a year ago they'd be getting. But the teams, relative to one another, are still going to be able sign more or less the same number of players. That's an oversimplification. Beane said in his presser that no one should expect the Bills to pick up any high-powered help in free agency.

Well, to be clear, I probably should have said "I don't think" that Whaley was motivated by bitterness. I certainly don't know, but he just has always seemed like a straight shooter to me. He's been in the game a long time, and he knows people get fired. I doubt he was surprised to get fired, and I'd guess that he understood fully that he was getting fired because of the body of his work, not because McD wanted to stick a knife in him. But I certainly admit that I don't know any of that to be true - it's just what I think.

1. I think Whaley is absolutely right. 2. I like Whaley. I think he's a good guy, and none of this is motivated by bitterness. 3. I think Whaley should know better than to say this. Maybe he's getting paid to be a talking head, maybe he's trying to stay in the game, maybe whatever. Just like a good coach understands never to be critical of a current player or a former player, Whaley should understand that the nature of their history and their relationship is such that he shouldn't be saying things like this. 4. What's good about McDermott is that he's always trying to learn and get better. He doesn't need Doug Whaley to critique him, but McD is so good that if he sees this clip he will listen to it, evaluate it, and learn from it. Frankly, I think McD in hindsight probably agrees with some or all of it. He's going to be better in his next championship game.

Well, I don't know about best ever, but I agree. You just have to listen carefully. As for 1-2 players away, there will be more changes than one or two, but I think you're right - one of two elite players. I'll put your thought together with a couple of things I've said. First, as I said, the end of the presser was an ad addressed to the elite free agents and others. This is the best town in the country to play football, and this is the place where you will play the best football in your life. What an incredible thing to say. Second, McD was saying it to people like JJ Watt. He may as well have said "hey, JJ, you've got enough money. Come him and play for $15 million instead the $20 you'll get someplace else, and you will play football the way you've always dreamed of playing football, with a team full of guys who want it as much as you do, and with coaches who will put you in position to win like you've never won before." Watt may be a pipe dream, and whether Watt responds to that message, I have no idea. But there are going to be some free agents around the league saying to their agents "get me in a Bills uniform." McDermott and Beane are doing exactly what they've said they were going do all along. They're not done yet, not by a long shot.

Well, I can't say I've been an enthusiastic supporter of Frazier, but it's McDermott's defense. It's his philosophy, and it's based on a lot of sound reasoning. So I'm not sure we're going to see a radical shift in defensive philosophy if Frazier leaves. However, I have to say I tend to agree with you. I will repeat something I said a few times now, and I will acknowledge that it's not an original idea - someone else said it. When you have a big offense, and the Bills have a big offense that likely will be better next season, the defense's job is to get the ball back to the offense as soon as possible. You know how Jauron always said a punt is not a bad play? Well that's true if you have a small offense. If you have a big offense, getting burned for a touchdown isn't a bad thing, because it gets the ball back to your offense. That means that if you're playing complementary football, you complement a big offense with a risk-taking defense, a big-play defense that takes chances and gets beat sometimes. Why? Because a risk-taking defense doesn't stay on the field very long, which means time of possession is in your favor, which means your offense has the ball more. It's okay to let Tyreek Hill beat you once in a while on a 73-yard catch and run, if your risk-taking defense also is getting sacks, three-and-outs, and takeaways. If you play passively, which is what it sure seemed like the Bills did against the Chiefs, you let time of possession go against you, which keeps the ball away from your offense. It seems simple looking at the Chiefs game. Two admittedly big offenses, one aggressive defense playing tight man-to-man, pressuring the QB, and one defense playing two deep safeties, getting sliced and diced underneath and STILL giving up the occasional big play. The more I think about the game, the clearer it is to me that the Bills played scared. I'm not a fighter, but I know when you go into a fight, and can't fight scared. You can't be defensive. You have to have the courage to attack. The Bills were afraid of the Chiefs speed and sat back, daring the Chiefs to dink and dunk. The Chiefs said "thank you very much, sucker." It's funny to me that the Ravens have the opposite mix. They have a grind-it-out running and short passing game with a super aggressive defense. It's the wrong combination. An aggressive defense gets beat big on some possessions, and the Ravens offense doesn't have the ability to come from behind. The Ravens should be saying to opponents, "We can go on long, 80-yard drives all day. Let's see if you can." The Bills should be saying "We can score points in bunches. Let's see if you can." The Chiefs have the better pairing of offensive and defensive philosophy. I started with the fact that McDermott likes the Tampa 2 style of play, evidence by the middle linebacker he has. I have confidence in McDermott's desire to improve continuously. He will be studying that game and thinking about what it takes to be better, and I hope he will find ways move toward more aggressive defense.

There's more than that. It's just that you have to wade through a lot of the predictable stuff. Comparing the Chiefs to the Bills, he said "bigger, faster, stronger." There's a serious insight. When asked about Oliver, it was telling that he didn't say more than "we saw some good things from him." Translation - he wasn't as good as we need him to be. Asked about Allen's kind of in-your-face response to a question about whether he had proved himself to the doubters, and about whether he's okay about what Josh said, Sean said "He's his own man." It was interesting. It's his philosophy - he's not Belichick, pulling strings on puppets. We're all men in this locker room and we're all responsible for ourselves. That was interesting. The whole thing about starting over was interesting. Every year, start over, make your self as good as you can be. They're not a championship runner-up trying to improve in some areas. They are an organization trying to build the best football team they can be. It all starts over every year. And later he said it about players - come to camp with what you know now and make yourself the best football player you can be. And he closed with an advertisement. He essentially said to the free agents out there that this is the best town in the league to play football, with the best fan base, and it's where you'll play the best football in your life. If you really want it, really, really want it, we showed you this year that this is the place you need to be. Also, Diggs. He said they were ready to close the locker room doors for their post game activities and someone told Sean that Diggs and Josh weren't there. He went out to get them. He said several times that Diggs was "very emotional." He said that some people need to see that, want to see that. He said that he has seen it, personally, and he doesn't need to watch it a second time. Interesting insight. Yes, Beane almost certainly will be better, but I learn something about McDermott every year in this press conference.

It's more than that, too. McDermott is about continuous improvement. That's not simply about getting better talent, either on the field or in the coaching staff. It's about the players the Bills already have getting better at what they do. One example that I've been talking about is how the Chiefs attacked Edmunds. They were essentially running options off Edmunds - if he broke one way, Mahomes threw the other. It was very clever. There's a defensive response to that. I don't know what it is, maybe dropping a safety into the box, or dropping a DE into coverage with a slot corner rushing the passer, something. The point is that the weakness that was exposed was a schematic weakness that can be fixed. Individual skills also can be improved. DBs can get better at finding and attacking the ball. Dlinemen can get better at hand fighting, footwork. Bottom line is that just because the Chiefs were better than the Bills in 2020 doesn't mean the Chiefs will be better than the Bills for the next ten years. The Chargers were the best team in the AFL and better than the Bills in 1963, but they weren't better than the Bills in 1964 or 1965, even though the personnel were largely the same.

Thanks for all this. Interesting about fibula injury location. I think you're exactly right about physical play, and I would guess it's McD and Frazier to blame. I think they were so afraid of getting beat deep that they played with a prevent defense mentality the whole game. I think the players may have come into the game with that mentality, which is a passive, non-physical way to play. I'm generally in favor of taking the field goals McD took, but not going for it was also evidence of the passive approach. The Bills seemed to be approaching everything very carefully, afraid to make mistakes. Wrong approach to football, especially playoff football.

He was 17th in the league in total tackles. That would suggest that he was in position to make the play a lot more than he was out of position. If he was out of position twice a game, that would have resulted in 32 more tackles. He would have been third in the league. Aren't you holding him to an awfully high standard? Give him Star or some other guy who really occupies space in the middle and you'll be amazed how much more Tremaine is "in position."

I don't think there are many positions where they think they have a substandard player. They have good players everywhere. They'll be looking to upgrade generally. I think Edmunds played just fine last night. I think what happened is that the Chiefs figured out how force Edmunds to commit in one direction so they could throw in the other. He followed guys in his zone, as he should, and they threw to another guy who filled the space Edmunds vacated. Sometimes Mahomes moved in the pocket, and Edmunds followed him, respecting the run threat, then Mahomes threw behind him. They exploited tendencies that they discovered in the Bills defense. The Bills asked Edmunds to cover big zones, in part because the safeties were dropping deeper to shut down the Chiefs long game. The thing only wrong with Edmunds is he isn't a Pro Bowl guy. He's good, but not a star.

Thanks. How many times has Beane said they're looking to get better at every position every year?

I don't know exactly what the characteristics of those big uglies should be, but you're right. in general. Running back is less important if they've get better up front. The only thing wrong with Moss and Singletary is they didn't have holes to run through. Sure, I'd like an RB with more speed or more power or both, but all running backs need good offensive line play, and the Bills didn't have it. And on defense, some difference maker, instead of just role players, is what they need. I hoped we'd see more out of Oliver this season, but he didn't take a big step. Obviously it's a stretch, but somehow it would be good to have a Chris Jones, or someone who demands double teams more that we saw this season. I've said all along that 2021 was the target season. It still is. The Bills aren't far away in terms of talent.

Thanks. Wrote it this morning. Then this afternoon I found out he had a broken fibula since the Patriots game. He just sort of matter-of-factly mentioned it in his press conference. No big deal. My, heavens! Yeah, fixed it. Thanks.

So the bone that helps transmit force from the ankle "during walking" was fractured? And running? And cutting? And jumping? These guys are such warriors.

Thanks. It's nice to have fans.

This is right on the money. The game changes in the playoffs in large part because the officiating changes. Players have to be prepared for it and adapt to it. The Bills fell down badly in that regard.

Oh, I won't argue with you about any of that. I was quite surprised there were no ejections. I think the refs figured they didn't want to mar the game and that they could keep things under control, which they did. It WAS a total lack of discipline. I didn't say that any of it was a good thing. What I said was it was a symptom, it was a some really tough dudes reacting to the fact that they'd been getting their butts kicked all night. They had had no success fighting back within the rules, so they lashed out in frustration. It's another teaching opportunity for McDermott. Dawkins will be physically tougher next season - count on it. Feliciano, by the way, is plenty tough enough already. He was reacting in part, I'm sure, to getting punched earlier in the game.

Man, you hit the nail on the head. The rest of league was watching and realized that those two teams represent the standard that everyone else is going to have to play up to.

Note: I have had some matters arise that require my personal attention and I won’t take the time now to write my usual review. I will have more to say later. The Bills lost to the Chiefs in Kansas City, 38-21. The Chiefs move on to the Super Bowl against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. The Bills go home. First, congratulations to the Chiefs. They have assembled a marvelous organization, and they play football at an extraordinarily high level. It’s fun to watch them play. Second, congratulations to the Bills. They too have a marvelous organization, and practically no one in the pro football world expected what we saw from them in 2020. As for the game, a couple of observations. Just as teams have to learn to play playoff football, they have to learn to play championship football. The conference championship games and the Super Bowl are played at a higher level than the earlier playoff games. The Chiefs raised the game to that higher lever, and the Bills were unable to respond. In particular, what often happens in the championship rounds is that the game becomes even more physical than it was in the earlier rounds. This game looked a lot like Super Bowl XXV in that respect. The Chiefs pounded and pounded on the Bills from start to finish, just like the Giants did thirty years ago. They were merciless. Two symptoms of the physicality of the game were that several Bills players showed it. Josh Allen clearly was beaten up. He’d been in mortal combat and survived with his life. Diggs was worn out by the end of the game. The Chiefs made it difficult for all of the Bills receivers to get easy releases off the line of scrimmage, and Diggs got a double dose all night. The other symptom was the melee toward the end of the game. It was obvious that the Bills simply were pissed off that they’d been beaten physically like that, and they finished the game fighting back, literally. They had been losing a lot of the personal battles all night long, and they’re competitive enough that they refused to roll over. Instead, they lashed out. Frankly, it was good see. Next time they’ll be better prepared to give what they need to give from the start of the game. Mahomes and Hill and Kelce were magnificent, and the Chiefs’ offense was in high gear. The Chiefs defense was magnificent too, and the Bills struggled to find answers. They should have had answers; they are good enough to have answers, but Brian Daboll’s game plan and in-game adjustments weren’t up the task. In a sense, the Bills play a finesse game. The Chiefs play a finesse game with power. The Bills were overpowered. It was fascinating to watch Edmunds manipulated in the middle of the pass defense. Time and again in the first half, he drifted right or left to respond to the routes run by Kelce and others in his zone and to respond to Mahomes drifting right or left and threatening to run. Whichever way Edmunds moved created a weakness somewhere, and Mahomes attacked mercilessly. It looked to me that each time Edmunds was doing what he should have been doing; it was just that Mahomes had the brains and the role players to exploit the weakness. That will give Sean McDermott something to think about during the off-season. I know that a lot of guys play hurt, and plenty of them play in less visible positions, but I can’t close without commenting on the remarkable courage of Cole Beasley. He’s been hurting for at least the past few weeks, and he stayed in the game. Against the Chiefs, he was hammered all night long, he limped off, gathered himself, and came back for more. It was heroic. He wasn’t alone, for sure. In some ways he was the symbol of the Bills tenacity, the tenacity that had the Bills fighting on every play as the clock ran out. That’s it for now. Congratulations again to the Chiefs and the Bills. Giver me a couple of weeks off and I’ll start getting antsy for the 2021 season! GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

Same old Brady.

Hey, Jim, thanks for this. When I first discovered Bills fan forums 15 years ago, I was thrilled, for exactly the reason you were: They are a place, in the best case, where a Bills fan can go and find all the news about the team and some meaningful discussion about what that news means. There's always some less meaningful stuff to wade through, but so long as the ratio of the two isn't out of whack, it's the best news source around. That's what TBD is. If something is happening with the Bills, it will be posted here. I come here every day to see if anything is happening, and if it's something I care about, I'm here to talk about it. Thanks for taking the time to share your appreciation. I share it, too.

When he was a kid, he and his friends would pitch bottle caps and hit them with broomsticks. Good for the batting eye.

30 home runs for 25 seasons. Think about that! Year after year after year he hit them. Coming to major league baseball, as he did, only a few seasons after Jackie Robinson, he was subjected to a lot of racial abuse. It got worse as he approached the Babe's record. We forget how much strength and courage it takes to make change. It continues today.

At this level, needing the defense to play well is a given. There are few Super Bowl winners that just simply outscore the opponents. Teams that get to this level almost always are playing good defense. Clearly, against KC the Bills need another good game out of the defense.