SCBills

I initially mentioned Sean Payton, but with the pick comp, ehhh... I think Ben Johnson would be interesting if we could pry him from the Lions. Basically, for me, I think we need a philosophy shift. Having a Defensive HC, IMO, just puts Allen at a constant disadvantage to Mahomes and Burrow. At best, we always hit on the OC, they don't take time to get up to snuff, and then we do it all over again because they get hired as a HC.

Dont want to come off insensitive, but I cringed whenever our reporters kept talking about Hamlin to the players/coaches. Agreed.. bad juju. Poyers weird goodbye. The Bengals talking brazen all week while our guys apparently were just sulking sadboys at practice.

For those who just want coordinators fired, why? What do you believe is the future for a team with a defensive minded HC, who’s defenses haven’t showed up in the playoffs and due to the nature of the league, will be subjecting Allen to a new offensive architect every few years?

Gotta love OBL carrying water for the coaches and asking do we really want to change coordinators all the time for Josh, without asking themselves the question of why that’s always going to be an issue for us under McDermott.

Hard to generate pass rush when the QB gets rid of the ball to elite playmakers in 2.5 seconds and you play off coverage most of the game. Regardless, the DL is a problem. Von Miller, Greg Rousseau and Daquan Jones are the only guys worth keeping. Get Oliver and his cap hit off this team. He, in no way, should be in the plans moving forward so trade him while we can.

Bengals lost their CB1 early in the year. They also had to deal with the Hamlin game. Their DE's, as you point out, have been playing injured. They lost 3/5 of their starting OL right before the Playoffs. Yet they were able to not just persevere, but got stronger from it. Took every piece of motivation they could get and used it as an edge. We won't admit it, but I think our players very much started feeling sorry for themselves.

Bad look. Three years in a row we've ended the season in similar fashion without making it to the Super Bowl. There's some validity here... nobody wants to hear it, and any player echoing it should be embarrassed in doing so.

Spot on! This is the perfect assessment. Those guys are the guys we can thank for hopefully helping build this team TO the team that wins the Super Bowl. ...but they aren't the guys that seem capable of actually doing it. It's time to get rid of the coaching staff and gut the defense to build the offense. They won't do it, I fear... but we need to at least re-imagine this defense with new coaching on that side of the ball and a new philosophy. Bend dont break needs to be gone... replaced with an aggressive defense that makes and gives up big plays to mask the talent deficiencies we will have there.

There's validity to this, but it's a really tough sell when this current iteration has failed in similar fashion 3 years in a row. We have no idea what other teams have gone through. Sure, likely not to the level of what we have, but it also comes across as a convenient excuse. I'm sorry, it just does. Pressure makes diamonds.. but there's a flip side to that coin. What's the excuse next year? What have you seen that gives you confidence in this current staff's ability to get past Cincy/KC in the Playoffs? ....and honestly, it's a bit embarrassing to hear players admit to this.

Why would I take solace in that? Cowboys look like the NFC version of Buffalo, but without an elite QB. They are held back by coaching that Jerry Jones seems to be loyal to at the moment and they have a bunch of money tied up in good players, with only one elite guy in Micah Parsons. They lost to a team with multiple elite guys and better coaching. Same as us.

Bills were mentally exhausted and had nothing to give against the Bengals is a worthwhile excuse if this was a one-off. It is not. It's a pattern. We're just making excuses for them. The fact is this coaching staff seems to have reached it's ceiling and our roster construction is flawed - in large part - due to the HC's philosophy. It's time to make the aggressive move, but we won't, and I fear we'll be having this same conversation next year at this time.

But how do we fix that? We draft late and have next to no cap space. The only way to address this, is to take a machete to the team. I don't necessarily think that's the worst decision. Where can we free up money? Let all sizeable money FA's walk. Cut Hines. Trade Oliver. If there is a big fish out there in FA, we should shuffle the deck and free up that money to sacrifice good players (plural) to add another elite piece.

We need an aggressive DC paired with an Offensive minded HC, because at the end of the day, we will never have a Defense as loaded with high picks/FA's as this team entered the season with as long as Josh Allen is here. The Defense needs to transition to big play defense that will give up big plays from time to time as well. Clear out some of these "good, not great" contracts and pour that money into a potential difference maker, then fill in around them. Is there a monster DT available that we could pair with Von for the next two years? Would probably be worth sacrificing Edmunds and cutting/trading anyone on the Defense not named Matt Milano, Von Miller, Daquan Jones or Micah Hyde for the '23 season.

Wow... Florio absolutely nails it re: McDermott.

Love it. He said he's going back to Detroit, but he also didn't have a job like the Bills offered to him.

Bring in a new Defensive Coordinator and gut the Defense to invest heavy in the Offense this off-season. It has to happen. Let Poyer and Edmunds walk. Let Phillips walk. I'd offer Shaq Lawson a modest contract. New DC comes in with the following: DE: Von, Shaq, Rousseau, AJ, Basham DT: Jones, Oliver, Settle LB: Milano, Bernard CB: White, Elam, Benford, SLOT: Johnson, Neal S: Hyde Fill in the holes/depth with modest contract vets and Day 3 picks. ------- Use the money you would've freed up for Edmunds and go after the best OL available in FA and/or a WR if it makes sense. All Day 1 and Day 2 picks should be on the Offensive side of the ball. ------- If Oliver can bring back a 2nd Rounder, I'd move him as I can't envision a scenario where he gets paid after his 5th year option ends.

Always going to be an issue I fear. Maybe we retain Dorsey, but we've got two outcomes: -He has another meh season and we let him go -He has a great season and becomes a HC Then we go through this all over again. Not something Burrow, Mahomes or Lawrence will ever have to deal with as long as Reid, Taylor, Peterson are the architects of their Offense as HC.

True. For all the talk of process and culture, would McDermott still be our coach if not for Josh Allen? No chance.

I've reached the end of my patience with McDermott, but I don't think there's any chance he's not here next year.. and I just have to hope he's capable of self-reflection and growth as a coach. I'd be shocked if he's allowed to run it back with Dorsey and Frazier. One, or both, have to go. IMO, definitely Frazier.. and I go either way on Dorsey just because it was his first year. Then next year he's coaching on a warm seat.

Having Von Miller wouldn't have mattered one bit yesterday. Absolutely insane to see Burrow get rid of the ball so quick and every. time. have someone wide open. I just laughed maniacally when we blitzed Burrow deep on our own side on 3rd and 5, blitzer came flying through, and all Burrow had to do was simply toss it five yards to Chase with White playing 10 yards off coverage. Amazing.

Playoffs are what matters and our Defense has failed miserably against KC(2) & CIN these past 3 years.

Not just us... WGR personalities are echoing the same sentiments. Openly saying that all options should be on the table this off-season.

Bills need to copy the Chiefs moving forward. Invest heavy on Offense. Hope Von can be our Chris Jones for the next two years when comes back and fill in with some good players/cheap contracts. Chiefs Defense without Chris Jones is rough. They have some guys like Karlaftis (Rousseau), Bolton (Milano), McDuffie (Elam) etc.., but they rely on Spags to elevate them beyond what they are. We have a defensive head coach.. if McD can't do that, he has no reason to be here.

Humble and Hungry Bring in character guys Draft team leaders from college programs A heavy defensive focus when it comes to investment

Frazier is married to his scheme. Even when the blueprint (Tua, Burrow) dictates otherwise. Hes engrained in this defense with guys who have been here a long time. It’s why massive changes need to occur on defense. And the defense will likely be much less talented next year .. but I wouldn’t be surprised if they perform better in big moments (should we move off Frazier and make personnel changes) I think a lot of us are all saying a similar thing, when we know the problem is McDermott’s philosophy/culture may have reached its ceiling. We can point to changes around the edges, but the problem is him and his philosophy. He’s a good coach. Someone else would hire him in a second… but if they get to where we are, they’ll have the same problems.