Ethan in Cleveland

As for the season as a whole, he performed less well in every passing category in 2021 compared to 2020. His YPA (my best measure of QB play after TD/INT ratio) was down 1.1 YPA. His INTs were up by 50% and the highest of his career. He fumbled less - 8 times losing 3 - and I recall at least one that was a RB issue credited to Allen. All that stated.... Josh playoff performance is the best QB play this franchise has ever seen.

It's their tackles that are not any good

That is the exact opposite of how he grades out

Given how bad Ford played, the fact it took 14 games to start Bates, and the fact they traded a future All-pro guard away for virtually nothing, I have no faith they could or can evaluate OL performance. Spain was an elite pass blocker but was never more than mediocre as a run blocker. I've not followed him enough to know how he has played with the Bengals other than he remains a starter. It made no sense to give up on him at that time, but I assumed it was an attitude issue given he was not playing poorly. Water under the bridge at this time.

That would be awesome. My son is fluent in German. Would be a great trip!

Bell was a good back and probably would have been very good in the Kgun. Including him to get Biscuit though was a great move.

Cut Haack, Kumerow and Jones. Keep Matakevich on a lower contract number. Stop using valuable roster spots on guys that just play Special Teams. Draft best punter in the draft in round 5

Step back. Not sure how you see it any other way. Won less games, didn't even make Champioship game, and despite heavy investment in d-line the pass rush was no better. The o-line was worse for most of the year. Edmunds is still not playing well and he had no injury excuse. Best player on defense tore his ACL. McDermott and coaching staff despite showing more aggressive tendencies cost Buffalo a SB appearance. Beane did nothing during the season to make the team better. Not everyone took a step back. Oliver played well. Phillips improved. And Bates, Singletary, Davis, Dawkins, and Morse were all playing well at the end of the season. Also two rookies won starting jobs. None of the above matters. Allen proved again he was a superstar. The coaching staff proved to be a liability. None of that will change next year. Beane must fill some holes and be aggressive before Allen's contract kicks in. Trust in Allen

Agreed. You are talking two #1s and two#2 and a player to move that far. And maybe even more. Nobody ever makes that trade. No one wants to move down that much and no one is willing to give up that much draft capital except in a movie

Literal definition of "Any given Sunday "

I agree with this list. I think Pats are closer to playoff team than the others with QB issues. I might exchange Titans for Ravens as Ravens have better QB, better HC, and more cap room. Chargers will win 12 games next year and push KC for the division

So did I. I also said they should have just kept Dareus and the cap hit was about the same. But holy hell did Dareus turn into crap. At one point he was in the same discussion as Donald and then it all fell apart. Beane overpays in FA quite a bit. Worked out with John Brown for a while and with Beasley. Morse has been ok. Star, Addison, Butler, and Murphy were all really bad returns on investment.

I was just listing the possible reasons he would have been passed over.

1. You could not explain to your fan base hiring a guy that couldn't defend for 13 seconds 2. The rest of the league knows the Bills defensive ranking was fraudulent based on opposition QBs 3. Nobody really knows how much of the defenses success or failure is Frazier or McDermott 4. Frazier was far worse than Lovie Smith as a HC. Smith was a coach of the year and took Bears to SB with Grossman. Tampa job after that was a no win gig. Illinois is a terrible program in a difficult conference. Had he skipped Illinois and went back to being a DC he may have already gotten another HC opportunity. All that said I would have hired Todd Bowles over Lovie, Flores, or Frazier.

My disdain for Edmunds is well documented. But there are just too many holes on the defense to fill in one year. If you could trade him straight up for a Pro-bowl CB or DE then I would do it. But those type of trades are very rare. I let him play out his extension. If he is a star next year then tag him. If he is not let him walk and start over at MLB. No way do I sign him to an extension and if he wants to hold out let him. I would see if Kleine is willing to take a pay cut. He is a very good 4-3 LB and can be backup for either Edmunds or Milano in the nickel. I would cut every other LB on the roster and start over with low round draft picks and UDFA to fill out the needs on special teams. Edmunds and Milano play nearly 100% of the snaps. Any snaps the bottom feeder LBs get on defense is during garbage time when the game is over.

I'm assuming offset language in his contract. He doesn't get the guarantee and the contract money from his new team. Trading in the last year is pure savings because there is no additional prorated signing bonus money. If you trade say Tre White, then all his signing bonus money that was prorated over the length of his extension immediately hits the salary cap figure.

What does any of that have to do with winning?

Now that all the HC spots are taken, I would take Flores and dump Frazier. Flores is a better DC and would have a better chance of getting a HC job next off-season.

Didn't McDermott do the same thing? Get the next QB right and they can win again.

McDermott cost Buffalo a SuperBowl. There is no defending him. He either was directly responsible for the strategy or did nothing to stop Frazier. The defense was never as good as the ranking but Allen won the game. McDermott lost it. Anything less than a SB appearance next season and he should be gone. I’d rather take my chances with a hot shot young coordinator than process guy that chokes in the moment.

Agree 100% with this post. Seemed unfair that he lost the Chicago HC job when he did. Yes he had been there a long time but he was fired after a 10 win season. He had 56.3% win rate(McD is 58%) a coach of the year and a DB appearance That said he has been terrible ever since. An uninspiring hire but he does bring experience and he has had some success before. I was/am a Todd Bowles fan. I wanted him instead of Rex. I think he deserves another chance.

Do you think there is a talent difference between pick 25 and 40? There isn't. The only reason to stay in first round is the fifth year extension option. Otherwise I take 4 picks in the top 100 over 3 any day even if that means dropping out of the first round. For what it is worth I think Beane will stay put and take the best CB left on their board. Of that list the only guy worth a contract is Phillips. Mid-season when he was a healthy scratch I though he was gone. But he really played well when Zimmer went down. Good news is there shouldn ot be much of a competitive market for him. Wallace will be too expensive and they can get younger and cheaper in the draft. Zimmer and Boettger were not that good before they were injured. Obada on a veteran minimum maybe but I suspect any UDFA DE can fill his role.

I get the concept but having never actually played, how well does he really know the playbook? Obviously he is in film room reviewing what Allen did but its quite different than actually playing.

Yes you have to pay sometime but other contracts will come off the books like Morse, Addison, Star, and a few others. Sooner or later as you said the young guys have to produce nearly immediately. People talk about a 15 year window with JA. This year and next year was the window. After that his contract kicks in and the window becomes a crease.

6 games a year against Miami, NYJ, and Pats without Brady. Finally seeing more posters have the courage to speak out about the fraudulent ranking of the defense last year.