Ethan in Cleveland

They need a WR#1 for sure. I would prefer a veteran like AJ Green. But if you don't think they need to improve the pass rush you then you didn't watch any of the games this weekend.

Top OLB or DE

My grades for the coaches, starters and important role players. McDermott - B minus; my gut tells me he is a C+ coach that will not get this team to a championship. But my head says he has done an adequate job with a young QB and limited athleticism in the front 7 on defense. His game and clock management is below average but the players play hard for him. His personnel decisions are most questionable - McCoy, Gore, Duke, Foster, DiMarco, Murphy over Lawson. Daboll - C +. He gets guys open with his pass route concepts and I have no issue with the designed runs for Allen. He failed to commit to the run and establish any identity for this offense. Had lots of success with no huddle in the early to mid part of the season and then abandoned it nearly entirely down the stretch. He failed to use Beasley in the second half of the season. Just too many times the play call didn't seem to fit the situation or the personnel on the field. It started with the first play of the season with DiMarco split out wide and continued throughout the playoff loss. Yes we as fans focus on the call, when it is probably more about the execution. Frazier - B minus - Almost gave this an incomplete, because we do not know who is ultimately responsible for the calls. When they are aggressive is it McD taking the reins or is it Frazier on his own. Look every DC rushes three and drops 8 at times. Happened multiple times today. Most of the time it works out just fine. But I favor an attacking defense. That said, the defense kept them in game all year and rarely got beat deep. This defense lacked a pass rush almost all year and went huge stretches without a turnover because of it. They desperately need an OLB/Edge rusher in the draft. Allen - C+, I'd love to give the kid a higher grade but i can not. I'm going to rip Edmunds a few lines later so I must be consistent. Allen played terribly at times but he showed improvement over last year in accuracy and the short to intermediate game. His long ball game fell apart and he is not protective of the football enough. He needs to get better next year when they will face a tougher schedule. But he also needs better weapons. He needs a true #1 WR with a bigger catch radius and he needs Knox to develop. Brown - A minus, nearly an A+. Did almost everything you can ask of a #1 WR. Beasley - B+ - when given the chance he mostly produced. had a little stretch of a few drops but for the most part was what this offense needed in a slot WR Foster - F McKenzie - who cares Williams - incomplete, hope they bring him to camp. He would be fine as a #4 WR Knox C+ - I so desperately wanted to give him a higher grade, but too many drops and he was one of the guys who missed the block on #41 on the QB sweep in OT. He looks liek he can be great and he may be the answer to the riddle that has been Buffalo's TE situation Kroft - D+. I keep him for next year. He will be fine as TE #2 Smith - D minus I would love to give him a F but he is at times a capable blocker. Signed a multiyer deal and they have other issues to deal with so I suspect he will be back Sweeney - see below Gore - D+, again I want to give him a F but that is because I really like McCoy as a player and how he embraced the city of Buffalo. Gore was ok for about three games and then after that he was awful. If he was not Frank Gore he would have been cut at the bye week. He will reitre and they will sign a better RB#2 Yeldon - incomplete, he should have been used more often. Will be let go Singletary - B+, didn't like the draft pick at the time. He played better than I thought he would. He played bigger and tougher than I thought but he doesn't have elite speed. He looks liek he will be a solid RB but I doubt he is an all-pro unless he develops into a better pass receiver and blocker. I would still rather have McCoy and use the third round pick on a WR or OLB. DiMarco - X - If I could give a grade less than F I would. Hated this signing from day one and still do now. He did nothing on the field to justify a roster spot let alone the money they are paying him. Any 6th round FB could do what he does. Next year I hope they keep 4 TE's and no FB. Use Knox or Sweeney at FB if and when needed or a DT. Dawkins - B minus; solid if not spectacular LT. Could be a lot worse but far from dominant. Woudl extend if the money is right Spain - B minus; solid if not spectacular LG. Could be a lot worse but far from dominant. would bring back but not overpay Morse - B+, didn't play like the top paid center in the league but was adequate and was a steadying force in a line that had four new faces. He may have played his best game in the playoff game. He was the best linemen out there. Feliciano - B+ first 10 games, C minue last 7. Really tailed off a the end. Did a good job at center when asked. Is under contract for next year and I would bring back Ford - D+ first 10 games, and C+ the last 7. He got better as the season went along. He probably will get a chance to be the RT next year. I would favor a veteran RT in FA and a move to LG especially if Spain leaves. Nsekhe - C+ a journeyman for a reason Long - wasted money but adequate depth and who cares how much they paid him Murphy - D minus, hated this signing from day 1 and still do. PED guy. How that fits the process I have no idea. Lost contain multiple times and was terrible in the playoff game despite the two sacks. Oliver - C+, didn't like the pick (wanted Josh Allen or Hockenson, or a trade down when those were not available), but he played better down the stretch and DT's take years to develop. I fear he will never be big enough but time will tell. I still don't see him as a DE so we are stuck with the hope he gets better at DT. Star - B minus - takes a lot of flack on this board but does his job most of the time. Is overpaid but his body size is hard to find. Hope they keep him as again it will be hard to replace him. H. Phillips - lost season J. Phillips - B plus- great effort sacks but still is limited physically especially in the run game. Don't overpay for him. Let him walk and get the comp pick. Lawson - C plus better than Murphy all year but still terribly limited as a pass rusher. A solid DE but nothing special. Hughes - C plus, performance is dropping off quite a bit but still can bring it from time to time. He gets no calls and never will after going after the refs in the tunnel. It isn't right but it's not going to change. He is under contract and they could do a lot worse. Edmunds - C+. I've been bitter about this pick since they wasted picks to trade up for him only to see other LBs in the same draft do better. The age excuse is no more next season. He has 30+ games now. I don't know if he will ever develop the instincts needed to play MLB. As posted numerous times, I feel he should be playing edge. He is basically the same size as Clowney. Hell he should want to play edge. They get paid more and have less responsibility. He is an adequate blitzer and his coverage skills are over-hyped. Milano - C plus- hard to remember any impact plays he had this year. I'm sure the board will remind me. He is an effort guy playing in a game he is too small for. If he is the worst player on an 11 man defense he is fine. He is cheap labor and would be easy to replace when the time comes. Alexander - D minus - minimal impact all year. Need a major upgrade in round one or two of the draft. White - A+, great player, just not all-time great. They need to use him like Revis and have him shadow the #1 wr the entire game. Hyde - A minus, another great year. Poyer - B+, solid again most of the year. A few times he was late to the double team but overall played well. Wallace- B minus - I like his play more than most on here. I posted he should have been packaged to get Trent Williams or a WR at the deadline. He will get every opportunity to start again opposite White. It's no fun being the corner opposite the great ones. They get more balls thrown there way. K. Johnson - B minus? I don't know. He seemd fine when in there . No big completions given up that I can recall but no big plays either. T Johnson - B plus - another guy that gets heat from the board who I like. He draws the slot and is an adequate run defender in the nickel. Tough position to play and replace. Hauscka - B + , solid PK that will come back with training camp competition, could be a lot worse Bojorquez - C minus, I'm not going to bother to see if I spelled it correclty., He is not worth even a two second google search. Please draft the best punter in the 6th round and move on from this guy. Did I miss anyone? I think this was a 7-9 or 8-8 team talent wise that got a lucky break with the schedule (I think I predicted 10 wins before the season started and thought 11 was possible when Cleveland and Pittsburgh bottomed out). Their best win was Dallas where even Garrett coached worse than our staff. Some of these guys are hopeless like Murphy and should be gone. For many of the others, I think they can get better - in particular Allen, Oliver, Knox, Ford, and even Edmunds. I think the staff can coach better too. I'd be fine if the entire staff comes back. They could do worse. Maybe they bring in a QB coach with experience to help Daboll.

Look at Ben Roethlisberger's stats. Made a huge leap in year 3. And that only took me 30 seconds to find. I'm sure Brees had the same jump. And many others.

As for the OP's point. Yes I generally agree and posted during the game one more score and game over. Getting any points to get it to a three score game in the third quarter or early 4th and its a win. But you do that by being aggressive on defense and offense. You can play for a FG if you get behind in down and distance in the red-zone but until then you have to be aggressive. Lining up in run heavy and then passing to Lee Smith is just dumb. If you want to run it sown their throats and kill clock then do it. No issue with that strategy. Just stick with it and take it to them.

Ford was beaten badly. Any route other than a slant or out on a 3 step drop and its a sack. Not Allen's fault. Line was terrible in the second half. Singletary missed a pass block terribly and led to a sack or incompletion. Daboll never gave Ford help. It was fine to see if Watt could do anything one on one at first but once it was obvious he was going to he destructive force he needed to be doubled. Just like Hopkins should have been doubled all game. Stars win in the playoffs. Belichick takes away your best weapon. All they had to do was take away a WR. And they win. They were outcoached. And win they were in a good spot the players choked - 3 blokckers on QB sweep missed their SS, and Milano/Neal miss a drive killing sack.

Think Buffalo last year. No weapons

Al, can't ask Collinsworth that question. He is probably getting money from concussion lawsuit

Yup. And if u win challenge u get it back

Possibly four HOF players in this game. Peters Cox Wilson Wagner

All plays need to be reviewable. The LOS should be considered a boundary. That was a clear Offside missed and would have been a first down. How refs missed it is unreal, but coaches should be able to challenge. It's an obvious missed call. That is the point of replay.

I thought you were talking about the Cousins play. It was third down.

Clear OPI. It's just not fair game for defense. They don't call obvious holding on pass rushers and they let OPI go all the time. They have gotten better at calling pick plays but still let WRs push off.

You cant be serious that you don't know why???? Incomplete pass stops the clock. Going to the ground lets you burn clock or force them to take a timeout.

Seattle is decimated by injuries. They are a shell of themselves

That is a 10 sec run off.

Yup. Basic concepts.

Stupid to not take timeout there. Wasted 30 seconds of clock before the punt. Always use your timeouts on defense. You can clock it or use the boundary on offense. NFL coaches should have an assistant who just manages the clock.

Edmunds crapped the bed again, but Frazier or McD(whoever was calling the D) choked again. They let up on pressure and played Hopkins in single coverage too often.

Milano has always been an overachiever who is not big enough to be an elite LB. He is fine if he is the third best LB. They need a major upgrade at OLB. If it were me, I would move Edmunds to OLB and find a real MLB. The kid just doesn't make plays at MLB like the truly elite ones. Can he get better? Maybe but we have been saying that for 33 games now. If they are still committed to Edmunds at MLB which I suspect they are, then an OLB has to be top priority in the draft.

McDermott Frazier Daboll The loss is squarely on the coaches. Up 16 with 20 minutes to play and they played prevent. They get a huge Hughes sack and they drop 25 yards on 3rd and 18. Daboll went run heavy formations and then threw the ball to Lee Smith, DiMarco, and Williams. I have no issue with trying to run the ball. It was working. But why so few targets to Beasley. Daboll made too many week to week changes. No identity to the offense all year. And after Watt showed he could be effective, he gave Ford no help. We were outcoached, plain and simple.

Yes it was better. Center play was league worst last year and this year it was solidly above average. Not top 5 like Morse was paid but significant upgrade. LG was significantly better. LT was the same. Dawkins is nowhere near an elite LT but he is good enough. RG play was up and down. Feliciano started well but faded terribly down the stretch. Pass blocking was awful against Pats and Texans. RT play was no better than last year. Mills was a bottom 10 player perhaps one of the worst in pass protection but adequate run blocker. Nsekhe/Ford were no better. It will be an interesting off-season. Dawkins has no leverage for a holdout but doesn't mean he won't. He is a starting LT and may want an extension prior to his last year of contract. Spain did not do enough to get a long term big deal from teams so he may be a good guy to sign on a 2-3 year deal. But I would let him walk, move Ford to LG, and sign a better pass blocking RT in free agency.

Agree it makes no sense to catch it, if there is no intent to return it. But guys bring it out from deep in the endzone so you can't fault the refs for keeping the play alive. It was clear he was not returning the ball. They will issue a clarification on what the returner must do to avoid this happening again.

No rule change. They will just reinforce that if the returner catches the ball, he will need to take a knee or take the ball out of the endzone.

Jimmy Johnson is drunk. His eyes are bloodshot