Mikie2times

Sure, I get that, but which is easier to argue. Our defense has bottom 20 talent or top 10 talent? If it's the former, what exactly does that say about our talent acquisition on defense? Further, what's that say about what we have been able to do in the regular season with that? It also speak to where we should likely be making future investments. Mind you, none of those matter if you don't hit on them. Which has largely been the case thus far.

To me, one of the 4 statements has has to be true. Sure, a relationship exists between these concepts. It could be 60% coaching and 40% talent as an example. But one of the 4 statements has to be the most accurate over the rest. McD is bad and the talent is good Since 2020, 78 players have had a 10 sack season. The only Bills defender to cross that number was Leonard Floyd in 2023. From 2020-2023, 168 Pro Bowl selections were made for defensive players. Buffalo had 4 Pro Bowl occurrences good for a 7 way tie for 18th-25th in the league. This data did not include this year because I didn't have the full data, but it was zero for Buffalo thus year. Former starters who left for Free Agency have gone onto to do very little. McD is bad and the talent is bad The Bills have the 2nd best EPA on defense in the regular season since 2020. McD is good and the talent is good Since 2020, out of 18 teams that have played in the divisional round or later the Bills EPA ranks 16th. McD is good and the talent is bad........... To me this is a consideration worth exploring more as it seems to allow for all the the above being true. Bad defenses are not capable of performing as well as we do in the regular season. I know we like to to say we just feast on the lesser teams, which is true, but everybody else seems to struggle feasting at a level we do. Which means it's either coaching or talent that is creating this heightened performance against lesser teams. So then you say ok, what's a logical reason why we would be able to do so well in the regular season and be so bad in the divisional round or later? Some say KC. Well, we also played Baltimore and Cincinnati and it's been pretty ugly against all of them. It wouldn't seem to make sense to say, well, coaching is good in the regular season, but bad in the playoffs. I mean the balance could shift to that more, but how much? If it's good in the regular season can it swing all the way to bad in the playoffs? I guess it's possible but that seems like a jump in logic. So now we look at the roster. People seem to hold Beane in high regard and each season we hear about this notion of Buffalo Bills defenders being disrespected/Pro Bowl snubbed. Our success has made many posters not really focus on the actual talent or they just assume the talent level is high. Which I think could be a mistake. It could be possible that we have had a bottom 20 defensive roster the entire time McD has been here. One that simply breaks down when facing the higher end teams. If the roster is in fact very bad defensively, it would make sense that coaching could facilitate success in the regular season and potentially have the bottom fall out against the better teams as the talent edge becomes too much. Then sure, any decrease in coaching ability in the regular season vs the playoffs would really accelerate that downtrend. All this is to say, perhaps it's Beane that should have the warmer seat than McD? This isn't a fully formed opinion by any stretch. Just something I was kicking around and was curious how other felt?

In this factual data Ray Davis and Keon Coleman are worth more than James Cook and nearly worth more than Dion Dawkins this season.

He will throw one on one all the time. As he did with Hollins. It’s not the same thing as hitting your back foot in the drop on time and ripping it because you trusted your pre snap read. If you read the post I said he was the best QB in football.

Bengals?

100%. Which is why I called Josh out as a reason. Which is so contested on this site. Which I get because we would have no chance of being here without Josh. On a macro level I don’t think you could ask for a better QB. He will get more wins by himself than just about anybody who has ever played the game. But no OT wins in his career. Two gotta have it drives in B2B seasons and nothing to show for it. Which tends to get offset here by the critical drops, and that is true. It could have went the other way and his teammates did let him down. But on a micro level I don’t think his game translates at the level it does otherwise. Micro, singular drives, is when efficiency is everything. I just don’t see that in his game. He is not inevitable in the ways the greats were. What Josh does is hard, what the all timers did was easy. It was the exact same way for Favre and he got one, but he got 3x as many MVP’s and failed countless times in the postseason. So many other issues exist to talk about outside of this. It’s like blaming a piece of friend chicken for a heart attack with a life long smoker. But is it part of the conversation? Sure, but good luck having anybody here acknowledge it.

They played more man in the first matchup than they did all season. Maybe they should have saved those looks?

I think something is to be said for just where we are vs where they’re. When you reach a Patriot level, that’s all you care about. The bones are in place. Winning is almost secondary to situational execution. If I have a degree of hope I think McD will know we are going to get to the playoffs. We will be in position. What this team needs to focus on is execution in critical situations. What are the 4th and short calls, the final drive defensive calls, the final drive calls. We are at the point where that’s what matters more than anything else.

I get it man. I used to throw some shade at Allen about this. I actually throwed so much shade at him I had to apologize to a few on here. I changed my view over time. I still don’t think he will ever be a guy that throws with anticipation and I don’t think that’s good. But his talent and ability to stretch plays is so rare. So he ends up completing balls that just outside the scope of reality. Nobody is like him and I’m not sure anybody will ever be like him. It’s an interesting conversation if people can keep the feels out of it.

I have thought Josh is more of a see it guy for a long time. Usually people shred my a$$ for saying such things. But I still feel that way. I used to think it put a ceiling on him, maybe it does, but it’s not an easy equation. He bails from the pocket so quickly which prevents sacks and leads to the defense breaking down. Then he’s one of the best of all time taking advantage of it. Josh is just not normal. He truly is a one of kind type QB and MVP level player. So I’ve tried not to hyper analyze how he makes that happen.

Interesting perspective. I’m inclined to agree. Bryce Paup or Ted come to mind. But that was a long time ago.

Mason Graham is just an animal

Since 2020 they have played 16 playoff games and scored 28+ 5 times. 3 have been verse us. The other they scored 27. So is it fair to shift the question away from can we win with scheme to is this the optimal scheme vs KC?

Good post OP, I have often felt the same way about this situation. But we have to learn to enjoy the ride and be thankful for the ride. To me this is like a great relationship. When you don’t have one and it’s what you want it sort of gets you down, but if you lose one you really care about it can really rock you. In the end life is about the emotions, the swings, and the vulnerability. You just aren’t as vulnerable when you have nothing.

His open field tackle on Hunt in the first half was impressive. It was near the right sideline. Looked like Hunt was going to score and Bishop just made a great play on him. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s significantly better next year.

Any more so than if you asked this any year before the playoffs started?

I will live to hate another day my friend 🤣

Even after they ruled it on the field Gene had time to get his dime piece off his lap and say he thought he got it.

Jomboy is the best in the business and this just makes you sick

Don't kid, that's next years run

Milano is a good addition here. Most people thought he was washed as late as the Wild Card round and then boom.

Miller KO'ed...This time it was Von Miller on the ground and not,,,,, Too soon and Too old, Sorry V Dog