FilthyBeast

With all due respect I don't even understand this vitriol and response. It's the offseason and was just posting news relevant to a division rival. Personally I could care less about the Dolphins and what's happening down there but it's somewhat foolish to be so arrogant and assume the Bills are going to cruise to another division title this year when everyone is gunning for the Bills and have taken necessary steps to close the gap in the division which is not as wide as some think especially after last year when we barely won the division. Dolphins have a ridiculously stacked roster on paper, stud players on both sides of the ball but obviously they are only going to go as far as their QB play takes them this year. Jets also had a great offseason and will be primed for a big step if Wilson develops. And there are some already calling Mac Jones a darkhorse MVP candidate in New England even if their offseason has not been as flashy as the rest of the division. Bottom line....Bills will truly need to earn every win they get this year and AFC East may look a lot like the AFC West as soon as this year.

It says a lot that we decided to match the Vikings offer sheet (although you can argue we should have known he'd cost more to begin with). If Bates does become an above average NFL starter it helps take the stench off the Wyatt Teller situation. Still don't understand how you can let an all pro elite talent like that go though.

A lot of experts insist Tua would have been the #1 overall pick in 2020 if not for the injury he suffered in college. He definitely was elite in Alabama playing on a powerhouse program and was still a top 5 pick regardless. Whether or not he truly takes the next step in the NFL remains to be seen but I think he's been a lot better than people have given him credit for these last few years and all young QB's take time to develop as we are all aware with JA17's trajectory thus far.

I've also pounded this drum for a while because I feel a lot of fans have White penciled in as the starter on day one come September and/or don't understand the nature of his injury relevant to the demands of his position. I think realistically he's not going to be ready until midseason best case assuming no setback and given this teams overcautious nature in terms of how they handle injured players I would be surprised to see anything different even if White insists he's ready. This is also why I remain perplexed with Beane/McD's current thought process of not bringing in a viable veteran option. Yes we drafted another talented player with our 1st pick but it's silly to put that kind of pressure on him and expect him to be a true starter out of the gate when so many DB's typically struggle early. White himself was somewhat of anomaly in terms of how solid he was his rookie year. Still time to add to the roster but as we get closer to training camp the concern will go stronger that DB may still be a glaring hole on this team.

Lots of offseason hype right now outside of Buffalo in regards to our other AFC East rivals. I will be extremely impressed if McDermott continues his dominance over the division the this year given how much better the rest of these teams look on paper right now, especially the Dolphins and Jets whose offseasons rival the Bills in terms of the quality of players added via FA and draft. Also if the other 3 QB's in the division turn out to be franchise guys it makes the Bills path the SB even more perilous going forward.

Lot of hype coming out of Miami these days....if Tua does in fact take off this year like JA17 did in year 3 the dolphins are going to be a big problem.

I do understand who he is but remember this team was teetering on the brink last year going 3-5 over a 2 month stretch and sitting at 7-6 before lucking out playing the Panthers, Jets, Falcons and Pats team (who had peaked early december) to close the season and then the same Pats team again in the first round of the playoffs. Again, I don't believe McDermott is a horrible coach and he apparently has great leadership qualities among other strong traits. But is it enough to say he should be the coach in the next 3 -5 years even if he never gets to a SB or wins one? No pro sports owner is going to hang on to a coach like that unless they simply have no interest in winning a championship. And another thing that is lost in this topic is Buffalo is now a desirable place with a franchise QB so coaches we probably had zero chance of landing in years past would make this their prime destination now should we need to upgrade. Bottom line, I think we all hope that McDermott is THAT GUY, but as of right now he's not until proven otherwise.

You may be right, obviously just speculation on my part because of a couple things: 1) The way last year ended obviously has left a bad taste in the fanbases and entire bills organizations mouth. 2) We have one of the highest paid rosters in the NFL 3) We went out and signed a big name FA which is somewhat out of character for Beane Again nobody is disputing that McDermott has been a good coach and seems to be a man of tremendous character, but I just have a hard time believing that the Pegulas have infinite money to throw around and are going to be content with just being a playoff team every year and nothing more.

Harsh reality is that there are probably at least a dozen NFL fanbases that believe their team is going to get to/win the SB this year but obviously only one of them is left standing in Feb while the rest will fail to live up to expectations, in some cases not even come close to what the fans/media thought. I expect this team to be very good this year and at worse on par with the teams from the last two seasons but there's still a better chance of this team making the playoffs and getting bounced in their first game vs getting to/winning a SB because that's just how this league works at there's always going to be unexpected things that happen to contenders (i.e. BAL last year) and teams that come out of nowhere (i.e. CIN last year).

I'm not debating regular season record here. And if regular season record is all that mattered you could obviously put McD in Canton as we speak. What is relevant is that it took 3 years for Taylor to rebuild one of the worst organizations in the NFL and get them back to a SB including the aforementioned road playoff wins against the #1 and #2 seeds in the conference last year. You can disagree with my takes all you like just because I don't pound Bills flavored koolaid and objective and nonbiased in my takes which again are based in factual relevance. There's always the possibility for a bad season for a number of reasons but I agree it's more unlikely than likely, just not zero chance so to speak. Again main reason in this belief would be McDermott collapsing under the immense pressure to deliver a championship and losing the lockerroom if the season gets off the rails early especially given how last season ended.

This thread comes from the following fact based information: - in his first 5 years here McDermott is 3-4 in the playoffs including 0-4 on the road (for perspective Zac Taylor took the Bengals to the SB in his first postseason appearance including 2-0 on the road in the AFC playoffs) - His overall record during the regular season against teams with a winning record/playoff teams is well below .500 - JA17 and Gabe Davis had historic performances in the playoffs and it was still squandered because of poor coaching and the 13 seconds debacle. - Defensive scheme has proven over and over it's not effective against physical teams and/or teams with top QB's/offenses despite misleading overall rankings like last year. Last year we faced one of the worst schedules ever in terms of opposing QB's and still only managed 11 wins. But again, the main talking point here is whether or not McDermott is just a good head coach vs. a championship HC and the latter is where many including myself have serious doubts based largely on the items listed above. Also in regards to the Ravens last year, they were ravaged by injury and Harbaugh a proven SB winning HC so why would anybody question what happened there. Speaking of injuries, what is very telling about McD is that his teams have been relatively healthy most years but have still not been able to reach a championship/win one. So the evidence is there that this teams success is more about talent vs actual coaching. I wish McD well and hope this season reaches lofty expectations, but deep down I'd be lying if I didn't have serious concerns about an 'owned and exposed' type of year especially given the schedule difficulty on paper and types of QBs/teams were playing this year. Division itself is also going to be brutal compared to last year.

Whether it's Groot or someone else, it's going to say a lot about the rest of the talent on this Dline if nobody else can step up given the attention that both Miller and Oliver should garner each week. Don't need to see another guy explode for 10-15 sacks, but definitely have to get out of this Jerry Hughes type of production from our DE's year in and year out (i.e. 5 sacks)

You can't really count 2017 as it was truly a fluke and pure luck on the arm of Andy Dalton's 4th and 15 pass. Yes it was great to end the drought but again you have to look at what has driven the Bills most recently and that's Allen's development into a top NFL starter in spite of McDermott's questionable coaching. And even with a historic performance it wasn't enough in the playoffs last year to overcome said coaching problems.

I really don't like all this offseason hype and expectations being bestowed upon this team. Obviously the players, coaches, etc knows it's meaningless but all the ingredients are there for Bills mafia to be seriously humbled this year with anything less than a SB appearance/win. Also why Is still believe there should be serious pressure on Beane and McDermott to deliver this year from the Pegulas behind closed doors (I expect that is already the case).

My god, he really has become a creature up in Buffalo like Von Miller had said. A true untamed beast roaming around the greater western NY area.

If JA17 didn't explode on the scene the last few years what evidence is there this team would have been where they are? Not saying we'd be a 3 win team but folks are giving too much credit to Beane/McDermott especially when the evidence is there that JA17's development had more to do with his own raw talent and Daboll's influence vs anything McDermott has done.

Feliciano was a waste of space and another bad move in hindsight when you consider it indirectly led to Wyatt Teller being traded because guys like Bobby Johnson thought he was a better player. But he's not completely wrong about this defense. Some folks like myself have cited this scheme/coaching as a major issue for some time despite the misleading yards allowed numbers, especially last year. Yes this defense has looked like world beaters against rookies and backup caliber competition through the years. But face a real NFL QB and/or physical style running team and they are consistently exposed and as soft as it gets (especially the resident whipping by Edmunds who plays as small as possible against said teams in big games). I think Von Miller will certainly help on the pass rush front, but there's zero evidence that it's not going to be more of the same this year and the hot takes out there about this defense taking a big step back (in terms of overall rankings) this year aren't necessarily that bold when you consider the type of QB's we'll be seeing week in and week out.

Not necessarily the best season statistically but still gaudy numbers like Brady used to post year in and year out with marginal talent around him at the skill positions. And what I really mean is he'll be front and center in the MVP discussion again because I do agree that KC is probably going to fall off a bit this year and there's a good chance they don't win the division and finally go the WC route in the playoffs and on the road for the first time in Mahomes career not including the SB.

To his credit most of his deals have been team friendly so to speak despite the frontloaded guaranteed money and even the mega deal we gave a 33 year old pass rusher is not as bad as it seems on the surface. He's definitely misfired on a few (most notably the absurd Star L deal and restructure) but it happens. But make no mistake about it, you can only kick the can down the road so far like Beane and other GM's like Veach in KC are doing. Eventually you have to pay the pipe which makes the current window that is open much more critical to secure at least one SB appearance and win.

Both Beane and McDermott will ultimately be judged on whether or not they win a SB during their time here. But you can really argue that JA17 is sole reason they are still here and why they will be given a certain degree of benefit of the doubt. But I still maintain that given all the money we have committed on right now to JA17 and other big name players recently added/extended, there are no excuses to not reach the pinnacle of success and bring home a championship to Buffalo. If that doesn't happen in the next few years it probably won't with this regime and that's simply the reality of the situation.

For me it's still Mahomes and the Chiefs until proven otherwise. And as much as some folks believe that Mahomes and the Chiefs are going to steeply decline this year deep down I think Mahomes is going to have his best season ever and prove what a generational talent he truly is especially with all the doubts cast after Hill was traded to Miami. Also let's not kid ourselves here, until the Bills beat the Chiefs in a playoff game nothing else truly matters so hopefully they get that matchup again sometime next January.

McDermott and Frazier have been outstanding in developing the DB position but we face a potential murderers row of elite QB's this year on the regular season schedule and into the playoffs. Again, the smart move would be to ensure you have too much DB depth vs too little even if a higher profile signing like Bradberry was never in the works.

The steelers model is based on their current head coach getting his team to 3 SB's and winning 2 of them. He's also never had a losing season there which is absurd when you think about it. So yah if McDermott can come close to matching Tomlin's record and accolades in this league why would you even think about firing him? But the crux of the matter and premise of this thread is based on McDermott's current status (3-4 in the playoffs including 4 road losses) and lack of SB appearances/wins and how much longer the Pegulas can be patient if he fails to deliver again this year.

There's no guarantees a rookie DB is going to play at a high level, or even serviceable for that matter. There's no guarantees that White is back to start the season or plays close to the level he previously has. Just think that for a team that truly has SB aspirations we are putting all our eggs in a very precarious basket by not having an insurance policy.

Well that sucks but wonder if we even tried to sign him. Now it's back to dumpster diving for DB help.