FilthyBeast

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.

I think he may also be on that list, but again the point is that it's a very small list of teams/coaches that have accomplished this which is why it's not necessarily a good omen for McDermott.

This would be my guess unless he's leaning toward retirement and has already communicated that to any prospective suitors.

For now I say the Bills are still the clear cut #1 but it's questionable by how large of a margin. Where I'm torn is between the Pats/Dolphins in terms of who is #2 and the biggest threat to the divison title. Right now I would lean towards the Dolphins because they've had a great offseason and have a very stacked roster on paper but at the same time Belichik is still lurking and I think Mac Jones is going to take another step next year. As for the Jets, they certainly can surprise but hard to seem them being a real threat for the playoffs this year given the strength of the division and AFC as a whole. They certainly added some big time talent on paper though in the draft and will probably be a tough out week in and week out similar to our season finale matchup last year.

If he was better than 90% of the coaches in the league he'd have a SB ring by now considering there is more than 10% of them currently coaching that have at least one. Nobody is debating that he's not a good coach including myself. The question is whether or not he's good enough to take this team to the next level or just another modern day Marty Schotenheimer. Also history is not on McDermott's side in terms of the history of coaches in this league that have won a SB after more than 5 seasons with a team. Ironically his mentor and nemesis Andy Reid is one of the few that have done this but it took landing a generational talent like Mahomes to finally do it.

But yet 75% of the fans on this board think McDermott should still be the head coach here even if this team fails to get to the SB again this year.

If that means this will be the first of four straight SB's again then I'm all for it, especially if they finally figure out how to win one of them this time.

I'm not sure this isolated to JA17. As a whole this team seems to play better football on the road and really struggles at home at times. This is why I really need to see consistent football through a 17 game regular season this year before I start booking tickets for a SB next Feb and it does start with JA17 and McDermott having this team ready week in and week out so there are no more Steelers and Jaguars type of outings in 2022.

Obviously Beane, McDermott, and the entire lockerroom knows this hype and talk means nothing. And my only hope is they learned from last year when they thought they were somehow going to cruise to the #1 seed after a meaningless win in KC early in the season. They went 3-5 after that game before waking up in the final month. But yah nothing is guaranteed for this team and they have a better chance of being a 10 win team that just misses the playoffs or bounced in the first round then they do getting to a SB this year.

I agree with you about them being favored, at least in the AFFCG. SB would probably would have been pickem at best since the Rams were at home. But I still maintain the belief that it was simply the Bengals turn last year and they came within a few minutes of winning a SB when nobody had there at the start of the season. Nobody had them winning their division or being any better than 3rd or 4th place in their division either. That's why all this offseason hype for the Bills is dangerous because there's a better chance they fail miserably this year than actually living up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon them because that's simply how the NFL works.

If the Bills beat the Rams on opening day it will add more fuel to the fire so to speak. I get why fans still cling to this idea but again, the team that beat the Bills didn't win the SB, let alone reach it which is why I also maintain the Bills were not SB bound last year.

Nobody really knows but the fact of the matter is that the Bengals and Zac Taylor were able to accomplish in one year something that McDermott never has in 5 years....win a road playoff game.

I also still worry about this oline and think the Saffold signing is way overblown especially since he's a veteran player that's clearly on the decline and nothing more than a stopgap that will be long gone next year. And for the 2nd straight year we had a golden opportunity to draft IOL and passed for a tweener/undersized LB. I also worry about Spencer Brown falling victim to the dread Buffalo sophmore curse despite the promise he showed last year when in the lineup.

Thanks for all those that have participated thus far. 75% of the fans here are sold on McDermott no matter what apparently. I'm not necessarily shocked by this but I also have a sneaking suspicion that it's somewhat a state of denial response so to speak based on the current temperature of the offseason in that some fans are on cloud nine still and feeding off the media hype and may change certainly change their tune should one of aforementioned scenarios play out this fall when the games start being played. Just can't see how fans would remain so blindly loyal and content if this team were to miss the playoffs (which is not as unrealistic as fans think sadly for a multitude of reasons).

My thoughts on the matter is that I don't believe this team was championship bound last year so it lessons the sting a bit. I believe they would have also lost to the Bengals the following week like the Chiefs did. But it's also why I created the coaching thread/poll on McDermott to understand where the fanbase is on that subject and based on the responses so far it would appear a lot of folks have moved on (for the time being). Either way it still sucks that this team continues to find ways to be on the losing end of games like this despite such heroic and legendary performances like JA17 and Davis had that fateful Sunday evening.