FilthyBeast

I don't see any issues with this selection. Yes the Pats spent big in FA including some questionable contracts, but they did find the best QB in the draft at present which a big part of their success this year, if not the reason they were able to get back in the division and playoff mix so quickly after one down year post Brady. The only other team that should probably have been in the running is the Rams for all the big time trades they made but perhaps the selection committee felt that wasn't fair since all they do is throw around 1st round picks for big name players which 31 other teams easily do if they wanted to sell out in the short term for longer term failure/rebuild.

Home field matters in the playoffs and one of the biggest reasons that Mahomes has so much success so far in his career is that he's never played a road playoff game other than the 2 SB's which he has split so far. If you look at the Patriots and Brady's success going back to their first run of SB's in the early 2000's, a majority of the time they were either a top 2 seed in the AFC and/or hosted the championship game in Foxboro. This is why the message for 2022 must be clear, play consistent football over a 17 game season and position yourself to ensure you never have to leave Orchard Park in Jan/Feb 2023 unless it's for the SB.

There are always going to be questions about Allen until he plays at a consistent level for a full season which really only happened once in 2020. That's why most NFL executives, scouts, etc will always say Mahomes is the best because he rarely has a bad statistical game, at least prior to this season that was the case. As for Burrow, if he gets the Bengals to the SB this year and somehow wins it he'll be the guy that the NFL world fawns over going forward and rightfully so for a a 2nd year player who missed half his rookie season and led such a dramatic turnaround for a franchise that has been horrible in recent years and expected to be last place in their division this year.

I think any trade that would involve giving up a 1st round pick has to be geared towards a proven veteran pass rusher.

In hindsight we know these rankings were meaningless though especially against legit NFL QB's and offenses. I just think that at some point you need a fresh perspective and there's zero evidence to suggest that Frazier and his scheme will ever be able to beat Mahomes or any of the other leagues elite QB's in a game that matters (no week 5 in KC didn't matter as nice as it was to win that game).

Very interesting that Poles chose not to bring Eric Bienamy with him from KC. Chiefs would have got even more draft picks too if that happened.

I would be willing that if he's not hired as a HC (and I don't see that happening especially after the Chiefs game which sucks because we would have got extr draft picks) you'll see something more to the tune of Frazier agreeing to step down and 'mutually part ways'. Also if I'm the Pegulas I have already made the demand by now anyway.

About two year too late but congrats on a fantastic career. Another game the Bills can look in the mirror and realize how it inadvertently cost them home field against the Chiefs in the playoffs.

As I've mentioned before, it's truly an arms race in the AFC going forward as every new HC being hired right now in the conference has to have a legit plan on how they are going to catch teams like the Bills and Chiefs. In the AFCW in particular it's shaping up to be brutal next year if the Chargers take the next step. They've already proven they can beat the Chiefs similar to the Bills despite falling short of the playoffs. Raiders did it last year but have been on the receiving end of too many losses which is why they also need to retool to get better. Broncos are the true wildcard though because if they do land Aaron Rogers as everyone is already speculating because of the Hackett hire that's a team IMO that has a SB caliber roster already. Luckily for the bills as of right now there is no real evidence any of the 3 division opponents are truly ready to compete unless Tua and/or Jones take big steps next year for the Dolphins and Patriots respectively.

I mentioned in a threat the other day that the Bills should have a keen eye on what Denver and Oakland do in regards to the HC hiring and offseason strategy relevant to building a team to compete with the Chiefs and this is the first domino to fall. Many Bills fans will obviously remember Hackett in Buffalo for his ho hum offense under Marrone but he's considered an up and coming guy in the mold of Zac Taylor and Sean McVay and this is the exact type of move I expected in Denver especially after going with a defensive type of guy in Fangio last time. If they land Aaron Rogers or another legit veteran QB they will be a contender next year for sure with the talent already on that roster.

Intitial early thoughts: - Very favorable home schedule, no excuse for this team not go 7-1 or 8-0 at home next year to try and secure home field advantage in playoffs - Road schedule brutal on paper with toughest games being BAL/NE/CIN/LAR/KC. At minimum bills will need to win two of those games to be in homefield race against KC and others assuming they are good at home. - I see many primetime game candidates (CLE/TEN/NE x 2/BAL/CIN/LAR/KC, possibly even thanksgiving again in Detroit).

The rich will get richer for sure next year.

I've started to think that as well in recent years. I used to believe in the 'defense wins championships' mantra but it's simply a different league now which is why the patriots evolved over time as well in that their first string of titles in the early 2000's were on the backs of the defense with Brady simply being great in clutch moments, to a team that was all about offense in Brady later on during the last string of titles in the mid/late 2010's. Even Brady's title with TB last year was an outlier considering it was in fact the defense that won that game against the Chiefs. But I think with the rise of a true superpower like the Chiefs, first and foremost you need to think offensively which is why the Bills should also continue to build the oline and add Allen another weapon. Then compliment your defense with one key difference maker like the Chiefs have in Chris Jones who was still a problem for the Bills last week, albeit much less of one compared to last year.

Obviously improving their own team is first priority, but I can guarantee they will have some degree of interest in what these teams do and what the philosophy behind it says. The Chiefs are the gold standard for the entire league and it's simply an arms race league wide to keep up, but more so in the the AFC West and conference as a whole.

While my gut feeling tells me that we are on the verge of watching the rise of the next dynasty in the NFL/pro sports, I'm still not sure it's going to be that easy for the Chiefs. Not this year anyway. Bengals have the offense to keep pace and they already beat the Chiefs in the regular season, more recently than the Bills to boot. The 49ers and Rams both have a real defense and stars that can wreck a game get to Mahomes and create multiple turnovers, Rams also have an offense that can score 30+ on the Chiefs defense.

Reason I say this is the obvious chess match at play here. Just like the Bills, these organizations understand they have to build a team that can compete with and beat the Chiefs in the coming years. And for both the stakes are infinitely higher since the Chiefs are a divisional opponent they will see twice a year. So it's not surprising that neither have pulled the trigger yet and doing their due diligence on the next leader of their team. Will it be fresh faces or retreads. Defensive or offensive minded. Miami is also in a similar situation knowing they have to deal with Allen and the Bills twice a year and have lost 6 straight to them. And overall it's somewhat surprising the first domino has not fallen yet with so many jobs open right now.

Going forward playing with Allen will certainly be attractive. But again, if you are a veteran looking to sign for less with team for a chance at a ring and both the Chiefs and Bills come knocking it's pretty obviously what the choice is going to be especially if this is the beginning of KC's dynasty.

He was inconsistent but at least he didn't cost this team a playoff game like bojorquez did (who some fans here still think is a good punter). Either way this should be the least of Beane's worries in the offseason and he still needs to figure out how to assemble a defense that can not let Mahomes and KC rack up 500+ yards in a playoff game.

If he's back next year it's obviously not going to be under his current contract/cap hit. And I'm still not sold on the idea that McKenzie is some sort of cheaper, drop in replacement because of one great game in 3+ years in Buffalo. Still think he will follow Daboll wherever he goes anyway.

If that scenario plays out and Mahomes is dominated in the SB again by an opposing teams pass rush you really have to wonder what it's going to take for Beane to finally understand you have to make a true power move (like the Rams did for Miller) instead of relying on draft picks. I mentioned something similar in another thread, but why hold onto the #25 overall pick to draft a guy that probably won't help right away especially if it's another DT or DE. Use that in a package to get a proven veteran who can have an impact from day one. Moral of the story, it's time for Beane to find his Diggs of the defense and not overvalue draft picks especially considering how bad most of them have been on the defensive side of the ball anyway during his time here.

Oliver is another player whose true potential will be wasted in Buffalo unless we pair him with a true dominant pass rusher on one of the ends.

Not a chance, and quite frankly this is now the 2nd year in a row where the Bills have lost critical games in the final seconds due to an absurd lack of awareness when it comes to situation football. Just not sure after the Hail Murray crap how this team could find an even worse way to lose a game in the final seconds considering what was on the line.

When the dust finally settles and true post mortem on the 2021 season is complete, this team can look back at the Steelers and Jaguars games as the reasons their season ended in the divisional round. Win both those games and you are the #1 seed and even the head to head loss against the Titans doesn't stop that. And there is simply no excuse this team should have lost those games. TB/NE/TEN....Should have been no worse than 1-2 in those games as well. The Colts was the only true outlier on the season and still think that was just one of those days against a team that played their SB in hindsight against the team who beat them in the playoffs the prior season.

Even if they don't resign a single player on that list they are still in a very enviable position heading forward if anything because of how well they've drafted. In the last 2 years alone they've found Nick Bolton, Creed Humphrey, Willie Gay and Lajeerus Sneed in the draft. None of these guys were 1st rounders, in fact unlike the Bills the Chiefs seem to strike gold with their 2nd round picks as all the aforementioned players were drafted there minus Sneed.

The more I think about things I'm not sure that's going to be the case. Tenn was a good team and sacked Burrow 9 times and still lost. That's not going to happen again this week against the Chiefs (Burrow taking that many sacks). And as great as Davis was against the Chiefs, Chase might be the best WR in the league after Hill which says a lot for a rookie. They are going to have to double and triple cover him which opens up all the other weapons the Bengals have similar to why Davis had a monster game. The biggest factor though is where the Chiefs are emotionally and mentally after playing what might have been their SB against the Bills. If they struggle early and the Bengals can jump up on them by 14 points or more I wouldn't be surprised if the Bengals are SB bound.