BillsFanForever19

'tis the time of the season that people get all excited for all the big names who are set to become FA's. Then the Tags come down and most of the names everyone got excited about are off the market.

Not even a remote chance. For one, he'll be almost certainly Franchise Tagged. The Bengals are 61 million under the cap and still have 2 years left on Chases's Rookie deal. I'd be shocked if Higgins went anywhere. Even if he wasn't Franchised, we can't afford him. Beane certainly has moves in mind to get us out from under ~52 million over the cap. But enough to get Higgins, who will be the highest paid Free Agent WR available and fill all the holes we have? Not feasible. Even with 10 Draft Picks. It'll be a 1st Rounder. Maybe we get lucky with a mid tier guy who overplays his hand and has to settle for less late in FA (ala Floyd at DE this season) to go along with him. But bidding wars and Day 1 big splash ticket items are a no go.

1st and 10 with 2:42 seconds left on the clock on the Chiefs 27. I can't remember how many time outs KC had left, if any. This is where things started to go sideways. Regardless of how things were going to that point, we'd have had to play every play perfectly for almost 3 more minutes, more if they had timeouts. Inside the Red Zone, where getting yards would have been harder. Then we'd have had to either score a TD on the last play or trust Bass to hit a FG as time expired. Which was not a given, guy missed a 27 the week before. With how quickly they were scoring when there was no urgency, the way our Defense was performing, and with :13 in mind - leaving any amount of time on the clock and we still could have lost. Long story short, the plan "working" for 6 minutes or however long it was is great. But it's the final 3 that would have been really, REALLY tough - even if we hadn't gone off script. It's not like we for sure had it even if the last two plays didn't happen.

Okay, I thought you were saying the new injuries we were dealing with in the Chiefs game were small. And when you're talking about playing the Playoff Chiefs compared to what we had dealt with to that point, there is no comparison. We only technically had Douglas on the field for that one. He probably shouldn't have been playing. Hard to say if he'd have been in better shape the following week. Either way, what we would have had against Baltimore doesn't matter. We were completely unprepared personnel wise to line up against Super Mahomes and the Playoff Chiefs. When we beat them in the Playoffs, we're going to need to be relatively healthy. We weren't even close. That's why this loss doesn't even sniff :13 in my eyes. Especially combined with the fact that :13 was us winning the AFC Title and going to the Super Bowl and it was logically speaking already ours.

Small?! We lost maybe the best true OLB in Football for the year. Replaced by a guy who started the game playing hurt already and went down again. We didn't have our new young stud MLB. We didn't even have his backup. We had a guy who was on the couch two weeks ago. And he got halfway through the game too. We didn't have one of our Starting CB's. And our other starting CB was playing at maybe 50% Guy was screwed on any route over 5-10 yards. Was consistently yards behind guys and unable to close on receptions. Even Mahomes made him stand still with the simplest of moves. We didn't have the guy who scored 4 TD's on the Chiefs in the :13 seconds game. We didn't even have another Outside WR we could split out wide. We were putting slot guys over there. All of this on top of Von Miller and Micah Hyde (the guy who replaced him was out too) not even remotely returning to form. It's insane to think we were able to make it work against Mason Rudolph and the Steelers - so we should have been able to make it work against a team that's been to the AFC Championship 6 years in a row and has the chance to repeat in the Super Bowl and make it 3 Lombardi's in 5 years. One team is a dynasty, the other didn't even belong in the Playoffs.

Not even close to :13 seconds. We had won an AFC Championship. We were going to the Super Bowl. I went into this game thinking it was a longshot. We were decimated worse than I can ever remember on Defense, against an absolute Dynasty. We had a hole at Outside WR2. Say what you will about Gabe Davis, but he destroyed the Chiefs in our last Playoff matchup and had to at least be accounted for. After going 6-6 and especially after all of the injuries, as someone else put it, I thought we had a Puncher's Chance. An any given Sunday type of thing. But I didn't expect a victory, let alone thought we already had one - with only :13 seconds left on the clock.

Yeah, I mean she's the biggest superstar in the world. Of course she's going to be shown on camera from to time. It's crazy to me how worked up people get over it too. Like who cares? They show randos in the fans for about the same amount of time, if not more. I don't hear complaints about non-celebrity fans taking away from the game.

Agreed. I often say I feel that if we had a healthy Tre White on the field, it wouldn't have come down to :13 seconds. The competition is so razor right in the Playoffs, losing just 1 star player can be the difference between winning and losing. Everyone deals with injuries. But the magnitude of ours over last season is not normal. When Von Miller and Micah Hyde didn't return to form and then we lost Matt Milano for the year, I felt that ruined our chances of overcoming the best teams. Winning the division, securing the 2nd seed, and winning a home playoff game seemed a damn miracle to me. But I knew going against the Chiefs dynasty with the issues I mentioned, plus not having Christian Benford, Terrel Bernard, and Gabe Davis - down to our 3rd string MLB off the couch (who got hurt mid game), our 2nd String OLB (who was playing hurt already and got hurt again at the start of the game), and our other starting CB playing at *maybe* 50% - we had a "punchers chance" at the absolute most. Honestly felt like we were playing with house money in the condition we were in. Next season if we can tweak the roster and stay healthy, we're going to be in much better shape.

Absolutely crazy thing to say. The game is still won and lost in the trenches. If you're not protecting the QB or not getting to the opposing team's QB, you're screwed. If you're throwing passes that aren't being caught, the QB doesn't matter. If you don't have players who can defend the throws and keep the QB from throwing to who he wants to on command, you're screwed. I don't care who you have behind the Center. A QB alone cannot hoist a Lombardi trophy. If anyone should know that, it's us Bills fans. Absolutely demeaning to everyone else on the team to say 52 of the 53 roster spots should make up 10% of all money available.

I mean, if Ben Johnson reportedly asking for $15m per is correct - I don't think $16m for Jim Harbaugh is that crazy to see.

I think OP is just saying that instead of bemoaning over the fact that McDermott is still here and whining about it and all the woulda/coulda/shouldas with every post all offseason - we accept it, focus on the positives, and hope for the best. I wouldn't have been upset if he were fired, but it was never going to happen. I don't think he's the best coach, but I don't think he's the worst either. Catastrophic injuries are what truly did us in this year, IMO. Can't expect to even slow down a full powered Mahomes and Chiefs offense in the Playoffs (where they're a different team) with the MASH unit that we put on the field. If we stay relatively healthy and make the right improvements, I think we have a much better shot next season.

At least Jason Kirk has a good sense of humor about it now:

Same. I was on the train of Darnold, Mayfield, or Rosen. Allen was too risky for my blood. I felt he had Bust written all over him and was less than impressed with how he looked against weak College competition. Then the Twitter posts got leaked the day of the Draft and I was even more out. I was crestfallen when we took him. Never been more happy to be so, so wrong. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he would go from having zero college offers and 2nd Team All Mountain West to Future Hall of Famer.

Oh yeah. Everyone at WGR was completely against Allen. In defense of them, pretty much everyone in Buffalo was. Almost no one on the board wanted him either. He had bust written all over him. It worked out though and that's all that matters now. And Thank God for that!

He wouldn't have been. The Cardinals were heartbroken we took him and begrudgingly settled on Rosen. They never wanted him and were all in on Allen. They thought he was theirs until we moved up. They didn't even give Rosen a second year with the team and moved on from him as soon as they could. It's weird they even Drafted him at all with how upset they were. Apparently, they were also trying to move up and thought they had a deal that would have gotten in front of us. Thank God Beane was able to beat them out. https://cardswire.usatoday.com/2018/05/02/cardinals-reportedly-wanted-josh-allen-had-deal-in-place-to-draft-him/

Cliff notes? It's behind a paywall.

As a prospect, he was a "tools" guy. Massive frame, massive arm - but had a low completion percentage and accuracy issues. He wasn't even a first team collegiate All Pro in the lowly Mountain West conference. He was a project. And the idea that someone could improve their accuracy from College to the Pros didn't yield very good results in the past. He was a big time boom or bust prospect that seemed to many to be only considered a top prospect because of how he looked in shorts and how big of an arm he had. Thankfully, he defied the odds. In later Drafts, people took chances on big guys with big arms like Trey Lance - hoping to find "the next Josh Allen type". Truth is, Josh Allen is very much the exception and not the rule. We got extremely lucky.

This is where I'm at. If they would have fired him, I wouldn't have been upset about it. But it wasn't going to happen. Even when we were 6-6, they made sure to tell the media he wasn't going anywhere next season. After the 9/11 fiasco, they again told the media he wasn't going anywhere next season. Anyone who thought that was going to change just because they lost to the Chiefs dynasty while being INSANELY injured - with the team prior to that going 6-0, winning the division, getting the 2nd season, and winning a home playoff game - following McDermott twice getting a vote of confidence when things were at their worst, wasn't living in reality. Anyone who still is hoping or expecting it to happen after McDermott held his year ending presser in which he said he talked to Pegula and he still supports him as Head Coach of the team and Beane held his presser saying he wasn't making a change is just downright delusional. And that's probably the nicest way I can put it. Like it or not, it just is what it is this season. We can spend the next calendar year whining about it or focus on the positives, hope for improvements in personnel, and better health - to the point that we're undeniable regardless of who we have on the Sidelines. I'm not going to be crying over spilled milk all offseason though.

At the absolute worst, he takes a Defender in Round 1 but only if FA goes poorly with replacing starters at DE, DT, and Safety. But even then, he'd know to Trade up in Round 2 or as you said, he'd look dumb after everything he said. Zero f'n chance he goes Defense back to back. More likely WR Round 1 and Defense Round 2.

Well, we have to re-sign or replace starters at WR2, DE, DT, and FS. I think we'll try and bring back Leonard Floyd and Daquan Jones for their familiarity. Floyd says he'll go where the money is. However, much like last year, I see a number of DE's above him that will get paid more. I think it's possible we meet somewhere between what he's hoping for and what we can realistically afford. If not Floyd, it will be another Floyd like signing. A guy who overplayed their hand and has to accept less at the end of FA. I don't think we pay Epenesa what he'll cost. We'd have to Start him and I don't know if I'd have him play every down. And I could be wrong, but I don't think Jones is going to have a massive market either. I think they represent the most we'll be spending. I see us bringing back Taylor Rapp, again because of his familiarity and again because he won't cost a lot. He'll prove to be insurance on the Draft Pick on Day 2 we hope to replace Hyde with and Poyer. Another low cost guy. After that it will be small contracts for other DB's like Dane Jackson and Cam Lewis. Ty Johnson also won't cost much as the RB market is bad and he's an RB2/RB3. But that's about it. Everything else will be covered in the Draft. Maybe we get lucky with a FA who overpriced their market and has to accept less to go along with Diggs, Rd 1 WR, Shakir, and 1 or 2 of Shorter, Hamler, and Isabella.

That will happen when you're down not only both your starting LB's, but playing with a 3rd String MLB who was on the couch 2 weeks prior (and rolled his ankle halfway through the game) and a backup OLB who went into the game less than 100%, went down after a few plays, and played through it bc we literally had no one else to replace him. Down one of your starting CB's and your other starting CB playing at maybe 50% Seriously, I can't be the only one who saw him hobbling 5-10 yards behind his man to catch up on anything over 10-15 yards. Standing still trying to get Mahomes in the open field after the simplest of moves. Douglas was on the field, but he probably shouldn't have been. Could the game plan have been better? Perhaps. But we were simply outmanned against an offense the caliber of the Chiefs in the Playoffs (who are a different team every year at this point than they are in the regular season). Injuries on Defense, terrible Special Teams play (Martin had no business being on the field either), and a couple miscues on Offense are what cost us that game. The Chiefs are a dynasty. We can't expect to line up a mash unit against them and expect to win. Mason Rudolph and the Steelers are one thing. Mahomes and the Chiefs are something else entirely.

Thank you! I had this very same thought yesterday. Watching the Chiefs win their 4th AFC Title in 5 years. Having gone to the AFC Championship game 6 years in a row. En route to possibly hoist 2 Lombardi's in a row, 3 of them in 5 years. Maybe it's not this player sucks, this coach sucks, this GM sucks, and/or we need to blow it all up. Maybe, just maybe the Chiefs are just that good. Yes, it's frustrating to not slay that dragon. But it's not like we're the only one. We're just the team that gives them the most trouble. If we need to blow it up, then every team in the NFL does. To beat them, we're going to have to be at our best on field and have our best players on the field. We were down Matt Milano (perhaps the best true OLB in Football), Terrel Bernard, Gabe Davis, Christian Benford, Taylor Rapp, had a maybe 50% Rasul Douglas, a 3rd string MLB who was fresh off the couch (who rolled his ankle halfway through the game), and an already playing at less than 100% Tyrell Dodson who went down again at the beginning of the game and played through it because we didn't have a choice. Maybe we still would have lost at full health. But against that dynasty, in the Playoffs where they're a different team? We're lucky it was as close as it was. Tweak the roster. Hope for better health. But the sky is not falling. I know how disappointing it was how things ended. But many teams around the league would kill to be in the situation we're in that posters consider a total failure.

I think it should go the other way. Let Josh be Josh. Yes, that includes some tough decisions. But every QB has those. I feel that we were getting what you wanted earlier in the season. That's why Josh was underperforming. He was listening to McDermott who wanted him to play a certain way. Trying to rewire him and think more when he plays has more negative results than him playing the game in which he likes to play it does.

It's far from the only song we use that's 20 years old or more. Should we not play "Welcome to the Jungle" either? "Mr. Brightside"? "Crazy Train"? I don't know if you've noticed, but Rock hits have been extremely few and far between for a long, long time. We play songs that pump up the players and the crowd and that's predominantly Rock music. Who cares if it's outdated? What do you suggest? The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Juice WRLD, and Lizzo non stop?

He was picked 30th overall. What were you expecting, Bruce Smith?