BillsVet

The is a point neither made nor accepted enough. McD has this almost kryptonite view of turnovers that he determined the only offense which can work is one where the franchise QB would rarely throw the ball downfield. An offense with complete balance running and passing, the latter typically within 10 yards of the LOS. Josh's advanced passing metrics bear this out. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2025/passing_advanced.htm Intended air yards on pass attempts: 21st Intended air yards per attempt: 26th Completed air yards: 19th Completed air yards per completion: 20th This is the offense McD wants and the one he believes should work no matter what defenses do against them. That's coaching stubborn.

No one's talking about defense in this thread. But if we were...go ahead and start one.

Baltimore was/is a very good team, but that game demonstrates the inherent issues within Buffalo's philosophy. And yes, I can see them being in the playoff by virtue of a solid second half. The Ravens game showed that when Buffalo doesn't have, as @Kirby Jackson noted, the formula go according to plan they have to become a pass first team. Specifically, getting behind late, not being able to run for whatever reason, and needing downfield throws to score quickly. Results in those games are mixed...the win at Detroit, the loss at LA Rams, the loss to KC in the AFC CG last season come to mind. It is not a reliable strategy, but it's what they've got for this season. There's just no second or third pitch when the fastball isn't working.

McD and Beane are a package deal and aligned in essentially the same direction philosophically. Beane has changed though. He went from the guy who drafted Josh, traded for Diggs, and signed Von Miller to a guy who stopped being bold. He is the anti-Howie Roseman who has to boast of decisions made 7 years ago when he done messes up.

I don't care. Buffalo was second in points scored last year, third in point differential, etc. during the regular season. And they still barely got past Baltimore in the Divisional Round game and had to grind it out in the AFC CG. The offense is built to succeed in the regular season and falters under the weight of greater expectations and pressure in the post-season.

Funny that people point always to metrics which is more just seeing the trees but not the forest. Buffalo's strength of schedule is 15th in the AFC and 30th overall. As it stands, they've played 1 team thus far that would make the playoffs and even counting KC, then that's 2 out of 8 games. They have 4 more the rest of the way. Every playoffs the competition is better and there's more motivating players because more is at stake. What worked in the regular season has been borne out to not be as effective in the post-season which was on display against KC in their last playoff loss (cue the 29 points scored refrain poster).

Trade deadline reinforces that neither Beane or McDermott are feeling any heat from ownership to get over the hump and into the SB. I don't know if that's more an indictment of the GM/HC or the owner. Either way, status quo reigns at OBD.

Was it the Iraq thing you sent my friends and I to? I'd imagine that would get you there, but I'll say a prayer for you.

Beane let down his guard a little this off-season saying in an interview (I believe on WGR) how college WR evals are hard. I take that as a GM who avoids drafting WRs high on risk alone and goes with the supposedly safer option of UFA's because they have NFL tape. Translated, it means he's more concerned about a top-60 pick busting than he is wasting valuable cap room on guys like Samuel, Moore, et al. I'm really not sure there is any position that this franchise is good finding talent in the draft for, but WR might be the absolute worst.

Buffalo currently is 31st strongest strength of schedule, so their offensive ranks aren't indicative of success as much as people believe especially with them being 7 games in. Still, a primary issue is the offense remains predicated on the defense slowing opponents and getting turnovers and being able to effectively run the ball. When those elements break down, it's on Josh with that limited receiver group. Against inferior competition, it'll work. Not the ideal formula in the regular season. Worse in the playoffs. It's how you end up in 3rd down 14 times and 4th down 6 times against KC in the AFC CG.

Dude…I practice myself while serving in multiple roles within our Family of parishes.

The Pope was once, as an Augustinian friar, at a White Sox World Series game. I'm sure these types of gifts are well-received given his appreciation of American sports. That said, the bishop's visit was not of the ad limina kind. My guess is there were certain matters on the agenda relative to the Diocese that weren't photo-worthy needing discussion.

They want to win a SB, but their way is the hill they'll die on to do it. Maybe Terry is ignorant and just taking what the GM is telling him. Wouldn't surprise me, yet at the same time Beane had a horrible off-season. He signed not 1, but 2 suspended players, went on a tirade on WGR that gained national attention about the lack of WRs, and now the season unfolds with the WR issue glaring and a defense struggling. You'd think that would prompt a move that elevates this team offensively.

Chiefs will be up for this game, as will Buffalo. Difference is, Reid and Spags have consistently out-coached McD and Brady. Don't see that changing. I'd imagine Buffalo will try to put pressure on Mahomes to force turnovers, but if he has time to throw that secondary is in trouble with an underperforming Benford, rookie in Hairston, and diminished Taron Johnson along with that safety play. They can't cover Rice, Kelce, and Worthy. The offense will try, as McD wants of Brady, to run it with Cook to avoid turnovers. If KC loads up to stop that and is even moderately successful, Bills don't have the passing game to adapt and overcome. And we all know Buffalo doesn't adapt to anyone, going with what they know. Would be the week though to roll something new out, but I'm not holding my breath. Game hinges on pressuring Mahomes and establishing the run basically.

He shoulders the blame to surface-analysis types who don't try to understand cause. I've never said he's without fault, because he is. Yet, I see an offense which schematically works only when specific conditions are met, namely that the opponent is bad to average, their run defense is poor, and downfield throws aren't as necessary. I see a GM who thinks you can throw a hodgepodge of WRs out there. A HC who is a neanderthal on offense and thinks all of this should work every week. Coleman offers almost nothing to this offense and, despite the off-season narratives, is not producing. Or, he always needed more time to acclimate to the pro game and they couldn't provide that because Beane has never prioritized developing the WR position. Bottom line is before you get to the QB's play, start with a comprehensive analysis about roster strategy, the HC's input to that, Beane's acquisitionss, and Brady's game-planning. When those are good, I suspect Josh will be a lot better.

The "Blame Josh" crowd has entered the chat with renewed vigor this week. Gonna be interesting when Beane humbles himself, trades for a WR, and the offense returns to effectiveness.

Joe B's article is pretty clear that whatever philosophy/identity McD and Beane have pursued, it's officially an epic fail 2 seasons running. I can only hope TPegs reads this article or has someone close tell him about this. And if he had any stones, he'd be on the horn telling them they'd better figure it out.

They had the fight in Week 1 down 2 scores in the 4th quarter. The energy on this team is Josh and McD drains that from this team. I can't put it into words much better than that. When Buffalo was driving against a tired Baltimore defense in Week 1, you could see them responding. I think this play to win by a score mindset the HC wants/has planned for isn't kindling any fire in them.

They haven't taken a deep enough dive into whether the defensive scheme is sustainable/suitable either. Every off-season they conclude the need is for different players to make it work. But last off-season they not only landed on the DLine being an issue, but that a cause was the susceptibility for injuries. OK, but the response/solution was to find more guys who could play there. And I get that they need DL depth because you have to manage snap counts to mitigate injuries, but the investment there impacted using resources in other areas, namely secondary and WR. When you're devoting almost 20% of your cap to a collection of 10 or so DL who are all decent, but not elite, it's maybe not the best way to allocate resources.

Failed from the perspective that last year by Weeks 4 and 5 they couldn't muster much offense, scoring only 30 points total in those 2 games which necessitated the trade for Cooper. After he arrived for week 7, they scored 30+ in 9 of their next 10 games. They replicated the approach this season with everybody eats and a similar offensive scheme and after a hot start, their offensive is sputtering just like last year. KC in 2022 didn't have the brutal games Buffalo did in 2024.

Mahomes throwing to prime Kelce and a healthy Smith-Schuster in 2022 is definitely not Josh throwing to a slot receiver and the 8th WR taken in 2024. Don't care how you quibble over it. That's the topic up for debate, not what happened the following year. Even if it were, Buffalo's version of "everybody eats" was a fail by week 4 last season and KC's was enough to win the SB with similar quality QB play. Doesn't add up.

KC may have been spreading it around more to lower-tier receivers in 2022, but Kelce had almost a quarter of Mahomes' targets and Smith-Schuster had another one-sixth. Those two guys combined for 40% of the pass attempts that year. No doubt having top-end Kelce that year opened other options up in a way Buffalo didn't reflect in 2024. Also allowed someone like MVS to have a decent year w/42 catches for almost 700 yards.

Have to wonder if the message from elsewhere to Brady is to feature Coleman to justify their draft pick amid all the criticism. Pure speculation, but the snap count thing is surprising when viewed any other way. He's not much of a threat to get open otherwise.

I think you're forgetting a pass catcher who happens to be engaged to someone famous and helped with their ensemble WR group. Can't place his name, but I think he's pretty good and probably influenced personnel decisions at WR. As for the post-Tyreek SB win in 2022...Juju had a good season, MVS was better than replacement level...and then there was that guy engaged to the famous person. Not exactly "everybody eats" quality of pass catchers. In 2023, it was Rashee Rice showing up as a rookie...having 500+ yards receiving in his final 6 regular season games. KC didn't do "everybody eats" and comparisons to it are absurd. Scheme is part of it, but the amount of investment on DL is hamstringing their ability to have decent starters elsewhere, namely the secondary. That DL, were it not for suspensions to the 2 UFAs, currently features Rousseau, Bosa, Epenesa, Jackson, Hoecht, Oliver, Sanders, Walker, D. Jones, and Ogunjobi. 10 guys who are either UFAs with a high(er) cap hit, high to moderately high draft picks, and players re-signed to market contracts. DL eats up about 18-19% of their cap. Besides, since Josh re-signed in 2022 and again this off-season, they've held firm if not expanded their investment there. And there's been a lot of misses there as well. Gotta be smarter with their UFA contracts and get more production from drafted defensive players especially after RD1.

Yeah, the Bills identity is essentially McDermott's personality at this point. I'd only add the Bills aren't innovative, stubbornly refuse to change, and go with what they know. See it in the coordinator picks, personnel decisions, the scheme, almost ever facet of the football side of that franchise. Something's gotta give.