BillsVet

Buffalo was ridiculously healthy for a few seasons, notably in 2020 and 2021, which predictably gave the false impression that a team should be expected to have all their starters by the playoffs. This is such a ridiculous assumption to make, but based on the fact that until late 2022 they had almost no significant injuries on either side of the ball. Tre going down in late 2022 followed by Miller ended that fantasy, but the reality is teams can and do lose contributors all the time. And still make due. Yet, almost no one ever looks at their good fortune...as in having a healthy OL for all of 2023. Heck, their offense has been exceptionally healthy since 2020.

Predictable move given their injuries at the position and go for it mentality. Question I have is...did Chiefs fans do the "woe is me" routine when Brown, Rice, and Schuster went down already this season? Did they throw in the towel on the season because no way could they win with that kind of adversity?

Now we're going to get into a debate about which metrics constitute the level of play for that unit. And there'll be no agreement, but in terms of running the ball I based it off their 3 primary RB's are averaging 4.3 ypc (630 yards on 147 carries) which is about league average. In only 2 games have those backs surpassed over 100 yards rushing (at NYJ and at MIA). Way off topic anyway.

At least they admitted in-season their offense and personnel weren't working or going to without a true WR investment. Don't think it was the plan, but OK. I wish they'd learn from these types of critical mistakes and not repeat them. As in, that the DL thing every year is not sustainable and RB's don't turn predictable play-calling paired with average OL into a plus running game. The offense will improve I believe featuring an excellent WR which opens up other players as we saw on Sunday. McBeane gotta be more honest with themselves in the off-season reviews and look in the mirror.

Can we have more threads that ask a question like it's Yahoo News/Sports/Any other click-bait news company?

McBeane have gone CB, RB, LB, TE, G, LB, WR, S, and DT with their last 9 RD1-3 picks. The RD3 and RD4 picks are guys who may turn out to be solid players in a rotation or even become starters. Doesn't remove the fact that safeties, DT's and RBs are available in UFA at discounted rates which demonstrate that their value across the league is low. Same with LBs and OL. Compare that to a good starting WR2 or even 1 who is gonna get substantially more on the market for their services. If that's the case, the Bills should have drafted another there so they wouldn't be needing (again) to tap the UFA market. After all, Hollins isn't likely to get another contract, Coleman's NFL future isn't assured, Samuel's been a dud so far and they'll need someone even if they keep Cooper for another season or 2.

McD has a track record of offering backhanded compliments to players and abrasiveness toward assistants. It's his MO and by now if that's not obvious I don't know what to tell you. I'm sure he also doesn't like having a franchise QB get more credit for their success than him. The Saleh comparison doesn't carry because he's a full-on meathead. McD is more subtle than he'll ever be, but is prepared to respond when criticism comes. And based on what's been said all off-season, they believed that post-Diggs, they could feature an offense that worked without a top-end WR. They spent the the off-season talking about "everybody eats" because they had serious issues after the draft with their WR group. And that showed against Baltimore and Houston, likely playoff teams. And then they have to trade for Cooper because almost all the metrics and film point to their receivers not being good enough as most every objective person could see. There were some bruised ego's having to make that move and because they heard it from media about how badly the offense went into the garbage without better WRs.

McD comes off as a petulant child with comments like this because it's not really about showing support for the guys in the room for him. It's because his grand vision for the offense effectively failed by Week 4 and required this move. And Beane did what needed to be done to fix that in-season. If anything, you'd think McD would humble himself, thank Beane for making that move, talk about improving and admit this offense experiment (even secretly) could not work regardless of the QB. Kinda wonder if a rift is developing between the GM and HC is developing, if slowly.

Great example of the data available to the average fan now on outcome efficiency to confirm or deny opinions is amazing. Hopefully, this contributes to knocking down the idea Josh is the main cause for their issues. If anything, his performance has improved, but that he cannot hold up inferior talent to the degree people unreasonably thought he should.

I always saw the MVS signing 2 weeks post-draft as their desperation move acknowledging the lack of a deep threat. It was as pathetic then as it is now. Hard to take a leadership group seriously that assumed this offensive strategy would work for an entire season using these WR/TE/RB.

Main reason this topic is getting attention is Buffalo's WRs are so bad...as reasonable people could see after the draft was over if not before. Last night didn't dispel that their WR group is pulling the entire offense down. Jets are a cluster and still likely don't make the playoffs. Doesn't change that McBeane have taken a once-strong offense and turned it into one that struggles tremendously which now absolutely needs an infusion move to even get back to average. 18 points scored per these last 3 games demonstrate that.

And it's into the 4th season across 3 coordinators with the same QB that these issues persist. As much as those coordinators weren't great, the guy hiring them has a lot of say into those offenses.

Wow. McD strikes me as the guy who worked hard and expected that would succeed at all levels of coaching. Maybe it did to the coordinator level, but HC's need to think fast and process in-game and he can't. Makes sense what Belichick said...the game plans seem dull, unimaginative, and ultimately safe. I expect that from McD on offense because he undervalues that side, but the defense doesn't confuse better teams. I don't think he's got more than one pitch and when it works, great. But it's starting not to work so much.

They install the offense across months of the off-season and in training camp with personnel typically suited to it. You don't pivot to something different that will work (based on how defenses are now playing you) without making some significant changes in-season. And once deep into the off-season, you've got the roster you're going to play with. Specifically the talent gap they have at WR. You might deal for one, but can't trade out 2-3 of them at this point. As for this cap situation...it's the product of their own doing. Bad contracts, over-spending on UFAs who didn't deliver, and some 2-3 underwhelming drafts add up over time. Their issues were coming there and that was before trading Diggs and taking a 31M cap hit.

This chart is, according to Warren Sharp, Buffalo's success rate throwing the ball through Week 5 this season. Inside the numbers is pretty good. Outside, well, that speaks for itself. Also find it ironic that Sharp acknowledged today he at one time consulted or advised the Bills, but no longer does. Point is, they calculated the offense would succeed with their current personnel and these past 2 games point to that being a huge error. At some point, the architects above the coordinator level need to own up to planning poorly and not resourcing the offense properly. It's too late for 2024, but there needs to be an overhaul to how this team plays football. Might take jettisoning McD and his version of complementary football.

I presume you mean the pressure is from ownership, but would disagree that a trade necessarily means McBeane are feeling it from ownership to get the ship righted. There have been rumblings that after hiring McDermott and then Beane, Pegula later regretted granting them so much authority over football management. I still don't think ownership wants to do a coaching and perhaps GM search, but would hope at this juncture with Josh getting battered that Terry has asked some questions. That said, if Josh is that one person and he's making comments to ownership, then yeah I'd expect the guy getting paid a quarter-billion's voice counts plenty.

There's been conflict on offensive going back a few years in terms of what they want to do between HC and OC, personnel decisions to fit that scheme, and how it's called on game day. And if there's a strategy issue, it's gonna affect everything downstream of that. It's amazing that we're talking about the WR group, about a potential trade to address what so many people observed all off-season, and how it would inhibit the offense. It's also incredible they spent themselves into a cap issue 5 years after they claimed they had to fix the previous regime's. Whether this is a mini-rebuild or not, the issue is now that they're struggling. They can add a good WR and it'll help, but there's deeper issues going on because... They've found reasons to run it back for a few seasons up to 2023. That's got them here in 2024 and when this season is over, save for a SB trip which appears unlikely right now...there needs to be an honest evaluation of what their identity is AND whether it truly works.

I knew when this group of WR's started playing to their talent level Josh would get blamed by the defenders of this WR group. Never thought it'd take a mere 5 games.

And unless they commit to being an elite offense at some point Josh is gonna say I'm through with this. JA's been playing the good soldier and not been difficult, but the conditions he's playing under are sub-optimal. Not ideal for someone who knows what they can do in the NFL. I'm tired of (this is not directed at you AD) this mentality. As @Coach Tuesday already stated, offense including WR takes a backseat like the kid who isn't mom and dad's favorite. They can always address the offense...in the future. Teams have to make a decision about what their identity will be, which should be easy when you have a veritable top QB. I hear people on TSW all the time reference the Coleman and Kincaid picks as evidence they're serious about offense, but that's the kind of the price of admission for being in the NFL with a strong or better QB. They don't talk about how, after drafting Josh in 2018 they used 6 of their next RD1/2 picks on defense...and the offensive picks were on Diggs, Cody Ford, and Cook. That isn't going to get it done in this era. It's how you end up with WR6 Mack Hollins getting the 2nd most snaps on the team. They are extremely poor at being stewards of Josh's talents. See my response above re: Josh...it's gonna happen without some serious changes.

It is extremely concerning that this organization, with all the plaudits they receive, did not have a plan about what to do with Diggs coming out of their off-season review. They waffled on the issue, then Beane (as @Kirby Jackson noted) was seemingly reassured that their WR group would work. Only slight disagreement I have is that they signed Quintez Cephus and MVS both after they draft so they still had concerns. In that way I agree, they were looking for "lightning in a bottle" with additional bargain bin signings. WR is just not a priority for them in the off-season...and then perhaps 4 games in it is now? Makes me further their commitment to "complementary football."

Or, part of the problem is Bobby Slowik is an underperforming OC who isn't maximizing the resources he has to work with which has contributed to their slow offensive start. This is an issue that goes beyond just player stats.

Diggs is a twit, but it's still speculation why he wanted out and management made that deal. They certainly didn't have a replacement on the roster and weren't going to draft anyone. That situation was the combination of several factors, but no one knows for sure and OBD isn't telling. I subscribe to the idea that leadership should be expected to integrate personalities and not avoid them entirely. Otherwise, you end up with choir boys who lack talent and that last element is not available at WR right now. For all the talk about Shakir, he's still a slot receiver. Coleman, Hollins, MVS, and Samuel are as expected by this point. Going to be other options besides Adams at the deadline, but waiting has a price. And then there's keeping the QB happy and giving him the tools to win, particularly when the game doesn't go according to script. T

I still remember Beane attempting to trade for Antonio Brown in early 2020 who, thankfully, did not want to come here. At some point, the established culture has to be able to take in a veteran and get them to play their way. And if it can't, that's not a good indication all is well.

Warren Sharp today called McD the purgatory HC. He's just not going to get better in-game and adapt philosophically.

Coming home from Mass on Sundays about noon in the late 80s/early 90s I couldn't wait to turn on NFL Gameday...and then later at night Primetime because that's where you got the best pregame and highlights. ESPN was the source for everything pre-internet. And then there was Berman...it seemed like he was the only national media figure that was openly a Bills fan aside from Tim Russet. Miss those days.