Was 2021 a step back or step forward for the Buffalo Bills?

[ALLEN1QB]

 When you have the lead & 13 seconds from going to the AFC Championship and lose yes that's a Gigantic step backwards!

[BillsFanSD]

20 hours ago, transplantbillsfan said:

This is about the entire team and I think it's reasonable to put heavier weight on the most critical aspects of the team, particularly Quarterback play and coaching.  The arguments would seem to be:

 

Step Back: Allen regressed,

Nope.  Stopped reading here.

 

If the last two NE games didn't kill this narrative, nothing will.

[NewEra]

13 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Who’s to say Allen will ever have that epic playoff performance again?…. And the AFC was extremely weak this year, I expect both the Ravens and Chargers to be tough outs on top of the Chiefs and Bengals going forward…. And perhaps Denver if Rodgers goes there. 

He just had the best two game stretch in nfl playoff history. Nothing is guaranteed, but the odds are, he’s going to have at least a few epic playoff performances again.  He’s only getting better. 
 

Who’s to say Mahomes won’t just get all depressed and turn into mental mush?

 

who’s to say that Herbert won’t break his neck and never play again?

 

who’s to say that burrow won’t just turn in Don Majkowsi at the end of his career?

 

who’s to say anything about anyones future?  I remember how great you thought the browns would be this year.  
 

Nothing is a given.  But we have 17…..and no one else does.  For that, we should be grateful.  Our chances are as good as anyones and that likely won’t change anytime soon as long as we can give him a good OL

[Nextmanup]

8 minutes ago, BillsFanSD said:

Nope.  Stopped reading here.

 

If the last two NE games didn't kill this narrative, nothing will.

I think what trips a lot of fans up is that his play blossomed to a new level in the final 2 games of the season.

So it can be argued that's not an actual step, that's just an anomaly taken from a very small data sample.

 

It seemed real to me though, and he did it on the biggest of stages, 2 games in a row.

 

I will never forget his intensity in the "Perfect Game" beat down of the Pats.  He's always been a competitive guy for sure, but I don't think I had seen THAT Josh Allen before that game.

 

And then he gave us another gem in KC.  

 

For now, we have to assume and hope he will build on that foundation, which is pretty damned solid!

 

 

[transient]

20 hours ago, Warcodered said:

I mean performance wise it's pretty well even we became a SB contender last year and were one this year.

 

Overall though I do feel like we became a better team this season, defenses found ways to get after Josh after his breakout year and he figured those defenses out.

This. The team came into the season with a target on its back and had to learn how to play with sky high expectations, and they didn't truly hit their stride until the second half of the Tampa game. Despite looking out of sync for large chunks of the season, Allen put the team on his back and led an offense that was 3rd in pt/game in the league.

 

The thing that would have put this team over the top this season would have been to limit the soul crushing defensive lapses that happened at the worst possible time. They were killed by chunk plays in their losses all season.

[Patrick Duffy]

5 minutes ago, NewEra said:

He just had the best two game stretch in nfl playoff history. Nothing is guaranteed, but the odds are, he’s going to have at least a few epic playoff performances again.  He’s only getting better. 
 

Who’s to say Mahomes won’t just get all depressed and turn into mental mush?

 

who’s to say that Herbert won’t break his neck and never play again?

 

who’s to say that burrow won’t just turn in Don Majkowsi at the end of his career?

 

who’s to say anything about anyones future?  I remember how great you thought the browns would be this year.  
 

Nothing is a given.  But we have 17…..and no one else does.  For that, we should be grateful.  Our chances are as good as anyones and that likely won’t change anytime soon as long as we can give him a good OL

Agreed 100%. Also regarding the bold.....it baffles me that some don't seem to realize this or take into consideration. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by Sheneneh Jenkins

[Talley56]

I'll say forward but TBH I only say that because of how much better Allen got.  If you were to tell any one of us back in August that the Bills would finish with more losses and get knocked out a round earlier than 2020 you'd be hard pressed to find anyone calling that a step forward.

 

However, as I watched Allen, I saw a QB take even more steps towards something truly special, particularly in the last month and a half.  He looks to me like a QB who, as long as he's healthy, won't be denied a title for much longer.  I would say his progression has been:

 

2018 - Potential

2019 - Getting better

2020 - Great

2021 - Virtually unstoppable 

[Patrick Duffy]

Just now, Talley56 said:

I'll say forward but TBH I only say that because of how much better Allen got.  If you were to tell any one of us back in August that the Bills would finish with more losses and get knocked out a round earlier than 2020 you'd be hard pressed to find anyone calling that a step forward.

 

However, as I watched Allen, I saw a QB take even more steps towards something truly special, particularly in the last month and a half.  He looks to me like a QB who, as long as he's healthy, won't be denied a title for much longer.  I would say his progression has been:

 

2018 - Potential

2019 - Getting better

2020 - Great

2021 - Virtually unstoppable 

imo I'd also add that running game finally improved quite a bit so definitely a step forward there too

[bigduke6]

wasnt a step back, or forward imo.    the team is still SB caliber,  but we need to win more and grab that homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.     i do not want to play the Chefs in Arrowhead for a playoff game ever again.    

[DrDawkinstein]

21 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

This is NOT directed at you, but since you mentioned Jax…people need to let this go.  Upsets happen like this all the time to the best teams.  Bengals lost to the Jets and are in the SB.  It means absolutely nothing.  It meant nothing in our post season either where our offense that had 6 points against Jags, was other world’s dominant against its two post season opponents.

 

I assure everyone Bengals fans are not obsessing over the Jets loss right now.  

Again, not pointed at you.  But there are still a bunch of people who need to read this.  

 

Not sure I can fully agree since scoring merely 10 points against the Jags would've put us in the #2 seed and the Chiefs game in Buffalo.

 

I get your overall point, but football is a game of inches. The littlest things are what usually makes the difference between winning and losing, between winning a Championship and going home early.

[TH3]

To make it to and win the SB things have to fall your way. Everything fell TB's way last year and things are falling CB's this year. Although I think CB get killed in the SB.

 

Bills lost every close game this year but a single flag in 2-3 of those games and BB are 13-4....At KC...one play, one coin flip and they are playing at home to go to SB. 

 

Forward - Backward? They are in the same place...They are 1 of maybe 5 teams that will be reliably in the mix to go all they way. Coin flips, penalities, injuries, timing..will fall into place for one of them....

[Big Turk]

I said other...basically I view this year as the team having to learn how to win when other teams were really up for the game because we were one of the final four teams the year before.  Similar to what happened in 1989. In Kelly's book he admitted the team wasn't prepared and didn't understand they were going to take every teams best shot week after week that year once they reached the AFC Championship game the year before. It took them that year to learn how to mentally prepare to match that intensity every game.  Like that team, this years team went out in the divisional round.

 

I view this as a learning experience that will help them not fall into the same lulls they did this year with some really bad losses against teams they should have beat, not being up for taking teams best shots(Jacksonville in particular) and generally having to kind of muddle through the middle of the season until they found their game later in the year and realized what it was going to take if they wanted to be the team they could become.

 

I expect much like the 1990 Bills, this team will come out with guns a blazing next year to right the wrongs from this year and try and secure home field advantage.

22 minutes ago, Talley56 said:

I'll say forward but TBH I only say that because of how much better Allen got.  If you were to tell any one of us back in August that the Bills would finish with more losses and get knocked out a round earlier than 2020 you'd be hard pressed to find anyone calling that a step forward.

 

However, as I watched Allen, I saw a QB take even more steps towards something truly special, particularly in the last month and a half.  He looks to me like a QB who, as long as he's healthy, won't be denied a title for much longer.  I would say his progression has been:

 

2018 - Potential

2019 - Getting better

2020 - Great

2021 - Virtually unstoppable 

 

Allen in the playoffs might have been the greatest two game stretch of QB play I have ever seen.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Big Turk

[NewEra]

40 minutes ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

Agreed 100%. Also regarding the bold.....it baffles me that some don't seem to realize this or take into consideration. 

He does.  He just has to poo poo on people positive thoughts

[Talley56]

1 hour ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

imo I'd also add that running game finally improved quite a bit so definitely a step forward there too

Good point

[CincyBillsFan]

A step forward.  As a wise coach once said the "winds blow harder at the top of the mountain". 

 

The Bills repeated as Division champs, blew out their arch rival in the first playoff game and came within 13 seconds of advancing to the AFC championship game for the 2nd straight year.  The Bills mastered those tricky winds at the top of the mountain.

 

 

1 hour ago, Nextmanup said:

I think what trips a lot of fans up is that his play blossomed to a new level in the final 2 games of the season.

So it can be argued that's not an actual step, that's just an anomaly taken from a very small data sample.

 

It seemed real to me though, and he did it on the biggest of stages, 2 games in a row.

 

I will never forget his intensity in the "Perfect Game" beat down of the Pats.  He's always been a competitive guy for sure, but I don't think I had seen THAT Josh Allen before that game.

 

And then he gave us another gem in KC.  

 

For now, we have to assume and hope he will build on that foundation, which is pretty damned solid!

 

 

I would include his 2nd game at NE where he was close to unstoppable.  That was for all intents and purposes a playoff game for the Bills.  So you can say that Allen did it in 3 games in a row if the criteria is great games played against top competition. 

Edited February 10, 2022 by CincyBillsFan

[Alphadawg7]

3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Not sure I can fully agree since scoring merely 10 points against the Jags would've put us in the #2 seed and the Chiefs game in Buffalo.

 

I get your overall point, but football is a game of inches. The littlest things are what usually makes the difference between winning and losing, between winning a Championship and going home early.

No disrespect, but I honestly don’t get this obsession of the game being in Buffalo.  We were not that good at home, there is no assurances we do any better.  I mean Josh played a near perfect game as it was in KC…serious question, how much better could he have played in Buffalo?
 

And we won the game, until mental lapse made it game about 13 seconds.  
 

And like I said…Bengals lost to Jets.  Went into KC and beat them and is in SB.  So I think the whole Jags thing is overly obsessed and not evidence of anything other than it was just an upset like what happens every week almost in the NFL.  

[Patrick Duffy]

2 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

No disrespect, but I honestly don’t get this obsession of the game being in Buffalo.  We were not that good at home, there is no assurances we do any better.  I mean Josh played a near perfect game as it was in KC…serious question, how much better could he have played in Buffalo?
 

And we won the game, until mental lapse made it game about 13 seconds.  
 

And like I said…Bengals lost to Jets.  Went into KC and beat them and is in SB.  So I think the whole Jags thing is overly obsessed and not evidence of anything other than it was just an upset like what happens every week almost in the NFL.  

Maybe because in playoffs Bills are 3-0 at home and 0-4 on the road? 

[loveorhatembillsfan4life]

I now believe Beane is going to make Big Move in Free Agency. He was awfully coy about their plans.. kinda boring really about not being big spenders. I think he has someone  in mind. 

 

This  Organization  is on the cusp and we can’t be knocking on the door year after year and coming up short.  
 

Gm and Coaches owe it to Josh to up their game for everything Josh is putting on the line for them. 
 

I think we will see slight tinkering on the Offensive side of the Ball.  I think maybe we go more youthful at Wr. Really with Josh now Elite he makes everyone so much better that  I have no concerns about this side of the ball. Palmers best comments were learning to channel your best every game and not have Jax happen again. 

 

Beane is going to find that player on the Defensive side of the Ball this off-season. These guys can manipulate the cap however they want. 
 

No team is going to win five or six superbowls in the next ten years like the Pats we’re doing.. too many great Qbs now.

 

Lets focus on getting One and getting it next season. 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by loveorhatembillsfan4life

[Patrick Duffy]

8 minutes ago, loveorhatembillsfan4life said:

I now believe Beane is going to make Big Move in Free Agency. He was awfully coy about their plans.. kinda boring really about not being big spenders. I think he has someone  in mind. 

 

This  Organization  is on the cusp and we can’t be knocking on the door year after year and coming up short.  
 

Gm and Coaches owe it to Josh to up their game for everything Josh is putting on the line for them. 
 

I think we will see slight tinkering on the Offensive side of the Ball.  I think maybe we go more youthful at Wr. Really with Josh now Elite he makes everyone so much better that  I have no concerns about this side of the ball. Palmers best comments were learning to channel your best every game and not have Jax happen again. 

 

Beane is going to find that player on the Defensive side of the Ball this off-season. These guys can manipulate the cap however they want. 
 

No team is going to win five or six superbowls in the next ten years like the Pats we’re doing.. too many great Qbs now.

 

Lets focus on getting One and getting it next season. 

 

 

 

Yeah not sure how big any move will be, but I also can't help but to think he has something up the sleeve. Like you said, they are right there beating down the door at winning a Championship. 

 

Really interested to see what goes down this offseason.

[Chaos]

Allen stepped forward in leaps and bounds. Dawson got better.  Ed Oliver got better.  bass got better. Pretty much everyone else was the same or worse. Coaching did not improve. 

[HamptonBillsfan]

Josh became truly elite with his 2 incredible performances in the post season. Sean was also exposed as impotent at critical times. Thus we must conclude the team took a step forward because Josh has experienced  bad coaching  compromising certain victory and ownership seeing  on field bad decisions by Sean's staff and how a change in approach must be installed. 

[What a Tuel]

5 hours ago, Talley56 said:

I'll say forward but TBH I only say that because of how much better Allen got.  If you were to tell any one of us back in August that the Bills would finish with more losses and get knocked out a round earlier than 2020 you'd be hard pressed to find anyone calling that a step forward.

 

However, as I watched Allen, I saw a QB take even more steps towards something truly special, particularly in the last month and a half.  He looks to me like a QB who, as long as he's healthy, won't be denied a title for much longer.  I would say his progression has been:

 

2018 - Potential

2019 - Getting better

2020 - Great

2021 - Virtually unstoppable 

 

In regards to your first statement, I think context matters. Sometimes the other shoe drops. Last year we maybe should have lost some close ones, including the Rams game we almost gave away, and the Patriots game with Cam Newton driving to at the very least force OT if not win.

 

This year we fail to win on the 3 yard line of the titans, and the offense plays a baffling game against the Jags.

 

Two game swing either way for both years, small details changing in any of them reverses the situation.

 

I'm also not sure if anyone pointed it out yet but:

 

Last year:

Colts->Ravens->Chiefs

 

This year:

Patriots->Chiefs->Bengals

 

I get it, the bengals beat the chiefs, but no one can convince me that the bengals would have been akin to the AFCCG against the chiefs last year. Our AFCCG this year was against the chiefs again. If we would have made it to the bengals, it would have been more like playing the Ravens or Colts. We could have won, we could have lost but ultimately the chiefs are the team to beat and we did much better this year coming within 13 seconds of being 2-0 in their house as opposed to getting stomped 0-2 last year.

Edited February 11, 2022 by What a Tuel

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Step forward. Repeat division champion. Big home playoff win. Tough divisional playoff loss.

 

This year I wanted to see if the Bills success was sustainable. Every game was basically a measuring stick game for the opponent. I feel better today about the Bills then I did last year.

[Bing Bong]

We're closer to being 3 straight years a contender than we were last year

 

Some SB teams have to win a lot of games for a long time

Edited February 11, 2022 by FormerlyPT5P

[Alphadawg7]

7 hours ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

Maybe because in playoffs Bills are 3-0 at home and 0-4 on the road? 

Fair enough…But that’s also skewed a bit from the first 2 playoff years where we were not a great team.

 

Looking at this year, we didn’t exactly defend our house in spectacular fashion.

[LABILLBACKER]

6 hours ago, HamptonBillsfan said:

Josh became truly elite with his 2 incredible performances in the post season. Sean was also exposed as impotent at critical times. Thus we must conclude the team took a step forward because Josh has experienced  bad coaching  compromising certain victory and ownership seeing  on field bad decisions by Sean's staff and how a change in approach must be installed. 

Well we may not agree on Edmunds but we sure agree on this excellent point. So incredibly pissed over Sean's mental breakdown on those last 3 plays.

[wjag]

I went with sideways.  The offense was up and down. The defense was better against the run, but gave up long TD runs.  The team had extremes in their games for example @Jax, NE, @NE, Indy.  Great offensive showing in the playoffs but they exited the playoffs earlier.  And they lost their best defender to an ACL. They were truly a bipolar team.

 

[Turk71]

Measured by total QBR the Bills faced the worst group of qbs this season that any team has faced since 2006 when the stat was created. 

The difference between expected wins based on their schedule and their  actual wins was the largest deficit in the league.

 In other words the Bills played an historically bad collection of qbs this season and underachieved. 

 It's hard for me to consider this season a step forward when they played such an easy schedule and then lost the biggest game in such a humiliatingly incompetent manner.  The path to SB victory may not ever be as easy as it was this year. 

  Individual players took steps forward but as a team it was sideways for me, hopefully next year is the big step forward.

 

[HamptonBillsfan]

10 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Well we may not agree on Edmunds but we sure agree on this excellent point. So incredibly pissed over Sean's mental breakdown on those last 3 plays.

Everybody sees Edmunds differently, he’s polarizing for sure. Maybe Sean's usage of him doesn't maximize his skill set. He might need a fresh start somewhere. He’s young.

[TheBrownBear]

Step forward disguised as a step back - much like 1989.  I think we are now better equipped to handle being the "hunted", and next year we emerge as a rock solid dominant SB contender behind cheatcode-level play from JA.

[damj]

It was a stumble. Team is ready for a Superbowl ... beat Jacksonville and we're playing the Chiefs in Buffalo.

[Don Otreply]

22 hours ago, Sheneneh Jenkins said:

imo I'd also add that running game finally improved quite a bit so definitely a step forward there too

All the best teams have functioning run games, it’s imperative to keep a defense guessing, and not able to key in on one’s passing game, and visa versa, for that matter.  Imo our personnel usage needs to get better, as was demonstrated by players such as…, Bates, Davis, and McKenzie. Going forward I expect to see the best players playing regardless of draft position/seniority, etc etc. Very high hopes for our new offensive coaching staff. 
 

Go Bills!!!

[jethro_tull]

josh could not have played a better game in the two playoff matches.  big step forward.  

[LabattBlue]

Thread isn’t about one player(Allen), it is about the team.  Worst record in 2021 versus 2020, and did not make it to the AFCCG = step back. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by BTB

[mead107]

Who wins

 

[DCbillsfan]

I voted other - status quo.  They won the AFC East again and played in 2 playoff games.  The offense and Josh Allen played better in this year's playoffs games.  The defense really missed Tre White in the Chiefs game allowing 550 yards.

 

Two years ago, the Hail Murray loss to Arizona resonated with the Bills.  This past season was a struggle starting with the Pittsburgh game.  They finally got on a roll and lost a winnable playoff game.  

 

The Bills have some real professionals on their roster and the past season's struggles will bring greater focus.