Isn't This Game the Ultimate Referendum on Beane?

[Eastport bills]

Beane has put together a competitive roster with a few questionable signings( Miller at 33,  Saffold, Ford, Phillips). The effort in the last 6 games has elevated this team in the context of being one of the best teams in the conference. Brady has put together better game plans and unpredictable play calling. Cook, Shakir, Kincaid and Johnson have become really productive pieces in a Josh led offense. With Jones back and Eddie playing great football our front has been dominant and disruptive. Bernard and Dodson have played well and Douglas has been a great addition. With veterans Hyde and Poyer providing great leadership, Beane’s roster construction can’t be questioned. He has to be given credit for bringing Brady,Douglas and Joseph in mid season. Regardless of the outcome, I have gained much respect for Beane and his impact on this team that played inspired football to save their season.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

 

If you say so.

 

Why are some fans so enamored with firing people? I suggest reading some TBD archives from around 2015 the next time you feel pouty about these Bills.

Edited January 19 by PromoTheRobot

[Logic]

20 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Beane is a very good GM. McDermott is a very good HC… there are no trophies for losing in the divisional playoff round or less year after year… you’re ok with that…. But reality is at some point they got to get it done(it being at least getting to a SB) as elite Josh Allen will begin to decline…. Sunday is as best a shot they will get against KC considering this isn’t the KC of the past… and I guarantee you KC won’t ever have this ***** a skills group around Mahomes again. 

Every trick possible?… they had one game where defensive injuries hit against a mediocre football team in Pittsburgh(below average offense with a third string QB)… minus London the defense has been healthy mostly all season. 

There's the "glass half full" vs "glass half empty" thing again.

Sunday is "as best a shot as [the Bills] will get against KC", yet you go on to say "I guarantee you KC won't ever have this ***** a skills group around Mahomes again.

But what about the Bills? Maybe the Bills will never have this poor of a WR group around Allen again. Maybe the Bills will never have this injury-depleted a defense heading into a playoff matchup with KC again. 

My point is that you seem to be viewing the Bills as being in their "this is the best shot the Bills will get" window, but why? Why does that thinking apply to Buffalo and not KC? Why do you go on to say that KC will assuredly be getting better around Mahomes in the future, but not apply the same assumption to the Bills, that they may be getting better around Josh Allen in the future?

I fully agree that it's a huge game for the Bills, a "put up or shut up" moment, a legacy game, an opportunity to stake their claim to history. All of that. But this idea that people have that it's "now or never" for Buffalo, as if they're not gonna continue to be good under McDermott and Allen, as if they're not gonna have a bunch more cracks at it, as if only OTHER teams get better, while the Bills will only get worse and older. I just don't buy into it.

Huge game this Sunday. HUGE game. But if the Bills don't win? Life doesn't end. They'll line up next season with a 28 year old Josh Allen under center and a top 10 NFL roster and once again be on the short list of Super Bowl favorites. Enough with the "this year or no year" stuff, in my opinion. It's overblown.

 

Edited January 19 by Logic

[Rigotz]

The Bills beat the Chiefs 3 out of the last 4 times they played each other. All on the road.

 

In the one loss, the Bills scored a TD to go ahead with 13 seconds left.

 

If Beane hasn't proven to you yet that he built a team that can beat the Chiefs, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Will stupid fans panic if the Bills lose Sunday and say we'll never beat the Chiefs along with other needless, dramatic, crybaby statements? Yes.

 

 

Edited January 19 by Rigotz

[ProcessTruster]

4 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

We are only in this game because of Beane.  Period.  

[John from Riverside]

If you don’t already think that Brandon Bean has not done a good job, putting together this roster, then nothing will convince you
 

You can’t sit there and blame him for a loss if we’re playing back ups in a playoff game

[Logic]

6 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Of course life doesn’t end. It’s a football game.😅…. The conference is as weak as it’s ever been and this is as good an opportunity as they’ll get…..those assuming Josh is just going to perform at this level for the next 10 or even 5 years are being naive considering his style of play.
 

With every blown opportunity and playoff loss without a SB win, the confidence in this regime to get it done also diminishes IMO. You can think otherwise if you’d like. 

You just keep doing it. You can't even SEE that you're doing it. 

How do you know, Scott? How do you know that this is as good an opportunity as they'll ever get? How do you know they won't go 15-2 next season, get the 1-seed and a bye, then face the Texans and Browns en route to a Super Bowl?

You're convinced that if they don't do it this year, they likely never will. I'm not. That's fine. Like I said four posts ago, we can agree to disagree.

 

[Big Turk]

Not really. 

[TH3]

5 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

You….probably 28 +/- owners and fan bases around the league would love to referendum themselves into Mcbeane and the Bills roster…..And yet here we are….

[In Summary]

Referendum on trainers and medical staff. 

[JohnNord]

5 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

Everyone seems to be roasting you for your opinion here but in a lot of ways you are correct.  After the AFCCG and 13 seconds it was clear the Bills were built to beat the Chiefs.
 

If fact the criticism from last season was that the Bills were too focused on KC and didn’t think of how they matched up with the rest of the teams in the conference (ie Cincinnati).

 

Under Beane Buffalo have invested significant draft capital and resources in boosting a defensive line with the idea of pressuring with 4 and letting the rest play coverage.  This is typically how you beat Mahomes, especially given his lack of weapons this season.

 

Of course, a bruiser like Pacheco adds another wrinkle to the offense.  
 

But yeah if the Bills win the DL is going to be a part of that equation.  

[JohnNord]

1 hour ago, Logic said:

There's the "glass half full" vs "glass half empty" thing again.

Sunday is "as best a shot as [the Bills] will get against KC", yet you go on to say "I guarantee you KC won't ever have this ***** a skills group around Mahomes again.

But what about the Bills? Maybe the Bills will never have this poor of a WR group around Allen again. Maybe the Bills will never have this injury-depleted a defense heading into a playoff matchup with KC again. 

My point is that you seem to be viewing the Bills as being in their "this is the best shot the Bills will get" window, but why? Why does that thinking apply to Buffalo and not KC? Why do you go on to say that KC will assuredly be getting better around Mahomes in the future, but not apply the same assumption to the Bills, that they may be getting better around Josh Allen in the future?

I fully agree that it's a huge game for the Bills, a "put up or shut up" moment, a legacy game, an opportunity to stake their claim to history. All of that. But this idea that people have that it's "now or never" for Buffalo, as if they're not gonna continue to be good under McDermott and Allen, as if they're not gonna have a bunch more cracks at it, as if only OTHER teams get better, while the Bills will only get worse and older. I just don't buy into it.

Huge game this Sunday. HUGE game. But if the Bills don't win? Life doesn't end. They'll line up next season with a 28 year old Josh Allen under center and a top 10 NFL roster and once again be on the short list of Super Bowl favorites. Enough with the "this year or no year" stuff, in my opinion. It's overblown.

 

This is a good point.   Remember the takes in here when the Bills were 6-6 and weren’t going to make the playoffs.  Everyone had predicted things would spiral downward because there was no way the Bills could beat KC, Dallas, and Miami.   People took the annoying Ty Dunne narrative that 13 seconds was their the last chance. BS.  Here were are 6 weeks later with another big opportunity.

 

It just goes to show that you can’t predict the future.  Unexpected things happen in football all of the time.  Best we can do is to sit back and enjoy the ride and let the idiots on TV try to predict the future

[BringBackFergy]

No

[Rich Stadium Original]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

If you say so.

 

Why are some fans so enamored with firing people? I suggest reading some TBD archives from around 2015 the next time you feel pouty about these Bills.

Think you are missing the point...this isn't about firing anyone. The point I tried to make is that while trying to built a successful roster among many player positions, I think it obvious based on draft choices and free agency that Bean put particular emphasis in defensive line and edge rushing.

  The Bills may win, the Bills may lose because that cant overcome injuries elsewhere. But what will be particularly interesting is that he has his relatively healthy D-line in place in a home game. 

How successful will the folks be that he put particular emphasis on?

[BillsFanForever19]

7 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

 

Yeah, I don't know how being down maybe the best true Outside Linebacker in the NFL, going from a top level performing MLB to a journeyman fresh off the couch, and having only 1 of our 2 starting Outside CB's, banged up if he even plays at all, "shouldn't make a difference".

 

We have the QB and the weapons. If we lose, it will be due to the Defense not being in good enough shape to stop Mahomes and our Offense not running on all cylinders enough to keep up.

 

Beane has assembled the team. It just comes down to them executing at the right time.

Edited January 20 by BillsFanForever19

[Charles Romes]

The Bills are one of only two teams to be in the final 8 each of the last four years, and only four teams have made the final 8 at least three of the last four years. 

[BillsFanForever19]

36 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

The drop off from Benford to Dane is not substantial at all…. Just makes them thin in case anyone else goes down. But yea.... people seem to forget the Bengals were missing three starting offensive linemen last year when they absolutely steam rolled us on defense.

 

I think it's more substantial than you're giving credit for. Sure, Dane did well on Monday in Benford's relief, but defending Mahomes is a different story. 

 

And I forgot to mention going from Bernard to Klein. It's highly unlikely he suits up.

 

Luckily, we have Dodson coming back and will likely have Douglas and Johnson. But to say it "shouldn't make a difference" that we don't have Milano, Bernard, and Benford against a Super Bowl champion personnel is downplaying things.

[BillsFanForever19]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

Sounds like Bernard is leaning towards playing and Dane is as good a depth CB in this defensive system as it gets…. And against these KC WRs? I like my chances. 

 

I'm really hoping he does. But logically I just see it going the same way as Douglas last week. DNP all week in Practice, given a Questionable designation - hoping beyond hope he makes a miraculous recovery by game time - only to be Inactive.

 

On one hand, there's the thought process that the season is on the line and desperate times call for desperate measures. On the other, there's a chance that if they push him too hard, he could be lost for the Championship games if we win.

[rafter]

The way the defense has held together with all the injuries proves Beane is one of the best in the business. Our depth is fantastic.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

Think you are missing the point...this isn't about firing anyone. The point I tried to make is that while trying to built a successful roster among many player positions, I think it obvious based on draft choices and free agency that Bean put particular emphasis in defensive line and edge rushing.

  The Bills may win, the Bills may lose because that cant overcome injuries elsewhere. But what will be particularly interesting is that he has his relatively healthy D-line in place in a home game. 

How successful will the folks be that he put particular emphasis on?

 

When I see the word referendum, I take it as a thumbs-up/thumbs-down on the regime. Outside of the Polian Super Bowl years, I can't think of a better time for the Bills front office. That doesn't mean victory is assured. Too many variables in football. 

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

Nick Wright did bring up a point that’s been raised several times on this board…. Are we the Marty/Norv Chargers if we lose this game on Sunday?… the similarities are strong.

 

Are they? Are these Bills and those Chargers built the same way? Coached the same way? How many favorable/unfavorable calls did each team receive? What teams did they lose to? History may repeat but never in the same way. 

[Aussie Joe]

38 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Nick Wright did bring up a point that’s been raised several times on this board…. Are we the Marty/Norv Chargers if we lose this game on Sunday?… the similarities are strong.

Nick Wright is wrong a lot … this time last week he said Dallas was going to win the NFC…

 

The Bills have got to win the next three games to change narratives …likely against the three other best teams in the competition…if they beat the Chiefs but lose to the Ravens (or Texans ) then it doesnt mean a lot really… the narratives will stay the same …

 

 But will their lack of success  in respect of winning the SB be Beane’s fault ? … nah…

 

 

Edited January 20 by Aussie Joe

[Since1981]

Final 8, on a 2H huge upswing

 

major mgt changes make Zero sense. 

Edited January 20 by Since1981

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

A single game just can't be a final referendum.  It's a single elimination tournament with a bouncy egg ball.  It's imperative that decision makers do things based on bodies of work.

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Nick Wright did bring up a point that’s been raised several times on this board…. Are we the Marty/Norv Chargers if we lose this game on Sunday?… the similarities are strong.

 

No. Next question.

1 hour ago, SageAgainstTheMachine said:

A single game just can't be a final referendum.  It's a single elimination tournament with a bouncy egg ball.  It's imperative that decision makers do things based on bodies of work.

 

100%. 

[Governor]

6 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Nick Wright did bring up a point that’s been raised several times on this board…. Are we the Marty/Norv Chargers if we lose this game on Sunday?… the similarities are strong.

I would say so but I think the Colts may be a better comparison. I don’t think we’re quite in Norv territory yet. You could set your watch to those meltdowns.

 

We would become….

 

The Bills are in it again? Oh jeez.

 

Was Nick Wright even alive yet for Marty? I doubt he was old enough to truly understand how  the nation felt about those teams at the time.

 

One thing I will say. No one on the street thought those Chargers teams were winning anything ever so although the records are similar, the situation is quite different. There aren’t mobs of people out there guaranteeing a Bills loss. Calling us the Chargers right now is a total slap to the face.

 

 

Edited January 20 by Governor

[NewEra]

14 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

Looks like the masses agree with your take!

[JerseyBills]

15 hours ago, Success said:

I don't think so.  I said before the season that this is the best roster Beane has put together - and I still think that's true.

 

But we've been hit harder than most with injuries this year, and certainly much harder than our opponent Sunday.

 

People can call that an "excuse" if we lose and it's brought up.  It's just reality. How can we judge someone for the roster construction when at least a third of the starting roster is out?

On the flip side we're 1 of the only teams to start the same OL everey game but I agree and def the best roster in the McBeane era

[Donuts and Doritos]

Can't ignore the injuries. If Johnson & Bernard can't go we'll be missing the key coverage pieces for the middle of the field. Won't matter how good our pass rush is, Mahomes will be able to neutralize it w/ quick passes to the middle. It's a team sport. You can't ignore a significant # of injuries to the back 7 and say well if the pass rush doesn't win w/out them then Beane's a failure. That's not how football works.

[GunnerBill]

10 minutes ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Can't ignore the injuries. If Johnson & Bernard can't go we'll be missing the key coverage pieces for the middle of the field. Won't matter how good our pass rush is, Mahomes will be able to neutralize it w/ quick passes to the middle. It's a team sport. You can't ignore a significant # of injuries to the back 7 and say well if the pass rush doesn't win w/out them then Beane's a failure. That's not how football works.

 

Correct it is much more complicated than many wish.

[Simon]

11 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

Nick Wright did bring up a point.........

 

This explains so much.

The fact that you actually know what trolls and clickwhores are saying, and are then eager to come here and repeat it provides a ton of insight into why you've been such a terrible fit here.

[Chandler#81]

19 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

They haven’t been hit harder with most with injuries… they lost Milano/Jones/White early. Replaced White with Douglas, Jones is back and only Milano is out for the year…. They are certainly banged up going into Sunday but more than most? No way…. This is the roster McBeane put together. A loss Sunday is still a failure season despite them coming back from the dead IMO. 

The goal was and has been SB though. It was never about making the playoffs. Coming up short again is a failure… losing out in the divisional game again is just another blown opportunity(as yet another AFC team possibly emerges better than Buffalo in Houston).

So, you’re saying Beane is great then.

[T master]

19 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

 

The 90's teams were built as close to being a perfectly dominate team as they could went to 4 SB's & didn't win so as they say any given sunday !

 

Like Tasker says on 1 Bills Live they have to execute better than the Chiefs on that day & if they don't they won't win . If the Bills aren't hitting on at least 7 1/2 cylinders & the Chiefs are hitting on 8 that's all it might take but the Chiefs haven't been & i truly think the Bills should win this game .

 

It only takes 1 or 2 plays to the good or the bad to change the out come of the game but when you have JA 17 at the helm he can be the 1 that makes up for some of those miscues .

 

But it is Mahomes & Reid or as some here call them the big bad boogey man of the AFC & until the Bills beat the best they can't become the best !! 

 

GO BILLS !!!! 

[GunnerBill]

16 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

 

They basically mirror their PPG, PPGA, regular season record and similar playoff record…

 

When we lose to Chad Pennington and the Sanchize come back to me.

[Locomark]

19 hours ago, Logic said:

Respectfully, I would suggest that this whole season has been a referendum on Brandon Beane.

The Bills likely don't get to the playoffs without the contributions of Cook (drafted), Torrence (drafted), McGovern (FA), Brown (drafted), Kincaid (drafted), Shakir (drafted), Bernard (drafted), Oliver (drafted, re-signed), Floyd (FA), Douglas (trade), etc. 

Add in the "next man up" contributions of guys like Dane Jackson and AJ Klein and Baylon Spector and Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield in recent weeks, and it equals an impressive roster with impressive depth, built by Branodn Beane.

I get what you're saying. Playoff games against the Chiefs will always be measuring stick games. But the fact that the Bills are even IN this position is a testament to the roster-building of Brandon Beane.

Beane is the opposite of the Sabres GM. He is constantly supplanting and tinkering with the roster and its depth instead of just using draft picks to build a team. That is why the 2 have polar opposite results.

 

Anyone wanting to fire Beane or McD after a loss just needs to direct their anger elsewhere IMO. 

[Simon]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

It’s a comparison that has been brought up here before.

 

People compare you to Nick Wright?

Yeah, I guess I could see that.

[Simon]

6 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Same nose, less hair. 

 

No wonder you're so ******* cranky....

[dollars 2 donuts]

More a referendum on a dome. 
 

No one can convince me that the weather and field conditions didn’t at least play a small part in some of the damage to our guys. 

[GunnerBill]

21 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Not sure they lost to Penninngton(who was a good QB before his arm went dead) but yea they lost to Sanchez in the playoffs….as did Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

 

They did.

[Beck Water]

20 hours ago, Rich Stadium Original said:

It was obvious a number of years ago Mahommes and the Chiefs were going to be the team to beat in the AFC for years to come.

Beane set out to mold his team as the one that could beat the big Boogeyman Mahommes through an effective pass rush.

 Yes Beane has picked up some great position players along the way, but its obvious with Rousseau, Epenesa, Basham (now departed), Von (I'm back to 100%) Miller, Floyd (and others) where he placed his personnel concentration. 

  Now he has a home game, with all these guys relatively healthy going up against some fairly average offensive tackles. 

  Yes, the secondary and linebacking corps is fairly beat up...but if Beane did his due diligence,  it shouldn't make a difference if they can dominate.

 We will know by midnight on Sunday.

 

Um.  What has to happen in order for an effective pass rush to get home?

 

Think about it.

[Governor]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

No one ever thought the Chargers were winning anything ever? They had the 3rd best preseason odds to win the SB in 2007 and 2008… the Bills are approaching that territory of “oh the Bills are in it again, well we all know how that ends” much like those Chargers teams. 

They basically mirror their PPG, PPGA, regular season record and similar playoff record…

Right but you chose 3 or 4 years out of 20 years they choked. When someone says Chargers, I think Stan Humphries, Flutie, etc. I think back to 1994-95. So that’s why I’m hesitant to call them the Chargers at this moment. Lol

Edited January 20 by Governor