Next year, it’s our Lombardi.

[hondo in seattle]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Here is the Bills vs KC

2023 1-1 RS W14(R) W - 20-17; DP(H) L-24-27

2022 1-0 RS W6(R) W - 24-20

2021 1-1 RS W5(R) W - 38-20; DP(R) L 36-42

2020 0-2 RS W6(H) L - 17-26; CC(R) L-24-38

 

In the last 4 years we are 3-4 against the Chiefs 3-1 RS, 0-3 in the playoffs.  The point differential is -11 (stemming from getting blown out in the 2020 CC). Over the last 3 seasons, we are 3-2 with a +16 pt differential. 

 

No team is closer to the Chiefs level than us. With a little luck in the health department, we beat the KC this past season.  Add some astute additions by Beane plus a little luck in the health department this coming season, we will be the best team in the AFC.

 

I agree with your conclusion because I've made the same comparisons in my head.  

 

If our injury luck improves, we can close the gap.  But to overtake the Chiefs will require some skillful wheeling and dealing from Beane.  We have a lot of players becoming FAs and a lot of holes.  

 

In addition to a strong roster, though, you need three critical guys to lead a football team to the Super Bowl: a good GM; a good HC; and a good coordinator for the other side of the ball. 

 

The Chiefs have Veach, Reid, and Spags.  We have Beane, McD, and Brady.

 

I like our Big Three.  But theirs is better.  

[NewEra]

4 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

Does this same mindset apply only when we play the Chiefs? Because it sure as heck didn’t help when we lost to the Bengals last year. And most likely won’t when we face some other team next season. You HAVE TO be ready in the moment, regardless of the opponent….and under McD the Bills simply haven’t been. 

What are you even arguing against here?  Dude asked me why I had hope.  I answered him.  Wth are you even talking about? You hate McD.  Cool.  You don’t have to try and pick a fight with everyone that is accepting of things they cannot change.  
 

I’m a fan of the Buffalo bills. It’s my favorite pastime.  I like to carry hope into the offseason rather than crying on message boards about things that I have accepted. McD is our coach.  I’ve accepted that. I think that we played the champs down to the finals seconds after defeating them just a few weeks prior.  if our players had made a few more plays, we could have won.  Maybe if McD did some different things we could have won too.  I don’t think we’re that far away. 

 

As a fan, you can have hope or no hope.  Having no hope sucks.  Enjoy it

[KeLLy1278]

21 hours ago, Beast said:

Laugh all you ***** want.

 

The Bills and Bills Mafia will be celebrating our ever living asses off next February.

 

Just wait and see.

Gee thanks for letting us know.  I wasn’t sure but now I feel relieved.  On a serious note.. Cowboy fans are known for exactly this type of nonsense and I guess it has spilled into the Buffalo area and Bills fans.  So all of a sudden McDermott will coach better than Andy Reid?  You know that Josh Allen will have the ball last and Stefan Diggs will make a clutch catch when needed?  All of that is in effect for 2024?

[Another Fan]

Its going to be a long offseason me feels 

[Dr. Who]

1 hour ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I agree with your conclusion because I've made the same comparisons in my head.  

 

If our injury luck improves, we can close the gap.  But to overtake the Chiefs will require some skillful wheeling and dealing from Beane.  We have a lot of players becoming FAs and a lot of holes.  

 

In addition to a strong roster, though, you need three critical guys to lead a football team to the Super Bowl: a good GM; a good HC; and a good coordinator for the other side of the ball. 

 

The Chiefs have Veach, Reid, and Spags.  We have Beane, McD, and Brady.

 

I like our Big Three.  But theirs is better.  

I agree, but according to a lot of bitter souls on this board, it's Einstein vs. a hopeless Neanderthal.

We're good enough to beat them. Injury luck is beyond calculation. What we can do is get Josh a better WR room.

They have to draft well, and get younger on DL and at S. None of that is impossible, or even improbable.

[Solomon Grundy]

22 hours ago, Beast said:

Laugh all you ***** want.

 

The Bills and Bills Mafia will be celebrating our ever living asses off next February.

 

Just wait and see.

I'll voice my opinion after the draft

[JaCrispy]

22 hours ago, BuffaloBaumer said:

The Chiefs will be better and we will be worse. Our coaching is awful under pressure situations and coaching always wins the Super Bowls. I am actually very thankful that we did not make it to the Super Bowl this year because it would’ve been another terrible letdown. I think we will have a good shot at it year after next, though.

I actually said the same exact thing…I would rather lose in the 2nd round than in the superbowl…

 

People forget about divisional round losses…But Super Bowl losses are forever, and we would definitely lose if we ever went back again…

 

So I’m good just watching Josh rock out every week…What I don’t need is another superbowl loss…I’m good on that…😉

[Jim]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Coaching will improve.  McDermott improves every season, because he demands it of himself.

 

This has got to be a joke. The man literally lost us a game. He straight up lost it. We beat the Broncos if our head coach makes sure there are 11 men on the field. That's the kinda thing that would get a coach laughed out of the room. And he did it in his seventh year.

 

The only reason I think maybe he "learns" and makes some tough changes to his coaching is how thoroughly embarrassed he was by Ty Dunne's piece.

 

But regardless, this is a man who prides himself on his defense. And EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. his defense gets shredded in our elimination game. Why on earth should I expect he will get it done next year? He won't. And it'll be cuz Dorian Williams sprained his ankle. Or because Greg Rousseau had a wrist injury. Or whatever the *****. It'll just be more excuses as to why we lost 40-37 to CJ Stroud in a divisional round matchup in Orchard Park.

Edited February 13 by Jim

[PrimeTime101]

22 hours ago, Beast said:

Laugh all you ***** want.

 

The Bills and Bills Mafia will be celebrating our ever living asses off next February.

 

Just wait and see.

No disrespect Beast... I am just sick and tired of reading this at the end of every season. 

[zow2]

16 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

I actually said the same exact thing…I would rather lose in the 2nd round than in the superbowl…

 

People forget about divisional round losses…But Super Bowl losses are forever, and we would definitely lose if we ever went back again…

 

So I’m good just watching Josh rock out every week…What I don’t need is another superbowl loss…I’m good on that…😉

 

I’ve thought that since the mid-90’s.  Don’t want to be in it unless we have the team to win the thing.  I don’t think the Bills would’ve beaten Baltimore anyway. We didn’t have the D the Chiefs had. I have relatives from Baltimore and they agreed the Bass missed FG and Bills loss ultimately cost the Ravens a SB appearance.  

[Royale with Cheese]

23 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

It will never be our Lombardi. It's just the truth

 

"That's just the way it is"

- Cubs fans 1908-2016

[NewEra]

39 minutes ago, Jim said:

 

This has got to be a joke. The man literally lost us a game. He straight up lost it. We beat the Broncos if our head coach makes sure there are 11 men on the field. That's the kinda thing that would get a coach laughed out of the room. And he did it in his seventh year.

 

The only reason I think maybe he "learns" and makes some tough changes to his coaching is how thoroughly embarrassed he was by Ty Dunne's piece.

 

But regardless, this is a man who prides himself on his defense. And EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. his defense gets shredded in our elimination game. Why on earth should I expect he will get it done next year? He won't. And it'll be cuz Dorian Williams sprained his ankle. Or because Greg Rousseau had a wrist injury. Or whatever the *****. It'll just be more excuses as to why we lost 40-37 to CJ Stroud in a divisional round matchup in Orchard Park.

You’re talking about a regular season game.  He lost a regular season game…..so that means that he hasn’t improved?  
 

by the looks of it, you should find a different past time.  This might be too much for you to handle.  

[Inigo Montoya]

The Bills are going to be great next year!  (This is a recording...)

[ShakAttack]

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Exactly.

 

And the reason to be optimistic is that because the margin between how good the Chiefs (and a few other teams) are and how good the Bills are is so small only marginal improvement is necessary to be the best.   So, for example, would you rather be, today, the Bills or the Browns?   Would you rather be, today, the Bills or the Colts?  

 

Small improvement is all that's necessary.   McBeane aren't limiting their objectives to small improvements only - they'll go big every time it makes sense, like going after Miller.  But all they need is small improvement to be the best team in the league, small compared to how much improvement everyone else has to achieve to be the best.  

 

Think about the improvement that is reasonable to expect:  Player improvement:   Allen, Cook, Kincaid, Torrence, Bernard, Milano back, Benford, Rapp.  And, yes, the receiving corps will improve.  Coaching will improve.  McDermott improves every season, because he demands it of himself.  Brady is likely to improve (altho Dorsey didn't seem to).  Through film study, the offenses and defenses will be adjusted, everything will be worked on much will improve.  The whole point of McDermott's process is to create year-after-year improvement in all aspects of how the team functions.  

 

If I own the second or third or fourth best team in the league, I like where I am, because I know that my team has a better chance to become the best than 25 or 28 other teams.  I'm going to keep building on what I have. 

 

 

My only problem with this is it is exactly where we have been since "13 seconds" and it is where we still are now, so I'm at the point where I will believe it when I see it.

 

I made a post a couple weeks ago how I eventually took this loss just as hard as 13 seconds.  It was an unpopular take, understandably so.  Thing is, I didn't say this in the post, but I now realize the main reason for how I felt about the game is because after "13 seconds" happened, we were ITCHING to get another shot at the Chiefs.  There was no way in hell we were going to come up short again, right?  And yet we did, again, in the form of shooting ourselves in the foot, again, after being in the best possible position to leave our own stadium with a walk-off TD  (because if we had continued milking the clock en route to a TD, we probably make KC spend their last 2 time outs in the process, with very little time remaining and this time they would need a TD, not a FG).  

 

And after all that, after being in that position only for this to happen AGAIN, was a hell of a gut punch and I can't help but wonder why I should be optimistic next time around if we couldn't take advantage of an incredible opportunity this time... 

 

And trust me, on the surface, I feel like you, because I have to believe in the Bills, but deep down, this is the reality based on what I have been witnessing.

[Baba Booey]

22 hours ago, Jim said:

 

Why shouldn't we have a loser mentality? This the town that celebrates Scott Norwood and chants his name after he blows our greatest opportunity to win a Super Bowl? The town who shows up to the airport to greet our losers after they lose.

 

So yes, we have a shot every year and we blow it. We bring in nice guys with feel good stories and the one scumbag we bring in (Von) ends up being a ***** bust. Josh is wonderful, amazing, but his coach is a loser who was fired by one of the all time great winners.

 

Perhaps if the team wants to get serious about winning, we start by replacing cute stories like Damar Hamlin with actual players who can contribute. Damar seems like a wonderful man and it's beautiful that he is still alive and breathing. But pay him to be a brand ambassador or something. Don't snap the ball to him in a critical playoff moment. And while we're at it, if Tre White is brought back at his current deal then this, even more than Hamlin, shows that this is not a team who is committed to winning. If there is ANY way he comes back he needs to take a MAJOR pay cut or they can send his ass packing. Sucks that he got hurt, but he's being paid top of the line money and honestly the only Tre White play I remember from '21, '22 or '23 is him giving up one of those inexplicable catches to Garrett Wilson in the Jets game that resulted in a TD. But surely, Sean and Brandon "really believe in Tre and he's making great strides and he's a big part of this team," which means a severely compromised Tre should be back on the field by November 2024 and should probably start playing at a reasonable level by October 2025.

 

And if a player shows you who he is, like Tyler Bass, cut him yesterday. He totally showed his ass this postseason. Looked like an absolutely amateur when trying to lock-up the Pittsburgh game, and the less said about his big KC kick, the better. He doesn't "deserve another chance." He was a total drag on this team all postseason, and honestly I even question him on 13 seconds. I know he's "just a kicker" but was our entire sideline so braindead that nobody thought to ask that kicking the ball out of the end zone might not be the best course of action?

 

And speaking of that, McDermott's decision making really must be compromised. How did he look at what Sam Martin was doing the week before the KC playoff game and think that guy could punt? If it looked anything like the garbage we saw that night, McD needs his brain checked. The guy couldn't kick. And apparently his holding expertise wasn't needed with little Norwood Jr, cuz that ***** wasn't hitting the broadside of a barn in a clutch moment this postseason.

 

Or putting AJ Klein on Kelce? I thought McD was a defensive guru. I don't pretend to know football like he does, but I probably coulda told you that a recently retired, washed up, slow SOB was not a good choice to put on the best tight end in the game, but what do I know?

 

Next year we won't have 12 men on the field in a critical moment or play the sidelines against a team down three with three timeouts. Surely we won't have our all-world QB leave the field with a lead multiple times to lose to the absolute dregs of the league. We won't come within a hairs breadth of losing to Easton Stick. Von Miller is totally gonna show up. And Greg Rousseau will become a game changer. And Ed Oliver will show up in the playoffs.

 

Also don't forget....

 

  

 

Actually, no you're not. You're a loudmouth who doesn't show up when the big moment calls for it. At least not in Buffalo. But keep talkin' Stef. Maybe you can join your bro in Dallas soon.

Well said!! Cheers lad!!

[Jim]

40 minutes ago, NewEra said:

You’re talking about a regular season game.  He lost a regular season game…..so that means that he hasn’t improved?  
 

by the looks of it, you should find a different past time.  This might be too much for you to handle.  

 

Yes, he lost a regular season game because he couldn't count. A regular season game that very well could've kept us out of a playoff spot.

 

Also, where has he improved? Clock management? Did a hell of a job with that against KC in the divisional round, that's for sure. Whatever he's learned about getting the most out of his defense in the playoffs hasn't amounted to *****-all. Every time a McDermott defense encounters a QB better than Skyler Thompson or Mason Rudolph in the playoffs, they get absolutely lit the ***** up. On aggressiveness, sure, I'll give you that, he's seemed to get a bit ballsier, at least against Miami. He gave the ball to his best player and had him win it for us. Against KC, apparently he thought we were in a Disney movie and that Damar was gonna score a touchdown on the fake and that the team was gonna carry him off the field on their shoulders as people wept in the stands.

 

Seriously, McDermott thought our best course of action was to have Damar Hamlin run a fake punt. Don't put the ball in Josh Allen's hands, or even a player with some special talent. No, let's put it in career backup Damar Hamlin's hands cuz it woulda been such a beautiful moment.

 

By the looks of it, Sean should have to find a new job. It's definitely shown it is too much for him to handle.

Edited February 13 by Jim

[Freddie's Dead]

2 hours ago, Jim said:

 

This has got to be a joke. The man literally lost us a game. He straight up lost it. We beat the Broncos if our head coach makes sure there are 11 men on the field. That's the kinda thing that would get a coach laughed out of the room. And he did it in his seventh year.

 

The worst part of the Denver game was challenging the 9 yard completion on first down.  Idiotic decision that late in the game, when you needed the time out more than 9 yards.  He doesn't learn from his mistakes, he just keeps on making the same ones over and over.

[Bockeye]

As I watched Kelce and Mahomes brag about the chance to win 3 in a row, it occurred to me the huge opportunity the Bills have to make them weep next year when we knock them out. I can’t wait to see the sad look on their faces. 
 

Bills win SB in 2025 and 2026 and we are looking at 3 in a row!! 

[90sBills]

53 minutes ago, Bockeye said:

As I watched Kelce and Mahomes brag about the chance to win 3 in a row, it occurred to me the huge opportunity the Bills have to make them weep next year when we knock them out. I can’t wait to see the sad look on their faces. 
 

Bills win SB in 2025 and 2026 and we are looking at 3 in a row!! 

Kinda like the ‘huge opportunity’ the Bills had at home this year to ‘make them weep’ and not go back to back. 

[machine gun kelly]

On 2/11/2024 at 11:19 PM, Warcodered said:

I haven’t thought about the Goonies in 30 years.  Funny movie.  Chunk.  Baby Rooooth.

[stinky finger]

16 hours ago, NewEra said:

 

Josh Allen.  
 

Having the understanding that it’s possible to improve

 

knowing that it’s possible KC loses a piece or two of their puzzle. 

 

The belief that our offense will be better next season

 

What prompted you to have zero hope?

i wouldn’t say zero hope. I am still skeptical of our HC and the organization dedication to providing Josh with tools required to succeed.

 

Expecting KC to drop off doesn’t seem like a good plan. 

Edited February 13 by stinky finger

[cale]

If we don’t face KC in the playoffs and get to stay mostly at home next season, we win it all…That’s how good that other team is.

 

also our schedule next season is brutal. I’m not sure our injury reports are gonna look that much better.

[Buffalo03]

9 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

"That's just the way it is"

- Cubs fans 1908-2016

That's the truth. Only there will never be an ending year for the Bills

[Shaw66]

10 hours ago, BobBelcher said:

 

 

My only problem with this is it is exactly where we have been since "13 seconds" and it is where we still are now, so I'm at the point where I will believe it when I see it.

 

I made a post a couple weeks ago how I eventually took this loss just as hard as 13 seconds.  It was an unpopular take, understandably so.  Thing is, I didn't say this in the post, but I now realize the main reason for how I felt about the game is because after "13 seconds" happened, we were ITCHING to get another shot at the Chiefs.  There was no way in hell we were going to come up short again, right?  And yet we did, again, in the form of shooting ourselves in the foot, again, after being in the best possible position to leave our own stadium with a walk-off TD  (because if we had continued milking the clock en route to a TD, we probably make KC spend their last 2 time outs in the process, with very little time remaining and this time they would need a TD, not a FG).  

 

And after all that, after being in that position only for this to happen AGAIN, was a hell of a gut punch and I can't help but wonder why I should be optimistic next time around if we couldn't take advantage of an incredible opportunity this time... 

 

And trust me, on the surface, I feel like you, because I have to believe in the Bills, but deep down, this is the reality based on what I have been witnessing.

Thanks for this.

 

First, maybe I should go back and look at your other thread.  I never opened it simply because of the title - I didn't see the point in talking about your or my emotional reaction to two Chiefs games.  I like this explanation about your point there.  

 

I think the only difference between you and me is perspective.  I think the proper perspective is that the league often has periods where there is a dominant team.  The Niners were like that when they had Montana, Young, and Rice.  They didn't win every year, but there was a feeling, a little bit, of the inevitably of losing to them when you played them.  Then the Cowboys for a few years with Aikman and Smith.  And while the Niners and Cowboys were doing that, the Bills were right behind them - the whole AFC felt that same inevitability.  But the Bills were still just outside, knocking on the door.  Then we had 20 years of the Patriots, a remarkable run, and now the Chiefs are doing it.  Unfortunately, when the Bills finally got good and blew past the Pats, there were the Chiefs.  What's truly unfortunate is that the team to emerge as the top dog is in the AFC, so there's an unusually big challenge standing the way for the Bills.  The Bengals beat the Chiefs because the Bills had beaten up the Chiefs in the 13-second game.

 

I choose to look at what's happened from the NFL perspective, not the Bills' perspective.  From the NFL perspective, the Chiefs are the best team in the league.  Period.  No one beats them.  It's why Mahomes and Kelce kept talking about being the underdogs.   From their point of view, they were thinking, "Who are you kidding.  We're the best team in the league."  And they are.  

 

So, from my perspective, yes, of course, we can ask, "What's wrong with the Bills and how can they fix it?," but 30 other teams in the league are (mostly to a greater extent) asking the same thing.  The only difference between the Bills and most of those 30 others is that the Bills are a lot closer to being able to answer that question.   

 

The Bills are in the same position the Manning Colts were in trying to get past the Patriots.   The same position the 1950s Dodgers were in facing the Yankees in the World Series every year.  

 

Yes, the Bills have to get better, and yes, we want them to have a period of domination like the Chiefs are having now.  That would be great.  But it may just be the case that the Chiefs, like the Pats and the Yankees, always will be one step ahead, and the best the best challenger can do is break through one year, win one championship, and be satisfied with that.  

 

Now, people will say I'm a loser and I'm giving the Bills a pass, and I'm satisfied just with making the playoffs.   That's not what I'm saying.  What I'm saying is that Bills are very good - the Bills are date the Chiefs circle on the calendar every year, but that simply is very difficult to improve enough to get over a very high bar:  Beating a generationally good team.  The Colts kept losing to the Pats in different ways, and the Bills are losing to the Chiefs in different ways.  

 

(In fact, and this is not my point, but it is interesting, that Brady was the GOAT and Peyton, top-five all time, kept losing to him, and now Allen, who himself may end up top-five all time, keeps losing to Mahomes, whom people are starting to compare to Brady.)   

 

So, yeah, I really hate losing in various ugly fashions to the Chiefs, but the reality is the Bills were 13 seconds away from beating them once in the playoffs, and a Josh Allen step away from beating them last month in the playoffs, and there is no other team in the league that has played the Chiefs that tough consistently.  And, yeah, there are things that the Bills could have done better to beat the Chiefs, and yeah, the Bills need to get better to achieve their goals.  All of that.  But that doesn't mean the Bills should change coaches or change GMs.  The only reason the Niners haven't lost more to the Chiefs is that they play in the other conference, and the two chances Shanahan had, in the Super Bowl, he lost.   Shanahan and McDermott are the only two coaches who have gotten their teams close to beating the Chiefs, and the fact that they haven't won is more a commentary on the Chiefs than on them.  

 

The Bills aren't losers.   The Chiefs are winners.  McDermott has his team knocking the door.  The Bills know it, and the Chiefs know it.   The way I look at it, of all the situations I can find my team in, the Bills are in the second best.  They aren't hopeless losers, they aren't .500, hoping stick their noses under the playoff tent.  They are a team that pretty much everyone who knows football understands to be on the very best teams in the league, with a quarterback who is well on his way to the Hall of Fame.   I love being in this situation, and I want - oh, I want it so badly! - for the Bills to be the best in the league.  They aren't quite there, but they're knocking on the door.  Next year may be the year they blow down the door burst into the hall of champions.  

 

In short, without putting words in your mouth, your perspective is that something is wrong with the Bills and they can't do it better.  My perspective is that the Bills are very good and just haven't been able to beat the dominant team of the era.  It's just another step for the Bills to become the new dominant team, and 2024 is their next chance to do it. 

[colin]

23 hours ago, SCBills said:

Bills need a radical makeover this off-season.  Just rip the band-aid off, get younger and hope we crush the draft. 

 

We're not getting over the hump running it back with most of these guys. 

 

It's bad enough McDermott is leading us into '24, can't have the same guys around Allen that haven't stepped up when it matters for years now.  

 

If there was any way to trade Diggs I would.. that's the level of change I want to see.  

 

Watching players up and down the line step up in the Playoffs every year for Kansas City while our guys, for the most part, do the opposite.  We need radical change, not a tinkering. 

 

getting out of the diggs contract and maybe getting any kind of value for him (dallas trade?  just my imagination) would be a coup

 

we need to hit on at least 1 wr in the draft, and restock the DL and safeties with el cheapo fas and rookies.  

 

ideally we have diggs return to 2020 form and draft a rookie, but im wondering if he's long for this team.

[Drew21PA]

Too depressed to even be optimistic 

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

11 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Thanks for this.

 

First, maybe I should go back and look at your other thread.  I never opened it simply because of the title - I didn't see the point in talking about your or my emotional reaction to two Chiefs games.  I like this explanation about your point there.  

 

I think the only difference between you and me is perspective.  I think the proper perspective is that the league often has periods where there is a dominant team.  The Niners were like that when they had Montana, Young, and Rice.  They didn't win every year, but there was a feeling, a little bit, of the inevitably of losing to them when you played them.  Then the Cowboys for a few years with Aikman and Smith.  And while the Niners and Cowboys were doing that, the Bills were right behind them - the whole AFC felt that same inevitability.  But the Bills were still just outside, knocking on the door.  Then we had 20 years of the Patriots, a remarkable run, and now the Chiefs are doing it.  Unfortunately, when the Bills finally got good and blew past the Pats, there were the Chiefs.  What's truly unfortunate is that the team to emerge as the top dog is in the AFC, so there's an unusually big challenge standing the way for the Bills.  The Bengals beat the Chiefs because the Bills had beaten up the Chiefs in the 13-second game.

 

I choose to look at what's happened from the NFL perspective, not the Bills' perspective.  From the NFL perspective, the Chiefs are the best team in the league.  Period.  No one beats them.  It's why Mahomes and Kelce kept talking about being the underdogs.   From their point of view, they were thinking, "Who are you kidding.  We're the best team in the league."  And they are.  

 

So, from my perspective, yes, of course, we can ask, "What's wrong with the Bills and how can they fix it?," but 30 other teams in the league are (mostly to a greater extent) asking the same thing.  The only difference between the Bills and most of those 30 others is that the Bills are a lot closer to being able to answer that question.   

 

The Bills are in the same position the Manning Colts were in trying to get past the Patriots.   The same position the 1950s Dodgers were in facing the Yankees in the World Series every year.  

 

Yes, the Bills have to get better, and yes, we want them to have a period of domination like the Chiefs are having now.  That would be great.  But it may just be the case that the Chiefs, like the Pats and the Yankees, always will be one step ahead, and the best the best challenger can do is break through one year, win one championship, and be satisfied with that.  

 

Now, people will say I'm a loser and I'm giving the Bills a pass, and I'm satisfied just with making the playoffs.   That's not what I'm saying.  What I'm saying is that Bills are very good - the Bills are date the Chiefs circle on the calendar every year, but that simply is very difficult to improve enough to get over a very high bar:  Beating a generationally good team.  The Colts kept losing to the Pats in different ways, and the Bills are losing to the Chiefs in different ways.  

 

(In fact, and this is not my point, but it is interesting, that Brady was the GOAT and Peyton, top-five all time, kept losing to him, and now Allen, who himself may end up top-five all time, keeps losing to Mahomes, whom people are starting to compare to Brady.)   

 

So, yeah, I really hate losing in various ugly fashions to the Chiefs, but the reality is the Bills were 13 seconds away from beating them once in the playoffs, and a Josh Allen step away from beating them last month in the playoffs, and there is no other team in the league that has played the Chiefs that tough consistently.  And, yeah, there are things that the Bills could have done better to beat the Chiefs, and yeah, the Bills need to get better to achieve their goals.  All of that.  But that doesn't mean the Bills should change coaches or change GMs.  The only reason the Niners haven't lost more to the Chiefs is that they play in the other conference, and the two chances Shanahan had, in the Super Bowl, he lost.   Shanahan and McDermott are the only two coaches who have gotten their teams close to beating the Chiefs, and the fact that they haven't won is more a commentary on the Chiefs than on them.  

 

The Bills aren't losers.   The Chiefs are winners.  McDermott has his team knocking the door.  The Bills know it, and the Chiefs know it.   The way I look at it, of all the situations I can find my team in, the Bills are in the second best.  They aren't hopeless losers, they aren't .500, hoping stick their noses under the playoff tent.  They are a team that pretty much everyone who knows football understands to be on the very best teams in the league, with a quarterback who is well on his way to the Hall of Fame.   I love being in this situation, and I want - oh, I want it so badly! - for the Bills to be the best in the league.  They aren't quite there, but they're knocking on the door.  Next year may be the year they blow down the door burst into the hall of champions.  

 

In short, without putting words in your mouth, your perspective is that something is wrong with the Bills and they can't do it better.  My perspective is that the Bills are very good and just haven't been able to beat the dominant team of the era.  It's just another step for the Bills to become the new dominant team, and 2024 is their next chance to do it. 

Shaw….the problem isn’t one of personnel or the team being ‘good’, ‘bad’, or ‘not good enough’. You get ONE chance at the very end of the year, in the final quarter of the final game, and this version of the Bills has choked every year. Until this team (including the coaching staff) can learn to slow their heads and their heart rates down when everything’s on the line, we’ll see the exact same results. Unfortunately we and they have to wait eleven months to see if they’ve learned how. 

 

While I like the Colts analogy I cannot recall whether they were similarly afflicted during the Manning years. 

[Warcodered]

7 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

I haven’t thought about the Goonies in 30 years.  Funny movie.  Chunk.  Baby Rooooth.

Great cast the hobbit that actually saved Middle Earth and Thanos.

[Shaw66]

6 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Shaw….the problem isn’t one of personnel or the team being ‘good’, ‘bad’, or ‘not good enough’. You get ONE chance at the very end of the year, in the final quarter of the final game, and this version of the Bills has choked every year. Until this team (including the coaching staff) can learn to slow their heads and their heart rates down when everything’s on the line, we’ll see the exact same results. Unfortunately we and they have to wait eleven months to see if they’ve learned how. 

 

While I like the Colts analogy I cannot recall whether they were similarly afflicted during the Manning years. 

It's not "this" version of the Bills.  It was "those" versions of the Bills.  It's a different team every year.

 

But my point was that EVERY team "chokes" against the Chiefs.   The Bills, in fact, "choke" a little less than all the other teams, because (1) they get closer than everyone else who "chokes," and (2) they actually beat the Chiefs in the regular season.  

 

One or two things have to happen for the Bills to win the Super Bowl.  The Bills have to get a little better and/or the Chiefs have to get a little worse.  The Bills are working very hard on their piece of the puzzle, and they don't need to do a lot to get better and win it all.  

[Royale with Cheese]

2 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

That's the truth. Only there will never be an ending year for the Bills

 

Is this one of those oxymoron types of things?

[Sweats]

Here's my way of thinking....

 

The Bengals are basically the only team in the league that can beat KC consistently. They're proven it time and again.

In a copy cat league where teams are trying to emulate, grow and expand their playbooks with different calls, routes, whatever, by watching and learning from other teams, why, oh why are we not trying to copy the system devised by the Bengals against the Chiefs, that we know works?

 

We're not trying to re-invent the wheel here....use the system that has been created by the Bengals and run with it.

[zow2]

On FS1,  Keyshawn and Richard Sherman are baffled that the Bills have the #4 Super Bowl odds for next season.  They can't believe it and are both laughing.  Skip thinks if the D is healthy the Bills are still a threat.  

 

[stinky finger]

15 hours ago, Dr. Who said:

I agree, but according to a lot of bitter souls on this board, it's Einstein vs. a hopeless Neanderthal.

We're good enough to beat them. Injury luck is beyond calculation. What we can do is get Josh a better WR room.

They have to draft well, and get younger on DL and at S. None of that is impossible, or even improbable.

Full stop after first sentence. If the remedy is as easy as you make it out to be, then we have the wrong people at the helm. 

16 hours ago, NewEra said:

What are you even arguing against here?  Dude asked me why I had hope.  I answered him.  Wth are you even talking about? You hate McD.  Cool.  You don’t have to try and pick a fight with everyone that is accepting of things they cannot change.  
 

I’m a fan of the Buffalo bills. It’s my favorite pastime.  I like to carry hope into the offseason rather than crying on message boards about things that I have accepted. McD is our coach.  I’ve accepted that. I think that we played the champs down to the finals seconds after defeating them just a few weeks prior.  if our players had made a few more plays, we could have won.  Maybe if McD did some different things we could have won too.  I don’t think we’re that far away. 

 

As a fan, you can have hope or no hope.  Having no hope sucks.  Enjoy it

Your “anything is possible” plan doesn’t seem bullet proof. 
 

But….we can hope. 

[SoMAn]

On 2/11/2024 at 11:13 PM, Beast said:

Laugh all you ***** want.

 

The Bills and Bills Mafia will be celebrating our ever living asses off next February.

 

Just wait and see.

Ok Linus.

[ALLinALLEN]

2 hours ago, Sweats said:

Here's my way of thinking....

 

The Bengals are basically the only team in the league that can beat KC consistently. They're proven it time and again.

In a copy cat league where teams are trying to emulate, grow and expand their playbooks with different calls, routes, whatever, by watching and learning from other teams, why, oh why are we not trying to copy the system devised by the Bengals against the Chiefs, that we know works?

 

We're not trying to re-invent the wheel here....use the system that has been created by the Bengals and run with it.

 

The Bengals and Bills are both 3-2 in their last 5 games against the Chiefs. I wouldn't say they are the "Blueprint to beat KC".

[Mr. WEO]

My name is Sean McDermott, and I approve of this thread.

 

[Process]

2 hours ago, zow2 said:

On FS1,  Keyshawn and Richard Sherman are baffled that the Bills have the #4 Super Bowl odds for next season.  They can't believe it and are both laughing.  Skip thinks if the D is healthy the Bills are still a threat.  

 

Let me guess no comments from them on playoff Lamar being #3?

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

On 2/11/2024 at 11:13 PM, Beast said:

Laugh all you ***** want.

 

The Bills and Bills Mafia will be celebrating our ever living asses off next February.

 

Just wait and see.

Totally understand the positivity and die hard fandom, but these are the types of posts that add nothing to the conversation and make the Bills Mafia group on Facebook virtually unreadable 

[zow2]

9 minutes ago, Process said:

Let me guess no comments from them on playoff Lamar being #3?

 

No they think the two time MVP is going to slay the Chiefs and win it all.  Because Lamar is amazing ya know.

[Shaw66]

34 minutes ago, ALLinALLEN said:

 

The Bengals and Bills are both 3-2 in their last 5 games against the Chiefs. I wouldn't say they are the "Blueprint to beat KC".

Yes.  And the "blueprint" is to have two standout #1 wide receivers, which is not sustainable.  They were able to do it on Burrow's rookie contract, but those days are over.