Is run defense really the problem behind no super bowl with Josh?

[GunnerBill]

8 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

I wish you had a "maybe" option for us moderates

 

LOL

 

Seriously, I would say the run defense has a been a problem indirectly.  A week off and homefield advantage are huge in the playoffs.

 

Every season seems like, the Bills had 2-3 games where they just got run over - I'm talking giving up more than 200 rush yards or close, or sometimes having an 80% successful run D but giving up 2-3 Yuge runs.  And they lost.

 

Hypothetically, if the Bills won those games, they could have had that precious extra week of rest and played at home.  And those could have been difference makers.

 

Yea agree with this. Run defense hasn't been the reason we haven't won specific playoff game X but our occasional run game collapses in season might be a reason we haven't progressed further in the playoffs. 

[thenorthremembers]

Blaming losses on one side of the ball is tone deaf.   They havent moved on for a variety of reasons, and every year its something new and heartbreaking.   

 

2019- Sugar High Josh

2020- Pass rush

2021- Bad coaching and a coin toss

2022- Team was cooked.  No run game. Diggs didnt show up.

2023- Pass game was poor.  Pass rush was bad. Diggs didnt show up.  Kicker sucks.

2024- No weapons in the pass game.  Special teams gave up a big return. Josh doesnt set the line well enough to stop a blitz.

2025- No outside wr threat.  Poor offensive line play.   Poor secondary play.   Cooks gives up on a ball/awful call.  

[BuffaloBill]

15 hours ago, Gregg said:

It's the defense as a whole that is the problem. Mostly against Mahomes and Burrow in that one playoff game. I would say our lack of pass rush is the biggest reason more so than the run defense. 

 

The NFL is now a pass first league so why is there so much attention on stopping the run? The Bills abysmal lack of pass rush and possibly poor defensive coaching at the most key moments (13 seconds anyone?) against the pass is what has cost the Bills. 

[Freddie's Dead]

The failure to get Josh weapons is what cost us.   I've had enough of drafting defense.

[Thurman#1]

No, lack of a pass rush.

 

And the Kansas City Chiefs on offense and defense.

 

And last year at Denver those two offensive turnovers that gifted Denver with two field goals with just about zero defensive responsibility on those drives. We would have won 30 - 24 in regulation without those two Denver FGs, and both were all on our offense.

 

It didn't help, mind you, our bad rush defense. And it lost us some games in season. But no, it wasn't the reason Josh hasn't won one.

 

 

Edited April 30 by Thurman#1

[Ayjent]

47 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

 

The NFL is now a pass first league so why is there so much attention on stopping the run? The Bills abysmal lack of pass rush and possibly poor defensive coaching at the most key moments (13 seconds anyone?) against the pass is what has cost the Bills. 

Its actually trending towards more balanced offenses and more physical teams.  Those who are saying the Bills problems with the D were holistic are right.  Injuries happen and it is the scheme and ability to adapt the D to the talent you can field that has been the issue more than anything.  Its why it was a good idea to move on, despite McDermott's success as a coach, it wasn't ever going to work unless everything happened to fall into place for the Bills in terms of the opponents they faced and the play of those opponents - but it wasn't going to happen simply because the coaching on D was a riddle the opposing team couldn't figure out, no matter who they signed, who they drafted and who was playing in their best form.  Too many things had to go right, and there was a stubbornness to the D philosophy that stifled it from ever imposing their will in the postseason.  The coaching was tentative and risk averse, or just plain out predictable.  The pass rush wasn't set up to get home without heavy blitzing, the LBs were too light and there were always easy spots to attack for good offenses.  From year to year you can point the finger at individual play and say that maybe talent wasn't here or there, but ultimately the results were very similar even though the faces changed.

 

The D has been where the team has invested heaviest in the past decade and it is frankly not a great D, and hasn't really ever been despite some top 10 statistical finishes.  The ROI on the investment has been relatively poor, and its hard to say if that is more of a product of coaching or talent.  Its a combo of the 2 for sure, but you do wonder, it seems like DBs who played for Bills and then elsewhere had their best performances on the Bills, while DL players seem to do a little better in other places.  The LBs have been a mixed bag, but the Bills have kept most of their starters here so you don't really have much to look at.

 

Edited April 30 by Ayjent

[JP51]

25 minutes ago, Ayjent said:

Its actually trending towards more balanced offenses and more physical teams.  Those who are saying the Bills problems with the D were holistic are right.  Injuries happen and it is the scheme and ability to adapt the D to the talent you can field that has been the issue more than anything.  Its why it was a good idea to move on, despite McDermott's success as a coach, it wasn't ever going to work unless everything happened to fall into place for the Bills in terms of the opponents they faced and the play of those opponents - but it wasn't going to happen simply because the coaching on D was a riddle the opposing team couldn't figure out, no matter who they signed, who they drafted and who was playing in their best form.  Too many things had to go right, and there was a stubbornness to the D philosophy that stifled it from ever imposing their will in the postseason.  The coaching was tentative and risk averse, or just plain out predictable.  The pass rush wasn't set up to get home without heavy blitzing, the LBs were too light and there were always easy spots to attack for good offenses.  From year to year you can point the finger at individual play and say that maybe talent wasn't here or there, but ultimately the results were very similar even though the faces changed.

 

The D has been where the team has invested heaviest in the past decade and it is frankly not a great D, and hasn't really ever been despite some top 10 statistical finishes.  The ROI on the investment has been relatively poor, and its hard to say if that is more of a product of coaching or talent.  Its a combo of the 2 for sure, but you do wonder, it seems like DBs who played for Bills and then elsewhere had their best performances on the Bills, while DL players seem to do a little better in other places.  The LBs have been a mixed bag, but the Bills have kept most of their starters here so you don't really have much to look at.

 

I am with you here....  smallish LBs that cant get off blocks and are good in coverage may have been the trend in the hyper pass happy NFL, clearly this opens up an opportunity to run the ball... no coincidence we opened up the running game ourselves... we didnt change the philosophy and or personnel with the play call change... Compound this with no game wrecking defender, a pass rush that is woeful and a passive defensive game plan produced poor results... McD failing to address this was his undoing I believe...  the lack of weapons on offense plays into this... but imagine if we had a defense that got some 3 and outs and didnt allow 7 minute clock chewing drives 3 times a game... and Josh gets the ball back in better field position...  So yes, there is an offensive component here but to me the bottom line is our offense is good enough to win a Super Bowl our defense is not....  Our offense ISNT good enough to compensate for how far our defense is away from being a Super Bowl defense... 

[Thrivefourfive]

I like: The awful run defense has cost us the 1 seed. The awful pass defense has caused the playoff losses. (Taking our offensive performance out of it.)

[Nihilarian]

Want real reasons? Then we need to dissect each ending game year by year.

 

In 2019, the Buffalo offense was ranked 23rd in points and 24th in yards. The Defense was ranked #2 in points allowed and #3 in yards allowed. Top 5 passing defense, top 10 rushing defense. Buffalo's defense really was not at fault, as they held them to 10 points.

Buffalo lost to the Texans at Houston 10-7 in OT. The game ended on a Texans FG.

 

In 2020, the Buffalo offense was ranked #2 overall, mostly from passing, finishing 13-3. The defense was 16th in points allowed and 14th in yards allowed. 

Offensive Inconsistency: Despite an early 9-0 lead, the Bills' offense struggled to finish drives, settling for field goals rather than touchdowns.

Defense Overpowered: The Chiefs' offense, led by Patrick Mahomes, moved the ball efficiently and capitalized on scoring opportunities, overcoming the Buffalo defense. So yes, you could say that the Buffalo defense simply wasn't good enough in a 38-24 loss. 

 

In 2021, the Buffalo offense was ranked #3 in points and #5 in yards. The Buffalo defense was ranked #1 overall and mostly against the pass. 

The Final 13 Seconds: After taking a 36-33 lead with only 13 seconds remaining, the Bills' defense failed to stop the Chiefs. They allowed two quick passes to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, covering 44 yards, which set up a game-tying field goal by Kansas City as time expired.

Defensive Alignment: On that final drive, the Bills played excessively deep zone coverage, allowing the Chiefs to gain quick yardage in the middle of the field without tackling anyone in bounds. So yes, you could say the Buffalo defense wasn't able to stop Mahomes when it counted. 36-42 loss in OT. Buffalo was a 97.8 favorite to win.

 

In 2022, the Buffalo offense was ranked #2 overall. The Buffalo defense was ranked #2 in points allowed and #6 in yards allowed. 13-3 This was the heart attack year, and the entire team went flat due to extremely unusual circumstances. Loss to Cincy 10-27. 

 

In 2023, the Buffalo Bills offense was #6th in points and 4th in yards. The Buffalo defense was #4th in points allowed, and #9 in yards allowed. 11-6 This was the Ken Dorsey firing and the Joe Brady promotion, as the offense finished the season very balanced. 

Defensive Injuries and Wear: The Bills’ defense was significantly weakened by injuries, with numerous players rotating in and out. As the game went on, this lack of depth made it difficult to maintain intensity against Patrick Mahomes.

The "Missed" Moment: In the fourth quarter, a crucial missed 44-yard field goal by Tyler Bass—often called "Wide Right II"—prevented the Bills from tying the game, echoing historical heartbreak.

Failed Fourth-Down Conversion: In the final minutes, a failed fake punt attempt, resulting in a failed fourth-and-5, cost the Bills possession, allowing the Chiefs to run down the clock.

Offensive Inconsistency: Despite a strong effort from Josh Allen, the offense struggled to capitalize on opportunities at times, including a dropped pass by Dalton Kincaid that stalled a potential scoring drive. Snake bit all the way around? Defensive injuries. Missed FG. Dropped pass. Stuff happens!

 

In 2024, the Buffalo offense was #2 in points and #10 in yards. The Buffalo defense was #11 in points allowed, and #17th in yards allowed. The Buffalo defense was actually way worse against the pass this season. This season, the saving for the Buffalo D was their +24 turnover ratio, best in the NFL. A 29-32 loss vs KC. 

Final Missed Opportunity ("Wide Right"): With under two minutes left, kicker Tyler Bass missed a 44-yard field goal that would have tied the game 0.5.5.

Devastating Injuries: The Bills' defense was heavily depleted by injuries, particularly in the secondary and linebacker corps, which limited their ability to contain Patrick Mahomes 0.5.4, 0.5.5.

Failed Fourth Down Attempts: Buffalo failed to convert on two crucial fourth-down situations, including a fourth-and-5 late in the game, turning the ball over on downs rather than taking points 0.5.8. Two drives, one in the 3rd, one in the 4th, ended on downs. 

 

In 2025, the Buffalo offense was ranked #4 overall, being the best run game in the league with the #1 RB. The Buffalo defense was #12 in points allowed, #7 in yards allowed. This year, Buffalo was 28th in rush yards allowed and 30th in rush TDs allowed. There were some freaky bad games this season in Atlanta, Miami, and Houston. The playoff loss was primarily due to five turnovers, crucial late-game penalties, and significant defensive injuries in the secondary. Despite a high-powered offensive effort, the Bills' mistakes allowed Denver to score 16 points off turnovers. 

NFL.com +3. Denver QB Bo Nix was never sacked in this game.

 

In Conclusion, for not reaching an SB.

 

The Kansas City "Buzzsaw": The primary obstacle was the Kansas City Chiefs, who eliminated the Bills in multiple postseason matchups.The most winning team in the NFL over the last 10 years. Buffalo was #2. 

 

"13 Seconds" and Defensive Collapses: In the 2021 divisional round, the defense allowed a game-tying field goal in just 13 seconds, leading to an overtime loss. Subsequent seasons also saw late-game defensive failures, including in 2025, when they allowed over 30 points in critical losses.

 

Run Defense and Inconsistency: The defense struggled to stop the run in crucial moments, allowing 136.2 rushing yards per game in the 2025 postseason, and was inconsistent on third-and-short situations.

 

Playoff Offensive Stagnation: While the offense was often elite, it failed to perform consistently in key moments, often failing to score more than 20 points in several of their playoff losses.

 

Over-reliance on Josh Allen: The team often relied entirely on QB Josh Allen to produce, with a lack of consistent wide receiver talent outside of key playmakers contributing to offensive pressure this past year.

 

Injuries and Roster Turnover: Late-season injuries to key defensive players and inconsistencies in the defensive line hampered their ability to make stops when needed.

 

You can blame McDermott. You can blame Beane. You can blame bad luck and injuries at the end of the season on both sides of the ball. Just one time, I'd like to see the Buffalo Bills have a lucky season like the New England Patriots had in 2025. 

 

 

 

 

[twoandfourteen]

9 hours ago, 90sBills said:

Opponents were able to put the game away in ‘23 and ‘24 because the offense failed to score when they had a chance to win the game. The blame isn’t all defense. 

 

Yes it is. 

 

With even a slightly “below average” defense, Josh Allen has a couple SB appearances and probably a ring. 

 

It took McDermott and Beane fielding the worst playoff defenses in NFL history to submarine Josh Allen’s career arc. 

[90sBills]

20 minutes ago, twoandfourteen said:

 

Yes it is. 

 

With even a slightly “below average” defense, Josh Allen has a couple SB appearances and probably a ring. 

 

It took McDermott and Beane fielding the worst playoff defenses in NFL history to submarine Josh Allen’s career arc. 

Last year was the best opportunity to reach the Super Bowl. All the ‘elite’ teams and QBs were out except ours. The defense didn’t commit 5 turnovers. And yet, they were able to hold Denver to fg’s so the offense could have a chance to win in the end. The offense, once again, failed to come through in crunch time. 
 

To blame it all on defense after watching the last 3 playoff exits is just having blinders on. Allen and the offense came through in the 13 seconds game. They haven’t been able to do so since that game when it counts. 

[colin]

4 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

Blaming losses on one side of the ball is tone deaf.   They havent moved on for a variety of reasons, and every year its something new and heartbreaking.   

 

2019- Sugar High Josh

2020- Pass rush

2021- Bad coaching and a coin toss

2022- Team was cooked.  No run game. Diggs didnt show up.

2023- Pass game was poor.  Pass rush was bad. Diggs didnt show up.  Kicker sucks.

2024- No weapons in the pass game.  Special teams gave up a big return. Josh doesnt set the line well enough to stop a blitz.

2025- No outside wr threat.  Poor offensive line play.   Poor secondary play.   Cooks gives up on a ball/awful call.  

You can look at the EPA for all three phases of the game for every single one of these games.

 

With rare exception (Cincy) the offense produced good to great numbers (particularly compared to what the opponents prior performances were, and also compared to the performance of offenses of other teams in the playoffs).  With no exceptions the d and special teams have been meh at best, and pure cheeks wayyyyy to often.

 

Intellectually masturbatory narratives of "the o had a chance late and didn't deliver" are asinine.  It just means the o almost overcame the pathetic effort of the d, but couldn't.  It doesn't put the loss on the o.  

 

Our d averages allowing 3.88 points per drive in our 8 defensive losses.  That's a high enough rate to be the best playoff or regular season offense if all time, but a material margin.

 

The problem is the d, it has always been the d, and it's not remotely close.

[thenorthremembers]

3 minutes ago, colin said:

You can look at the EPA for all three phases of the game for every single one of these games.

 

With rare exception (Cincy) the offense produced good to great numbers (particularly compared to what the opponents prior performances were, and also compared to the performance of offenses of other teams in the playoffs).  With no exceptions the d and special teams have been meh at best, and pure cheeks wayyyyy to often.

 

Intellectually masturbatory narratives of "the o had a chance late and didn't deliver" are asinine.  It just means the o almost overcame the pathetic effort of the d, but couldn't.  It doesn't put the loss on the o.  

 

Our d averages allowing 3.88 points per drive in our 8 defensive losses.  That's a high enough rate to be the best playoff or regular season offense if all time, but a material margin.

 

The problem is the d, it has always been the d, and it's not remotely close.

 

The greatest players of all time overcome the things advanced metrics tell you they shouldnt.  If you look at my list it literally says the things you're saying.  Yes, at times its been on the defense.  Other times special teams have been at fault.  But to ignore the fact that our QB has had chances to make history and failed is tone deaf.   

[colin]

27 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

 

The greatest players of all time overcome the things advanced metrics tell you they shouldnt.  If you look at my list it literally says the things you're saying.  Yes, at times its been on the defense.  Other times special teams have been at fault.  But to ignore the fact that our QB has had chances to make history and failed is tone deaf.   

 

no, and you are missing the point entirely.

 

in the playoff loss at home vs kc, in jan of 2024 just after the 2023 season is a good example.

 

we beat them in the regular season, we had barely positive epa in all three phases (O was +1.78 D was +2.22 and ST was +0.36).  we were missing spencer brown, so it's not all on injuries in the playoffs.

 

in the playoffs, our O was +14.55 vs KC.  That was the second worst performance for KC's d that entire season.  Our O was a fricking monster, vs the best defense in the nfl.  our special teams were -4.08, which is terrible.  our special teams was awful, god awful, all season.  it cost us several games (it cost us games last year as well) that season.  Remember the damar hamlin fake punt?

 

Our D was -11.85.  kc had a bad offense that season.  they averaged 1.5 points per drive in the regular season.  kc had 7 drives in the playoff game that didn't end the half (they had the ball for 30 some odd seconds to end the first half) and their last drive which was a victory formation kneel down.  they scored 27 points.  that's 3.85 points per drive, that's shocking.  no nfl team has ever sustained that rate of scoring on non end of half and kneel down drives in the history of the nfl.  that's 165% more than their average points per drive during the regular season.  we had our glassback starting linebackers bernard and milano hurt, but KC has a bad offense that season and a great defense.  to put it in perspective, the only game since november of 2023 that season when KC outperformed what it did in buffalo was at the raiders, who just sucked.  and the raiders actually beat kc in their rematch, where kc's offense was AWFUL.  this was not a good offensive football team we laid down too.

 

so now you have the actual data, the meaningful information, but let's dive deeper into the narrative you are reticent to let go of.

 

we had drives die on terrible terrible drops by our WRs and a missed FG, yes.  so an uninformed person might think that means the O "failed when it counted" as if the points scored or stopped during any of the other 60 minutes of the game weren't counted.  the reality is mcisis decided he needed to take aj klien out of retirement for this one game, and have rookie dorian williams play special teams and not get on the field on defense.  the result of having dorian williams out and aj klein in was over 7 yards per play, and the cheifs scored 27 points on 5 non kneel down drives (5.4 points per drive, which isn't far from what our O scored per drive vs new england in the LITERALLY PERFECT GAME where we scored a touchdown every time our O got the ball).

 

now let's look at what actually happened in crunch time, where you draw your narrative from.  

 

 14.20 left in the 4th score is 27-24 KC) we get demolished on O with the ball in our own end after a kc kick off after a fg.  cook gets nuked (a common theme, they destroyed our early down rb runs) on 2nd and 2 after an allen 8 yard first down scramble, brings up 3rd and 5, diggs can't come down w the ball.  our awful coaching chooses to put damar hamlin (a slow player) on the pitch for an idiotic fake punt attempt that gives kc the ball on our 32.  The next play their RB runs for 29 quick yards to our 3 (mcdermot doesn't think edge defenders need to play the run, clearly).  the next play hardman fumbles what would have been a TD at the 1 and we get the ball on a touch back.  mana from heaven!

 

12.09 left in the 4th, 27-24 kc, we are 2 minutes and 11 seconds and 5 yards back of where this story started, but no worse for wear and plenty of time left.

cook gets nukes (-4 yards) on 1st.  on 2nd and 14 a shakir screen gains 2 yards.  on 3rd and 12 sherfield drops a perfect bomb from allen that woulda broken that drive wide open.  sam martin kicks a duck that goes 39 total yards out of bounds.

 

10.45 left in the 4th kc gets the ball on their own 43 (awful awful back to back drives with awful awful plays by the special teams).

 

after a short pass picks up 6 yards on first down, epenesa and dodson make a play and blow up pacheko for -2 yards. 

miraculously dorian williams the super athletic rookie gets in the game over the week before retired AJ klien (i presume mcd hurt his hand clapping spastically for his charity case buddy he just HAD to have run his vaunted D in spite of being out of football to the tunde of allowing 5.4 points per drive).  on 3rd and 6 williams blows up a short pass, but the refs all of a sudden find their whistles and flag him for pass interference.  we had a linebacker who some how got close enough to the WR that it was pass intro right by the goal line (even tho you are allowed contact within 5 yards, and the refs tend to be quite liberal about what is contact and what is 5 yards).  1st and 10 at the 50.  mahomes throws incomplete passes (feeling the pressure from the d front which is all of a sudden moving as opposed to stumbling and being entirely unfit to play football) on first and second down.  on 3rd and 10, he scrambles (that usually kills us!) but dorian williams clobbers him for a 1 yard gain.  kc has a bad punt and we get the ball on our own 20, down by 3, with 8.23 left in the 4th.

 

we go on a long slow plodding drive, converting 2 3rd downs and 1 4th down, allen get bumped hard as jones pushes dawkins back into his lap so that allen misses a go ahead td pass, and we attempt a 44 yard FG with 1.55 left.  this is about an 81% kick for all nfl kickers, and over 90% for to 10 kickers, but our top 10 paid kicker misses.

 

after that, kc walks for an easy first down in two plays and kneels out the clock.

 

so you can pretend that the o just wasn't good enough to score late, but KC wasn't good enough to score late, they literally fumbled the ball on the 1 yard line!  you can pretend mahomes is some kind of magician, but the kc offense was balls all season, and the last 3 chances he got with the game on the line, they fumbled, he throw balls in the dirt and got smacked for 1 yards of gain, and then his rb waltzed to seal the deal.  the d faltered horribly, just awful, vs a bad offense who they played well against earlier in the year.  you can fault beane (he's not perfect by any means) for the roster, but it was the coaches who opted for the dog water fake punt with charity case sad story hamlin.  it was the coaches who decided aj klien needed to be resurrected to play LB and gave him burn over williams, who walked in and got us our only stop of the day (the fumble was a total brain fart by hardman). 

 

if the side crotch sniffing d was just bad instead of awful, if the coaches just chose to not call moron special teams plays and punt the ball, if the coaches just danced with who brung em and played williams, we beat kc and then playoff lamar in baltimore, and then allen goes off and we get a chip. 

 

instead of making up nonsense like the greatest players overcome things they shouldn't (what does that even mean?) you should think about what we've actually seen in 8 cot dang playoff losses.  the d was cheeks, mcd is cheeks, and finally he's been removed. 

 

 

 

[Desert Bills Fan]

I think overall it was the D.

the offense could be fixed with one superstar receiver.

the defense, on the other hand is doing a total scheme change and multiple player changes.

there is another thread discussing the simple / predictable McDermott defense. Yet he kept pouring draft picks into his scheme, convinced it was execution.

 

i say first supercharge the O with that one player, and second work on improving the D with coach, scheme and player changes that may take a while to get to elite.

and we will get to the promised land riding super Josh

[ngbills]

Did anyone notice how many NFL playoff games came down to the last drive? Wild card round 4 of 6 games decided by one score, 2 of 4 in div round, 2-2 of in conf champ. So in games to get to super bowl 8 of the 12 games were one score games. NFL playoff games are about being in position to win  late. Then its about which team makes the plays at the end to win. Against DEN the Bills had 3 chances on O to win the game: up 27-23 at the DEN 14 they settled for a FG. The last drive of regulation, while they were able to tie it, they had multiple shots at the end zone for the win. Then in OT a FG wins it and they failed. These are the situations any coach or QB would take and with a MVP best in the league QB you expect to win that game. Yet people want to blame the D for not being able to stop DEN one final time after holding them to like 50 yards the entire second half and now playing with guys like Savage and Dane Jackson in the secondary. 

[Beck Water]

6 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

Blaming losses on one side of the ball is tone deaf.   They havent moved on for a variety of reasons, and every year its something new and heartbreaking.   

2019- Sugar High Josh

 

I'm going to push back on this narrative.  I'd like to point out that the Bills were leading 13-0 at the half and 16-0 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd Q.

 

The defense then allowed Houston to score 19 unanswered points on 3 successive drives in the 3rd and 4th, including a 75 yd drive with a 3rd and 8 conversion followed by a 20 yd TD run; a FG off a short field after a fumble; then another 74 yd drive for a TD including a 40 yd completion to De'Andre Hopkins and a 14 yd pass completion on 3rd and 3. 

Josh then led the Bills on a 41 yd drive with a minute left, for a FG to tie the game.

Did Josh press too hard at the end, yes, but context matters - let's not forget the 15 yd "blindside block" penalty on Cody Ford which was later used as a teaching film by the NFL on what constitutes a LEGAL blocking play.  

Don't you see the irony in writing "blaming losses on one side of the ball is tone deaf" followed by blaming the 2019 playoff loss on "Sugar High Josh" without considering the D that took a 16 point lead into the middle of the 3rd Q and blew it, leading to overtime and the "Sugar High Josh" episode after he was backed into 3rd and 24 by a penalty that should never have been called?

Team sport.  Win as a team, lose as a team.  #2 D in the league that year, #3 on yards - everyone healthy for the playoffs as far as I can recall (maybe down a CB?), and they folded like a cheap lawnchair a bit over halfway through the game.

[Beck Water]

3 hours ago, Nihilarian said:

Want real reasons? Then we need to dissect each ending game year by year.

 

In 2019, the Buffalo offense was ranked 23rd in points and 24th in yards. The Defense was ranked #2 in points allowed and #3 in yards allowed. Top 5 passing defense, top 10 rushing defense. Buffalo's defense really was not at fault, as they held them to 10 points.

Buffalo lost to the Texans at Houston 10-7 in OT. The game ended on a Texans FG.

 

Dude.  The Texans game was lost in OT, true, but the score was 22-19.  That's an objective fact.

And the score was 16-0 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd.  Also an objective fact.
 

It doesn't matter what the Bills defensive rank was during the season.  That doesn't excuse them from giving up a lead including 2 74+ yd drives.  But leading off your dissection with something so factually wrong kind of casts shade on the rest.

 

It's been a fact that the Bills defense ranked high during the regular season many of McDermott's years as their coach - 2nd twice, 1st once, 4th twice.

They've also been problematic in the playoffs.

 

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I picked yes, but really didn't like my choices.  I'd have preferred a 3rd option of defense overall and would have selected that.

 

One thing I've thought about over past 4 months, everyone has commented McD was s defensive guy, and was praised overall (more national media) for that and got the job he partially on his success in Carolina with the defense.  But what if in Carolina the success was really all due to Ron Riviera and the defense there was good basically in spite of McD?

Edited April 30 by Ed_Formerly_of_Roch

[90sBills]

56 minutes ago, ngbills said:

Did anyone notice how many NFL playoff games came down to the last drive? Wild card round 4 of 6 games decided by one score, 2 of 4 in div round, 2-2 of in conf champ. So in games to get to super bowl 8 of the 12 games were one score games. NFL playoff games are about being in position to win  late. Then its about which team makes the plays at the end to win. Against DEN the Bills had 3 chances on O to win the game: up 27-23 at the DEN 14 they settled for a FG. The last drive of regulation, while they were able to tie it, they had multiple shots at the end zone for the win. Then in OT a FG wins it and they failed. These are the situations any coach or QB would take and with a MVP best in the league QB you expect to win that game. Yet people want to blame the D for not being able to stop DEN one final time after holding them to like 50 yards the entire second half and now playing with guys like Savage and Dane Jackson in the secondary. 

Exactly this. It hasn’t happened and the narrative will get louder until Allen and the team can get to a Super Bowl.