Olean Times Herald

‘At first glance of the schedule, the early heavy dose of nationally televised, primetime games stands out. Of Buffalo’s first six games, four occur under the lights: the Week 2 Thursday trip to Miami (Sept. 12), Week 3 Monday night against Jacksonville (Sept. 23), Week 4 Sunday night at Baltimore (Sept. 29) and Week 6 Monday night at the Jets (Oct. 14).’

‘Arguably the Bills’ biggest need, Beane addressed it with the first pick of the second round, Florida State wideout Keon Coleman. The eighth receiver picked in the draft, Coleman may well have been Buffalo’s choice at the end of the first round, considering they let three others come off the board in moving from 28 to 33. At 6-foot-3, 213 pounds, Coleman fits the bill of an outside receiver, a position of need after losing Gabe Davis in free agency and trading Stefon Diggs. With very limited experience in the receiver room — Khalil Shakir is expected to have a big role in his third year along with veteran free agent signings Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins — Coleman should see the field early on. Beane also downplayed any likelihood the Bills could trade for an expensive veteran rumored to be on the trade block, such as San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk or Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins.’

‘So after weeks of speculation that the Bills could move up for a wide receiver (a notion that only gained traction after the Stefon Diggs trade to Houston), they in fact went the other way. And then they did it again, trading the No. 32 pick, the last in the first round, to Carolina for the first pick of the second round, No. 33, and another late-round swap, this one a big jump from No. 200 to No. 141. The two trades should help fill out roster depth after an offseason marked by veteran departures.’

‘If fans weren’t already obsessed with an NFL Draft class rich with wide receivers, the Diggs trade did it for them. Now, that’s not to say the Bills are a lock to pick a wide receiver with the No. 28 pick, or elsewhere in the draft. Buffalo lost enough valued veterans due to salary cap constrictions that you can’t count out a defensive head coach, Sean McDermott, pushing for help on the defensive line or secondary. Or maybe they add to the offensive line after losing center Mitch Morse, although that seems a little less likely after signing multiple veterans as depth additions.’

‘Clearly the Bills had motivations beyond the financial to make this move.’

‘The Bills had one of the NFL’s oldest rosters in 2023, so youth won’t necessarily be a bad thing. Beane has 11 draft picks to work with and needs to find some starters quickly. But there also are some in-house candidates to replace some of the most prominent cuts.’

‘I’m still interested to hear whether McDermott will call plays, as some coaches do, even with coordinators. You see that more often with offensive coaches, such as Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay. The defense had some struggles, particularly in the middle of the season, but it’s hard to quibble with the play-calling job he did on the whole of the season with as injury depleted as the Bills became. Yes, the season came to an end in part because of the failure to slow down Kansas City in the second round, but as we saw in the first half of the AFC Championship, even the best defense in the league had trouble with Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.’

‘Asked if White would be on the team next year, that Beane started his answer with “It’s a good question,” was telling.’

‘No, despite racking up 368 net yards Sunday night, the Bills did not have a 20-yard play against the Chiefs. Their longest play? An 18-yard Josh Allen scramble late in the second quarter. The second-longest? Allen’s scramble and lateral pitch to Ty Johnson for 16 on the first drive of the game. Allen’s longest pass plays were two 15-yard gains, also both in the first half, to Diggs and running back Latavius Murray. We still saw his big arm, of course, in how he rifled that touchdown pass to Khalil Shakir.’

‘It’s not Groundhog Day, though it may feel like it to Bills fans.’

‘The first one, Buffalo looked outclassed in the AFC Championship, a 38-24 loss. Then, Allen and Gabe Davis gave Kansas City everything it could handle in the divisional round the following year, the infamous “13 seconds” game, a 42-36 overtime loss. The regular season, however, has produced better results for Buffalo in this matchup, winners of the last three as the perennial division champs have met each year. Allen holds a glittering 97.7 rating and 999 yards, nine touchdowns and two picks in four regular season meetings with KC.’

‘“That’s a heck of an opponent,” McDermott said. “We’ll have to regroup as a staff and I know some of our staff has already been working on the Chiefs and that’s kind of what you do as a position coach, you’re able to look ahead a little bit. We’ll just have to sit down with Nate tomorrow and just try and see who’s healthy and when they’ll be healthy (if) they’re not healthy and then see what jersey numbers we have and kind of go from there.”’

‘Allen made the freezing fans at Highmark Stadium ecstatic Monday, especially on his 52-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. That gave Buffalo a 21-0 lead, which turned out to be enough on the way to a 31-17 victory over the Steelers in the Wild Card round.’

‘I guess it shows you can’t count out a Mike Tomlin-led team, even one that’s on its third quarterback of the season. Trusting the “hot hand” of Mason Rudolph, Tomlin is sticking with the 2018 second round pick — the sixth quarterback taken in Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson’s class — over second-year Pitt product Kenny Pickett, who returned from injury two weeks ago, and Mitchell Trubisky.’

‘And this game showed exactly what made the season so frustrating at times — trailing 14-7 after failing to score with seconds ticking away at halftime, multiple turnovers, a new rash of injuries — but it also showed why you’d be foolish to write off the Bills’ chances in the playoffs at this point. With Allen playing like a superstar and a resilient defense on the other side, fans have to be thrilled where they are compared to just six weeks ago, when a disheartening loss in Philadelphia put the Bills at 6-6.’