2003Contenders

When it comes to BPA, beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Also, the definition of "Best Player Available" really does not truly mean that literally -- but perhaps more along the lines of "Best Player Available at a position that it makes sense for the team to target". For example, the Bills would not be drafting a QB at #25 this year even if the best player on the board is, in fact, a QB. What BPA to me means is being flexible about the position rather than zeroing in on a specific position at the expense of quality. For example, the Bills could logically draft a CB, OL, WR, DL, TE, or RB there and rely on their scouts to direct them on which player is the best player and match for the team. A couple of things about Boogie and Epenesa... For one, both players are still very young and the verdict is still out a bit on both -- even on Epenesa, who needs to take a major step forward in this, his 3rd season. Second, heading into both of the last 2 drafts conventional wisdom was that both of those players were borderline 1st rounders, so taking both at the end of the 2nd round seemed like good "value" at the time.

Agree about McKissic -- I think much of that underneath volume will go to him. While McKenzie was fantastic in the Pats game, I just don't see him being a huge part of the passing game week in and week out. I think the relatively small size of the contract he signed with the Bills likely echoes that thought as well.

Some random thoughts when it comes to Beasley... 1. He was heavily utilized in the passing game. His 112 targets and 82 receptions were both top 30 in the league. The 82 receptions were actually 17th for all receivers ahead of such guys as D. Metcalf, C. Lamb, M. Williams and J. Chase. His conversion rate (targets leading to receptions) was 73% which is elite and (top 10). Beasley also saw a rich share of receptions in our offense -- second only to Diggs in receptions and targets. Replacing those targets -- and the confidence that a replacement receiver will make good on such a high percentage of those targets is not going to be easy. 2. As others have pointed out, while the volume is great -- the production was seriously lacking. Top 30 in targets and top 20 in receptions -- he was not even top 40 in yards. That little over 8 yards per reception average is (putting it kindly) not very good. And only 1 TD reception on the season? 3. Getting McK back is great -- but that just means that this is not ANOTHER hole to fill. E. Sanders is almost certainly gone, so that is one more hole to fill even if Beasley remains. McK is great in his gadget role -- but I am not at all confident that he will be able to step into a full time slot receiver role -- certainly not in the high capacity Beasley role. And we do not have anyone else on the team that I believe is a good fit in the slot. (Diggs can play anywhere -- but it would be a waste to limit him as a slot receiver). 4. In Josh Allen we have a rare QB that can get the ball to any spot on the field at any given time. As the season wore on, it became more and more evident that the short passing game was a point of emphasis. Perhaps the "other" McK signing indicates that much of this production will come out of the backfield. 5. You have to wonder how much of Beasley's off-field distractions last season (culminating in him having to miss playing time) may have grated on the coaches and team. 6. The fact that Beasley was granted permission to seek a trade likely clues us in to what the front office's thoughts are about his future in Buffalo. Maybe not necessarily that they are down on him -- but at his age, contract $ and the team's current cap situation -- they may feel like it is time to move on.

If nothing else, he was a very disciplined DE who set the edge well -- and could be a nice mentor in those regards to our young DEs who struggled in that capacity last year. Would still like to acquire a genuine pass rusher though.

That was back in 2001, when Brady took over for an injured Bledsoe. IIRC, both games went down to the wire with one of them decided in overtime. A Patriot receiver (David Patton, I believe) was blown up in overtime and fumbled the ball. The Bills recovered and were poised to get the win, but the officials ruled that a literally unconscious Patton's leg was barely touching the sideline, and since the fumbled ball touched him for a split second, the ball itself was out of bounds. On the very next play former Bill Antowain Smith took it to the house for a Pats win.

While it may be true that the #1 ranking during the regular season may have been misleading, the truth of the matter is that on a week in-week-out basis, the defense was up to the task. I think it would be foolish to overreact to a couple of let-downs by the defense, the biggest of which (of course) was the Divisional playoff game against the Chiefs. The defense was predicated on the bend-but-don't-break concept -- creating a scheme that minimized big play opportunities and forced opposing offenses to chain together a long sequence of plays to score. As such, the defense was heavily reliant on turnovers and negative plays, since the greater number of plays for opposing offenses also meant a greater likelihood for mistakes. The biggest pitfall to this type of defense is that when the opposing offense avoids the big mistakes, they are able to effectively move the ball AND keep our defense on the field. That is what happened against the Titans, Colts and Chiefs. It would be interesting to go back through and see what the team's record has been under McD when the defense does NOT force a turnover. My guess is that it isn't very good. By the end of the playoff game against the Chiefs the defense was completely gassed. The offense (rather, the play calling on offense) also deserves some blame, as they went into hibernation through much of the 2nd and 3rd quarters of that game, which put the defense out on the field even more. Rather than pointing the finger at the defense, I am also inclined to give Mahomes and the Chiefs offense their due. Mahomes managed to avoid a great deal of pressure and made some clutch plays in that game. And, despite his effective play, Mahomes and the Chiefs only put 14 points on the board in the first half, so the defense was effectively working as designed (up to that point). All of which isn't to say that the defense could not use some upgrades here and there: -- A true impact player at MLB. I am not an Edmunds-hater, but it is hard to argue that he is a true difference maker. -- Depth in the secondary. Missing T. White against the Chiefs really hurt -- and we enter the off-season with key contributors (like Levi) at CB. -- A force at the Edge. While the rotation along the DL can be effective, we are missing a guy that opposing offenses must account for on every play. We have some youth here, so maybe one or more of these guys will pan out -- but I would love to see a legitimate 10+ sack rusher come in via free agency. Easier said that done, I know.

Actually, that combine clip confirms what we have seen when he runs in the NFL. His mechanics look all wrong and it really does not seem like he is running fast at all -- but thanks to his long stride, etc. he covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time. LOL

Honestly, over the last few weeks I have managed to come to grips with how things went down. It was pretty clear to anyone watching that both QBs were in the zone that game. The proverbial, "the team touching the ball last is going to win", was exactly what happened. Yes, the miscommunication on the kickoff was bad. Yes, the design (or lack thereof) of the defense on those final two plays was a mess. But, the way Mahomes was playing that day, I am not sure that anything would have mattered. If the Chiefs needed a TD there in those final 13 seconds instead of a FG -- they probably find a way to get it done. The same was true of Josh. For example, on the series immediately after Hill scored the go-ahead TD with only about a minute to go, on the first play from scrimmage, Josh fired a 28-yard completion to Davis down the middle of the field. Earlier he hit Davis on a 75-yard TD on the first play of that series too. When this game is safely in the distant past, as much as it hurts, I think we will be able to look back on it with some degree of reverence. Instead of blaming the coaches, kicker, defense, etc. we will be able to credit some of the superlative playing we witnessed and say that this was one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history.

I have to wonder if there was a conditional strategy that McD presented. That is, if Hill was back there as a kick returner, then boom it through the endzone. Otherwise, pooch or squib kick it. That may explain (but not excuse) why there may have been some confusion regarding the game plan on the kickoff.

I keep hearing that McDaniel wants to retain the current DC in Miami.

Schwartz certainly did a fine job when he was the Bills' DC in Marrone's 2nd (and final) season. However, let's not forget that he had a fantastic front 4 to work with, including a still dominant Mario Williams, a young/rejuvenated Jerry Hughes, Kyle Williams in his prime, and Marcel D. before he signed his big contract and stopped caring. Each of those guys had close to double-digit sacks that year. If we had that front 4 this past season, there is no doubt in my mind that we would be playing this Sunday -- with Frazier as DC.

Does anyone know anything about Flores' legal team? The fact that they are letting him speak while a lawsuit is going on and the fact that the lawsuit itself is all over the map -- alleging a variety of things against multiple teams that have nothing to do with racism -- makes me wonder if this whole thing is more about forwarding a political agenda rather than truly trying to win a lawsuit.

There is a part of me that likes the notion of bringing in an up-and-comer like Martin. However, with defensive-minded MCD at HC would prefer someone a bit more experienced. Good news is that with Josh, the OC position in Buffalo should be viewed favorably, so we should see a quality pool of candidates.

Prayers for you and your family. RIP, Coach Williams.

First, I will say the same thing about this game that I said 31 years ago when "wide right" happened and 22 years ago with the MCM happened: no game is ever defined by a single play -- even if that single play did make a significant difference in the outcome of the game. Although the infamous 13 seconds were comprised of 3 plays (4 if we count the kickoff), the same concept applies. That is, there were a bevy of other things that happened earlier in the game that in their totality were actually at least as significant as what happened with those 13 seconds: -- What if the defense actually tackled Hardman -- or simply shoved him out of bounds, rather than giving up a long TD run? -- What if Daboll had not had brain farts on back-to-back series in the 2nd quarter when the Bills were at midfield -- and for whatever reason decided to take the ball out of Josh's hands? -- What if Jackson does not idiotically grab the receiver's jersey on a play where his violation had no impact? Instead of the Chiefs settling for a FGA, they wound up scoring a TD a few plays later thanks to Jackson's penalty that came on 3rd down. -- What if Davis (who, I know, had a career-defining day) manages to get his feet down on that 3rd down play in the 2nd half? -- What if T. Jones, who is supposed to be a veteran on special teams (the only reason he is even on the roster) does not make the out-of-bounds mistake on the punt? Instead of a re-punt, where Hill almost ran it all the way back, the Chiefs would have been pushed much farther back? -- What if anyone on defense could have made a tackle to prevent Hill from taking a short crossing pattern catch to the house? -- Finally, let's not forget that those 13 seconds led the Chiefs to TIE the game, not win it. The defense had an opportunity in overtime to keep the Chiefs out of the endzone and failed to do it. This reminds me of the series that ESPN used to have. "5 Reasons Why..." There are a plethora of them for this game that lasted well over 60 minutes to blame everything on what happened in those 13 seconds. As for those 13 seconds... The kick (to squib, kick high and short or boom through the endzone) debate will likely go on forever. We even have a conspiracy theory in place that suggests that McD wanted them to squib it -- but Bass never got the message. Personally I would have done the high/short kick (inside the 10) that seemed to work well most of the season, but I can see arguments for kicking it through the endzone too. The real problem was the poor coverage by the defense on those final 2 plays. They made it WAY too easy for the Chiefs to get the distance they needed. It did not even take great plays from Mahomes and his receivers to get into FG range. Mac Jones could have done what he did! I think that is the part that stings for me. It was almost like they were playing to prevent a TD rather than prevent the Chiefs from getting into FG range.

I hear ya, but those crossing routes that Hill runs are by design set up to force coverage to get caught up in traffic -- essentially Reid likes running these "legal" pick plays. That's why Tre White has also had trouble at times keeping up with White. Of course, the best defense for that is to rough Hill up at the line of scrimmage and get some pressure on Mahomes as these crossing routes take a long time to develop. The Bills undoubtedly need a difference maker as a pass rusher (free agency) and a sturdy CB (either via the draft or free agency).

One thing that just dawned on me that I can't believe I didn't think about before... When Kelce makes that catch, he is racing down field -- in no way trying to give himself up. It isn't until Wallace comes up and tackles him is desperation that he calls a timeout, which gives the Chiefs 3 seconds left to set up the field goal. What if Wallace DOES NOT make that tackle? With our safeties playing so deep, I wonder if Kelce would have allowed those last 3 seconds to tick down in a vane attempt to make it to the end zone?

Based on McD's comments after the game, this is exactly what I think happened.

Actually it does. The unamoratized portion of the player's signing bonus would immediately hit the original team's cap.

Sounds a lot like the same plan that Pete Carrol and the Seahawks had last year. Josh passed for 400+ yards against them.

Jones is an elite DT no doubt. His presence makes the Chiefs' D significantly better than they were when we faced them a few months back. He was very disruptive in the AFCCG last year -- but he was also very dirty. Took some very cheap shots and even threw some punches that should have gotten him ejected and no flag was even thrown. That said, the OL basically just sat there and took it and allowed him and the rest of the Chiefs' DL to bend them over. The Bills OL currently has a nasty streak that they didn't have last year. I think any funny business from Jones will reap immediate (and severe) retaliation. Lets just hope the Bills are smart and calculated about this, so that they do not draw flags themselves (think, Jacksonville game). Also, hope McD does a good job working the refs pre-game to warn them of Jones' dirty tendencies.

I think you are exactly right about this -- and I think he designed some funky plays like the wildcat and pass from Diggs the last couple of weeks perhaps to add more for the opponents to review and prepare for. While the Bills were so much better than the Falcons and Jets, these displays did not hurt us in those games. However, it did come back to bite us against the Jags!

I think this a fair take. I will be honest, I was screaming Sunday after his 3rd botched punt. It was almost like he allowed the weather conditions to get into his head. He certainly has his shortcomings, but he has been mostly reliable this season. One punt in particular that could (and should) have played a huge role in changing field position was the overtime punt against the Bucs. After going 3-and-out on offense, Haack boomed one to pin the Bucs back deep in their territory. If the defense did a better job there (and, of course, the refs didn't hose us) that punt would be better remembered.

I will be there!

Honestly , I did not think the wind/cold was a huge factor other than on a couple of passes (I.e. the Potential TD pass that bounced off Diggs’ hands that Josh muscled in there). The whole offense was out of sorts for much of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Some of that was due to poor play calling, especially in the red zone. Some of it was due to drops (Davis had a tough game), some near misses (at least 3 where the receiver could not quite get 2 feet down), and where Josh and the receivers were not on the same page ( one entire 3-and-out series in the 3rd quarter). 2 promising drives were also killed due to stupid penalties. Also, good things rarely happen when Moss comes in for Singletary. Daboll does some things very well, but he seems to struggle sometimes recognizing game flow and getting Josh and the offense into a rhythm.