sven233

I know Beane has been against this approach for the most part, but the fact is, the chances of us getting another Josh Allen are super slim. And, to that point, I honestly don't care what happens for a couple of seasons after he retires. If we have to field a team off the streets for a couple years to get out of a salary cap disaster, so be it. Our best chance to win a Super Bowl comes in the next 5-7 years with Allen at QB. So yeah.....mortgage the future. It's time to truly go all in on winning a Super Bowl. Swing for the fences and, if it doesn't work, so be it. But, if it does.....and we do win one? I don't think any of us will have a problem with a couple of down years a decade from now.

Wasn't arought to see OJ's season live, but I have seen highlights and plenty of commentary on that season. I did see Thurman's season live and I have watched those games from that season several times since. And, of course, Allen just did what he did. It's a tough question because we're talking about 3 different eras with different rules, etc. For me, it's going to be OJ, though, because he did something that I don't think we will ever see it done again. 2000 yards in 14 games. That is just incredible and although guys have rushed for 2000 since, they haven't done it in anywhere close to 14 games. So, to me, that's the true rushing record in the NFL. Thurman was awesome and I believe he is one of the best all around backs ever to play in the NFL. He not only did what he did, but he changed the game in a lot of ways. I don't think there are guys like LT, Faulk, etc. without him laying the groundwork for backs to become true dual threat options. And then there's Allen. He was awesome this season. Absolutely deserving of the MVP and, for my money, he's the best player in the world right now. I am certainly not trying to diminish what he did, but the fact is, I could argue that this could have been his 3rd MVP instead of his first. He's had multiple seasons deserving of the award and he's been robbed in the past if you ask me. And the kicker.......I still don't believe we have seen his best football. So, with that in mind, I believe he will win it again with an even better season ahead. So, it's OJ for now......but I expect Allen to take this spot sooner rather than later.

As many of you know, I am a huge draft guy and am already putting in the work for the first couple of rounds specifically. That said, I am not ready to put anyone out there yet because in the back of my mind, I truly believe they don't want to be using that first round pick. I'm going to wait it out a bit until at least FA to see if anything changes. Will also get the combine info at that time as well as some pro days to form my final evaluation. But I do think Beane will be disappointed to have to make a pick at 30.

I don't think it is about having a true, blue chip WR1. What I believe it is about is having explosive players at the position that can win on their own against man coverage that can challenge a defense at every level of the field. I mean, you don't have to look far to find a great example of this. Just a few years ago, we had the combination of Brown and Beasley out there creating separation all over the field. Brown with his elite level speed was deadly on those deep overs and go routes. Beasley, while not a blazer, was so explosive off the line with his short field quickness and change of direction ability and he was able to get open whenever he wanted to in the short to intermediate levels of the field. Allen, even though still young and inexperienced, was able to get career years out of those guys because of their separation ability and Allen's talent. Imagine what this version of Josh Allen could do with WRs with their skill sets. These guys were not elite level, big name WRs. But what they did have was elite level explosiveness in their own ways. Right now, we have nothing even close to the skill set that these guys offered in their prime. Now, we do have Shakir, who we all can agree, is a very nice player. He does a lot of the things Beasley did but offers more in the sense of RAC. While Beasley was the better route runner overall, we can absolutely win with Shakir playing the Beasley role and I think with Shakir's RAC ability, he can be a better WR than Beasley was. But, as noted above, we have nobody that threatens a defense vertically. It became more and more obvious each week as defenses kept creeping their safeties up closer and closer to the LOS every game that went by. They knew nobody was running by them and beating them down the field on a regular basis and it made Allen's job so much harder than it needed to be. This has been my biggest qualm with Beane's drafting. Too many times he passes on guys with elite athletic traits for guys that "play like a Bill". And that has left us short on talent to even try to develop into a true superstar. We all know the examples. Cody Ford over guys like AJ Brown and DK Metcalf. Coleman over Worthy (or even BTJ who you could have had by trading up just a few spots). And of course the list goes on, even at other positions. So no.....you don't need to go out and spend crazy money on a proven WR1 (unless you want to re-sign a guy that you found and developed into a superstar). But, what you do need to do is get some guys with elite level traits and explosiveness that you hope Brady and Allen can get the most out of and therefore open up the downfield passing game. Once you open up the entire field, Allen will take care of the rest.

Could you imagine Keon in this race? The other guys could probably run backwards and still beat him......

The cap implications are the biggest roadblock here. But, if you find a way to get through that, it would absolutely depend on the return. Do the Browns or Raiders want him as a piece of a trade for Garrett or Allen? Does another team like the Jets want him for Wilson or another team want him for a great outside WR? It's unlikely in both cases, but if that was their ask for whatever reason, I'm definitely listening.

I made my position clear earlier in this thread that I am not paying a RB $15 mill a year, especially when Josh Allen is your QB, but I didn't really mention what I would do instead. I truly believe a lot of RBs can be successful in our offense when you have Allen and the offensive line that we do. That isn't intended to be a shot at Cook because I do really like the play but, I mean, it was kind of made somewhat apparent this season when Davis and Johnson came on the field. There was not a huge drop off from Cook to Davis (a rookie by the way). And, we all saw what Ty Johnson did this season with the snaps he got. He made so many big, impact plays for us not only in closing out games running the football, but making huge catches down the field as well. So, while Cook may be a more physically gifted player than these guys, is the difference really worth $15 million? No. So, here's what I'm doing. The first thing I am doing is seeing if there is any team that is interested in taking Cook as part of a trade package for another impact player at a different position. If so, great. That is the best case scenario. Regardless, I am drafting the fastest, most athletic RB out there in the 3rd-4th round (depending on where our picks end up after whatever trades are made this offseason), and running Davis as my lead back with Johnson being brought back to get plenty of snaps as well with the rookie getting a taste here and there like Davis got this season. Then, the following season, you have Davis and this rookie coming back with a year under his belt to carry the load. If Cook can't be traded, then just run it back this season and say goodbye to Cook at the end of the year. You can still draft someone if you want to, but I am only looking for an athletic back with upside. I'd much rather take the money you can save by not signing Cook and investing into the WR position. Play to your strength which is obviously Allen and get him some real weapons. We legit have 1 WR on this team that is good. Shakir.....and he's a slot guy. Coleman's ceiling is very low in my opinion and Samuel has battled injuries. Hollins is a nice depth piece to have, but he isn't on this team right now and, while I do expect they would like him back, he's still not a guy that I want starting on the outside. We need 2 legit WRs with speed, explosion, and separation ability on the outside. $15 million may not solve those issues, but it can't hurt to have it depending on what your plan is there. Obviously it would probably be tough to fill both spots in FA, but maybe you get a proven guy there and use another high draft pick on a fast, athletic freak that you hope develops into something down the road, although that has never been the type of WR Beane has gravitated towards. Brown is the fastest WR Beane has brought in, but since then, he hasn't put anyone with real speed on the field with Allen to stretch defenses regularly so Allen can work the intermediate parts of the field where he's at his best. All this isn't even to mention the holes on defense. It's one thing to want to upgrade the WR position, but we all know about the glaring holes on defense. And if Cook can be used as a piece to get a premiere defensive lineman, you have to do it. We all know we need a DE, but we also need to get an elite 1-tech in here that can stuff the run. So, between the money you can save by not signing Cook, and the possible talent you could acquire by using him as a trade asset, it just makes the most sense to me to part with him now if possible, especially when you believe in the talent behind him.

There is a lot of truth in what he's saying. I have had many of the same criticisms, especially about Beane's early drafting. I truly believe they could have drafted Worthy or McConkey early in the draft and still gotten Coleman in the 3rd or even 4th round. I don't think teams were going to be banging on his door ready to draft a slow, young, and overall inexperienced WR in the 2nd round aside from us. The early rounds need to be about drafting physical freaks that can play. Draft players with production that have elite athletic traits. We haven't been doing that.

I like Cook. I really do. But there is no way I am paying that kind of money for a RB. There are just so many more impactful positions out there that make more of a difference. Just look at the Eagles. Yes, Barkley had a phenomenal year. But in the biggest game of the season, was he the reason they won that game? No. It was the defensive line getting after Mahomes. It was a big, strong defensive line that reset the LOS almost every play that was able to both stuff the run and contain Mahomes so there was nowhere to escape and make plays. It was great LB play covering the intermediate part of the field and not letting Mahomes throw over the middle to a wide open Kelce all night. It was CBs lining up and punching the WRs in the face and jamming them off the line not letting them get into their routes immediately allowing the defensive line to get home and force errant throws to tightly covered WRs. It was an offensive line that was so well coached that the blitz scheme of KC was rendered helpless and allowed the QB to make just enough big plays down the field to score early and often. It was a huge offensive line that could get a yard on a tush push whenever they needed it even though the defense knew it was coming. It was a big, fast, physical WR that abused one of the best CBs in the league in big moments. It was a quick, fast, WR that could take the top off the defense for a big score. It was a QB that, while not doing anything spectacular, made good decisions for the most part, made a few great throws, and ran when run lanes opened up for key first downs. Look.....Barkley is great and he was absolutely a reason they had the type of season they had. But in the end, while it's true he drew the attention of the Chiefs defense, it was the ability of the coaching staff to adapt during the game when Barkley was bottled up to find other ways to move the ball and score points. The defense never allowed the Eagles offense to be put in a bad situation in field position and they even scored themselves. Cook is a weapon for sure. He can make big plays and change games at times. That said.....is he exponentially better then Davis, Johnson, and a fast/explosive rookie they could draft in the 2nd or 3rd round (if we were to acquire a 3rd round pick at some point)? He only played half the snaps. He doesn't pass block and still has questionable hands from time to time, although he had a better year in that area. But is that difference worth $15 mill + per year over a rookie contract? Is a cap hit that large at that position worth more than being able to spend more on a WR1/WR2, pass rusher, CB, etc? To me, it's not, but I understand why some fans want to pay him. He was really great for us this season.

We would have had a better offensive game for sure. The Eagles did nothing flashy on defense. They lined up 4 and went after Mahomes all night and controlled the LOS. There were no exotic blitzes or coverages. They lined up and they whooped the Chiefs physically. Our O-Line is built for games like that. We have big, physical dudes that can match up better against a base defense like that. However, they were very bad against the Chiefs because they were not prepared and couldn't figure out the scheme and blitz packages they were running. They were beaten bad mentally more than they were physically. Would the Eagles defense have played us differently than they did against the Chiefs? Maybe. But, I do think they love just lining up and trying to beat you with 4 more often than not. So, that said, I think we would have been more successful on offense against their defense. The problem is, this goes both ways and their offensive line is just as good, if not better, than ours and they would have dominated us physically up front. We wouldn't have been able to contain Barkley and therefore would have had to stack the box to have a chance. Then, their big, physical WRs would have beaten us for big plays on the back end. Their offense would have been way too overwhelming for our defense. It would have been one of those games that Allen would have had to catch fire and play his best football and scored on almost every possession to have a chance to win because I am not sure if we could have forced the Eagles to punt. I'm serious when I say it would have been one of those games like the Colts game a few years back where they would have never had to throw the ball to beat us. Hurts would have a very pedestrian stat line and we would have probably given up 200+ on the ground and they would have just run the clock on us. Would have been one of those lopsided TOP games. Could we have won? Sure. It's football and we have Josh Allen at QB. But we would have probably had to score 40+ to do it because they would have dominated our defense physically.

Here's hoping these new defensive hires are truly pointing to a change in philosophy on defense. Unfortunately, if we do want to become a more man to man style defense, our personnel needs an overhaul. While Benford will probably be OK in man to man, he excels in zone and that is where his strength lies. In the limited amount of times we did play man this season for stretches, he was beat like a drum on several occasions. That said, I tend to give him a pass a bit because he is more of a zone CB and hasn't had the reps in man to be great consistently. However, he has shown that he works extremely hard and wants to be great, so if he works this off season on more man techniques, I am confident he can figure it out. That said, he may be the only guy I trust on the back end to play this kind of system. We have no CB2. Johnson, while he has been great in the past and having a good season this year, was beaten a lot more than we have been used to seeing. That said, it's not entirely his fault as he usually has a pretty tough matchup and because we don't have a pass rush, he did struggle at times this season in man to man situations. And of course, you have to have highly athletic safties in a man scheme. Hamlin isn't that for sure, so he needs to be replaced. And, while I like Rapp just fine, his injury history can't be ignored. Bishop has the physical attributes to play in a man scheme, so I think this is a move that can play in his favor, but we still need at least one playmaker back there. And of course, that brings us to the defensive line. You want to be a man scheme? You better be able to affect the QB with your front 4 like the Eagles did tonight. You have to be able to pressure the QB because if you don't, I don't care how good of a CB you are, you aren't covering NFL WRs for 4-5+ seconds. You have to find a way to be a terror up front and the only way to do that with 4 guys is pretty much what we saw tonight..... Big, powerful dudes that can stuff the run with their size and reset the LOS on almost every snap. You aren't running man with an undersized defensive line that can get blown off the ball in the run game and can't consistently pressure the QB on a regular basis. You need that huge dominant 1-tech anchor in the middle to play with Oliver and you need at least 1 game wrecker on the outside that can win even when being double teamed. Perfect example was tonight...... You didn't see the Eagles line flying off the edge and just blowing by the tackles. No.....what you saw were big, strong, physical dudes constantly push the Chiefs line straight back into Mahomes' lap and reset the LOS immediately off the snap. So, yes.....if we are open to a philosophical change on defense, that's great news because what we are trying to do has not worked, especially against good teams with great QBs. But Beane and company have a lot of work to do to bring in the pieces to make it work. I mean, ideally, you would love to run a bit of a hybrid defense. You would love to be able to have strong man CBs that are smart enough to grasp zone concepts and be able to make that switch from play to play. But that is not an easy thing to do and it's why you don't see it work a lot in the NFL. Zone CBs tend to be smart and recognize spacing easily where man CBs are usually more physically gifted, but because of lack of experience playing zone, struggle to learn the proper spacing. We'll have to see what direction we go, but if we are truly changing to a more man to man philosophy, FA and the draft are going to tell us a lot about that.

This game is so bitter sweet. We are seeing right in front of us the team many of us have wanted to build for years absolutely destroy the Chiefs. For years, many of us have been calling for us to draft big, athletic freaks that can control the LOS. Instead, what we have gotten are undersized players on the line that were supposed to be able to utilize their speed and quickness to win and it hasn't worked out against the best teams with the best QBs. But we've all seen it tonight. The Eagles size and strength has been the difference on both sides of the ball. The front 4 are using their size to plug run lanes and their power to move the pocket right back into Mahomes' lap. And for as much praise as he gets, Mahomes is just not the athlete that other QBs are on the run. He's great navigating within the pocket, but as you have seen tonight, if you push the pocket right into his lap, he struggles to be consistent. The Eagles haven't had to blitz at all because the defensive line has been dominant from the jump. No soft zones. Nobody able to run free in the secondary. There is no mystery anymore. You are watching the blueprint to beat the Chiefs and containing Mahomes. And I, along with Bills fans everywhere, are praying that Beane, McDermott, and the entire organization is watching every second of this game adjusting their philosophy. We have some pieces, but it's time to get some beef in the middle and some big game wreckers on the outside that can reset the LOS on almost every play.

Man, if the Jets are going to blow it up, I want to know what it would take to get Garrett Wilson. We need 2 WRs that are explosive and can win on their own. He can absolutely fill one of those spots. Young and talented. Then, use FA or the draft to find the other one.

He and his Special Teams unit have been awful for years now. Why it took this long is baffling in a lot of ways. I mean, it is just Special Teams and in this day and age, they have largely been removed from the game because of rule changes, etc for most teams. But, for whatever reason, this guy and our unit seemed to find a way in their limited opportunities to make at least 1 terrible play a game that hurt us, sometimes badly. So, for him to be out is great news. Hopefully we can get someone in here from the outside that can fix Bass and can teach Martin, if he's back, how to get a punt off without taking a calendar year to do so. Good riddance.

We host a Super Bowl Party every year. We do ribs, a couple different kind of wings, pizza logs, shrimp, stromboli, and whatever our guests bring. Quite honestly, the best part of the Super Bowl is the food for us, especially over the last few years with the Chiefs in it. This year, we have had people that have come every year over the last 2 decades since we started hosting decide that they aren't coming this year because they just don't want to watch the game. And we completely get it. This is probably the worst possible Super Bowl matchup we could have gotten. Awful teams that nobody wants to root for and 2 of the most arrogant and toxic fan bases in the league (although Ravens fans are trying to get themselves into this mix as well). There is literally nothing redeeming about anything associated with the game itself.