The Frankish Reich

Fantastic summary. Thanks for putting this together. I can't really disagree with your takes on any of the players listed here, and I'd be surprised if we get any serious arguments to the contrary. But we shall see ...

But isn't our defense built around speed? Haven't we been hearing all year (well, mostly the first half of the year) that it's the lack of size up the middle that allows teams to run rampant on us? I'm not sure we can fight their 1,000 square mile wildfire of an offense with our own fire. Pressure on the QB isn't just about more speed, and there's no way any defensive backfield can stick with their speedburners.

Well played ...

We really should've brought Patrick DiMarco back to run the fly route.

True. Amazing to think that they won - and were basically unstoppable - last night with Le'veon Bell (consensus best RB in football just 3 years ago) and Sammy Watkins (supposedly their #1 WR when they got him) never seeing the field.

Just kidding. A lot of people here disparage Lamar as more of a runner than a thrower. The fact that Allen's best plays yesterday came on runs doesn't seem to bother anyone.

From what I've read here: Those yards don't count when they are accumulated by Lamar Jackson. They do count when accumulated by Josh Allen.

Well ... take away that muffed punt, and have Andy go full Belichick on us at the end, and it very well could have ended at 45-17 ....

Just for the record before this thread is closed: I put down my beer, took off my Bills cap, put my hand over my heart and tried to face the nearest flag on my TV screen. And I refused to answer any questions about why the network wasn't showing any Bills players until the junior Jimi Hendrix sounded that last flatted note.

McD seems so hell-bent on making him the next Luke Kuechly that he doesn't seem to get this. He's a very talented player being forced into a role he's ill-suited for.

People I was watching the game with were getting indignant - hey, why all the shots of the Chiefs on the field and no equal time for the Bills? I explained that I thought it was the kneeling for the anthem thing ...

Well, they have won 25 out of their last 26 I think, not counting their meaningless Week 17 loss this year.

These power shifts between the conferences are still going on. Right now the AFC is the conference of the great young QBs: Mahomes, Allen, Watson (well, maybe), Jackson ... maybe even Mayfield and Burrow NFC: the conference of old QBs still dominating - Brees (gone), Brady (please), Rodgers, with Murray as the young hope

This is one of those where I won't know my own mind until the game begins. - I like Mahomes. He's fun to watch and surprisingly lacking in arrogance for a guy who had such quick success - I hate Brady. I dislike Tyreek. I kind of like the honey badger. - But I really like Bruce Arians, and would like to see him ride off into the sunset with a ring - I don't like Chiefs fans. I don't know anything about TB fans so I guess I like them better - I usually root for the AFC team. I also like the idea that if the Chiefs win we can honestly say that we probably are the 2nd best team in the NFL. That somehow makes me feel better about yesterday. I am a bundle of contradictions. Maybe I should sit this one out.

Yes. Memories are short! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Show_on_Turf#:~:text="The Greatest Show on Turf,2001 National Football League seasons.

I live in Colorado so I probably talk Broncos more than Bills just by virtue of the people I see. I don't pound them over the head with "Elway's major fail was not drafting Allen" even though it's obviously true. But when they try to defend drafting Bradley Chubb instead of Allen ... well, they're asking for it.

That trade was, in retrospect, awful. A lot of people here don't like to admit it. So you'll get the comments about how it was justifiable at the time (probably true), or that it doesn't make sense to keep flogging that dead horse (definitely true). I fall on the side of this: I won't mention it unless/until someone tries to tell me we actually lucked out by getting Allen instead of Mahomes. That is ... not a defensible position, regardless of how good Allen is looking now. Mahomes has probably had the best first 3 years as a starter in NFL history. Period. As for Ford: yeah, probably time to move on. As for Motor/Moss: neither was a high rounder. Both are hitting their high-end projections as useful RBs who shouldn't be considered as special talents. That's not a fail. As for why we drafted kind of the same guy two years in a row? Well, you'd have a point there.

Ouch. You are not allowed to say that here!

All correct. Beane and McD get a lot of credit for patching together a budget (except Morse) O line that did really well this year, particularly in pass protection. Edmunds: still not sure he's the guy you want in the middle. There's a lot of wasted athleticism with him playing there. Someday some coach will free him up playing on the outside and he'll be a force. But that's unlikely to be McDermott and the Bills. Knox: I'm fine with him, but if we're waiting for him to emerge as a big weapon we're making a mistake. What really hurt this team is the inability of Kroft to stay healthy and become a significant part of the offense. Knox on offense and Addison/Murphy on defense sucked up a ton of salary with very little in terms of contribution. I won't rip Beane for those signings because other moves (Diggs) were obviously so good that they offset the bad moves, but these ones still hurt. Back to the drawing board again on the TE position I'm afraid.

Thank you. This type of sentiment is no knock on Allen. We drafted and developed a really good QB. I expect he'll be making Pro Bowls for a long time. But folks lose sight of actually how good Mahomes is. They are not roughly equal, or Allen is not about to pass him, or Allen does not still have upside that Mahomes lacks. Mahomes stands apart from the rest of a group of fantastic young QBs.

Great comment. Bend but don't break only works if your opponent's QB misses open throws or throws picks, if they fumble, etc., etc. And KC wasn't doing any of those things. Seriously, take away that muffed punt and this was a total blowout.

Philip Lindsay would be a great affordable complement to Singletary and/or Moss. The speed to turn the corner and get downfield in the pass game too. Weird that we let Yeldon languish all season when he clearly added something missing in the form of speed out of the backfield.

Well that's not really fair. He was critical in the first half of the season. It turned into a weird season for him as he never really became the deep ball threat we got him for. Maybe he's lost a step. Maybe Allen never really developed that long ball rapport with him. Probably both. But he was a very effective possession type receiver. While I'm not disputing your overall point that the offense needs another big weapon, I'd try to address TE or RB first. Yeldon strangely saw action tonight and was effective. A better version of him (faster than Singletary/Moss, plus a threat as a receiver downfield) would be a huge boost.

True. After the Chiefs scored to make it 21-9, watching how the Bills D had no chance of stopping them, I said the Chiefs are gonna score 40 tonight. So the point wasn't to make it a one score game before halftime or something tactical like that. It was "how are we gonna put at least 35-40 points on the board." That's why kicking the field goal was a bad call at the time, and an even worse call the second time around. Would we have scored TDs both times? Probably not. But in at the time (and for sure in retrospect) it was the only way we were going to win this game.

Very true. And I edited my post to include that little fact. I think I'm just commenting on the OP here - namely, that Allen may have caught or even passed Mahomes. That seemed like a reasonable assessment a couple weeks ago. It doesn't today. Allen is excellent and we should be glad we've got him. Mahomes is on pace to be the GOAT, or awfully close to it. Good. Maybe there's more time on that growth curve.