Success

Allen reminds me of Peyton when he's at the line now. I know a lot of QB's look over the defense and call audibles & that kind of thing - this was more of a general presence kind of thing, and only this past season (not his previous 2 seasons). He has the kind of command that PM had at the line. When he spots something in the defense, he'll walk up and down the line barking out either observations on that or changes to the play, and he is SO patient. Very aware of the clock, and seems to back off from snapping the ball sometimes 2-3 times leading up to the play, which I think has to have an effect on a defense. He's like a general out there now, which is what PM was when he played.

The only "big" gap I see there is at pass rusher. We're fairly anemic there - clearly, that has to be our top priority in the offseason, and the D-line in general. The differences at QB and pass catcher are negligible, imo. I'll grant a slight edge to what KC has, but it's not any kind of overall difference-maker. Mahomes was better than Allen in the AFCCG because of the gap at pass rush - Allen had pressure all game, Mahomes didn't. I think the QB's themselves are very close, and still wouldn't trade Allen for Mahomes straight-up. Give me Diggs over Hill. Hill has the speed, but Diggs can do more, and was more consistently good throughout the '20 season. Hard to argue w/ Kelce - but Beasley is as good a possession receiver as there is in the game. Again, a slight edge, but not what I would consider a gap. We're right there. And I trust Beane more than just about anyone. He'll make the moves we need to make to catch up - it's not anything insurmountable in one offseason.

Much better? I'd disagree w/ that characterization. They're better and further ahead, but I'm more in line w/ how one of the Chiefs described it before the AFCCG - we're basically where they were 2 years ago. They have more experience now, and are somewhat better & more balanced, but it's not a big gap. We can catch them next season w/ the right moves; we're not years away.

I don't expect the Bills to punt next season, but if they have to in garbage time or something, sure....

I'm going Chiefs today. I'll let you all know how I'm feeling tomorrow.

RE: the bolded. He is 22.

It's pretty fun to be in the mix. I also like thinking that Allen & the Bills could be the main obstacle to a long Chiefs run at the top. If they do stay there, they're going to have to really earn it. This moment feels like more of an apex for them than it does for the Bills. This Bills team feels late '80's to me. Right on the cusp, and a few moves from being truly dominant. The Chiefs have been there for 3 seasons. If not for an offside penalty, they could be playing for a 3rd ring on Sunday. Can they stay there? There is no question that their biggest names won't all be together for long. And the AFC in general is going to be QB central. The balance is going to be really off between the conferences. Gotta love a challenge....

Good for Nate. One game doesn't define a guy - that was a poor set of circumstances, to have his 1st start be on the road against one of the league's better pass rushes.

Well, one thing I know from reading the Pats boards is that the fans there HATE how Mahomes is brought up as a potential GOAT already. And they rely completely on the rings argument - it's always "he's good, but no way he gets 6 rings!" Doesn't matter. Bradshaw wasn't as good as Montana. Dilfer wasn't better than Marino. And you're right - it's always about the newest. The media will go crazy as soon as Mahomes gets #2 if it plays out that way.

I don't know how any fan of the game can cite # of rings first in any GOAT discussion. That said, I know fans everywhere do this all the time w/ Brady. All the time - particularly after he wins another. When he won against the Rams in that SB, there were a million comments on the internet saying things like "well, no one will touch him as the GOAT now!" Really? He made one good pass in that game - which shows how ridiculous rings are as an argument. Football is the ultimate team game. You need a lot of things to happen in all 3 phases of the game - AND some luck - to get a title. Coaching also matters more & more the further you get in the playoffs. How can anyone even compare Brady & Manning? Brady had the GOAT coach, and an incredibly well run organization. Manning had 5 coaches, only one of whom I'd consider to be "good," and an organization that consistently failed to put a good line in front of him or a good defense on the other side of the ball. Would Brady really have 6 rings if Caldwell had been his coach? Or McCarthy?

I agree w/ the general sentiment. I just don't like the Chiefs.

At this point, it's hard to ask for a better schedule than that. Obviously, things can change, and teams often exceed expectations - but no one can name the starting QB for half of the teams on that list right now. It's a year-to-year league, and it certainly can't be an assumption that there is some sort of linear progression. Like, okay - last year, we made the WC, this year, we got to the AFCCG, next year, Super Bowl! It just doesn't work like that in the NFL. That said, there is no one else out there I'd rather have in charge than Beane. He will put the team in the best position to repeat their 2021 success and build on it. My expectation now is winning the AFC East, at minimum. Beyond that is harder to gauge, since you need luck in the playoffs more often than not (and we did in both the Colts and Ravens games to get where we did).

It would not shock me AT ALL to see Darnold go someplace else and flourish. They gave him nothing to work with in NY. He gets ridiculed for the "ghosts" game, but he still has great skills & w/ proper coaching and good weapons he could still be an excellent QB in the NFL. I'll tell ya this - I do NOT want to see him on the Patriots.

Never has a jury been so sure and confident of a verdict. Allen is one of the best players in the NFL right now. We are incredibly lucky he is on the Bills.

It was a real eye-opener this season. I had resolved that he was always going to err more on the side of caution and be more in the vein of the "conservative" coaches of the league. But he took many more risks over the season, and was definitely aggressive. I didn't think his decision not to go for the TD at the end of the 1st half vs. KC was inconsistent w/ that - but the one in the 2nd half was a little bit more like how he had coached in previous seasons.

I'm definitely more bullish on Knox than most. He's had steady improvement, and some of the plays he's made have shown what he's capable of. I can't disagree on the blocking, but I'm sure they'll work on that. I'd be okay just getting a back-up TE, at least for one more season. I guess the main point was that it's not a big priority. The poster I was responding to made it sound like we have to upgrade everyone but Diggs. I've never been happier w/ our receiving corps - like, literally never. Not even from the '90's or Moulds/Price days.

So, the only way to beat the Chiefs is to mirror them exactly? The Bills had one of the top 5 receivers corps in the league this past season. Allen had over 4,500 yards and 37 TD's. If everyone stayed healthy, we probably would have had 3 receivers break 1,000 yards. And yeah - Cole Beasley is still a "viable weapon in the slot." He's not going to drop off a cliff by September after his best season in the NFL. The Bills needs are obvious, at least to Bills fans. The Bills need a running game....ANY running game. They need to get a RB, probably high in the draft. They need a pass rush, badly, and to improve almost every slot in the current D-line. They probably need a LB & safety, depending on who stays & who leaves. The passing attack was not an issue, and won't be an issue, even if they lose Smoke - who was injured much of this past season anyway. We don't need to be the greatest show on turf or '07 Pats - teams who stalled at the finish line regardless. Championship teams are more balanced, and you have to have a defense that can make stops. THAT was the biggest difference between KC and Buffalo in the championship game.

Agree w/ the other responses - this one seems pretty easy. He really played well this year.

Man, that weather forecast would be freaking me out if we made it. We just weren't a "rain" kind of team this past season. Bucs are probably a bit more equipped to handle adverse weather w/ that D. Could be more of an equalizer.

I mean, that's sort of the position every team is in. It was really pretty rotten luck in the AFCCG w/ pretty much every receiver nursing some injury. Not much you can do about that; you can't go 7 deep or something. We need a RB, and to get better on defense - much better. Fix those areas first (I think we all kind of agree on that).

I expect it to be a VERY low offseason priority, if they even address it. They were happy to get Hodgins in the 6th last draft and surprised he fell that far. He had some bad luck this year, but I'd expect him to crack the line-up before they use draft capital on another wideout. And it's very doubtful they look at FA for that. Diggs, Beasley and Davis is a formidable starting trio. It's just not a position of real need.

Doesn't seem like the kind of player we're going for these days. But, of course, I could talk myself into it in about 30 seconds if it happened.

The Bills don't have to make ANY moves in terms of WR or TE. Beasley just finished the best year of his career & doesn't need surgery. He'll go into next season fully healthy. Knox is our starting TE - he has made steady improvement all season & IS a "pass catching TE." Gabe Davis can easily move into the position vacated by Smoke if the latter moves on, and we have a speedster from last year's draft who didn't even play yet. Thanks for the input, though. Dontchya have a game this weekend to be mulling over before being concerned about the Bills' prospects for '21?

I'm ready.

True. I can't imagine how it would be if Allen had turned out more like a Trubisky or something. But he didn't. Leading up to this past AFCCG, there was a legit discussion as to whether Allen was just as good as Mahomes, or even better. In hot-take nation, that notion is of course scrapped now, because Mahomes "beat" Allen (even though they're not on the field at the same time), and looked better doing so. But Mahomes' team was better than Allen's team in this one. And while Allen was running from pressure all night and struggling to find even one open receiver, Mahomes had it pretty easy in the pocket and had open guys all over the place. Let's see how things look in 5 years or 10. It's a good bet they'll have more match-ups like the one last Sunday.