SCBills

Dems are walking a dangerous line today with RFK. RFK has tremendous support amongst suburban moms. Hes the top confirmation choice for most women I know with kids.

Rousseau could be a monster DE2 opposite a guy like Crosby, but he's not a DE1 on a team that doesn't have an elite playmaker at DT or DE. The price tag for him, on our end, should reflect that. Benford is a play out his contract next year and then let him go. He hasn't been healthy when it matters in every single playoff run we've had with him. He's a very good cover corner, but he's not elite. Bernard, like Rousseau, should depend on the number. He's good, not elite, and he's undersized which year in/year out is an issue with this Defense. If we bulk up the DL in front of him, that should help. Shakir is a re-sign unless he wants ridiculous money. Same for Cook, re-sign unless he wants ridiculous money. For me, in summary.. Shakir & Cook are 80/20 re-sign guys. Rousseau and Bernard are 50/50. Benford is 10/90.. I just don't think he's a smart 20M CB investment at all. Draft a bunch of corners in RD4/RD5 this year to get them a year in the system and then give Rousseau Benford's money IF we get a playmaker on the DL and he balls out as the 2nd/3rd piece with Oliver.

Chiefs are the main draw in the NFL. Let's not pretend otherwise. That said... I do think the NFL is pushing the limits of what the NFL fanbase is willing to take given the constant officiating controversy. The Bills are pretty clearly their second biggest draw. Which is saying something given the baked in viewership numbers of national teams like the Cowboys.

The Los Angeles Rams run an Offense that requires their WR's to block and are still able to maintain a vertical passing game with outside separation. If Amari Cooper is not that guy any longer, it makes zero sense to bring him back and we desperately need to find a separator on the outside, given we should absolutely bring Hollins back, but that essentially locks in two big body receivers in Coleman & Hollins on the outside that haven't shown much separation ability. Maybe Samuel, if he can finally be healthy, can give us that on the outside more next year but it's clearly not something we should be relying on.

At this point Beane should just ask himself who would Kansas City Draft. We're now 0-2 in McDuffie vs Elam and Worthy vs Coleman (granted, the book isn't written on Keon yet)

Well said.. Mahomes had the only turnover of the game. Mahomes took a sack in the open field when they were close to FG range. That is 6-10 points right there that if the game goes the other way, people would point to as why Mahomes/KC made mistakes they couldn't overcome. The only reason we never do this with them is because they get the game altering calls in close games that allow them to overcome those mistakes.

We had to get a two score margin, which was why the slow start hurt so much. We ended up playing a tight tug of war until the 4th Quarter when we had a chance to go up 8.. but we all know what happened. Which is why you just can't get to the 4th Quarter against the Chiefs without a working margin, otherwise you allow the refs to make game altering calls in high leverage moments that always seem to go their way.

God forbid the refs call a penalty like that in a tight playoff game. I suppose we’ll have to settle for not calling penalties on a long kick return for KC as well, but obviously making sure they find the time to throw a flag when Elam’s hand touches a Chiefs players facemask.

I’ve seen Allen get tackled into the end zone more times than I can count. You don’t see Bills players do this. ….because they would get flagged. Is there anything else you’d like to argue about, or are you just sick of fans venting about us getting screwed over by league officiating?

*Phillips got 15 It should have been offsetting. When do you see a guy allowed to run up to the defender and get in their face like that after a TD. That was above and beyond Hollins stepping over a guy.

I have zero patience for the type of fan who says “we had our chances, don’t blame the refs” Nah, **** off. I will 100% blame the refs. Who knows how that game goes if we have it 1st and 10 at the Chiefs 40 up 1 in the 4th Quarter. That is an insanely huge bad call. And that’s even after we got the 50/50 Chiefs get their way call on Kincaid, 50/50 Chiefs get their way call on Worthy, phantom facemask on Elam, no penalties when obvious ones occurred on the long kick return and Kelce taunting Hamlin but *we get 15…. After all that.. with no calls going our way, we still should have had the ball with a chance to go up 8, at least 4 in the 4th Quarter and the refs simply stole the ball from us and gave it to Kansas City near midfield. Mahomes gets absolved of his sins because they get the calls and win. Never has to answer for committing the only turnover of the game or taking a sack that knocked them out of potential FG position or getting sacked on an and-goal situation late in the game. Instead it’s Allen, once again, having to atone for his teammate letting him down on a late drive. Once again, it’s a fanbase let down, because the league plays favorites. Good stuff.

I find myself getting angrier every time I see social media discussion about the biased officiating than I do my getting more chill as time passes. This league is an absolute joke.

I think 31 other fanbases feel the same. Ive gotten texts from Falcons and Panthers fans down here in the South echoing the same sentiment. That nothing matters anymore in this league because of how KC is treated. We’ll see what happens with the Eagles, but they had a Super Bowl decided with a phantom penalty on Darius Slay last time they faced KC in this spot.

It wasn't Allen's best performance, but he played Mahomes to a draw, as he usually does. I'm not sure why I need to respond to "what did he do the first 3 downs" when he literally hit Kincaid in the hands to give us 1st and 10 at the Chiefs 30.

I'm probably too hard on Hamlin, but I just want new blood tbh. I'm sick of slow, undersized guys who our coaching staff stays obsessed with due to their consistency. Yes, they are consistently mediocre and/or consistently come up small in big moments. I want something different. I want a guy like Cole Bishop to play through rough patches in-season because we see his ceiling and want it to show as we enter the playoffs. I don't want a bunch of guys who play reliable regular season ball and either can't or won't show up when it matters. Draft a better measurable Safety in the Draft and let Damar Hamlin types go the Levi Wallace/Dane Jackson route of fading into obscurity elsewhere.

Allen hit Kincaid in the hands and did everything in his power to have us set up at the KC 30, down 3, with under 2 minutes and 2 timeouts. Allen was shaky to start, yes. Mahomes also fumbled early, leading to a 14 point swing. Allen gets held to a comical standard because the team and coaches around him choke. It is what it is.

In terms of who we pay, if I'm Beane, I judge them by these games. James Cook moved into the "pay him" category for me after Sunday. Bernard, Benford and Rousseau, for me, are play out their contracts next year and then let them test the market. One guy didn't make an impact while his partner at LB did, the other got injured in the postseason again and the third plain didn't show up in a big moment. Rousseau and Benford will likely be 20M+ guys.. we can't keep pay good, not great players who either don't show up in big moments or are frequently unavailable.

Is it bad that I am rooting for KC to win with help from the refs? I want it to be blatant. I want the NFL to own it.

Chris Jones still has a few years of prime left. Their best OL players are young. Rashee Rice, if he comes back the same guy post-injury, is better than any WR we have. McDuffie is better than any CB we have (yes, he's better than Benford and he stays healthy). They keep drafting impact guys where we struggle to get them on the field in any meaningful way year 1. The only silver lining player personnel wise is that Kelce is reaching the end and they, like us, have a lot of big money decisions coming up on good players.

Fair. There's no logical reason as to why our Defense can slow down Kansas City in the regular season, but then completely folds against them every postseason. We just watched the Texans Defense give them fits the week before and that was with an Offense/Special Teams that kept putting them in bad positions. Then KC plays us and we look like a JV team out there on that side of the ball. Can a Maxx Crosby solve that? I don't know.. but it's the only hope I have.

We need a separator on the outside, for sure. We need Keon to become a better route runner, for sure. I guess it depends on your definition of stud WR1.. I don't think we need a 25M+ WR on this team. Solid CB, sure, but I don't view CB2 as a massive issue next year while we still have Benford. Especially if.... ...we draft a big DT to push Daquan Jones to DT3 and have a Maxx Crosby to pair with Ed Oliver on the line. A move like that would not only give us that elite DL player we haven't had, it will also allow Oliver to have more favorable matchups and a DL that actually threatens the opponent will in turn help whoever our CB2 is.

Since we are making no big changes to McDermott/Beane, I feel like you.. unless we get a difference maker in his prime this off-season. Given the Ryan Talbot's and Matt Bove's of the world have openly discussed Maxx Crosby and Maxx Crosby's random infatuation with all things Bills since the Raiders season ended, I wonder if there's actually some smoke there. And I'll admit, if we added Maxx Crosby this off-season, I'll believe. We need our Chris Jones. He'd be that. If we continue to go the route of Josh Allen as the only elite player plus a deep/above-average roster around him, eh... It hasn't worked yet, so why am I to believe it will next year with the same coaching staff and front office?

It takes away from their greatness. And they are great. One of the best HC/QB combo's we've ever seen. Chris Jones and Travis Kelce are all-time greats on each side of the ball. But nobody gives them that credit because every fan outside Kansas City views them (correctly) as the NFL's golden child that wins games, in large part, due to biased officiating.

I've never seen the NFL fanbase more angry at the league than I do now. The league's calculus has to be that they don't care and know we'll still watch, but it's not just Bills fans... it's fans of every team outside KC and it's analysts and commentators. It's the sudden realization by almost everyone that the league isn't about pure competition. They'll still get ratings because the Super Bowl is an American holiday at this point, but this is the most "out" i've ever seen the NFL fanbase on a game.

Von and Hamlin should go. Milano looked like vintage Milano in the playoffs and he's not really financially viable to move off anyway. I think Smiley is probably gone, but that's about it. Overall, it seems like a very predictable off-season when it comes to who is brought back and who we let leave.