GASabresIUFan

I'm as disappointed as anyone here at the outcome last night. Yes we got outcoached (Brady's offensive play calling) and yes Coleman and Kincaid, two key skill draftees laid an egg. I don't think McD did anything wrong in this game. However, people please take a deep breath and ask yourselves were we even supposed to be here this season? Beane has done a great job. Not perfect, but overall his work has been excellent. We have a $70 mill dead cap this season to clear away the old core and made it to the conference final with a young team with mostly rookies for depth. This team has holes, like the DL, WR and CB (I'm worried about Benford's health) and Beane is going to have to fix them, but we are still in an excellent situation. That said, this loss was gut wrenching as we had the game exactly where we needed it to win late.

Brady and McD were responsible for the loss tonight. Terrible adjustments on short yardage and then not utilizing Cook late in the game. Add the terrible play calling on the final drive and a complete lack of killer instinct for the game.

He is not listed on the published inactive report. Only Rapp. Therefore he is active

You should be stoked. The offense returns pretty much intact with only depth players Hollins (who will be re-signed), Anderson, Ty Johnson and Cooper as FAs. Defense is a little different story. Starters Douglas, Hamlin, and Smoot are FAs but there are internal candidates for the jobs in Elam, Bishop and Carter. Overall the Bills are in great shape for next year. Replacing Cooper and Douglas while adding to the pass rush are the offseason priorities. There is time to worry about them after the SB.

How do we know that destiny maybe finally on the Bills' side? McD had a tough call going for the FG against the Ravens late and it actually didn't blow up in his face. Almost, but Andrews' dropping the 2pt conversation ended the issue and the game. (I'm actually confident that the Bills with 1:30 and 2 timeouts would have driven to kick a GW FG regardless of the Andrews play, but it's nice that it wasn't necessary) One quick tidbit. The Bills lead the AFC in differential at +157 (tied with Balt). Denver was 3rd at 114, LAC 4th at 101 and KC 5th at 59. So far in the playoffs, we have beaten Balt and Den, the next two teams on the list after the Bills. The Bills' 525 points for was also tops in the AFC. KC's defense is good, but not really any better than Balt or Den.

Jackson has been with the team all season, played fine when called on earlier in the year, he is a big hitter and has 10+ years of NFL experience. He'll be fine. I'm just waiting on news about Benford.

Correct. According to Spotrac.com the Bills have the 8th largest current cap hit for 2025 at 278.9 Million with only 43 players under contract and with about $10 mill in dead cap (5.4 in current dead cap (mostly Tre White) plus void year dead money from 3 current Bills - Douglas, A Johnson and Smoot).

Joe Brady staying.

Does Kay Stephenson get credit for Pete Carroll who was the Bills DB coach in 1984?

Brady pulls out of NO coaching search, and there was much rejoicing.

Ok it's time. Bills jump out to a lead with 28 points mid way through the 3rd qtr to lead by 12 28-16 (3 KC field goals). KC makes a late push, to close to 28- 23, but the Bills drive one more time and Bass kicks a field goal to give the Bills an 8 point lead with 3 minutes left. A fumble on a Groot sack seals the game for the Bills. 31-23.

Last week I avoided pretty much everything about the Ravens/Bills game. I had the earlier game in my mind and hated the matchup. The Bills prevailed. Now this week, we have the opposite problem. We beat the Chiefs (as we tend to do in the regular season), it's hard to beat the same team twice and the Bills just aren't as good on the road. Add the Rapp injury and the Reid/Mahomas/Swift mojo and all signs point to another disappointment. Strangely enough that is giving me optimism and unlike last week, I've been reading about the game (avoiding podcasts again). I think the Bills biggest advantage this week is that they have nothing to lose. The narratives are already written, but unlike in years past the Bills have things they haven't had before in this "big game" 1. They have a dominate running game allowing the Bills to control the tempo of the game. This combines with an Oline that maybe the best in football. Control the clock and keep Josh upright leads to good results. 2. They are mostly healthy on defense. Last year, the Bills D played the entire game with AJ Klein and Dane Jackson playing every snap and no Bernard, Benford or Milano. This year all 3 will be in the lineup plus a healthy Douglas. 3. We don't have any weapons KC can take away. The Bills maybe unique in football. Shakir and Cook are the "best skill players" on offense, but neither is necessary for the Bills to win. The Bills had 13 players catch a TD, 3 different players lead the team in rushing, 5 players lead a game in receptions and 10 different players lead the team in reception yards including all 3 RBs and all the WRs. This is the most balanced, deep and healthy team the Bills bring to the AFC Championship game. It's time.

The TEs, Knox and Kincaid will be the key to the offense. KC is vulnerable to TEs. If I'm reading the stats correctly, KC gave up the most yards to TEs in the regular season at almost 1200 yards.

@Beck Water Thank you for a complete and reasoned response. The bottom line is I'm correct to be worried about a starting combo of Hamlin and Bishop. That doesn't mean they'll ultimately be the reason we lose to KC, but losing Rapp is a major blow to our chances of winning. Personally, I'm actually still bullish on the team Sunday. I think our ball control offense will help limit the defense's exposure and expect a game very similar to what we saw against Balt. The key will be finding at least 3 stops of the KC offense through turnovers and or punting. Without Rapp, those stops maybe have to come from turnovers again.

Never was healthy enough to earn a look. Hamlin was healthier and better from day 1. Maybe Jackson gets elevated and adds that physical game to the secondary.

Is it? Why? How has our defense done this year when our starters have been out in the secondary? When Bishop has played 50% or more of the D snaps, the Bills are 3-3, but in one of the wins the Bills D gave up nearly 500 yards in passing to Det.

Beane hit almost all the right notes this past off-season. McGovern and Edwards instead of Morse and McGovern. Perfect. Letting White go and starting Benford and Douglas, perfect as well. Moving on from Davis and Diggs and ultimately replacing with Cooper and Coleman, not a HR on the field, but it was one in the locker-room and helped free Josh and Brady. The one area that has worried me from Day 1 is safety. Moving on from Poyer and Hyde was also the right thing to do, but now with Rapp out for the biggest game of the year, my off-season worries are back. I started this thread back in Sept. The Off-season gameplan at safety was Rapp plus one of Hamlin, Edwards or Bishop. Now with the season on the brink our starters are Hamlin and the rookie Bishop. Andy Reid and Mahomes must be giddy with excitement. Babich is going to have to find a way to get to Mahomes or Bishop and Hamlin are going to have to play the games of their lives.

Whomever stops KC by getting us off the field on 3rd & 8 in the 3rd qtr.

My first grandchild (a boy) was born on Tuesday before the Ravens game. My daughter very kindly put him in a Bills onesie before kickoff and a new era of Bills football has begun.

Just keep winning and we probably won't have to worry about replacing Brady for at least another year or two.

Easy Allen (AP), Cook (PB), Shakir (2nd in YAC by WRs 2025), Taron Johnson (AP), Dawkins (4 time PB), Brown (1 sack allowed in 2025), Groot, Milano (AP/PB), Benford (top 5 CB according to PFF) and probably Bernard. Cooper is also a 5 time PBer. Also McGovern, Torrence and Edwards have been elite on the interior of the OL all season as well. We may have the best OL in the NFL. McGovern didn't allow a sack or a hit on Josh up the middle this season.

How do you stop the Chiefs? Tonya Harding.

Ball control helps the defense. Ball control also wears down the opposition and hopefully helps put games away. Not sure why it has to be one or the other.

Just some stats: The Bills rushed for more yards than they passed for in 5 games this season. The Bills were 3-2. The Bills are 8-1 in games they throw for 250+. Passing attempts (RS) 520; Rushing 491 TDs (RS) Passing 30; Rushing 32.

My biggest worry for this game is the status of Johnson, Rapp and Benford. We need at least 2/3 to suit up.