SaulGoodman

Well, sure he’s had some talented players and solid coaches. So has Allen. Mahomes’ defenses have been worse than Allen’s regular season or postseason by any measure until this year. The difference is that he never faces the Chiefs. Plus, it’s not like his defenses have shut down Buffalo. They just get a few stops. Pretty much all my takes are echoed by most national analysts. They aren’t crazy, uncommon opinions.

Ah, right….who cares about how a defense performs in that game? Guess a guy’s not allowed to have a decent defense once in 6 years, even if his receivers and tackles suck?

How did they get 13.7?

Mahomes had more big plays than any QB in the league in his first few seasons, and he takes plenty of risks. Of course, swapping Tyreek Hill for MVS, along with a dramatic shift in the way teams defend KC (and a big downgrade in tackle play) led him to take a different approach the last few years. Because that's one bad half (consisting of like four possessions) out of 18 playoff games. And because the narrative is that it's always Allen's teammates/coaches that let him down. Because that play continues to be singled out by fans as one of the best examples of Andy's allegedly incomparable genius, and because it's led to three TDs in SBs. Plus, I doubt it's the only creative play that Bills coaches have used. Do you really think that Reid is a savant who understands offensive concepts that no one else in the league can? And you know that he's been criticized greatly throughout his career for choking away playoff games (losing record before Mahomes) and bad decisions/poor clock management, right? Like what? Btw, going back to the supporting cast debate, here are the preseason PFF roster rankings for each team since each QB became a starter: 2018: KC - 13 Bills - 16 2019: KC - 7 Bills - 29 2020: KC - 4 Bills - 7 2021: KC - 2 Bills - 4 2022: KC - 8 Bills - 1 2023: KC - 4 Bills - 6 Notice that, despite the narrative that Mahomes walked into the greatest situation imaginable, his initial roster was ranked 13th. Only slightly above Buffalo's. It may have been better than 13, but obviously it wasn't considered an ultra-loaded roster. Even after Mahomes' MVP season in which his offense averaged 35 ppg, the ranking only rose to 7th the following season. Also, as beebe pointed out, Alex Smith had by far his best season statistically in 2017, and Mahomes doubled his TD total as a first-year starter the next year. With over 1000 more passing yds and nearly 10 more points per game (a few ppg away from a record). Meanwhile, Buffalo's roster ranking plummeted the year after Allen took over, and his rookie stats were weaker across the board than Tyrod Taylor's from the previous year. Btw, here's what they had to say before the 2020 season: Biggest weakness: It's not a popular sentiment in the city of Buffalo, but this is a very good roster that probably will be limited by shaky quarterback play. Even if you want to discount the PFF grades or advanced accuracy metrics, Allen finished the 2019 season with a 58.8% completion percentage that was lower than each of the 32 quarterbacks with the most regular-season attempts. He had bottom-10 marks in yards per attempt and passer rating as well. None of this supports the idea that there's been a massive gap in talent between these teams, especially in recent years. Or that Allen would have had insane levels of success in KC. I'm sure you'll attack PFF's credibility or something, but they study every play of every game and earn a lot of money doing what they do. No one's perfect, but they're definitely a better resource than the biased opinion of a fan. The fact that Allen wasn't very sharp or accurate in his first two seasons doesn't help your case either. He wasn't likely to win big in those first two years, which would have left him only 4 seasons to surpass what Mahomes has done. So basically, he'd have needed to win the last four SBs.

Easy now....you're dropping too many facts.

In college, Mahomes killed it in spite of poor coaching and skill players that no one's heard of since.

So….the player who’s been much more mistake-prone (137 INTs/fumbles vs 99 in fewer games) with a defense that has provided far more takeaways (163 to 138) would have accomplished more than Mahomes in KC? By upgrading his offensive talent for a few seasons while downgrading defensively every year but one? Seems doubtful. Especially considering Allen was very inaccurate his first two years (at that point Mahomes had already notched a historic MVP season and a SB victory). KC had better offensive skill players during Mahomes’ first few years but hasn’t the last few. They’ve also had a weak running game most years, weak tackle play in half of Mahomes’ seasons, receivers that led the league in drops by a mile this year, the worst run blocking in the league for a few years, and weak defense every year but one. They’ve also been among the most penalized teams annually while their opponents are among the least. Somehow this adds up to a situation so much better than Allen’s that he’d have 6x as many AFC title game appearances as he has now, 3 or more SB rings and at least two MVPs? Also, is the difference in coaching as drastic as you make it out to be if one of Reid’s most lauded plays was stolen from the “uncreative” Bills? And was it the defense’s fault that Allen led his offense to 10 points vs Cincinnati last year? A hobbled Mahomes scored more than twice as many points vs the same team the next week, while throwing to a depleted WR corps consisting of MVS, Skyy Moore and Marcus Kemp from the practice squad. I don’t think the facts support your assertion.

You can claim whatever you want to believe. That’s the beauty of what if scenarios. The difference is, my opinions on Mahomes are mirrored by practically every analyst and pundit. You probably also believe that Allen would have more SBs than Brady if he had played in NE, since he has the bigger arm and all.

Are you saying that the narrative about McDermott wouldn't be vastly different if a couple plays/decisions were reversed? And no, I don't think Allen walked into the perfect circumstances. But that doesn't mean he'd have won as much or more as Mahomes if the roles were reversed, as many claim.

As opposed to the people who judge him based on one or two decisions from a few games?

If a talent-depleted team led by Tyrod Taylor reached the playoffs, McD must be better than many think.

Weren't the Bills a 9-7 playoff team the year before? With Tyrod Taylor at QB?

Jones could have left it at "I love my employer." Instead, he's repeatedly said he won't go anywhere else. Veach has also said they're going to prioritize Jones. With a higher cap, the chances of him being re-signed only increase.

The cap increase just makes it more likely that KC will re-sign Jones, who has said he won’t play anywhere else.

Are you under the impression that alleged crimes are uncommon among football players?

The narrative all year was that KC's WR corps was so bad that they didn't stand a chance of going deep even WITH a good defense and Mahomes. And it was mostly true, although Rice did eventually emerge as a pretty good weapon. Was anyone saying anything of the sort about Allen's weapons? And it's one thing to have inconsistent production....it's another thing entirely to have no feel for the game, consistently run routes poorly, and drop or fumble every other target. Which describes practically every receiver but Rice this year. Before Rice emerged, Gabe Davis would have been the clear #1 WR on the Chiefs, and most Bills fans think he's terrible. That says it all. KC's tackles were pretty bad too. Much weaker than Buffalo's.

He doesn't have to be Superman for them to win. He's supported by a good running game, good receiving weapons (including two good TEs), good tackles, and a very good defense (yes, yes, their LB situation vs KC wasn't ideal, I get it). If the Bills were to add one more solid WR and maybe bolster the interior line a bit, their offense would be absolutely loaded. I don't get the narrative that he has to carry a bunch of scrubs.

I must be in the Twilight Zone, because you keep telling me that no one says things that I see all the time. I’ve literally seen “Allen has to be Superman” numerous times. And others will say that he has to carry the team. He’s not carrying a bunch of bums. He has a very good supporting cast, which many will admit when making a different argument. And I just said a few posts back that Allen and Mahomes are in a tier of their own. Which is pretty high praise considering there are other QBs who have won multiple MVPs, been to Super Bowls, etc. But I would rank Mahomes higher, as would most experts and media people. And as you likely would if you weren’t a Bills fan. Also, I never said that Allen wouldn’t have done much. Someone here told me that Allen would have won 6 SBs with Reid and I said probably not. I didn’t say he wouldn’t have done well.

First of all, who uses their real name on an anonymous board? If that somehow makes you less "pathetic," then I guess you're less pathetic than 99% of fellow Bills fans and the entire internet. My identity isn't based on a football player or team. If there's anything creepy around here, it's the insistence that Allen can do no wrong and branding him "Superman." I wouldn't be surprised if some people from that part of the country actually worship him.

People can keep saying that I'm clamoring for praise, but it doesn't make it true. Btw, there were Bills fans creating threads on the KC board like "The Bills will take the AFC this season." If the roles were reversed, do you think I'd be doing that? Not a chance. It's pretty easy to make claims that no one can disprove (but I actually wouldn't do that).

Ha...not the reason I come to this board, but no one is more stuck on a QB's nuts than Bills fans and Allen. Now imagine if he had 3 rings and two MVPs in six seasons.

Do I think Mahomes would have won if he were quarterbacking the Bills in that game and playing at home? Yeah. I don’t think that would be a controversial or crazy take anywhere else.

You’re proving my point for me. People would have laughed in your face if you suggested Reid was better than Belichick 5 years ago. And he was a mile away from the GOAT conversation. He was fired by Philly for God’s sake, and took a lot of heat from Chiefs fans early on. Reid was 11-13 in the playoffs before Mahomes. 15-3 with Mahomes. Well, of course people are going to put a lot of the blame on the losing coach. Just like Reid dealt with for 20 years. Media narratives aren’t always fair. If the Bills make a few more plays in the 13 seconds game and this year, the narrative about McD is completely different. I’m not saying that McD personally deserves a lot of credit for developing Allen. I meant the staff in general. The bottom line is that Allen’s had good coaching, and the defensive coaching has been very good as well. All those injuries you guys talked about and yet they still finished, what…4th in total defense?

Well, respect for Reid nationally (and locally) increased 1000% after Mahomes became the starter. That’s no coincidence. And McNabb and Vick were pretty talented. Alex Smith had by far the best season of his career in 2017, and Mahomes doubled his TD total in his first year. Many of you give little credit to McDermott and his staff, but he’s a pretty damn solid coach. Went to the playoffs with Tyrod Taylor and a weak roster. Hell, one of the “genius” plays that Reid’s praised for was stolen from the Bills. The occasional questionable decision doesn’t make McD a vastly inferior coach. As good as he is, Andy’s made a hell of a lot of questionable decisions in his career too, and it’s no secret that he’s struggled with clock management over the years. Andy’s done a nice job of developing Mahomes, but does McD get any credit for what Allen’s become? Especially considering how raw and inaccurate he was early on. The difference in perspective among different fanbases is funny to me. On a Broncos board, they’ll say Andy Reid is an awful playoff coach being carried by Mahomes. And they hate Mahomes for obvious reasons.

Before you call somebody an idiot, you might want to actually read the conversation. I was told that few were predicting or expecting a Buffalo win (and especially not a comfortable win). I didn't say that I was surprised to see predictions of a Buffalo win. And while I'd expect to see a lot of predictions of a Bills win, if fans were so concerned about injuries and felt they were at a disadvantage, I wouldn't expect to see a lot of predictions of blowouts. Would you? But there were many.