Dr. Who

All you have to do is let it rest yourself. There's a lot that plays out in a season. Fortune is fickle. I think you're creating a somewhat false dichotomy. Hardly anyone disagrees that the defense needed a major overhaul. I would add that the scheme needs to add new wrinkles, which I am hopeful is part of the plan. None of that touches on Beane's team building strategy. For those of us who think he doesn't value WR enough, that perdures. Folks have already pointed out the weakness in the offense that shows up with greater scrutiny. I don't think it's just a matter of chance and adequate players who just happen to not make clutch plays when it matters most. Many are serene, regardless. My bottom line to you: McDermott has had plenty of investment in both the draft and FA on his side of the ball. He needs to show up not just in the wild card round, and once in a while in the divisional round, and hardly at all in the rare conference championship game. You want to preach complementary football? Fantastic. Whatever inevitable growing pains integrating rookies into the system show up early, the wisdom of Beane's plan will be judged by how it plays out late.

I hear you. I certainly think McDermott should be held accountable if his defense does not perform well in the playoffs. The expenditure on that side of the ball this off-season in both the draft and free agency ought to be enough to work with. I don't trust Pegula to get it right, but at some point, you have to win a Super Bowl with Josh Allen as your quarterback.

The other factor, and I'm sorry to bring up hockey, which I know is a dull subject for you, but Terry Pegula is the absolute worst owner in the NHL. He hires inexperienced GMs, and continues to keep an inadequate fella in the role, at least partly because he feels heard by Kevyn Adams. The Bills were dysfunctional before McD and Beane arrived. They have built a strong and competent culture. I fear what would happen should that be gambled away, though I appreciate the concerns of those who question the ceiling on the regime.

Fella is going to be good, I think, but bonus points for all the memes that are going to be relevant.

Yes, well, it's also clear why you weren't so anxious about the non-elite WR room, but so be it. There was another thread where unacceptability was on display across the board. Joe Marino is, in fact, a bitter fella obsessed with the injustice of the actual podcaster, worse, Doc Brown is not Christopher Lloyd, GunnerBill is actually a dental assistant from Hoboken (the whole British accent thing is a function of electronic AI), etc. I do not judge, nor do I make any confessions regarding Gallifrey. At least I can rest content, relieved that you are straightforward and honest at the Defense household. Given your extreme sensitivity to careful distinctions, and at the risk of pedantry, I must tell you that there is a common confusion unfortunately present in your brief post. Complementary football is, I suppose, as the coaches like to say, all three phases of the game. Complimentary football is when the opposing side acknowledges fine play, and instead of trash talking, claps politely, even when scored upon. As you may surmise, this latter version of the game is not very popular in North America, though I'm told it is favored in Iceland, Denmark, and Singapore.

They are a hapless, idiotic organization. Alas.

Interesting analogy. I think a lot depends on whether Palmer can block well enough downfield to mitigate the loss of Hollins, and also be a sufficient downfield presence to replicate whatever threat the ghost of Amari Cooper brought to the table. I'm not too confident about it, but it's not impossible.

I think there's something to that narrative, but when you're fighting for the 1 seed, it's better not to need a tactical defeat to motivate the congregation.

I'll be disappointed if he's Shaq Lawson.

I think they should be open to modifying the plan consequent upon having an elite wide receiver. It's not an issue, because they do nothing to make that even a remote possibility. I still think acquiring Metcalf would have been the perfect add. (He's not elite, per se, but he excels precisely where we needed improvement.)

Well, I found the specific quantitative comparison particularly elucidating with regards to playoff failures. Of course, it is accentuating what it already known.

No one is interpreting the meme as implying that. They are correctly seeing it as an indictment of the Bills' defense.

Yes, I forget him, because I suspect he's not going to become a much more productive player just because Josh Allen is his qb. He might, though, and even if not, it's correct that his production could be an improvement over Hollins and an injured/washed Cooper.

Yes, probably. There's a fella on the board who claims to have a friend who is cognizant of Coleman's offseason work that offers a more positive prognostication. I am not terribly ebullient about the WR room, but folks who believe everything is aces with the offense are in a heady mood just now.

And all those clapping Beane on the back will be crying in their beer if Coleman doesn't make a leap, because it's hard to see where else the receiving room is going to offer significant improvement.

I sure hope this turns out to be true.

He's a rambling man. Has to go to new places to preach the shoeless gospel.

At WR? Not a chance. Right now, they are bare minimum above the threshold for NFL caliber. And we don't have one great receiver. Shakir is the best. He is in the good/very good range. He seems superlative in comparison to the rest of the receiver room.

Correct. Beane recognizes that part of what will make the DL improve is competition. We need genuine competition in the WR room, too.

I think you should have said 300.

Keon doesn't separate. He's a slow build up to speed, contested catch fella. I am skeptical he is the vertical threat you need and he is probably best suited lined up in the slot, but maybe he has a leap and surprises. Palmer does separate, but he doesn't have explosive speed. I don't see either filling the role of vertical threat that opens up the field for the rest of the offense. If Amari Cooper has something left in the tank, I'd like to add him, because he more legitimately adds that aspect to the WR room. He might be done. I'm glad we improved the D. It was needed. We still neglect WR. Folks can argue and believe otherwise. It was a weak WR draft. We should have done better last year. We didn't, so I think a midround pick was in order. Beane thought otherwise. The season will prove out whether his calculations are correct, and I hope they are. Otherwise, we might be burning another 3rd round pick at the trade deadline to fill out the WR room.

In the mythic world, there is the Dreamer and Reason. Reason is compelled to chastise the wild imagining of the Dreamer, and is often correct. But somehow, I think the Dreamer will triumph in the end.

Maybe I'm just a contrarian, but the argument from authority is weak, especially when the mass media is the authority, imo. I notice a lot of straw men being trotted out. You don't have to decide between investing heavily in the defense and adding a speed outside WR. Beane could have done both, but he decided depth for the D or for niche positions like blocking TE (he got a good one) and developmental OL always had better priority on his board on Day 3. The board was set according to the habitual MO of the Bills. It was a very Bills' draft.

Yes, I agree that they concluded the defense needed an overhaul, and they were correct about that. Let's hope there is some strategic change in the schema to go along with the personnel adds. Surely it would help if Coleman makes a leap and Kincaid returns to form. They still need that outside field stretcher. I just think they paid a lot for Palmer, and I'll be surprised if he is more than adequate at best.

So, the opposite of investing a lot in the DL, allowing for competition, and letting the cream rise to the top. They just don't value the position sufficiently, imo. They count on Josh Allen to elevate the room, where I think they should add plus talent at the position and make it easier on Josh, and also more likely that a clutch play will happen in a must have situation in the playoffs.