Rubes

Not sure I'd be happy to see Williams leave and be replaced with (a) a cheaper FA, (b) a rookie, or (c) Ford. None of those sound very reassuring.

For a team that is up against the cap and needs $$$ to upgrade both of the lines, it's not hard to imagine this coming. I love the guy, but as Yolo said, he's on the wrong side of 30, has had considerable injuries, and he costs a lot. Restructuring might be an option, but less likely for a guy his age.

The three things we learned from the AFCCG: the OL didn't block very well, the DL didn't rush very well, and we desperately need a threat at TE. If we're to get over the hump and past the Chiefs, that's what needs to be fixed. McBeane knows it. Getting Ford back will help some with the OL, if he can stay healthy. I think Beane will want to get Williams back, and I think Morse stays put. Feliciano is valuable because of his versatility, but if you bring him back, too, then nothing has changed with the OL other than Ford. Will that be enough? Continuity is good, but those guys were not very good against the Chiefs. Something has to change for the better, but it's really tough to determine what or how much. If Star comes back, that will be a big help to the DL, but will that be enough? Probably not. They need people who can both keep blockers off of the LBs and rush the passer, and right now we don't have a lot of those. I think we'll see more action on this line during the offseason, it just depends on how much Beane can or wants to spend on the line. No idea what they're going to do about TE. Real good ones are few and far between.

Top 10 most aggressive head coaches in today's NFL Pretty sure that score didn't include the AFCC game...

As an offense, you have to be able to handle a defense that plays 6 DBs. You 100% have to be able to run it down their throats and/or get it to the TE when they come at you like that. That should be the big plan for next year.

I'd like the record to show this was posted no fewer than 10 hours before Yolo did...🙃

If you want crazy trade ideas, figure out what we’d need to send San Fran for George Kittle. How about all of our TEs and a few first rounders?

it was fun watching that again. You can really see the change in Josh’s mechanics compared with that year.

I don't know how they'd stop Kelce, considering this defense wasn't able to stop any TE the entire season.

True, but "maximize" is not quite the same as "top dollar".

All excellent questions. Williams, Morse, and Feliciano are all good players. But are they good enough? And who do you get to replace them? My guess is you keep two of those three at most.

This discussion really gets at the heart of the problem against the Chiefs: it was the O-line's performance (including TEs) that did us in. The Chiefs dared us to run the ball with their 4-1-6 alignment, but the problem was that their 4 + 1 were much better than our 5 OL + 1 TE. Every one of our OL struggled against their defensive front, including our OTs, and Knox was already a below-average blocker. It's one of the reasons you saw more Lee Smith in the second half, but even he couldn't help. No matter what we tried, their front five were constantly wreaking havoc. Folks keeps saying Daboll should have run the ball more against that formation, but he couldn't. The horses up front were constantly getting blown up or missing assignments. It was true with the running game, and it was true in the passing game as well, which is why Allen looked like he was running for his life every drop back. The Chiefs have excellent players in their front four, but no professional football team with aspirations of a championship should ever be beaten like that in the trenches. Our linemen generally played reasonably well all year, but against the Chiefs (both times) they most definitely did not. I like the 5 guys we have right now, but the truth is that they're not good enough. Can coaching/scheme do that, or does it come down to talent? Beane needs to take a good, hard look at who we have and who needs to be upgraded, and that includes Morse and Feliciano, as much as I like them. Just replacing Boettger with Ford is not going to put them over the top. Personally, I think we need to improve at C and both OG positions. Ford will provide one upgrade (hopefully). If they think Feliciano is better at C than Morse, then do it and find a new RG. Otherwise, it could mean finding replacements for both. Tough decisions ahead for Beane.

"Bile chick" has to be the best incarnation of that man's name that I've heard.

Please...pretty sure all season long we were being reminded that we had one of the most difficult schedules in the league and we had one of the best strengths of victory of anyone...it was all just nonsense now, right?

I wouldn't be too worried about it. They could surgically repair it if needed, but at this point probably not.

Seemed to be a lot of that yesterday...

Man, that is crazy. On the bright side, unlike a knee injury, this one should heal completely.

I wish they could both lose.

Is it really any sillier than the name of the team itself?

Sure, he may have had a pinched nerve, but that's almost certainly not the cause of his unsteadiness after the play. Just my $0.02 (which is less than my hourly rate).

Sort of interesting how when teams put together long TD drives with only running plays, the reaction is often "Wow, they really rammed it down their throats and the other team couldn't stop them. They should do this all day." ...but if a team puts together long TD drives with only passes, the reaction is often "Wow, are they ever going to run the ball? They can't do this all day..." Or is that a straw man and I'm making that up?

Agree with this. He was really hobbling with that toe injury, and it seemed to really affect his ability to scramble and his ability to step into throws. He looked very different to me after that injury, even before he got knocked out of the game. Toe injuries like turf toe can be very tough for runners to gut out...

Disagree. Could have been more, but the Browns held them to FGs. Mahomes was not the same after his toe injury, too. Browns did a nice job in the third quarter before Mahomes went out.

The Browns didn’t too that bad, they were mostly able to hold the Chiefs to FGs and keep them within striking distance. The main problem for the Browns was that they got away from their running game and didn’t get back to it until the second half. The defense was not the problem for the Browns today, and Buffalo would do well to have a similar plan.