BillsVet

I really thought going for it early showed he'd learned that beating KC meant being bold. Maybe that was Daboll helping him understand but I don't know. What I do know is that McD's defensive scheme will always hurt this team in the playoffs when facing elite offenses. He'd rather lose with his scheme than try winning with something different.

Any team that hires Leslie Frazier for a HC gets a guy who belongs in the 1990s. He and his HC both come up small when it matters most, but we're stuck with them. McD is all hat, no cattle.

Understanding strategic planning is an exercise in futility, but here goes. Edmunds at his position and the contract apparently many here want to give him is not providing value. You can get similar production for far less either via a pick or UFA down the road. I'd hope Buffalo identifies a replacement for him this off-season and lets him walk barring a major increase in production because you don't pay that guy top 5 ILB money (~16M per). No way dude. Oliver is a real nice to have, but I'm not paying him Jonathan Allen or Kenny Clark dollars of around 17-18M per which is what I suspect he'll demand. Point is, the nice to have pieces people clamor for aren't essentials for winning. Off-season priorities are offensive: WR and OL. Gonna need a backup QB as well. This is the off-season where defense, especially the DL, sees a reduction is priority to get a start on living in the era of QB getting 43M per season when the cap will be ~210M.

Did the cap go to 220M in 2022 and I missed it? Because they're not going to be able to keep all their (especially defensive) pieces now that Josh's contract is kicking in for 2023. Said it before, but this is Josh's team and he's how they win games. A majority of their cap dollars and draft picks needs to be offense. Defense is gonna need to take a backseat, which means re-signing everyone over there isn't gonna fly anymore. This off-season should start the transition from being a balanced spending roster between defense and offense to being offense first. Doesn't mean you can't retain a pass rusher or CB, just that the days are over re-signing everyone at LB, DT, and safety. It's one thing to build a team into being a contender, but it's even more difficult maintaining a team at a high level as players want to get paid. We're gonna find out if McBeane have the stuff to know who to move on from, who to re-sign, and how to replace quality veterans lost in UFA with young players on rookie contracts.

How are the Bills going to replace Schoen? Has Beane been planning for his departure? Will the Bills be able to be prepared for free agency and the draft? Inquiring TBD worriers want to know. Hadn't seen anyone fretting about his departure and wanted to be the first.

I can't believe people are worried about what happens if coaches leave. I guess they doubt McD's ability to hire/promote new people into those positions. As if the HC hasn't been planning for this the past season or two.

Never a dull moment...gotta have something to worry about. We're screwed as a civilization if the constant anxiety keeps up.

I'm not big on trusting politicians and owners to represent the interest of people as much as I used to think. I haven't seen much from the Pegula's to believe they're in it for the fans as much as some once thought. 10+ years into their ownership of Buffalo teams I don't need to explain why.

Absolutely...many stakeholders including the fans have needs that go into a new stadium. I just hope the next stadium is built with a certain degree of the fans in mind and not to satisfy the owners who, like with other teams, want to escape as much cost as possible.

It's a good question...the stadium scope and quality was reduced to suit the state and the owners. Meanwhile, the fans who actually pay for it are literally and figuratively left out in the cold. It's amazing and tone-deaf that the governor of NY actually said that an open air stadium in OP is "part of the Buffalo bravado, which people love to showcase." Or, she just reiterating what the committee specified as the best course of action.

Social media has, unknown to many, corrupted lots of minds...but they can't look in the mirror long enough nor have the self-awareness to see it. LAMP used to get called out. Now they're celebrated. What a crazy mixed up world. Let's go Bills!

It'd be appropriate on a few levels: First, that all politicians love pork. And second, like politicians, hogs will eat each other when hungry.

The grass isn't always greener, but moving on isn't a knee-jerk reaction either. Pursuing continuous improvement is not without a degree of risk, but I think we've seen peak Daboll and they need more from the OC. As in, someone who doesn't get lost with the play-calling.

If they make upgrades to offensive talent, this would be a solid time to make a change at OC. I don't get the impression Daboll is ever going to make better use of improved talent. And, it'd be an even more attractive job if the HC could commit to investing more on offense.

A date is designed to force government to acquiesce in their demands. In high-stakes negotiations like this there's gonna be plenty of these tactics. The governor is busy with other things right now, the results of which are, well, ehhh. None of the players, team ownership, government officials, no one has earned any trust. They're all acting in their own self-interest given what's riding on this.

If there's one thing clear about McD, he needs pressure generated from the front 4. They pushed for Epenesa to drop weight so as not to be a base end in a 4-3. A DE in McD's scheme who doesn't put pressure on the QB is a hinderance to the defensive scheme because it forces them to blitz more which impacts their coverage. That said, before Epenesa went down for Covid, his snap count was tailing off. Unless there's an injury, he went from 70% in week 11 down to 30% 2 weeks later.

It's early, but a former 2nd rounder receiving less than a third of snaps on defense with even less production probably won't be the value people thought on draft day. He's already the 4th option in the DE rotation and well behind Rousseau in snap counts on the season (49% to 31%).

He'll be 63 when the next season begins and NFL teams aren't big on hiring defensive oriented HC's. I expect he'll remain with McDermott until retirement, unless McD decides to move in another direction.

I would like this article more if the OP wasn't a Marine. J/K Cantankerous...I'll pull out my 1st MarDiv combat patch to make amends. LOL

And if some fans were paying attention, it's why in Buffalo McBeane paid Taron Johnson 24M over 3 years.

I expect Buffalo to win this game. A team with Josh Allen is better than one featuring Mac Jones at quarterback. As much as in-game decisions are ripe for criticism, it's the game-planning that matters more. That said, intra-division opponents tend to be tougher considering the familiarity teams have with each other. In this second game, that can work to their advantage or not.

This is the issue with a franchise where the HC has so much say over the roster. He's always going to be focused, as any HC would be, on winning the next season. A team managed this way is going to lose sight of the strategic part of team building and in this case, it's how much that defense takes away from building an offense. Maybe Beane gets through to McD this off-season...but I'm not holding my breath either. The coach's stubbornness isn't reserved to game-planning and in-game decisions.

This is more a of a stretch than the active wear pants on an obese person.

Hard to believe people need this explained after Buddy Nix talked up "stacking" talent on top of talent. Positional value is real and it means acknowledging that a QB, pass rusher, WR1, CB1, and LT are more valuable than every other position is real. And that begins by determining team identity. This team tries to be a defense first team that has a stellar QB, but it's not working anymore unless changes are made.

To paraphrase Henny Youngman, take my offensive coordinator, please. Would kill two birds with one stone: ensuring Jacksonville continues to stink and, well, yeah.