BillsVet

Great...another click bait post. Just say what you want in the thread title. That said, who cares where they were drafted? Doesn't matter on this day, nor will it when the playoffs start.

Posts such as the OP's are what TBD was all about years ago. People basically talking football...be it the players or the games. I wish there were fewer "what if" or LAMP type threads where people are trying to get clicks . Nice post and find CT. 👍

27yanks as a screen name? Awesome...best team in MLB history right there! 6 HOFers and the best 3-4 batting combination that will ever be seen! The Waner boys never knew what hit them.

Yes, but Bosa was able to feast on Dion Dawkins most snaps. In contrast, Klein was blocked on many plays.

We get older. That's all I got. LOL.

Bill Belichick: 26 NFL seasons as HC. 6 SB wisn. 3 other appearances. 31-12 in playoffs. Mike Tomlin: 14 NFL seasons as HC. 1 SB win. 1 other appearance. 8-7 in playoffs. Kyle Shanahan: 3 NFL seasons as HC. 1 SB appearance. 2-1 in playoffs. Mike Vrabel: 2 NFL seasons as HC. 2-1 in playoffs. Sean McDermott: 3 NFL seasons as HC. 0-2 in playoffs. Who needs to prove themselves? And who has done that/on the way before 2020? Is that really hard to understand?

More Quibbling. Class is filling up fast today.

My point was that using UFA too much is gonna get you into cap issues and inhibit the ability to sign home-grown types. For years on TBD when Buffalo wasn't spending, I recall people saying you don't build a team through free agency. That was true then and it is now, but to a point. Aside from Gabe Davis, the top 3 WR's are veterans who command a significant salary. Buffalo is the 4th highest in the NFL spending on WR's. On DL, after 4 off-seasons and not counting the DL savior himself Star Lotulelei they are 1st in the NFL in spending on the DL at $51.2M which is 5M more than the next team. But they're a long ways from being the best DL in the league. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/positional/breakdown/ They do get credit for finding a QB, which OBD hasn't done since the 1980s, while moving this team out of cap issues. Still, they've (like others have said) brought on new ones with their own players and spending big dollars on all these veterans. Thy need to draft better to reduce the reliance on UFA to make them more capable of signing Josh and likely Diggs to the long term extensions they'll seek. You can't do that spending on all these free agents.

Finally! A WR with a number in the 80s! Super Bowl!

The angst over trivial matters just gets ratcheted up a notch every time I visit the board. What if alien's abducted McD? Would Frazier be able to fill in? What if Pegula's money is really just wrapped up in a secret Madoff ponzi scheme we don't know about? What if the Bills are late to the NFL Draft and lose all their draft picks as punishment? Stop worrying and enjoy the season.

Quibbling 101.

Agreed. There's a lot of talk about leadership these days, but in the NFL HC's are not coordinators and as such cannot be completely focused on X's and O's. At the HC level it's about generalship and the off-season/training camp weeks are about building a foundation for when things get difficult. You can't always out X and O your opponent. Lombardi admitted as such back in the 60s and those Packers teams were a reflection of the HC. He got them to play that way, but of course had talent. I remember seeing a picture from the sideline from behind where Lombardi's hands are clasped behind his back. And the photo was captioned about how at that point, there was nothing left to do but bank on everything done before those critical moments. I think that was in the Maraniss book. I'm not demanding McD be exactly like Lombardi, just sharing @BADOLBILZ's observation that Buffalo doesn't reflect their HC in a similar fashion. The penalties and showing up small in big games point to how he he's not reaching them. McD tried to instill "the process" as a way of winning them over, to trust in him, but that's harder to do when you're not winning. Again, it was light years ago, but I'm sure when Lombardi was winning, even the most hardened personality toward VL knew what he expected and wouldn't deviate from. Only winning can accomplish this.

2019 is long gone. Any results-oriented fan expected to see them make the playoffs last year, particularly after they started 6-2. 2020, OTOH, has been all about winning in the playoffs. Trading for Diggs, a 4th year of McBeane's roster along with the improvement of Allen means you expect post-season success. And there was a 4-0 start to boot. Plenty of teams are winning without the 4 year build up. SF was in the SB after 3 years with Shanahan/Lynch. Vrabel was in the AFC Championship in his 2nd season with a new QB. McVay was in the SB his 2nd season as a HC. Should Buffalo not be held to a similar standard? If so, losing in the WC round of the playoffs is not acceptable given the investment of draft, UFA capital and time.

Vrabel - 2 playoff wins last season. After 2 seasons as a HC. Shanahan - 2 playoff wins last season and a SB appearance. After 3 seasons as a HC. McD - 0-2 in the playoffs without advancing past the Wild Card Round after 3 seasons as a HC. One of these is not like the others.

The KC game is being quibbled over at this point and never have I expected any defense to hold a KC offense to a score or less. Bottom line is they lost and that's the point of this thread because: Buffalo comes up small in key games. It's reasonable to consider after recent games whether this team is much better than a Divisional Round participant without advancing. And this is the crux of the issue. We're going to find out where this team is against the big boys when they host Pittsburgh in 11 days.

His then lieutenant and Ravens current GM Eric DeCosta ain't bad himself. Turned down opportunities (including Buffalo) to interview for GM jobs. Beane gets the credit for Josh, but there are some positions on this team they've struggled. The DL has only Oliver and Epenesa (EDIT:also H. Phillips) in the rotation who aren't UFAs/inherited. The top 3 WR's are UFA/trade acquisitions. The OL has one drafted guy starting right now, and the other (who they traded up into the 2nd for) has been IR'd after a mediocre season. They're thin at LB and their 1st round pick there (whom they traded up for) is meh after 2.5 seasons. The safeties are UFAs, although McD hit with Tre (after trading out of the spot Mahomes was taken). The other CB spot has been average at best since McD arrived and they've gone through UDFAs and UFAs without much result. In sum, the WR, DE, and CB positions have depended heavily on players who weren't drafted and developed here. That's the downside of the McD mind on roster development combined with an Admin GM. Hopefully some of the personnel background guys have the voice in the room on draft day.

I've long believed that many fans derive their identity from sports teams they follow. Therefore, being critical of the team is, ipso facto, a criticism of self. And most people will never be self-critical in public, meaning you've got to defend the team, i.e. self, to the hilt. Having high expectations for either the team or self is scary because they may not be met. Therefore, shoot for a safe goal and don't risk failure. Complacency with self and team (EDIT: are) wind up being the goal.

It doesn't lend credence to your argument employing the word "if" to so many conditions.

I'm going to ah, go ahead and disagree (in Bill Lumbergh voice). KC defeated SF's excellent defense in the SB and scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to do so. They racked up 117 points in 3 playoff games last year against 3 very good or better teams. You don't out-defense elite offenses in the modern NFL many game. Defense now is about impact plays like sacks and turnovers. Teams like KC are going to score and the only way to stop them is have more possessions. Going conservative just means you reduce the score in games you'll lose. And that's what McD did on 10/19.

After the trade for Diggs and seeing Allen's improvement this season there's no way I'd accept a playoff appearance. And I don't think anyone at OBD would be satisfied with that either. Nor is winning the division without at least 1 playoff win exceeding expectations. OP said he's concerned about McD because after 60 games as Buffalo's HC he's seen some trends. For me, the game-plan against KC at home 6 weeks ago was indicative of who McD is. It was weak, unimaginative and no one with a pulse believes you can win in the playoffs that way against an elite offense. If you assume Miami, LA Rams, Tennessee, KC, and Seattle make the playoffs, McD will be 6-19 career against teams in the playoffs or who later made the post-season. By contrast, he's 27-9 against non-playoff teams. The AFC is going to feature some excellent QB's in the next few years. There's Burrow, Mayfield, Watson, Mahomes, and perhaps Herbert. You can't pack it in against elite offenses and come out conservative like they did against KC.

Definitely @Coach Tuesday After the TEN and KC losses, Buffalo has really looked strong in only 1 game - the Seattle win at home. There were some defensive miscues, but the offense rescued them by keeping a healthy lead for most of the game. They're 3-1 since the KC game, but I'm not confident they can defeat a Chiefs or Steelers in the playoffs. This team is certainly better than the 2019 Bills, but the goal is to reach and win at least 1 playoff game. Especially given that NE isn't coming back and Buffalo made the roster investments and have a much improved Allen.

He's not getting hurt going to the refrigerator late at night. Nor in passing downs when in coverage. 225 LBs don't hold up well in the NFL for very long. He's a good player in some respects, but missing 10 games in 3 years isn't typically something players avoid into mid-career.

I threw a football in a small basement and almost destroyed my friend's stereo. But that was in my younger days. Now I just sit their non-plussed when Buffalo loses in heartbreaking fashion...such as the Hail Murray throw.

Who schemes a TE to block a DE like Bosa? That said, there were other OL who did a poor job and in one case no one even put a hand on Bosa.

Klein is a strictly a Sam and Milano a Will. In passing downs Klein is a liability and on running downs Milano obviously is.