BillsVet

Then why didn't McD make that statement last year? A year when they had every intention of being aggressive in UFA? A year when expectations were going to be high? I get that most fans aren't capable of putting themselves in McD's position and their proclivity is to laud anything the team does. My belief is McD said this because he's entering the fourth off-season as HC and this year is critical to his rebuild. He also knows the schedule promises to harder than the 3rd easiest in the NFL. He recognizes a need for more talent and they've got money to spend even if they re-sign Tre, Dawkins, and Milano. He also knows that many of his contemporaries are or close to getting to the SB. McD ain't a surface-level thinker like a lot of fans are.

There's more than the obvious reason why McD is making this statement. The dude is always planning his approach and uses his statements to the media to achieve a purpose. He's not just spouting off on how he feels at the moment. For example, at the combine last year the first thing he talked about with the media was a need to score more points. This happened without even being asked about it because he's knew what he'd be asked about. It's a way to get out in front of something before it gets worse. I used the example from after the Cleveland game to illustrate this. The question is why would a NFL HC play recruiter just prior to UFA beginning? I get that people live at the surface level and want to make the obvious determinations. But I'd love to know why he said what he did today because there's more going on here than simply him playing recruiter.

McD is well-versed in the PR aspect to being a NFL HC and knows how to flip the narrative when he needs to. It reminds me of what went down after the loss to Cleveland. McD and staff were criticized for settling on a game-tying FG that Haushka missed. The following Tuesday, the team made sure via Chris Brown that people heard McD's comment to the offense about playing fearless. It was designed to push the problem off onto the players and away from the staff. And it worked when fans ate that up with a fork and spoon. McD doesn't say or do anything without intention. But statements like this only go so far and are well short of what it takes to build a roster that can win in the post-season. Something he's not been able to finish - yet.

I'm sorry you cannot tolerate others' opinions. But I'm not surprised either. I'm disagreeing with your emotional stance and couching my argument based on McBeane not having completed this rebuild. I've been very up-front that competing for championships is the goal and always has been. Hence, why for more than decade here why I've criticized a franchise that could not get out of its own way. That said, they are showing some signs, but 3 years is a long time in the NFL and they haven't won a playoff game. This, as other teams have achieved this. Eball - we've gone back and forth for years. I'm done trying to have a debate with you. Have a nice day.

I think the Bills have arrived at the fork in the road in this rebuild. Will McBeane finally acquiesce to where the league is going and go all-in on completing the offense or try to feature a balanced team led by a strong defense? There's a lot of talk about scoring points, but the personnel decisions need to be there these next 2 months AND they'll need to get better output from Allen, Singletary, and Knox. We shall see.

I think the truth about Josh Allen is that he's 6'5 and was a first round draft pick in 2018, 7th overall. The truth is also that he'll be the starting QB to begin 2020. And...he has a strong throwing arm.

They did sign Brown and Beasley, but it was clear during the season that those 2 were limited when teams shaded coverage on Brown. This season will once and for all define whether or not the HC will transition to being focused on building an elite offense. To do that, yes, they need another solid receiving option. Over the past 20 years I've seen coaches talk about offense, but no one has built one here to compete with the elite teams. Hopefully that is coming to an end, because leading with defense paired with a pedestrian offense cannot vault a team into the competing for division titles or more.

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2019/02/bills-sean-mcdermott-typical-no-1-wide-receiver-doesnt-exist-in-modern-nfl.html https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2019/02/what-sean-mcdermott-said-about-being-defensive-coach-in-offensive-era-of-nfl.html These statements are similar to last year: need to score more points and find receiving help. Year 4 of the rebuild...time to live up to the standard they've set and stop talking about it.

Joe B.'s off-season plan is the safe approach. It also ignores that OBD needs to move from being a 5-6 seed to competing for the division and winning in the playoffs. And I am extremely confident that McBeane know they need solid starters or better to get there. I'd also like to see McD finally acquiesce to toward being an offensively dominant team. That means giving Allen as much talent as possible and realizing offense is what will propel the GM, HC, and QB toward the top of the league.

And yet, the defensive backfield was the first position group the current HC chose to overhaul during the 2017 off-season. I understood why, but it isn't the force multiplier that some make it out to be. Beane made an interesting comment at the end of season PC: "And a lot of times, if you make the playoffs your last game is kind of emblematic of—if you don’t win it all, whether you go to the championship game or lose like we did—a lot of times it kind of shows you where your season went, where you’re good and where you need to get better. And I thought we saw that [on Saturday], we just didn’t score enough points." DE is probably the only position on defense this team should be going in round 1. That PC doesn't lock them in to anything and was held before the bulk of off-season amateur and pro evaluation decisions. Yet, it'd be hard to get believe they're committed to offense with another first round defensive pick. They've already placed 3 1sts on that side of the ball, but the HC is who he is.

I've never understood how the Pegula's could purchase 2 major professional sports franchises and not hire someone to guide them. One would think their investment might need someone with subject matter expertise, but they've eschewed this in both cases. At least with the Bills they hired McD who has implemented a better organizational approach. With the Sabres, their executive hiring decisions are anything but that. At the GM level and higher, they retained then fired Regier. LaFontaine was hired and promptly resigned under cloudy circumstances a few months later, but not before he hired Tim Murray. Ted Black was sent packing and replaced with Brandon. Murray was fired a few seasons later, leading to Botterill. Brandon was fired after personal misconduct and replaced with a co-owner. That's a lot of bad decisions in the course of just the past 7 years. Perhaps seeing empty seats and more fans animosity will push them to finally have the right people in place. I'm not counting on it.

Free agency and the start of a new league year also figure to change the draft picture. What I love about the draft is it reveals how the decision makers think. For months we hear a lot of talk, but then everything becomes clear on draft weekend. It's why I can see them going edge provided a solid prospect is available and then moving up for a WR. The real interesting scenario would be if a pass rusher and WR are sitting there and how they decide.

Would you argue economics using recidivism rates? Or the success of a corporation with unemployment? Neither would you debate the W-L record over a 3 year span for a team when they just played in the SB. SF showed tremendous improvement. Buffalo won 1 more game in '19 than they did in '17. Which team is trending up and which one appears to be plateauing in their rebuild? I see this as a willful conflation of the topic at hand and, I also realize has strayed far from the original topic.

I really enjoy the back and forth with fans who cite no statistics or any evidence to back up their opinion. All emotion, no substance. From weeks 1-9, the 2018 Bills scored 96 points. Total. Had that pace continued they were pushing the worst offenses since the passing game opened up in 1978. In year 3 of the rebuild you cite they were in the bottom half of the league and often bottom quarter in offensive performance. Yet, as I've long said, rebuilds in the modern NFL can be done quickly and efficiently. Buffalo hasn't done that. T I get that many fans are emotional, will absolutely not criticize this team, and turn their anger onto anyone who does. It's been going on here ever since I joined and likely before that. Unfortunately, emotions don't win prizes and neither does being a .500 team after 3 full seasons of rebuilding. Your non-sequitur about oranges was weak. Try again Hondo.

His decisions around not building an offense are what should be questioned. That side of the ball was a straight-up mess in 2018 and this past season managed to be bottom quartile of the league in many categories. 24th in total yards. 26th in total passing yards. 23rd in points. At this point in the NFL, having a very good defense is the equivalent of handing out participation trophies. They're nice to look at, but don't represent anything substantive. How many times does Mahomes have to carve up a top defense for people to see offense is what sets winners apart from pretenders? Thing is, McD was at the Sabres game and I guess his offensive strategy affected the hockey team. They managed to score 3 goals an eked out a win against the NHL's worst team.

Doesn't matter what the defense does if the offense can't keep a drive going and score points, which is what in 3 straight seasons they haven't become good at. Which means the defense is on the field more than they should be. I guess people have forgotten the wild card loss when they gave up that 16 points lead in less than 1.5 quarters. NFL teams are defined in the playoffs by how well they score points. Not their defensive prowess against a lightweight schedule during the regular season. Look dude, disagree with me. Don't really care. But grow up? Is this high school? I wonder how that went over the the "culture" of their locker room. Highest paid defender suddenly getting good after media criticism. Makes you wonder why it took that for him to elevate his play.

The first big UFA signing for McD. In his world, run stuffing DTs at that kind of money are required. But trust the process, right? It should make everyone question how forward thinking the HC is when he's investing 25M guaranteed under the original contract terms to a DT that had regressed each season since his rookie year. The snap count has fallen to 46-47% from his last 2 Carolina years of 66% and 59%. Not many modern NFL teams invest so much into the DT position like Buffalo has the past 3 off-seasons.

So many events or decisions that are already mentioned. One for me is Buffalo's 2016 off-season which included: Whaley saying Buffalo's first 3 picks (all defense) were off the bus starters. Within weeks of the draft seeing Shaq Lawson injured in a non-contact drill and misses a large part of the season. This after teams removed him from their board for having a shoulder injury. Whaley saying that football is "a violent game that I personally don't think humans are supposed to play." The Bills media policy briefly specified that reporters could not talk about results from practice because EJM was all over the field with throws. I believe this was quickly revised

Everyone has free will to believe as they wish. I respect that in every person who chooses to not follow, nor will I try to change anyone's opinion here. Abuse happened, the ramifications still reverberate and there's a history going back years. St. Joseph Calasanz was incensed at this kind of child abuse in the early to mid-1600s. I simply choose to see the Catholic Church as the best vehicle to a world without abuse and predators. I just hope people can find peace here, which is why we say at the Mass, "Look not on our sins but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will, who live and reign forever and ever."

Very sorry for you Limeaid. I'm glad she received Communion and Anointing of the Sick before she passed.

Sure...I just don't understand the tremendous angst that's present almost every day with the team's roster. I'd rather live my life. I've seen multiple HS classmates who passed away in recent weeks. People being diagnosed with cancer. Life's too short to worry so much.

People are worried about who the backup QB will be? Really?

I get tired of people missing the point, so I'll re-phrase and be more pithy: No one's talking about Ed Oliver but you. Ed Oliver isn't an All-Pro. Ed Oliver has no leverage with his current contract. I'm referencing the one player on this team who made the All-Pro team and is approaching the window for the team to extend his contract. That player was selected 1st Team All-Pro in 2019 and is the only elite player on the roster. He will want big money. Players who want to get paid have limited leverage in these situations. It's an "if" at this point, but we have not seen how OBD under McD works with elite players. To date, they've allowed some to leave, but have just one (White) that they'll presumably want to retain. To @BADOLBILZ point, we've seen McD eschew these elite types and replace them with less than elite. Earlier you referenced Buffalo being competitive. If that's the standard of excellence with you, but 25-25 after 3 seasons isn't amazing. It's average and McD's losing a playoff game up 16-0 with 21 minutes left doesn't give me a lot of trust in his process of jettisoning better players for "his" guys.

Never said that. But during contract negotiations a player's only leverage is holding out if they don't get the offer they want. Anyone who understands human nature can see that money matters and if a player of Tre's record doesn't get that offer, I don't care how much of a culture McD has built. We haven't seen this front office hand out a big contract to a homegrown player, let alone a 1st Team All-Pro. Another poster putting words in my mouth. These guys are hungry, but once established after an initial contract they want the big one. See above. Buffalo had the 3rd easiest strength of schedule in 2019. Competitive? Sure. Competitive against solid competition? Not so much. McD is 3-17 combined in his tenure against teams that advanced to the playoffs or in playoff games. You wanna run with the big dogs you gotta be better than that.

Ed Oliver has zero leverage as a guy entering the second year of a four year contract. He's also not elite - yet. Tre White is the first McD selected player who will be up for a contract extension. I'm just interested in seeing how this franchise approaches those situations.