BillsVet

I would not convict the Saints or the Archdiocese of New Orleans in the court of public opinion yet. I understand in the perpetual 24/7 news cycle that news demands instant analysis. Then again, it should be patently obvious that an allegation may not always be substantiated.

There really are no words to say at times like this. Healing after tragedy is never complete. Just gotta pray for him and his mother.

I feel like Andy Reid has always been a big guy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J43shDi3XU

I'm mystified by NFL coaches who force complex schemes onto their young players, especially knowing they'd be going with Allen who was more raw coming out of college. They started 2019 with that young QB, rookie RB, a brand new (minus Dawkins) OL, and still Daboll wanted to do only his thing. Offensive game planning requires significant precision and thinking that unit would somehow come together with that scheme was absurd. In fact, I read on this board and McD said himself that they had a whole new offense. (EDIT: Go figure. ) It stands to reason you modify what you're doing on that side until they get it. It'd be better to have fewer plays that players know really well than this complex system that only a few (veteran) types can. One would think that the OC in his second year could recognize this, but I don't know how observant Daboll is. He seems removed from on-field stuff, as evidenced by his play-calling in the Houston game.

Picking up the pick and EJ Gaines for Watkins, then receiving another pick and Jordan Matthews for Ron Darby was maybe McD's wildest swing at getting rid of players he didn't want. One more reason JA needs to work out. And here we are 2.5 years later talking about drafting a WR1. Need to see evidence McBeane know what they're doing on that side of the ball. I'm really to interested in whether they're willing to take a swing on non-choir boys who can perform on the field.

Are they thinking of interviewing Brian Daboll for the job? If so, I'm all for it.

Teams are not hiring defensive coaches to be HC's because it takes more to grasp the intricacies of offensive football. There's a big problem when Buffalo couldn't score more than 19 points in their final 5 games. I know there are some here who place the blame on the players, but it's largely a HC unwilling to see that his style of football does not work when playing the big boys. It's why McD is 3-17 against teams that eventually made the playoffs or in the playoffs. His averages in those 20 games? ~12 points for against ~26 points allowed. I've noticed that most teams who identify that their QB is franchise material surround that guy with weapons. KC is one of many to do this. They don't spend 3 of their first 4 first round picks on defense. Or eschew skill players in the draft for plodding OL who can't play the position they were drafted for. The 2020 off-season is about Josh Allen And that means McD has to change from riding his defense to being an explosive offense.

The past does not predict the future, particularly when it involves players in the NFL Draft. Whatever happened to "Trust the Process" anyway? The fear and anxiety around these parts remains palpable. Just let it ride man. It'll all work out in the end.

After these last 2 posts, I don't know who you're blaming anymore. First it was the players not executing McD's scheme properly. Now it's Beane for not acquiring (even though McD runs the show) enough offensive talent?

Here's Brandon Beane at the final presser: "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." In the final game, Buffalo scored 13 points in the first half. Yet, in the second half they scored only 6. I'm sorry that you blame the players for not executing the McD designed game-plan. This argument ignores that McD is at center of organizational decision making. Because, if it's the players who aren't good enough for you, who is picking the players or having the major voice in that process?

McD is in charge and he's been there for 3 drafts, so therefore 2017 is not exempt from the discussion. After all, they used 2 2nds on offense that year. That's six "shots on goal" in 3 drafts from rounds 1-3. And even then, it wasn't until the third off-season when they became aggressive and signed skill types (Brown, Beasley, Kroft, drafted Singletary). It shouldn't take that long. Something is amiss on offense when you produce less than 20 points per in season 3 of a rebuild. Part of it, IMO, is personnel, part is coaching, but the bigger issue is organizational strategy. There's no offensive identity after 3 seasons.

It is widely understood they need more play-makers and better OL play for Allen. How is that still possible after 3 off-seasons of rebuilding? Sure, there's promise, but it's fair to expect more than hoping these players have potential. The question still stands: what evidence is there that McD knows what he's doing to align an offensive strategy to personnel to in-game planning? It doesn't take 4 off-seasons to have a solid offense.

The issue isn't so much McD didn't take Mahomes (or Watson). It's that his (and Beane's) track record drafting offensive players is not really good. And in a league that demands offense, this is a major problem. Given that history, what evidence is there (as @Coach Tuesday said in another thread) that McD or Beane have the personnel acumen to identify offensive talent? Because after 3 drafts their decisions on offense are not promising. We're 3 years into this rebuild and still talking about surrounding a QB with more weapons. That's a problem from a team building strategy perspective.

This is the biggest question heading into off-season #4 with McD. Is he going to change his stripes and embrace a high-powered offense featuring the QB they used so many resources to acquire? Or will he remain the HC who tried to sit on a 16 point lead in the wild card round and believes his defense is key to winning in the post-season? I would think year 3 of Allen they'll take the training wheels off the offense and trying to score more than their 20 points per. Organizational strategy needs to change this off-season.

And yet, SF hired their HC and GM the same year Buffalo did theirs. DIfference is, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan are 2-0 in the playoffs with a SB (at a minimum) appearance. It's not "anti-fan" to have expectations beyond what one's favorite team delivers. After 3 off-seasons of rebuilding, plenty of UFA dollars and draft picks, Buffalo can't win a playoff game. That's not good enough when compared to other teams who've proven you can go from losing to reaching the heights of playoff success. The question to ask is why can't Buffalo? What's holding them back from achieving?

Never understood why the purge took so long, but that's history now. My issue is that Buffalo's latest rebuild under the new owners is now entering the 4th off-season and plenty of question marks remain. There's more spinning of wheels under the current management from owner to field level than meets the eye.

How many Bills fans actually know how a 21st century GM builds a roster? After the likes of Donahoe, Marv/DJ, Buddy, and Whaley no one who started following the team during those years as a Bills fan could. That is, unless they just don't follow front office trends around the league. It's why there's typically an angry response whenever a poster reveals that other rebuilds were much faster. There are enough successful rebuilds by the 3rd complete season in the past decade that it should prompt Bills fans to wonder why McD has slow-walked Buffalo's rebuild. I guess at this point people will chime in to say OBD is doing it the right way and that's why it takes so long. If that's the case, how did Philadelphia, Seattle, San Fran, and the LA Rams fast-track theirs and why shouldn't Buffalo be expected to do that either?

McD probably tore a pec there but didn't feel it he was so angry. I feel like he's going to go punch a horse or something now.

Yep. We can debate who the Bills will sign, who they'll draft, coaches, whatever for 2020. This entire off-season comes down to whether McD acknowledges that he has to make changes in his approach to the game.

People typically attribute unstable behavior to the easiest explanation. For football players, labeling everything CTE or just being a jerk is easy. I don't know what's wrong with the dude, but sometimes mental illness manifests in a person's 20s/early 30s. You can't rule mental illness out any more than declaring it CTE or jerk-behavior. EDIT: Check out WR Brandon Marshall's story of how he was finally diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD) at age 27.

Feel bad for those kids to witness their father mentally deteriorating before their eyes. It's sad that with the 24/7 news cycle and social media, coverage of celebrities who are not well is more visible than ever. Still, this is not the behavior of someone who is mentally well. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like he's in any hurry to get the help he needs.

McBeane certainly aren't on the hot-seat in 2020, but this year they need to scout and plan like they are in danger of losing their jobs. For McD, that means changing his coaching philosophy of leading with defense and a conservative offense. Good defenses lose to good offenses in the NFL, especially the playoffs. If the goal is to get in as a 5 or 6 seed, McD's scheme might get you there. You'd also think the GM is going to be bold this year finding talent to put around their QB they moved a lot of pieces to acquire. After all, this is a team that pursued Antonio Brown last March. The time is now for this franchise. 2020 is the culmination of what will be 4 full off-seasons of building. Either McD gets with best practices in the NFL or he continues talking and not doing. It's not wrong to have high expectations for the Bills, specifically this time of year when typically only the best NFL teams remain. The Bills should be expected to contend for the SB next year.

He's not going to accept an AAV equal to what he had this year: 4.5M. So bank on at least 7M per. And that's low-balling it. Say Buffalo re-signs him. They'd have big dollars tied up in two DTs, a 3rd round pick and a top 10 pick. I'm sorry, but this team can find a solid contributor without investing big resources at DT. McD likes his waves of DT's, but was Buffalo's interior DLine that much better with Phillips? It wasn't, but plenty of people focus on that 10 sacks number and think he's gotta be retained. Not at the kind of money he'll be looking to make, but working in the Bills favor is that (so far) the DT UFA class looks pretty strong.

He's going to want a 4-5 year deal, and at 8M per we're talking probably 20M+ guaranteed. That's a lot for someone with 1 out his 5 NFL seasons being very good. I know some people are emotionally invested in keeping him, but the value isn't there and emotion doesn't play a part in this. Also, consider that Phillips plays the 3T most and that's where this team just took a kid 9th overall. He's also not a great fit at 1T where Lotulelei and H. Phillips will be next season in all likelihood (although it remains to be seen what Star brings). The PFF analysis makes a compelling argument for allowing him to test UFA. Just because a guy has sacks doesn't mean you keep him.