BillsVet

2nd overall in yards allowed, but not really a big play defense. They didn't score a defensive touchdown, were tied for 25th in sacks, although t-7th in INT and fumble recoveries. One thing I like is t-8th (36.5%) of stops on 3rd down. There are some encouraging signs though, but I expect that after 2 off-seasons largely spent re-stocking the defense in McCoach's image. I'm just surprised, on another note, that no one's mentioned LVE being named 2nd team All-Pro yet.

Frazier was so solid that McCoach took defensive play calling away from him early in the season. Coaches are networking with other coaches all the time in the NFL. By the time a defensive guy becomes a HC, they have people in mind for offensive coaching positions.

Where are you getting the receiver's drop data?

The three coaches fired may well have needed to go and McCoach made changes. It doesn't remove the fact that personnel challenges are as much a reason for their struggles as the coaches themselves. But down the road, it's moves like this which put more pressure on this regime to win in 2019. All excuses have been or are being eliminated, including the removal of certain coaches.

I doubt anyone would argue that the OL, WR, and ST groups' performance were acceptable. Yet, the same could be said about the players the HC and GM put on the field for those groups. McBeane are effectively distancing themselves from those personnel issues. It doesn't hide the fact that Buffalo has major personnel issues and those coaches were somewhat set up to fail. Firing coaches only increases the expectations for 2019, which are already high. Coach McD doesn't have as many bones to throw to the wolves anymore. It's on him and the GM more now that since they took over.

Is the NFL going to mandate Bills opponents feature defenses consisting of HS varsity players next year? If so, yes, I think he can do it. As long as he has NFL players to throw to that is.

Facts like this are the wet blanket on the emotional fire some homers live in during the off-season. Not even a week since the season ended and some are posting how close the Bills were. By March, we'll be hearing how they were really a playoff team.

McD's coaching staff is becoming a revolving door now with Dennison, Castillo, Robiskie, and perhaps Crossman axed in 2 seasons. Not to mention Frazier (at least temporarily). His coaching picks on offense have been underwhelming.

That Tennessee WR who dropped what would have been a game winning TD never gets mentioned here.

It's not appropriate to use major mental illnesses or medications to treat them in describing a NFL team's defense. These things aren't laughing matters, particularly to those who are diagnosed.

The bigger issue is that McDermott has, after only 2 seasons, fired 2 of his principal assistant coaches, both of whom were on the offensive side. Last year it was Dennison, and now it's Castillo. At this point, McCoach's coaching decisions on that side of the ball winning games are suspect. And let's not forget he started making the defensive calls at some point in the season, if only temporarily. The problem isn't so much with guys like Castillo. It's the HC picking the assistants and a HC/GM combination that haven't really provided much talent on the offensive side of the ball in 2 off-seasons.

It's hard to win in the NFL.

The current CBA does not permit rookies to re-sign until after their third year of their rookie contract. http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/front-office/2017/06/26/art-rookie-extension-deal/

After the bye, Buffalo played 6 games and went 3-3, although only 1 was against a playoff team. NE easily handled them and allowed 1 TD late in the game. Those final 6 games (all of which Allen started) saw Buffalo play teams that went a combined 40-56 (.294). The defense was better given the lack of quality opponents, and allowed about 19 points per. As Scott said above, their game at NE showed that they're still not on the same field with playoff opponents. It's going to take a huge leap for them to get in the conversation for the 2019 playoffs. Becoming a 10 win team one season removed from 6 wins is a huge leap in NFL terms. Only IND, HOU, and CHI increased their win total by 4 or more games from 2017 to 2018.

Every GM in the NFL is under pressure and it was no different in Buffalo by the end of 2016. He was fast and loose with resources, had internal battles with 2 HCs, missed on the QB, foolishly traded up for a WR in a draft featuring several good ones, and mismanaged the cap. For these and other reasons, his tenure as Bills GM has resulted in him not having a gig with a NFL team for 2018 to present day. That's not a coincidence.

A good measuring stick for any team is how they fare against those clubs who reach the playoffs. The knock on earlier Bills teams this century is they were good against bad to average teams while getting smoked by the league's better clubs. This past year, Buffalo played 7 games against playoff teams (NE 2x, SD, BAL, HOU, IND, and CHI) losing all 7 by a cumulative score of 225-68. Six of those games were blowouts or not really contested, save the away Houston game. In Buffalo's remaining 9 games against non-playoff teams (MIN, GB, TEN, NYJ 2x, JAC, MIA 2x, and DET) they were 6-3 and scored 201- (EDIT) 149. McBeane have pushed their chips in on winning in 2019 and I'd like to think Buffalo will finally be competitive with playoff caliber teams next year.

Milano, White, Foster, T. Johnson and Jones aren't eligible this off-season for contract extensions. Lawson isn't their "own guy" either. Poyer is signed through 2020 and Hyde through 2021.

With a screen name like "Logic" I'd expect some logic to a post like this. There isn't much. The biggest contract Whaley handed out went to Dareus, not a UFA. And of course there was McCoy's extension when he'd been traded for. Same for Cordy Glenn and Jerry Hughes. Fact is, Whaley re-signed his own (questionable) guys, some of whom were cut loose by McBeane. As for the cap-constrained additions, Ivory did next to nothing this year, DiMarco didn't see the field much, and Haushka, as excellent as he is, did/does not win games on his own. He makes some kicks, but it's a team game and the team got in his position for him. Hyde and Poyer have been very good at times. You've left out the trades for Benjamin (not good), did not mention Murphy was frequently injured, or that Vontae Davis exited stage left at halftime of one game. Their pro personnel decision making has been a lot of hit and miss. I would agree that this will indeed be the most exciting and interesting Bills off-season in quite some time, well, since last off-season that is. As for this narrative preached by so many about Buffalo having the second ranked defense, well, how much did that count for? They went 6-10 and were blown out 5 times this season. When they needed to stop the run, for example in the second NE game, they couldn't. Not all of that is on the defense, given the time of possession, but they were not good that day. Buffalo will need to spend this cap money somehow given the CBA requirements. At present, there aren't many solid options available, especially on offense.

I'm glad you finally figured out that the players Whaley and earlier regimes acquired weren't "going to go anywhere." You assume they're going to nail the entire off-season and rebuild the offense with all those cap dollars and 10 draft picks (3 of which are in rounds 1-3). All this from a HC/GM who entered the 2018 season with Nathan Peterman and Josh Allen at QB. The same duo who didn't think it necessary to have a veteran on hand. The same pair who acknowledged this mistake by signing Barkley and Anderson before the 2018 calendar flipped to 2019. The same pair who've invested so many resources into a defense without doing much of anything on offense. And, what they have done on offense (Jones, Dawkins) who have underwhelmed. (Cue the Robert Foster reference) The same HC/GM combination that admitted late this season they needed more speed at WR. Or, traded picks to acquire Kelvin Benjamin who flamed out before he could complete a full season. And all this knowing their QB was someone with a big arm that excels throwing the intermediate and deeper routes. In short, the planning on the more critical side of the ball has been nothing short of a cluster. And now you're expecting they'll go from 6 wins to 10 or more given all this? It's a bridge too far to take a step back from year 1 to 2 and then expect a huge leap forward in year 3. With 90M in cap dollars or not.

Welcome to the board and nice first post.

Get ready for a healthy dose of Bucky Brooks. I'm OK with Daniel Jeremiah, but not having Mayock will make the draft process less interesting.

His performance today came against a depleted Phins secondary that will see significant turnover save Fitzpatrick by next season. Not something to prove he's graduated to being a Z.

Ron Darby is more of a M2M corner and McD is a zone guy. Not going to happen for scheme and probably personality differences. That said, Philly looks real bad trading Wentz, who likely is still not healed 100% from his ACL tear. They paid a king's ransom to move into 2nd and take him just 3 years ago. Every off-season gets longer and longer with all this speculation swirling 24/7.

Your quibbling skills are unparalleled. You'll fit in fine here.

Well, if oranges come in red and are in the red delicious box at the store, then yes: Richardson in 2012: 15 gp / 267 carries / 950 yards / 3.6 avg /11 TD in 2013: 16 gp / 188 carries / 563 yards / 3.0 avg / 3 TD Fournette in 2017: 13 gp / 268 carries / 1040 yards / 3.9 avg / 9 TD in 2018: 8 gp / 133 carries / 439 yards / 3.3 avg / 5 TD