finn

My reply is the same. GM's should be judged on outcomes, not on how well their choices reflected popular opinion at the time. Most people thought Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russell were great picks when they were drafted. The GMs who took them blew it. They don't get a pass because they went with the consensus. As it turns out, the Bills depth sucked: OT, OG, C, LB, CB, S, WR... pretty much everywhere it was tested. You think that's ok because in August ESPN though they had the best depth in the NFL?

I wouldn't let Beane off the hook that easily. Yes, Davis looked ready to step into the #2 role, but Beane didn't have a backup plan in case he wasn't ready, just like he had no backup plan if Saffold and/or Brown failed. As it happens, all three did. The GM doesn't get a pass because his judgment matched the consensus on a fan forum. He's got to do his homework. He didn't. Not on those three, or Araiza, or Bernard, whom he obviously overvalued. I'm not expecting perfection. But I'm not impressed by Beane's recent performance.

Teams, especially playoff teams, are close enough that luck is a big factor. Injuries, the way the ball bounces, how the refs are inclined, the weather, flukey missed tackles and turnovers.... the list goes on. All that is normal. What's different in sports, especially ones as hyped and over-analyzed as the NFL, s that everyone thinks the outcomes of lucky moments reflects ability on the part of the lucky team--and lack of ability (or character, etc.--on the part of the unlucky team. If Gabe Davis makes that catch in the Jets game that hit him in the chest in stride, the NFL world would have exploded over Josh Allen. Injured, beset behind an incompetent line, he throws a dime 60 yards in the air to pretty much win the game, one of the most clutch and impressive throws of the season. Instead, the throw is forgotten, and all of Allen's negatives from that game are highlighted.

They had to use him to block because Beane assumed Brown would be adequate at RT and he wasn't. So two positions were impacted by Beane's misjudgment. Arguably more, since with Knox blocking instead of running routes, teams could take Diggs out of the game with impunity. A cascade effect.

Yes, I wait. You wait, too?

Is going 13-3 and having roster holes the following year somehow incompatible?

The Bills situation is not good. Roster holes everywhere, half the cap tied up in four players, a measly six draft picks, no money for free agents. I wonder if the best strategy is to go all-in on offense in the draft: WR, OG, OT, TE. Sign Edwards but otherwise make do on defense. Give Allen the protection and weapons he needs but has never really had. Let him compete--fairly compete--with Mahomes and Burrow.

I had the same thought. You look at KC with Reid and Bienemy, then you look at what we have: a rookie OC (last year), green as hell, at least in comparison. It's like assigning a newbie jockey to ride Secretariat.

Quick aside: The same talking heads that claim Mahomes is the living embodiment of god almighy, GOAT in training, etc., note in the same breath that he was throwing to wide-open receivers all game (and season) long. Yet somehow he's far better than Allen, who had to dodge the Saffold- and Brown assignments every drop-back, hit Davis or Mackenzie on the chest because they can't get open, and watch as they drop it. But Mahomes has two rings!

Put Mahomes or Brady or any QB you idolize on a lousy team. Are they suddenly not a great player or not the best in the league? Conversely, is a journeyman QB on a great team who wins the Super Bowl a great team because he has a ring? Your reasoning is deeply flawed. Intangibles? Like what? Leadership? The team loving him? Work ethic? On what "intangible" is Mahomes ahead of Allen? Good looks? You're mindlessly repeating the media mantra. People like you would dominate in the "poll" you mention, yet another worthless metric. I'm not disparaging your character. But I do doubt about your ability to think critically.

All true except the second one. Allen is better in pretty much all categories. The only reason it's an argument is that Mahomes has Reid and a real line, and Allen has Dorsey and garbage.

Last year during the Feliciano/Ford debacle, I posted that Beane's top seven picks should be (in order) guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, guard, and guard. He didn't draft any guards. He might not draft any this year, either. That's fine if he can sign quality veterans. Who did he sign? Saffold, Hart, and Van Roten.

In retrospect, it could be that Allen needed one more season with Daboll or a similarly strong-minded coach. When he got impatient and started forcing passes downfield, he didn't have anyone to get in his grill, or so it appears. Beane must have frustrated as hell, after landing both Cook and Hines to improve the short game only to see Allen (and possibly Dorsey) essentially ignore it. What a waste. Up to about mid-season, Allen was playing some of the best football the league had ever seen.

Not sure this is quite fair, since no one can predict injuries. If Beane had gone for AJ Brown, say, and Brown had been injured, we could criticize Beane for ignoring the team's deficient pass rush for a player who helped us win two games at WR before getting hurt. The team landed the elite DE the team needed, and the gamble was paying off until mid-season. I'm fine with the trade, given the need. But I'm not happy with Beane's performance elsewhere. Zack Moss, Spencer Brown, Terrell Bernard, Roger Saffold, EJ Epenesa, Boogie Basham... He's had some hits, but regularly drafting/signing players of this caliber will not get you a championship.

Well, at least we have Hodgins to fall back on. Oh, wait...

The defense didn't play well, but they did keep the Bengals under 30 points. That game was winnable.

That's why I can't stand Collingsworth, especially with Brady or Mahomes, gods that can do no wrong. Fulsome, lickspittle hagiography. Disgusts me.

This post won't age well.

It's pretty common knowledge that Oliver has never been healthy in his NFL career.

I wonder if the team is going to ask him to put on some weight in the offseason. With ten more pounds of muscle, he should be able to start breaking some tackles.

Not sure what you mean by "accountability." But I didn't like Beane saying he takes responsibility for the team falling short then turning around and criticizing the play calling (the offense not adapting in the Bengals game) and complaining about low draft picks (he doesn't want the team to "suck enough" to pick high). His defensiveness reveals a lot. He assumed Brown, Saffold, and Davis were good enough. They weren't. Some of his draft picks may become starters, but the Bernard pick in the third looks pretty bad, and the Araiza pick is inexcusable. I'm not arguing he's doing a bad job. But I don't think his performance as GM wasn't good enough last year, even setting aside the injuries and traumas. He's not going anywhere, obviously, but he--more than the coaches, IMHO--needs to up his game.

1. Elam--should be starter next year. Looks pretty good. 2. Cook--could be starter. Probably committee back. 3. Bernard--fourth string backup last year. A real WTF pick at this point. 5. Shakir--could be starter next year. 6. Araiza--Gone. Bills didn't do homework on him. 6. Benford--Could be starting safety next year. 6. Tenuka--Gone. Signed off practice squad. 7. Spector--could be quality backup next year. So the 2022 draft could result in four starters and one solid backup next year. Not as good as the Chiefs draft, but they had more picks.

Just wanted to ask you about this comment, which I hear more and more on this board. Why do you think Mahomes is better than a guy who is bigger, faster, stronger, and a far better runner--and can make every throw Mahomes can make? Is it the, what, two more interceptions Allen has? I know it's not about clutch play, not with Mahomes ending KC's season last year, as well as this year's game against the Bills, with an interception. Maybe he's equal to Allen, but better?

People have pointed out to me that Beane might have thought Jefferson wouldn't be there when the Bills picked, and he went with the sure thing in Diggs. That's a legit point. But after seeing him pass on AJ Brown, Metcalf, and Pickens, I wonder if he would have passed on Jefferson, too.

I had high hopes for Kromer. Do you think the players just needed time to get used to his new approach? Evidently, it was very different.