Was 2021 a step back or step forward for the Buffalo Bills?

[Steptide]

While that chiefs game hurt worse than anything this season, it was a huge step forward for Allen. He won that game and he will use that to win us a superbowl one day. 

[LABILLBACKER]

From an offensive standpoint I count it as a step forward. Other than a couple offensive letdowns against Pittsburgh & Jacksonville,  Josh really blossomed. We saw another level of improvement in Knox & Davis. And the most exciting development was probably the last few games of the season where injecting Bates and featuring Motor helped our anemic run game. I think adding Dorsey, Brady & Kromer will only continue the advancement. 

     Defensively we may have had some statistical #1 rankings but it never felt dominant. The young DE's just didn't pop like I was hoping. Edmunds ran around doing what Edmunds does which is pretty unremarkable. I liked the way Ed played but after him the front 4 was kinda meh. Our safeties may be getting older but are still the best 1-2 duo in the NFL. Losing Tre was brutal and I'm hoping if Levi leaves we draft his counterpart. 

    I think the biggest step back was coaching. We always have that mid season lull where we lose focus. This year was no different with the Jags embarrassment. The coaching especially in-game HAS to improve. We can't EVER witness that 13 second meltdown again. We owe that much to Josh playing basically 2 straight perfect playoff games. Figure it out Sean.

Edited February 10, 2022 by LABILLBACKER

[hemma]

The most important player on the team finished the year being close to perfect.

Made it easier to correctly identify various weakness’.

 

I’d call that progress.

 

 

[pennstate10]

4 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

Step forward.  Not everything is in a vacuum, so comparing stats, w/l records etc lacks context.  
 

End of the day, you play for the post season.  And the team that was in this post season was significantly better than last years team even with the loss of our best defensive player in White.   
 

It took a coaching blunder by our ST coordinator not telling Bass the squib kick call and a poor response by Frazier after to end our season.  The better team lost in KC, and IMHO we are the best team between Rams, Bengals, Chiefs, and Bills right now.

 

This is NOT directed at you, but since you mentioned Jax…people need to let this go.  Upsets happen like this all the time to the best teams.  Bengals lost to the Jets and are in the SB.  It means absolutely nothing.  It meant nothing in our post season either where our offense that had 6 points against Jags, was other world’s dominant against its two post season opponents.
 

I assure everyone Bengals fans are not obsessing over the Jets loss right now.  

Again, not pointed at you.  But there are still a bunch of people who need to read this.  

Its hard to agree that "the better team lost" in KC.

 

Bills had to convert a 4th and 13, and make several other miracle plays with less than 2 minutes.  If one of those passes is tipped or dropped, 13 sec means nothing to nobody.

 

Mahomes and Chief were dialed in, playing their best game of the season.

 

I'm a long time Bills fan, but KC and Bills, each at their best, hard to say which team is better.

 

I just wish the Bills had the opportunity to play the team that played against Cincy the week after.  Bills were head and shoulders better than that version of KC.

[stevewin]

Josh huge step forward, 13 second defense huge step back

[transplantbillsfan]

4 hours ago, Albwan said:

I'm afraid the Bills and Allen may go the way of Rodgers and the Packers...minus the Super Bowl win.

 

Seriously? I feel pretty confident Allen will bring Buffalo more than one Lombardi.

[Nextmanup]

I'll say step forward, though it came very late in the season.

I'm talking about Josh's 2 playoff games, where he rose to yet a new level.

 

I don't expect him to stay at that level all the time, but if he can come close....

 

Also, it's just a quirk of the seeding system that our game in KC came when it did; it could--and probably should--have been the AFC Championship game for the 2nd year in a row.

 

 

[ProcessAccepted]

O-Line and Josh Allen play at the end of the season

[harryS]

Clear step forward.  Last year, we didn't have a chance to win the Super Bowl.  This year we should've won it or at least should've been in the Super Bowl if not for massive unforgivable coaching incompetence.  Most likely, next season won't give us as good a shot as we had this year.

[teef]

i'm going with a step forward.  it's obviously hard to say that after not going as deep in the playoffs as we all would have liked, but i'm far more confident in allen and this team going into next year as i was this year.

[GoBills808]

Forward!

[Sierra Foothills]

Step forward.

 

1) The NFL is like an arms race. Josh put tons of video out there and league DCs spent considerable time trying to game plan him and figure out how to crack the code... like "The Jordan Rules." In spite of this Josh still had a great season and played his best football when it counted.

 

2) The Bills needed the 1989 Bickering Bills season to launch them into the 4 straight Super Bowls. Sometimes a step back is actually a step forward in disguise.

[TBBills]

Lol already proven Josh didn't regress. 

[In Summary]

Allen - big steps forward.

Team - small step back. Attribute mostly to OL.

[ddaryl]

seemed like a lateral move between the 2 years IMO. Improved in some areas regressed in other areas

[Freak-O]

Step forward. They lost a few lacklustre games, and some players’ stats might have gone down, but when it mattered and everyone went 100% they were better than last year. The losses/stats I think might be down to underestimating their opponents in some games. 

[Bob in STL]

The Bill took a step back as a team.  
 

1  They lost a few more games overall

2 They failed to win a single game that was decided by one score - this is a concern 

3 They did not get to the AFCCG 

4  Cracks in some of McDermott’s process - game day calls, benching of players, overall readiness and use of time outs, coaches are leaving 

5  Unfathomable communication issues in critical game situations 

6 Regression of OL 

7 Pass rush and DL line play in general is not producing in accordance with the  investment 

8 Special teams gaffes - Punter and Kick returners with negative plays, possible communication issues 

 

Josh Allen took another step forward.  Bad weather is the reason his stats are slightly down, that and the lack of a running game for 3/4ths of a season.   Josh was much improved in his decision making and is the main reason we were contenders. 
 

 

[FilthyBeast]

I think it was a step back for several reasons:

 

1) Allen wasn't as consistent during the regular season as previous year but he certainly made up for it in the playoffs.

2) The main goal was to get homefield throughout and the #1 seed and that was there for the taking this year especially with such a weak schedule but this team failed to do that which is one of many reasons their season ended again in KC.

3) Piggybacking off the 2nd point, this team started 4-1 and finished 4-0 but was a very bad 3-5 in between. This was a combination of many things but I still blame coaching for this and you can't take half the season off and truly expect to be a championship contender.

4) I still don't buy the idea that this team in the early stages of some sort of infinite SB window just because they've solved the QB position. This is a strange league you simply don't know what's going to happen each year especially with injuries, regime changes, roster turnover, etc so 2021 was a wasted opportunity.

 

In the end though before the season started I predicted 12-5 and losing in the division round and I was spot on for the most part just off one loss. But I still think it's very realistic that 2020 was the peak for this regime and we could be looking at a new HC and/or GM as soon as 2023 if this team doesn't deliver this year.

[SoMAn]

The Bills' offense is built around the passing game. Has there ever been a season when practically every home game had weather conditions that were far from ideal for a passing offense. 

The Washington game may have been the best, and yet it was still windy enough that Bass needed a holder on kickoffs.

 

 

 

[Coach Tuesday]

The Bills should be playing on Sunday it's that simple.  The Bengals, Chargers, Ravens, Chiefs, Broncos and other AFC teams will all look to improve this offseason and there's no guarantee the Bills will have such a golden opportunity to bring home a Lombardi staring them in the face again soon.  You have to take advantage of the changes you're given.  With Allen at QB this team can beat any team any week for the next decade (so long as he stays healthy of course), so there's ample reason to stay encouraged and hopeful - but we also shouldn't underestimate what a colossal disgrace of a coaching job we witnessed three weeks ago.  "Oh well, we'll do better next time!" is nice to hear and all, but it reflects a lack of appreciation for just how rare this opportunity was.  We are at a point right now where we can sit back and say we'll get 'em again next year, and hopefully that's true - but if things don't go that way, years from now we'll be sitting here debating just how big of a debacle "13 Seconds" really was.  It might be the biggest coaching disaster in Buffalo sports' history.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Coach Tuesday