Don Otreply Posted January 22 Posted January 22 On offense, we have needed a more dynamic #2 WR all season, and it is my hope that Beane gets two such guys via draft / free agency, add in depth O-line guys at tackle and center, get a younger version of Murray in the RB room and the offense should be pretty much good to go for next season. The defense will be harder to put together for next season, but Beane will get it done, so in answer to the OPs question, and quoting ish the princes bride, it would have been a miracle…, we just really were missing a couple more horses for the run in the post season, GO BILLS!!! 1 1 Quote
Eastport bills Posted January 22 Posted January 22 The sad truth is with Josh anything is possible. He’s the best QB in the league next to #15. The game against KC was going to be tough because our defense was unable to stop the run or put pressure on the QB and Mahomes beats teams like that. Josh found a way but that last series after the 2min warning was defended well and we couldn’t get the lead. Forget Bass who shouldn’t be our kicker and is only there because he was competent in years past. I believe we could’ve been competitive vs Balt and beaten the NFC. Quote
NoSaint Posted January 22 Posted January 22 15 minutes ago, Steptide said: I'm just as mad/dissapointed that we lost last night as any other bills fan today. Last week I heard alot on local sports talk radio about how this was our year and how if we just beat kc, it's gotta be our year finally. OK, based on what?! The last 8 games have been fun. Nobody thought this team would win the division, let alone be the 2 seed and host 2 home playoff games. Having said that, our offense needs serious help. Allen is an absolute animal, but he can't do absolutely everything. I've seen Diggs take alot of flack today on social media and it's well deserved. He's been non existentent the last 8 or so games. Harty and sherfield were complete non factors the entire season. Gabe played nowhere near what we (and the team) expected. Knox was hurt and even when he wasn't, he wasn't exactly a game changer. Kinkaid and Shakir were the lone bright spots, and Shakir really didn't show up until after Dorsey was gone. Cook was great, but we need more. The defense came through, even as beat up as they've been, but in today's nfl you cannot rely solely on the defense. WGR brought up a great point this morning, saying how kc has won superbowls when their defense was ranked in the mid 20's. We need more offense. I could go on and on, but Imo this wasn't the team that was gonna win it all. I was worried about last night's game, and even had they pulled it out, I'd never believe they could get through Baltimore. Houston has a similar offense to Buffalo and they couldn't muster more than 3 points on offense against Baltimore. Ya I know they have a rookie qb, but stroud is a beast. It'll be super interesting to see what kc does against Baltimore next week. I think Baltimore beats kc by 10 🤷 thanks for letting me vent I certainly wasn’t betting on them in the off-season but when Joey b was hurt, and Rodgers got hurt and kc underachieved and jax hit a wall and… there was nothing stopping them from potentially doing it. They should have won yesterday, and they could have won against Baltimore. I think both the lions and 9ers were tougher matchups though. Quote
FilthyBeast Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I think it depends on what happens with the Chiefs. If they go on to win the superbowl (now a very likely outcome IMO) then yes you can easily argue the Bills were a probably championship bound as well, but that will also make this loss among the worse in franchise history knowing this even compared to 2021 because I still think that's the ultimate straw man argument since the Chiefs didn't go on to win the superbowl that year, or even get there for that matter. But if for some reason this was the chiefs superbowl and they get smacked by the Ravens then I think it will become obvious a similar fate was waiting for the Bills. Quote
Johnnycage46 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Probably not with all the injuries mounting...but honestly, beating KC would have been huge for the mental side of the team. If we had won last night and lost at Baltimore I would be bummed still, but we HAD the game in hand last night at the 2 minute warning and just blew it. That is mostly why it sucks so bad. Instead of knocking KC out (finally!) we get to see them in their 6th (6th!) straight AFCC game and possibly yet another Super Bowl. It's becoming nauseating seeing such a lack of parity at the top of the league (parity in the NFL is really just the idea that any team can make the leap to the playoffs, but to think that any team could win the SB any given year is crazy...it's basically like 2 or 3 teams that have a legit shot (KC, 49ers, someone else..) 2 Quote
LABILLBACKER Posted January 22 Posted January 22 No....Milano, DQ and Tre going down early. Then all the additional injuries later in the season. No way we were winning it all. Even if Bass makes that kick, we were still losing last night. This wasn't our year. 6-6 kinda validated that. I appreciate all the rallying for 5 straight but even games late against the Chargers & Patriots proved we were out of sync. Find a way to eliminate injuries and Josh turnovers and maybe I'll get excited again. And finally I don't think McD can ever take this team to the final level. Quote
Andy1 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Waiting for THE year to arrive is frustrating. 4 out of 32 teams had a better year than the Bills. Only one team ends the year happy. The other 31 teams are left wondering what could have been if only…….. Talking heads love to trash Allen yet he is the reason we are a playoff team. It’s easy to praise frontrunners. Allen played great. The strategy was sound, the big plays just didn’t get made by the receivers. The window will stay open as long as he is great. Bean needs to find weapons for Josh. Too many injuries caught up to us. Baltimore and Sanfran have been derailed by injuries in previous years. This year not so much. That’s the way it goes. 1 1 1 Quote
Logic Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) Good post. The answer is: not particularly, no. When our best defensive playmaker was lost for the year, I presumed it wouldn't be a championship season. It takes a lot to win a Lombardi. A LOT. When you lose a player the caliber of a Matt Milano -- when you lose arguably THE most important player on your defense -- for the year, it immediately puts a massive dent in your championship hopes. Just as I knew when Tre White went down with injury in 2021 and Von Miller went down with injury in 2022 that those were likely fatal blows to our defense, I knew that Milano's loss was likely a fatal blow this year. Now, obviously, that's too difficult and heartbreaking to admit that early in the season, so you tell yourself that they'll find a way, they'll overcome it, there will be reinforcements. Yes, every team suffers injuries, but no, they're not all created equal. Furthermore, the Bills have lacked a viable WR2 all season long, and they fired their offensive coordinator midseason. How many teams facing those circumstances -- particularly the midseason OC change -- go on to win a championship? Was it possible? Doable? Sure, probably. The ball bounces differently in the Chiefs game a time or two and maybe the Bills win, beat Baltimore, then beat SF/DET. But given the totality of all the factors mentioned -- injuries on defense, who those injuries were to, shallow WR group, midseason OC change -- it certainly wouldn't seem to any unbiased outside observer like a championship year for the Buffalo Bills. As painful as last night's loss was in the moment, when you stand back and look at the season as a whole, you see that the Bills were a flawed team both in terms of coaching and roster construction, and it would be hard to argue with a straight face that they were or are the best team in the NFL in 2023. Given the flaws mentioned, they likely OVER-achieved by securing the two-seed, and finishing as the fifth or sixth best team in the league seems about right. Edited January 22 by Logic 3 2 4 Quote
3rdand12 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 11 minutes ago, skibum said: They always had a puncher's chance, but it's hard to imagine them beating the Ravens in Baltimore, then winning the SB with so many injured players. Sure, they would get some of those guys back on the field, but they would be far from 100%. And the DL, which was pretty healthy, never lived up to its scary potential. Throw in a shaky place kicker, and you just don't have enough to win it all. Injuries derailed them. LBs for example, secondary for next example. Punter for third. Brutal really. You can only do "next Man Up " so many times. then there is no one left to bring up 1 Quote
oldmanfan Posted January 22 Posted January 22 No. When they were 6-6 I figured this wasn’t the year. Give them. Credit for the win streak, but as injuries mounted it became increasingly unlikely we’d get there. 3 Quote
Charles Romes Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I knew after Bernard went down, the cape would have to go on to have a chance against KC. Almost pulled it off. 1 Quote
strive_for_five_guy Posted January 22 Posted January 22 9 minutes ago, bmur66 said: They had a chance. It was right in front of them. Yep. Bills could have just as easily won last night as the Chiefs. If Josh hits Shakir in the end zone on the last drive, or Bass hits the FG, we can all be pessimistic and assume Mahomes still would have won it, or it could have ended in a win for the Bills. That said, game was a coin toss that we lost, rather than this team being clearly better than their opponent and not needing to win a coin flip. Quote
4th&long Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I never thought they had a chance. ***** them really. 1 Quote
Best Williams Available Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I think you’re right. We drank some koolaid and selectively forgot how flawed this team is personnel-wise and their bad losses throughout the season. In that way they overachieved a bit. i don’t know what this says about McD then. Overachieving usually reflects well on a coach. Quote
MJS Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I never expect the Bills to win the superbowl. That is an unrealistic expectation. But I did think they had a chance. They need to really bring in receiver talent next year. Diggs sucks now, for some reason. Only Shakir is a good target. They need to bring in a legitimate vet as well as a high draft pick. 1 Quote
ShakAttack Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) No, but most people would have said the same thing about KC… Hopefully Ravens are dominant in the AFCCG. i know this game is all about matchups, but if the Ravens D shuts down Mahomes and does what we were unable to do (decent chance) then I’ll feel at least a little better because there will be a part of me that believes this Ravens team was on another level this season if that happens. Edited January 22 by BobBelcher 1 1 Quote
Steptide Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 1 minute ago, Best Williams Available said: I think you’re right. We drank some koolaid and selectively forgot how flawed this team is personnel-wise and their bad losses throughout the season. In that way they overachieved a bit. i don’t know what this says about McD then. Overachieving usually reflects well on a coach. Imo McDermott has taken alot more criticism than deserved. If anything, I think they failed with the sherfield and Harty signings. They litterally got nothing out of them. I'll say too that maybe McD held onto Dorsey longer than he should've. A full off season with Brady might change this offense alot. Who knows though Quote
Ted Striker Posted January 22 Posted January 22 38 minutes ago, Steptide said: Serious question Surely, you can't be serious. 1 1 Quote
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