This Will Be The Make Or Break Year For This Regime

[K-9]

Ah, the old “make or break” year. Hate to break it to the haters, but this team can go sub .500 this season and McBean won’t be going anywhere. 

[VW82]

Yeah, no. 
 

McBeane have been extended. We just started a rebuild. We’re coming off a sustained track record of success by any measure that isn’t just SB or bust. Some of you guys aren’t living in reality. 
 

Also, why does it feel like so many here just became fans in 2018? Do you guys not remember what two decades of incompetence actually looks like??

[harmonkillebrew]

I agree. They've had enough time. Anything wrong with the team/roster now, is solely due to them.

This offseason they've doubled-down on their philosophy of conservative offensive, despite a generational talent at QB. 
It's make or break.

 

• If we don't get past the divisional round AGAIN, it's time to give another HC and probably GM a chance to put us over the hump.

[TheFunPolice]

47 minutes ago, Buffalo Boy said:

13-3 Marty Schottenheimer says 🙋 

 

Huge mistake by the Chargers back then too...

 

As far as McDermott goes, it's one thing to be saddled with a defensive minded HC if the defense comes up big in big spots (like Belichick's D usually did for Brady). 

 

Patriots defense made Peyton Manning, Big Ben, Rivers, and basically everyone else look ordinary at best the vast majority of the time. They got NE a 14 point lead in KC in the AFC Title game that KC couldn't recover from until it was too late. 

 

McDermott's defense wilts every postseason. 

Edited April 29 by TheFunPolice

[harmonkillebrew]

5 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Ah, the old “make or break” year. Hate to break it to the haters, but this team can go sub .500 this season and McBean won’t be going anywhere. 

You're probably right.

But it did seem like pressure ramped up on McD mid-season last year. 
I think the team's resolve in turning it around reflects well on him as a leader of men, but also masked the underlying flaws in the philosophy.

Fans should not be complacent if it doesn't so well this year. With JA at QB a lot of coaches could do what McD has done, but a really good one could take us to the next level.

[jahnyc]

Interesting upcoming season for McD.  He showed his coaching ability in his first year with the Bills coaching team that was not particularly talented to the playoffs and ending the playoff drought.  He has more talent now, but less than in past years, so hopefully coaching will be able to bridge the current gaps so we can have a return to the playoffs this season.

[ngbills]

5 minutes ago, VW82 said:

Yeah, no. 
 

McBeane have been extended. We just started a rebuild. We’re coming off a sustained track record of success by any measure that isn’t just SB or bust. Some of you guys aren’t living in reality. 
 

Also, why does it feel like so many here just became fans in 2018? Do you guys not remember what two decades of incompetence actually looks like??

So if your team used to be mediocre you should accept being really good but falling short? This team has been very close and with Allen can remain very close. The margin of error has been really small - like better coaching in the 13 second game, having a #2 WR, etc. If the Bills made a few different choices the team could have possibly one of a super bowl. McBeane has brought them close, but that does not mean you cant question if they can get them over the top. 

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, harmonkillebrew said:

You're probably right.

But it did seem like pressure ramped up on McD mid-season last year. 
I think the team's resolve in turning it around reflects well on him as a leader of men, but also masked the underlying flaws in the philosophy.

Fans should not be complacent if it doesn't so well this year. With JA at QB a lot of coaches could do what McD has done, but a really good one could take us to the next level.

Complacent or not, the fans will have no bearing on the situation one way or the other. We can all bring our pitchforks and shovels and storm the castle at One Bills Drive, but Pegula likes the overall success we’ve had with this regime and he’s gonna give them every chance to get over the hump. 

[Buffalo Boy]

26 minutes ago, KentuckyBillsFan said:

Don't worry. This rebuild will produce a totally different result.

But, I’ve been told repeatedly it’s not a rebuild😵😵‍💫🫣

19 minutes ago, VW82 said:

Do you guys not remember what two decades of incompetence actually looks like??

   I hate this take that so many of you spew!!!!

   Not winning the whole thing but getting to the playoffs every year is worse than being 8-8 or 6-10. 
   ASPIRE to be a champion and settle for nothing less. 
    We have THE best QB any of us will ever see in our lives as Bills fans. He can’t do this without the right coach and help around him.

[TheFunPolice]

Colin Cowherd can be a little obnoxious at times in my opinion, but I do agree with something he says quite often, and that's a top QB paired with a defensive HC is a huge disadvantage for a few reasons...

 

1. If the offense is good you lose your OC to a HC opening and have to keep starting over

2. you're good enough to keep that defensive HC employed basically forever so you're stuck if it's a so-so situation 

3. the game is so slanted to offense that having a defensive HC is nowhere near as beneficial 

 

That does not mean you can't win, but it's a lot harder than being paired with an innovative offensive minded HC 

[Mr. WEO]

Oh, THIS is going to do it?

 

lol

[Cash]

Pegula is "buying the dip."  We spent a ton of cash to go mostly all-in the last couple years.  Didn't work, and now we're taking the cap medicine for 1 year.  Pretty sure the expectation in 2025 will be very high.

[Beast]

11 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

Colin Cowherd can be a little obnoxious at times in my opinion, but I do agree with something he says quite often, and that's a top QB paired with a defensive HC is a huge disadvantage for a few reasons...

 

1. If the offense is good you lose your OC to a HC opening and have to keep starting over

2. you're good enough to keep that defensive HC employed basically forever so you're stuck if it's a so-so situation 

3. the game is so slanted to offense that having a defensive HC is nowhere near as beneficial 

 

That does not mean you can't win, but it's a lot harder than being paired with an innovative offensive minded HC 

How Many Super Bowls did Bill Belichick win? I forgot.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

1 hour ago, VW82 said:

Also, why does it feel like so many here just became fans in 2018? Do you guys not remember what two decades of incompetence actually looks like??

McBeane's tenure has essentially been drought seasons + a wildcard win

 

it's at its ceiling

 

[Mikie2times]

5 hours ago, H2o said:

We have all seen how things unfolded the last few years. A dismantling in the AFC Championship game by KC, 13 Seconds, the flop against Cincy, and then the recreation of Wide Right. McDermott has had friction with multiple coaches because he can't stop meddling. We've had 3 OC's the last 3 years. Frazier was sent packing, McDermott officially took over the defense, and now Babich is going to be "running" things. We've had some questionable draft choices when there seemed to be better options at the time, usually involving selecting defensive players. Now, because of the way they tried to build this squad, and the unnecessary drama, we are in what Beane calls a "transition" phase. 

 

People love to talk about 2017, how we handed KC Mahomes. Beane wasn't here for that though. It was strictly a McDermott draft based off of the work Whaley and his scouts had done. That draft brought us White, Dawkins, and Milano. If not for the injuries that have derailed White's career, we could talk about the entire situation in a different manner. You can't deny that, right now, Mahomes is on his way to staking a claim at GOAT status. It is what it is. Now fast forward to 2024. Knowing what Allen needed, what this team needed, they traded with KC. With the situation that has unfolded with Rashee Rice, you have to believe KC was looking at WR. They take the WR with the fastest recorded 40 of all time. Me, personally, Worthy doesn't scare me. Yes, he's fast. But he has had some drops and the guy is lighter than my 16 year old at 165lbs. Let him get out there to get squared up by some of these LB's and S's who outweigh him by 30lbs-70lbs. I just don't think he's built to last in this league. I don't see him as Tyreek Hill 2.0 at all. Tyreek is 25lbs heavier than him and is a 4.2 guy in pads, as well as on the track. Still, if I am wrong, the Bills FO just handed KC a guy who will give us fits for years to come. It will be another black eye on this organization from something McDermott, and this time Beane, had hands in. 

 

The "run it back" mentality has bit them this time. Because we were so close in the 13 seconds game, they developed this "run it back" type of mentality. Sure, we changed a player here or there, but many of the pieces have been the same squad since then. The weight is always, squarely, on Josh's shoulders. People try to use KC as a comparison and say look at what they were able to achieve without big name WR's, or whatever else. Well, KC has Mahomes, Andy Reid scheming the offense for Mahomes (probably THE largest difference), one of the greatest TE's ever to play the game, has typically had a top tier OL, a REALLY good defense littered with talent across the board, and a DC in Spagnuolo who has been a part of 4 SB winning defenses. Gabe never developed, Edmunds never developed, Von's knee, Poyer got old, Hyde's neck injury, White constantly on IR, constantly cycling out JAG's to fill holes, constantly rolling with meh WR's (outside of Diggs, who became more trouble than he was worth), keeping together a middling OL because Josh makes them look better than they actually are, defensive instability, and have changed the guy calling the offense out 3 times in 3 years. Now, on top of that, we find ourselves in Cap purgatory and still no closer to the goal we wish to achieve. 

 

Going into the 2024 draft, a blind man could see Josh needed weapons on the outside. We had big shoes to fill in Diggs and we needed an upgrade on what Gabe Davis was in this offense. Shakir has shown promise, but he's primarily been used in the Slot. We signed Curtis Samuel, who has primarily been a Slot guy as well. After that we were left with a bunch of JAG's we already had. In the best WR class in at least 10 years, we come away with one WR. I'm not counting the camp fodder UDFA's. We drafted ONE guy. Opinions vary on that one guy. He is truly a boundary WR though. Still, you would have thought this team would have doubled up on boundary guys for the sake of giving their generational talent QB more to work with. Instead they throw all their eggs in one basket by going Safety, DT, and RB with their next 3 selections. Kirby mentioned it in another thread, and I have to concur, that this team looks to have a bottom 5 WR group right now. Until proven otherwise on the field, it is what it is. I think it is a failure, as well as a disservice to JA17, to only have come away with one WR out of this class. This doesn't mean I hate our draft, or grade it an F. I just think it's par for the course we've already seen from this regime, a course that has always seen us come up short.

 

In the end, I think this year will be the make or break for both Beane and McDermott. To continue to do things the same way and expect different results is madness. If the players they drafted become a foundational youth movement, if you can see the results on the field as to what they were drafted for, if Samuel, Shakir, and Coleman make for a dangerous group, if we can transition on the fly like KC did a couple years ago, and if we didn't just make the KC offense unstoppable again, then they'll be around for a while. But there are A LOT of "if's" in that statement. At some point you have to pull the plug if it's not getting you any closer to what should be the goal of every franchise in professional sports, a championship. We shall see. 

What Terry thinks and what we think are very different things. Terry thinks he has two competent men running his organization with the success to prove it. Many of us think those same men might be contributing to the reasons why we can't take the next step. Both can be right but only Terry's opinion matters and I see no evidence at all that eithers seat is even warm. Depressing as it is, we can miss the playoffs this year and both will be back in 2025.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

What’s funny is the expectations we place on McDermott and Beane are because of what they’ve built.

 

Some fans don’t realize that. It’s Super Bowl or bust because of McDermott and Beane. They didn’t get here when things were great and just continued it. 
 

They definitely deserve a reload season. 

[VW82]

1 hour ago, Buffalo Boy said:

But, I’ve been told repeatedly it’s not a rebuild😵😵‍💫🫣

   I hate this take that so many of you spew!!!!

   Not winning the whole thing but getting to the playoffs every year is worse than being 8-8 or 6-10. 
   ASPIRE to be a champion and settle for nothing less. 
    We have THE best QB any of us will ever see in our lives as Bills fans. He can’t do this without the right coach and help around him.

It is a rebuild.

 

Josh has had lots of help around him, including a good coach that's put together a good program.  You don't go 12-5 every year and win playoff games with only a good QB. Nonsense take.

[NeverOutNick]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

I disagree. I think that they wouldn't have begin this re-load process without Pegs being fully bought in. Unless the season is a disaster (and I mean like losing record territory) they will get 2025. I think expectations are lower this year and that will be reflected in the way things play out. 

And this is the problem. They shouldn’t be given a free pass this year for the mess they created and they still have Josh Allen. 

[amprov56]

4 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

No it won’t, 

In agree, possibly for different reasons but I agree!

2 hours ago, Logic said:

As someone who -- as I have stated several times in several threads -- didn't love this draft class and feel that the front office seems to have failed what I viewed as its biggest mission this offseason...

I have to say that I don't think this year can "break" McDermott and Beane, in terms of their being fired or on the hot seat or whatever. After jettisoning all the veterans they did and admitting publicly it's a "transition" year, I think that even a regression and even -- though I don't think it'll happen -- missing the playoffs wouldn't result in Beane or McDermott being ousted. I think they're viewing 2025 as the year to complete this re-tooling and TRULY compete for a championship again. The cap space that's opened up, the plethora of draft picks. 

If the Bills don't make a serious run at a title in 2025, THEN I think whispers about their job security will get very loud.

I agree and then I will join  (gasp) the fire everybody faction to include Ethan in Cleveland, good lord what a sad day that will be!

53 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

Oh, THIS is going to do it?

 

lol

No its not and why would you want it to?

[RobbRiddick]

I honestly think they're safe this year, even if the team went 7-10 or 6-11. 

 

I do think this off season could be the defining one in terms of how the fans see Beane. If the team disappoints massively next season and the WRs don't produce, this past draft will really come back to haunt him. Especially if one or both of the Xaviers turn out to have a great season, not to mention if any of the other guys we ignored with that second 2nd rounder look good as rookies too.

 

But even if they do end up with a losing record this year, I think Pegula will see it as Beane has already pitched it, as a transition year. So he'll definitely give the GM and coach another year at least to show they can get things back on track. Maybe someone like Brady will be the fall guy.

 

I'm optimistic though and have a feeling that without the Diggs distractions Josh will have a great year, maybe will even win that first MVP. Media narrative is a big thing in these situations, and the narrative going into the season will be "they haven't done enough to help Josh Allen", so if he goes out and puts up the kind of numbers he's been doing a while now, with maybe a few less INTs, I think people will see him as a miracle worker.