What has to happen for this team to become a Super Bowl contender (again)?

[Punch]

A: Josh Allen under center every week.

[gonzo1105]

9 minutes ago, SCBills said:

 

This is true, but they've also had some good injury luck compared to the other contending teams.   Nobody of the caliber of Tre White, Von Miller, Matt Milano has been down due to injury in the playoffs (except for one game where Mahomes went out towards the end), let alone the avalanche of injuries we had last year. 

 

This is not meant to be mean but Bills fans always have a damn excuse for why they can't beat the Chiefs. The first year the Bills hadn't been there and were inexperienced. Then the 2nd year they lost to the Chiefs with a dominant performance due to coaching/defense. Then they lose to the Bengals in the playoffs and its because we don't have enough playmakers. Then we lose last year to the Chiefs again because of injuries.

 

Every game we have played against the Chiefs we have had the opportunity to win and found ways to blow it. Even the 37-24 game we were up 14-0 in the game. Everyone knows about 13 seconds. Last years against the Chiefs we dominated the first half, then proceeded to score 7 points in the 2nd half after we ran over them in the first half. Throw in a Bass missed kick that may or may not have mattered.

 

Make more plays when it counts.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, teef said:

this year i think it's going to take a little luck.

 

…..and I’m just fine with that. 

[SCBills]

Just now, gonzo1105 said:

 

This is not meant to be mean but Bills fans always have a damn excuse for why they can't beat the Chiefs. The first year the Bills hadn't been there and were inexperienced. Then the 2nd year they lost to the Chiefs with a dominant performance due to coaching/defense. Then they lose to the Bengals in the playoffs and its because we don't have enough playmakers. Then we lose last year to the Chiefs again because of injuries.

 

Every game we have played against the Chiefs we have had the opportunity to win and found ways to blow it. Even the 37-24 game we were up 14-0 in the game. Everyone knows about 13 seconds. Last years against the Chiefs we dominated the first half, then proceeded to score 7 points in the 2nd half after we ran over them in the first half. Throw in a Bass missed kick that may or may not have mattered.

 

Make more plays when it counts.

 

Not mean at all .. the excuses are valid for injury, but at a some point if you can't stay healthy while other teams can, that's a you problem. 

[MJS]

This is a soft reset year. I think we really need to see how the season plays out. There are just too many unknowns to really know what the team needs and what it doesn't. At first blush, I'd say we are weak at receiver still. And I'm wondering if we'll be weak at safety as well.

 

There are many more potential weaknesses. Pass rusher, for one, but we might view that differently if Rousseau has a break out year and Miller gets back to 80% of what he used to be.

[Cash]

IMO, we are technically a Super Bowl contender now.  By which I mean, I think we're likely to win our division, which puts us in the playoffs.  From there, we have a realistic chance to beat every other team in the playoffs, especially if someone else beat the Chiefs for us.  Every NFL team has a realistic chance to beat every other NFL team on any given Sunday, and Josh Allen would be the best player on the field in any matchup except the Chiefs.  Not saying our chances are the best (they're not), but worse teams have definitely gotten hot at the right time and made/won the Super Bowl.

 

For me personally, here's the best case scenario for this year.  IMO, if all of these happened, we'd be one of the 2-3 teams most likely to win it all.  (We're maybe in the 5-7 range now?)  I don't really think all of them will happen this year, but I'm going to hope for it until proven otherwise:

• Team gets healthy and stays healthy all year
• Most of the young guys take steps forward
• Milano comes back in late November and looks like his old self
• Von Miller returns to something like he looked pre-injury
• By year's end, we wind up with acceptable or better safety play - maybe Bishop is ready to be a + starter by then
• James Cook cures his dropsies
• Brady turns out to be a + as a coordinator - scheming guys open, having a few "unstoppable" plays for those key 3rd/4th downs, countering opponent adjustments, etc
• Josh Allen looks like he did in 2020 (Note: I think this one is happening, regardless of the rest)

[Chaos]

25 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

I agree with these...Every team goes through transition periods, people freaking out like it should never happen are just over the top.  You can't escape cap decisions in the modern FA era and you can't escape players getting older.  First off, most teams transition periods are far far worse.  Beane has managed his cap and roster well enough to be able to take a $31m hit on Diggs and still field a team that has the potential to compete still.  

 

More importantly, what SO MANY people miss is just how well setup moving forward we are with Josh at the early stages of his prime.  Next year, the cap isn't an issue and we are armed with an 2 second round picks and 3 fourth round picks to go with all our other picks.  The team has a lot of young talent and prospects on it now and Beane will be in position to be aggressive next year to make big moves in the areas we need them.

Kudos. “Early stage of prime”   Is so much better than “after failing to capitalize on the last five years starting with the 13 seconds debacle”.  You should look into a career as a spin doctor. 

[Turk71]

2 hours ago, SCBills said:

 

For me:

 

1) I believe the OL will be a strength again.  We have talent and depth that has been in the system for multiple years now and Kromer is one of the best in the game. When we look at the AFC contenders, I think the Bills and Chiefs likely have the two best OLs

You're dreaming, Talent and depth? 

The Bills oline is lacking in both. Expecting them to be one of the best lines is such a homer pipe dream imo. 

[The Firebaugh Kid]

LESS INJURIES 😠

[Alphadawg7]

13 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Kudos. “Early stage of prime”   Is so much better than “after failing to capitalize on the last five years starting with the 13 seconds debacle”.  You should look into a career as a spin doctor. 

 

What part of Josh is only being 28 is confusing to you or a spin?  Maybe if you didn't have a biased viewpoint you are so invested in facts wouldn't look like "spin moves" to you.  

[Boatdrinks]

We can probably expect two of these things to happen, maybe three if the Bills are fortunate. It seems unlikely that all of these scenarios would go their way and a down year looks more probable by the week. Just not as much talent on this roster now, and their status is somewhere below SB contender. 

[mjd1001]

1.) Josh Allen has a fully healthy season

 

2.) The Offensive line is at least slightly above average. 

I personally think this offensive line has been over-rated by most on this forum and most fans.  Most other QBs back there besides Allen would be battered and injured by game 5, and they really can't open holes consistently against many defensive fronts that are even slightly above average.

 

3.) The Defense is at least average all around, with ONE elite (or close to elite) pass rusher that you can hope will consistently be annoying to Mahomes, Burrow, or any other elite QB they face.

 

Thats it.  If you have #3 and #2, then having a healthy Josh takes care of the rest.

 

As far as #3 above....Why are the Chiefs so good? Even if you are ahead of them, playing with the score to score, if Mahomes has the ball last the expectation is they WILL score.  How do you stop that?  to me the best way is to have that one elite guy he doesn't see hit him from behind. One guy that blows up a play so quickly and there is nothing he can do about it. One guy who gets to him 1/2 second faster than anyone else and hits his arm as he releases it to cause a game saving INT.

  You don't need it every play, but you need a guy to be able to single handedly blow up a play just once or twice in a final drive.  

Edited August 19 by mjd1001

[Sweats]

We have to avoid injuries, the D can't fold like a cheap suit in big games, etc........blah, blah, blah

[mjt328]

Sadly, it's a very long list...

• Josh Allen needs to stay healthy for 17 games, plus the entire postseason.  Even one lost game could be very costly in a tight playoff race.
• Wide receiver group cannot be a liability (significant trouble getting open, dropped passes), and must pose enough of a threat to the secondary that defenses can't just send 6-7 pass rushers every play.
• After all the offseason changes, O-Line must gel into a solid unit very quickly.  This includes McGovern handling the Center job, Edwards doing good at Left Guard and O'Cyrus Torrence not having a sophomore slump.
• Joe Brady must continue to develop as a play-caller, stay creative and not get figured out by defensive coordinators.  
• At least one pass rusher needs to step up big, and become a force off the Edge.  Either Von Miller regains his old form, or we see a major breakout from Groot/Epenesa.
• A capable replacement must be found for Matt Milano.
• Not one, but two safeties are needed to step into the all-important roles previously held by Poyer/Hyde.
• New defensive coordinator Bobby Babich must be capable of handling the promotion.
• Tyler Bass needs to go back to be a dependable kicker from long-distance.
• New leaders must step up all over the locker room, with numerous veterans leaving (Diggs, Morse, White, Poyer, Hyde).

 

This is just to get the Bills back to where they were LAST year.  If they want to go FARTHER and actually have a chance at winning the Super Bowl, then we must also see:

• Sean McDermott figure out how to stop elite Quarterbacks in the playoffs.
• The core roster must go into the postseason relatively healthy.

 

Edited August 19 by mjt328

[Chaos]

4 hours ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

What part of Josh is only being 28 is confusing to you or a spin?  Maybe if you didn't have a biased viewpoint you are so invested in facts wouldn't look like "spin moves" to you.  

Just jealous of Mahomes getting all of those pre-prime super bowl wins with Reid. 

[BillsPride12]

Need Rousseau to look like he did the other night in Pittsburgh on a consistent basis

[julian]

Rousseau break out season 10+ sacks

Von makes an impact 6-10 sacks

Kincaid balls out

Bobby calls great defense

Brady shows some creativity 

 

7 hours ago, Turk71 said:

You're dreaming, Talent and depth? 

The Bills oline is lacking in both. Expecting them to be one of the best lines is such a homer pipe dream imo. 

I think they have the best oline in the division, not saying it’s the 90s Cowboys unit but it’s somewhere in the 8-12 range imho.

Edited August 20 by julian

[78thealltimegreat]

Pass Rush with 4 and Oline there is your season in a nutshell.

If they can get home at 10 ish kinda rate and they can give Josh a down the hill running game they’ll be excellent.

 

If they can do one of  these well they’ll be very good.

 

If they rely on Josh being a one man gang again in year 7 Brandon Beane needs to be put on the hot seat. Cause chances are they’ll be a wildcard contender at best. 

 

[QB Bills]

All you people complaining about the pass rush makes it seem like you didn't even watch any of the playoff games the Bills have lost. Having Bruce Smith in his prime would have made no difference when Mahomes and Burrow are getting the ball out in less than 2 seconds to wide open targets. The blame falls on one person and that's the clapping idiot on the sidelines who runs the defense that is constantly getting outschemed in big games.

 

If it wasn't for Josh Allen, the guy would be coaching defensive backs somewhere right now. This team is going nowhere with him at the helm and are wasting prime years of the most talented QB in the game.

[thenorthremembers]

The season needs to start.   As long as Josh is on the team, the Bills are a Super Bowl Contender.