The Bills Have a Playoff Problem…But It’s Not Josh Allen (detailed breakdown)

[HOUSE]

3 hours ago, Sweats said:

D wins championships and i don't see how anyone can even argue this anymore.........McD and Beane need to get their house in order and start producing a championship D if we ever want to see a SB.

To get your House in order you need to buy him season tickets, 50 yard line

[FireChans]

7 minutes ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

So in your world the Lions giving up 45 to the Commanders had nothing to do with their injuries on defense? Um, ok.

 

For the record I never argued that Goff's turnovers had anything to do with the injuries. Nor did I argue that the Bills season ended because their defense was a disaster - I agree with that whole heartedly. 

 

Not sure why you are hell bent on putting words in my mouth that never came out. 

Um yeah it had more to do with 5 total TOs on the Lions lol. Maybe the Lions defense should’ve taken the field to stop the Commanders from returning that pick six.

 

The Lions outgained the Commanders by 40 yards. They had more rushing yards and more passing yards. You would have expected that woeful, battered defense to have gotten the worse of those stats, right?
 

Did you watch the game?

[SinceThe70s]

Just now, FireChans said:

Um yeah it had more to do with 5 total TOs on the Lions lol. Maybe the Lions defense should’ve taken the field to stop the Commanders from returning that pick six.

 

The Lions outgained the Commanders by 40 yards. They had more rushing yards and more passing yards. You would have expected that woeful, battered defense to have gotten the worse of those stats, right?
 

Did you watch the game?

 

So your premise remains that the injuries the Lions sustained this year had no impact on their season? If so, does the draft, free agency and depth charts even matter for any team?

[Charles Romes]

3 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

they have had critical injuries on defense each of the last 3 playoff losses.

 

Its hard to beat good teams with your top corner out every year plus all the other injuries. 

maybe they’d have less injuries if they were bigger and more imposing on D

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

So your premise remains that the injuries the Lions sustained this year had no impact on their season? If so, does the draft, free agency and depth charts even matter for any team?

Everything has impact. The weather has impact. The way the breakfast gets cooked for the players has impact.

[SoonerBillsFan]

3 hours ago, Sweats said:

D wins championships and i don't see how anyone can even argue this anymore.........McD and Beane need to get their house in order and start producing a championship D if we ever want to see a SB.

Wr have the #1 thing a team needs and that's a Franchise QB.  Now build up a Defense.

[Jrb1979]

Just now, SoonerBillsFan said:

Wr have the #1 thing a team needs and that's a Franchise QB.  Now build up a Defense.

Start by looking at talent level first and culture second. 

[finn]

32 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yes. Josh is a freak there is no doubting that. But Tua can play. I think this discussion is guilty of slightly disrespecting him.

I didn't mean to imply he can't play. I picked him as an example of an average quarterback because, if you look at the starting QBs in 2026 (putting aside the injury replacements), Tua is just about in the middle, at least in term of how most sites (and fans, maybe) rank them. The 15 ahead of him, arguably: Allen, Burrow, Jackson, Mahomes, Daniels, Goff, Darnold, Mayfield, Herbert, Love, Hurts, Stafford, Stroud, Murray, and Wilson. You could put him higher, but I don't think he's anything close to elite level. Good enough to be an asset at times, but not good enough to take a mediocre team like the Bills (sans Allen) to the playoffs. 

 

Some things are obvious only when they're pointed out. And it seems obvious to me now that while Beane and McDermott are very good at what they do, neither of them are among the best in the league, and that--not injuries, not bad luck--is why the Bills keep falling short, even with the best quarterback in the league. 

[MikePJ76]

24 minutes ago, Charles Romes said:

maybe they’d have less injuries if they were bigger and more imposing on D

Benford had a concussion.

 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

4 hours ago, MikePJ76 said:

they have had critical injuries on defense each of the last 3 playoff losses.

 

Its hard to beat good teams with your top corner out every year plus all the other injuries. 

Then they gotta find a way to eliminate these yearly defensive injuries.  I don't see KC banged up defensively every January? Maybe a new conditioning staff will help?  Maybe don't draft such small players?  Figure it out....

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Then they gotta find a way to eliminate these yearly defensive injuries.  I don't see KC banged up defensively every January? Maybe a new conditioning staff will help?  Maybe don't draft such small players?  Figure it out....

Yes you do.

 

KC lost their starting safety early in the divisional round last year. 

They just win so we don’t hear, “we would have won if X didn’t get hurt.”

[L Ron Burgundy]

1 hour ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

 I'll disagree that that the injuries they had didn't seriously compromise their chances of making it further than they did this year. 

 

 

 

It did compromise their chances but through good/creative coaching they were pretty close to overcoming nearly historic injury levels.  While we, with a couple injuries every year, cannot.  I'd say it's because McD is too conservative while other high quality defensive coaches will take major aggressive risks.

[billsfan714]

1 hour ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

So how many chances are McDermott and Beane going to get with a first ballot hof qb? 

 

Even in the Denver game, they couldn't get pressure. I tried to dismiss it but it's frickin ridiculous at this point 

 

It has been a groundhog day clown car on defense in the playoffs for multiple years. Yet the bucs, rams, eagles and Bengals all figured it out in 1-2 yrs??? Kc rebuild in one year?

 

 

I concur.

[L Ron Burgundy]

3 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Then they gotta find a way to eliminate these yearly defensive injuries.  I don't see KC banged up defensively every January? Maybe a new conditioning staff will help?  Maybe don't draft such small players?  Figure it out....

No, that's not it because they had injuries too (this year they were healthier but other years they weren't).  We just can't overcome.  Some might say it's personnel I say it's coaching.

[Alphadawg7]

Don’t worry, the we must go all in on WR crowd will still find ways to ignore and spin all the facts to argue not to invest in the defense still.  It’s utterly mind boggling.  

[Alphadawg7]

44 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Um yeah it had more to do with 5 total TOs on the Lions lol. Maybe the Lions defense should’ve taken the field to stop the Commanders from returning that pick six.

 

The Lions outgained the Commanders by 40 yards. They had more rushing yards and more passing yards. You would have expected that woeful, battered defense to have gotten the worse of those stats, right?
 

Did you watch the game?

So you’re saying that the #4 offense in nfl history lost because…the opponents defense. Just like the #1, 2, and 3 offenses in NFL history did too in the playoffs.
 

But I bet it won’t stop you from saying we need more offense though 

[Charles Romes]

19 minutes ago, MikePJ76 said:

Benford had a concussion.

 

 

 Who was on the field on a high impact play because the D let up an 88 yard drive in 5 plays. 

[billsfan714]

We had like 14 yards fewer given up in 2024 on defense than the Lions had with like double digit injuries.   Thats how bad the D was.   Anyone watch the Bills-Lions game and did you worry about their D.   I bet not.

 

 

 

Edited 23 hours ago by billsfan714

[FireChans]

7 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

So you’re saying that the #4 offense in nfl history lost because…the opponents defense. Just like the #1, 2, and 3 offenses in NFL history did too in the playoffs.
 

But I bet it won’t stop you from saying we need more offense though 

You could say that, but some of the TOs were just really bad offensive plays.
 

Our HC’s defense sucks against the Chiefs even with great players. I just don’t want to waste my time.

[GunnerBill]

34 minutes ago, finn said:

I didn't mean to imply he can't play. I picked him as an example of an average quarterback because, if you look at the starting QBs in 2026 (putting aside the injury replacements), Tua is just about in the middle, at least in term of how most sites (and fans, maybe) rank them. The 15 ahead of him, arguably: Allen, Burrow, Jackson, Mahomes, Daniels, Goff, Darnold, Mayfield, Herbert, Love, Hurts, Stafford, Stroud, Murray, and Wilson. You could put him higher, but I don't think he's anything close to elite level. Good enough to be an asset at times, but not good enough to take a mediocre team like the Bills (sans Allen) to the playoffs. 

 

Some things are obvious only when they're pointed out. And it seems obvious to me now that while Beane and McDermott are very good at what they do, neither of them are among the best in the league, and that--not injuries, not bad luck--is why the Bills keep falling short, even with the best quarterback in the league. 

 

I just think the Bills roster with Tua not Allen would be in the playoff mix. One game in or one game out. 

 

As for what is keeping the Bills short... it's simple. It's the Kansas City Chiefs.