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

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

7 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Most people know Allen isn't the problem...he literally gets no help in these KC games from the D.

 

Regardless of how bad their offense is in the regular season games against us or against other teams, they look like the Greatest Show On Turf in the playoffs when we play.

 

If we're looking at our last 5 playoff losses, the Chiefs and Bengals offense have actually outperformed the Greatest Show on Turf.

[colin]

38 minutes ago, DabillsDaBillsDaBills said:

 

If we're looking at our last 5 playoff losses, the Chiefs and Bengals offense have actually outperformed the Greatest Show on Turf.

 

mcd's scheme is just too fragile.  he can't have anyone make a mistake or else it's just easy mode for the quarterback to find open guys.  mahomes has fallen off horribly, and his guys got open so fast he just tossed short balls with no pressure within 1.7 seconds for the majority of his snaps.  those guys are open because reid knows how the bills will play those plays, and mahomes can see the bills fail to cover (and i suppose fail to rush, but the coverage was just awful).

 

they threw in a qb run to the right and scored what, 2 or 3 tubs with it?  and several first downs.  groot is our best defensive player (maybe benford, but he's been hurt a lot) and he was running up the field over and over and mahomes was going wide.  if our DC/HC/whoever can't adjust to what they are seeing or get our best player to not make the same mistake over and over, they aren't good coaches.

 

they brought in some new coaches on D, and a new ST guy, so clearly the people in the building know it's not good enough.  lets see if beene can get his thumb out of his azz and add some actual talent that doesn't suck (and at bad contract value) enough in one offseason.  coleman, bishop, carter and davis were our top 4 picks.  the only one of them who looked like an NFL player was davis, and his playing takes snaps away from our best non allen guy on offense.  that's a shockingly bad offseason and he needs to hit it out of the park this offseason.

[DeltaDigital]

Sean. Mcdermott. Brandon. Beane. it's enraging and a crime. 

[DrBob806]

3 hours ago, CincyBillsFan said:

Nonsense.  Are you saying that MVP's make every great play that is possible?  It's this completely unhinged and unrealistic expectation around what Allen can and can not do that I find frustrating.

 

 

No, they don't.

 

Russell Wilson, picked off at the 1 in the SB.

 

Jim Kelly, picked off at the 1 in 1989 at Cleveland.

 

Brian Sipe, picked off in the end zone 1980 playoffs vs Raiders.

 

Jackie Smith, dropped a TD in the SB.

 

JA underthrows a wide open WR in the end zone vs KC.

 

All these are true. All these are painful to a fan base.

[TwoFlocksofFury]

On 2/22/2025 at 11:46 AM, tigerthelion said:

Cincinnati  had half of their starting offensive line out and still whipped Buffalo in the playoffs. 

 

Baltimore was missing their best receiver and didn't use that excuse after losing to Buffalo.

 

 Using injuries as an excuse is a losing mentality.   Bringing up injuries as a reason for losing year after year is an excuse, whether some admit it or not.  Either get the job done or figure a way to improve, period.

Next man up. But that only seems to work out for other teams and not the Bills.

[CincyBillsFan]

4 hours ago, Process said:

The Defense is without question the main reason we are 0-4 vs the chiefs in the playoffs. There is no denying that. 

 

But when thinking about the last two games specifically, the first thing that will always come to mind, and what sticks with me the most, is the offense having the ball at the end of the game with a chance to win it, and coming up short. That's what haunts me, even though yes, the defense is the main problem. 

In both these cases you're assuming that the offense scores leaving no time on the clock for KC to respond.  Last season, if Dawkins gets a better block on Jones and Allen hits Shakir for the TD there would have been plenty of time for the Chiefs to go down and score the winning TD.  This last playoff game it's likley KC would have had some time to score and win the game.  After all if 13 seconds wasn't enough then 45 seconds would feel like eternity.

 

 

[L Ron Burgundy]

On 2/22/2025 at 5:29 PM, SinceThe70s said:

 

Even then, it came down to the offense not getting in the end zone.

Not fair imo.  You can't blame offenses when they don't score on a drive but play great 90% of a game.

 

McDermotts defenses aren't bad they straight up suck in the playoffs. He hasn't come through once.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, L Ron Burgundy said:

Not fair imo.  You can't blame offenses when they don't score on a drive but play great 90% of a game.

 

McDermotts defenses aren't bad they straight up suck in the playoffs. He hasn't come through once.

 

You can't blame them, in terms of being the main reason for the defeat, no. But when you have an elite QB and two years in a row that happens you have to consider as part of your fix why that is. Simply shrugging and saying "defense" is misguided. The Bills have to find a way to win the high leverage moments vs Kansas City in the playoffs. That is mainly, but not exclusively, on defense. They have made those plays in their regular season wins (particularly the last 3) but they just haven't been able to in the playoffs. 

[Julio Hopkins]

"Opponents scored an average of 33.2 points in Buffalo’s five playoff losses over that span."

 

That is such a crazy stat with a defensive minded head coach that:  Hired his own general manager and prioritizes the defense first in the offseason.  Changed the offensive philosophy to a ball control time of possession offense to keep his defense off the field.  Hired an in-house staff member to replace himself as the defensive coordinator.  

 

That ain't it.  

[97bills]

On 2/22/2025 at 10:57 AM, billsfan714 said:

Im not arguing age at all.   Im just saying it was ballsy to run and start with that many young guys.   Something I doubt McD would do.  It was way more than one corner they changed.   I guess Im getting tired of hearing crap like 'he showed flashes", it takes time, when it comes to our young guys.   What i saw from Bishop and Carter was underwhelming.  

We have a lot of holes to fill in the draftand that’s what worries me, that we want get any help from our rookies until 2 years down the road. I’ve never been that guy but I’m really starting to worry about McDermott and beane getting the job done. 
 

[JohnNord]

On 2/22/2025 at 10:07 AM, The 9 Isles said:

 

 

 

Warren Sharp was once a rising star but today he’s essentially a clickbait merchant who’s been shown up by many football players.  I’ve heard some of the local media allude that he has some sort of vendetta against Sean McDermott which is why he advocates firing him.  
 

It’s tough to take anything he says seriously, as no legitimate media will do anything with him.  

1 hour ago, Julio Hopkins said:

"Opponents scored an average of 33.2 points in Buffalo’s five playoff losses over that span."

 

That is such a crazy stat with a defensive minded head coach that:  Hired his own general manager and prioritizes the defense first in the offseason.  Changed the offensive philosophy to a ball control time of possession offense to keep his defense off the field.  Hired an in-house staff member to replace himself as the defensive coordinator.  

 

That ain't it.  

Total BS on the offense.  He wanted a balanced attack because it proved to be more effective this season.

30 minutes ago, 97bills said:

We have a lot of holes to fill in the draftand that’s what worries me, that we want get any help from our rookies until 2 years down the road. I’ve never been that guy but I’m really starting to worry about McDermott and beane getting the job done. 
 

Really?  What “holes?”  The majority of the starters are returning. 

Edited 18 hours ago by JohnNord

[Thurman#1]

On 2/23/2025 at 12:20 AM, Sweats said:

 

 

 

 

The injury excuse is getting old and stale........every team has injuries come playoff time, but it only seems to be a Bills problem.

 

Like, come on......

 

 

Old and stale, maybe. Still matters, though, and it's still for real.

 

They had fewer injuries this year. But arguably their one most important player on defense, their best CB, was the guy who missed the game. It was big. 

 

Still should have won if Josh had had a better first two drives, or if the refs hadn't screwed up that first down call on the tush push, or if our TE had caught that ball on 4th down on the last drive.

 

We were right there, good enough to win. But we didn't.

[Thurman#1]

4 hours ago, Julio Hopkins said:

"Opponents scored an average of 33.2 points in Buffalo’s five playoff losses over that span."

 

That is such a crazy stat with a defensive minded head coach that:  Hired his own general manager and prioritizes the defense first in the offseason.  Changed the offensive philosophy to a ball control time of possession offense to keep his defense off the field.  Hired an in-house staff member to replace himself as the defensive coordinator.  

 

That ain't it.  

 

 

Not all that crazy when four out of those five games were against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs.

 

Would you agree that the Chiefs defense is pretty good? Well, by this standard they aren't. When they play Josh Allen in the playoffs they allowed more than 30 points per game.

 

It's also questionable that they prioritize the defense first. They prioritize both. One good example is how they put together such a good OL this year

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

It’s a familiarity thing. I can’t even count how many times we’ve played Kansas City over the past 5 years. They know us so well and know exactly how to exploit this scheme. It’s pure vanilla to them. They need to come up with a game plan to unleash on KC when they inevitably face them in the post-season. I don’t necessarily even think it’s a talent issue. Couple that with just horrible luck and officiating. 

[uticaclub]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Old and stale, maybe. Still matters, though, and it's still for real.

 

They had fewer injuries this year. But arguably their one most important player on defense, their best CB, was the guy who missed the game. It was big. 

 

Still should have won if Josh had had a better first two drives, or if the refs hadn't screwed up that first down call on the tush push, or if our TE had caught that ball on 4th down on the last drive.

 

We were right there, good enough to win. But we didn't.

We weren't good enough to win. That's the problem. 

[GunnerBill]

20 minutes ago, uticaclub said:

We weren't good enough to win. That's the problem. 

 

Yep. It came down to a few plays, sure. We weren't good enough to make them.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Anyone that says Josh Allen is a problem anytime is insane. He’s the reason we’ve been in most of our elimination games.

 

Even the last 2 years when the offense had the ball to take the lead we could blame others for failing on those final drives.

 

I will sign up right now for the same situation next year. I believe Josh will score every time.

 

 

[Julio Hopkins]

3 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Not all that crazy when four out of those five games were against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs.

 

Would you agree that the Chiefs defense is pretty good? Well, by this standard they aren't. When they play Josh Allen in the playoffs they allowed more than 30 points per game.

 

It's also questionable that they prioritize the defense first. They prioritize both. One good example is how they put together such a good OL this year

 

I wouldn't agree that the Chiefs defense has been pretty good throughout their run.  They've been significantly better the last two years, but overall they were the team's weakness.  

[Julio Hopkins]

8 hours ago, JohnNord said:

Total BS on the offense.  He wanted a balanced attack because it proved to be more effective this season.

 

I'm fine with a balanced attack, I was advocating for the change before they added Kincaid.  I don't think they created a balanced offense, they created an offense mainly driven by the run.  The last two seasons it was a ball control offense that couldn't push the ball downfield when needed.  In important moments they weren't able to move the ball well because it was too one dimensional.  

[97bills]

9 hours ago, JohnNord said:

Warren Sharp was once a rising star but today he’s essentially a clickbait merchant who’s been shown up by many football players.  I’ve heard some of the local media allude that he has some sort of vendetta against Sean McDermott which is why he advocates firing him.  
 

It’s tough to take anything he says seriously, as no legitimate media will do anything with him.  

Total BS on the offense.  He wanted a balanced attack because it proved to be more effective this season.

Really?  What “holes?”  The majority of the starters are returning. 

What holes ? I guess two safeties a corner, help on the DLine , jones is washed and A.J well is who he is. A outside WR would be nice, I do think the offense is in way better shape. But the defense needs a ton of work.