Buffalo Bills 2023 Thread

[Night Train]

Disappointing. I cannot say frustrated since my thinking entering the game was the Defense was too banged up to stop #15. Yet to keep it close and lose yet another close game is something Bills fans have seen far too often. Late game hope and then defeat. Happy they rallied at the end of the year after so many bad losses but the gas tank ran dry. 

I get they beat KC earlier but to me, that was more of KC playing poorly. They converted their opportunities Sunday, unlike earlier. The Bills did not with such a small margin for error. Drops, ST play and suspect play calling did them in. Too many low percentage play calls. 

Allen needs more skill players around him. Kincaid and Shakir are a good start but they need more players that can secure the ball when Allen delivers it. Diggs didn't play up to his contract in the last month. UFA Davis and his suspect hands are gone. Backups did nothing. Cook ran well but catching the ball and ball security needs improvement. 

Beane has to perform some cap magic with several bloated contracts on the books... but may be unable to. I believe they are stuck with most of them for another year. They went for it and failed. So the draft and some better coaching may be the only solution. We'll see how the roster looks come summer. 

I saw them win the AFL title twice as a kid. As I get closer to the graveyard, my time to see another deep run and a possible title looks dim. Much like the Sabres who won nothing but I saw the Bisons win AHL titles. Thankfully, my memory is still intact. 

Not watching any sports channels today. Blathering on about failure isn't my bag. Don't wish to hear any hot (dumb) takes. 

I'll watch some of the college all-star games and practices next week. Watch the draft in April. Hope for the best.

Hope is all we got. 

[MattPie]

38 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Here is an unpopular opinion but one that needs to be thought about 

would it have been better for the Bills long term to have not recovered from being 6-6 and miss the playoffs?

now I feel like there is a high chance they are just gonna blame injuries , short week , ect.... 

rather than look at it as 0-3 in playoffs vs Reid.   A year after Taylor schooled McDermott    
this is the same coach that brought us 12 men, 13 seconds, a myriad of time out botches and the inability to close out numerous games with the lead and less than 2 mins to go

This occurred to me too. "Look how good they finished the season!" "If not for those injuries on D!" "The kicker had a bad day!". All true, but all cover up that I don't think any of us are confident that in a close game, McDermot is going to out-coach the opposition, or even be an average coach.

[eman]

1 hour ago, MISabresFan said:

It is easy to point fingers at the last offensive play.  It is harder to look at the game as a whole and see that many plays were botched.  It should have never been left up to the kicker.  Who relies on a kicker who is 2-6 from that distance in the playoffs?  The mindset should have been TD on that last drive.  There are a lot of players and coaches to blame.  Bring in Bill.

But that's why you have one and why he gets $5 million per year. The Bills left him on the roster so you go with him. Not so sure that will be the case next season. As for Bill, I actually would love to see it but I don't think that's happening at all. The Bills can't have nice things!

[Sabres Fan in NS]

McD coached a good game.

There, I've said it.

The players blew some plays, but overall the Bills played well enough to win and almost did.  That's not good enough.

The fact remains that they are not quite there to get over the hump, especially when most years they will end up meeting KC in the playoff at some point.

KC knows more of what it takes to win in the playoff.  Their 2 recent SB wins are your proof.  The Bills have not been able to do that since reaching the playoff 5 or 6 seasons in a row.  Winning the division 4 in a row.  This year they played KC at home (the first road playoff game for KC since Mahomes became their starter).  The Bills still could not do it, but very close.

These are two very closely matched teams.  Josh and Patrick are a push.  Patrick has Kelce - Josh doesn't.  Again, the most urgent need for the Bills this offseason is to find Josh his Kelce.

The Bills are 3 -1 in the regular season in the last 4 years - all on the road, I believe.  The Bills are 0 - 3 in the playoff against KC.  That is the most telling stat.

[That Aud Smell]

58 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Here is an unpopular opinion but one that needs to be thought about 

would it have been better for the Bills long term to have not recovered from being 6-6 and miss the playoffs?

now I feel like there is a high chance they are just gonna blame injuries , short week , ect.... 

rather than look at it as 0-3 in playoffs vs Reid.   A year after Taylor schooled McDermott    
this is the same coach that brought us 12 men, 13 seconds, a myriad of time out botches and the inability to close out numerous games with the lead and less than 2 mins to go 

Interesting thought experiment. Maybe.

OTOH, I feel like we know what tends to come from an invitation to losing. More losing.

My enjoyment of my favourite sports teams isn't pinned on titles. I'm in it to enjoy the ride. What the Bills did late in the season was fun. The playoffs were fun as well, albeit very disappointing last night. From my perch in the 300s, I really and truly thought that the Bills were going to get their go-ahead touchdown and then we'd all be sh1tting ourselves as Mahomes took the field with however much time he'd have been left.

Oh well.

[Crusader1969]

24 minutes ago, MattPie said:

This occurred to me too. "Look how good they finished the season!" "If not for those injuries on D!" "The kicker had a bad day!". All true, but all cover up that I don't think any of us are confident that in a close game, McDermot is going to out-coach the opposition, or even be an average coach.

I cannot imagine anyone would be confident.   He has failed , over and over and over during his stint as HC 

[Buffalonill]

Why would you fire your coach lol who's going to replace him ? 

This would Be like when buffalo fired ruff sabres are still trying to replace him 

[Crusader1969]

Just now, Buffalonill said:

Why would you fire your coach lol who's going to replace him ? 

This would Be like when buffalo fired ruff sabres are still trying to replace him 

So winning division but losing in the playoffs to better coaches every damn year should be acceptable ?? 

[Buffalonill]

Just now, Crusader1969 said:

So winning division but losing in the playoffs to better coaches every damn year should be acceptable ?? 

Who's gonna replace him though? That's all i'm saying The grass might not be greener than you think.

Let's not forget andy reid God absolutely killed by the philadelphia fans and he got terminated Now look at him

[That Aud Smell]

17 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

McD coached a good game.

Bro - the fake punt.

That's McDermott in a nutshell. Coaches a solid game, and then barfs on himself at a crucial juncture.

The fact that that call didn't lose the game was a stroke of good fortune for him.

[MISabresFan]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

The same Bill whose Patriots got absolutely toasted in the wildcard cold game in Buffalo? Nah.

Yes

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Bro - the fake punt.

That's McDermott in a nutshell. Coaches a solid game, and then barfs on himself at a crucial juncture.

The fact that that call didn't lose the game was a stroke of good fortune for him.

As explained by the announcers, the fake punt was called at the line because KC only had ten men on the field. It was a good (understandable) call that didn't work. 

[Crusader1969]

3 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Who's gonna replace him though? That's all i'm saying The grass might not be greener than you think.

Let's not forget andy reid God absolutely killed by the philadelphia fans and he got terminated Now look at him

He took the Eagles to the Super Bowl 

we can't even get to the conference finals any more 

I'm fairly confident the Bills would be the #1 s destination for a new head coach

Harbaugh is out there looking.   There are other coaches too with better resumes than Marty Schottenhiemer 2.0

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

As explained by the announcers, the fake punt was called at the line because KC only had ten men on the field. It was a good (understandable) call that didn't work. 

Not true.  They speculated thats what happened.   It was a call from the sideline 

[MISabresFan]

7 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Who's gonna replace him though? That's all i'm saying The grass might not be greener than you think.

Let's not forget andy reid God absolutely killed by the philadelphia fans and he got terminated Now look at him

Bill

[That Aud Smell]

9 minutes ago, JohnC said:

As explained by the announcers, the fake punt was called at the line because KC only had ten men on the field. It was a good (understandable) call that didn't work. 

7 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Not true.  They speculated thats what happened.   It was a call from the sideline 

One of the beat reporters from TBN stated that the Bills were unaware that the Chiefs had 10 players on the field when they called it in from the sideline.

[#freejame]

If our billionaire owner can’t afford Jim Harbaugh maybe he can just ask the state for a few more bucks so we can make him the leagues highest paid coach. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

One of the beat reporters from TBN stated that the Bills were unaware that the Chiefs had 10 players on the field when they called it in from the sideline.

The quote tells the story.

It was a gutsy call by McD.  A good call.

Can't blame the coach if the players did not execute the play properly.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

4 minutes ago, #freejame said:

If our billionaire owner can’t afford Jim Harbaugh maybe he can just ask the state for a few more bucks so we can make him the leagues highest paid coach. 

A college coach should not come into the Bills at this point.

If a change is made (I don't think one will be nor needs to be) it will be for a proven NFL coach.

I think the only one available is Bill B.

[JujuFish]

11 minutes ago, #freejame said:

If our billionaire owner can’t afford Jim Harbaugh maybe he can just ask the state for a few more bucks so we can make him the leagues highest paid coach. 

Don't need a cheater on the team, even if the cheater can get us a Super Bowl.

[JohnC]

9 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

One of the beat reporters from TBN stated that the Bills were unaware that the Chiefs had 10 players on the field when they called it in from the sideline.

I'm just stating that's what the announcers stated. On the other hand, even if it was called by our HC who was not aware of the 10 men on the field, it wasn't an unreasonable call under the circumstances. (My opinion) Our coach took a calculated gamble. It didn't work. But in the end it was not a factor in the outcome. 

22 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

He took the Eagles to the Super Bowl 

we can't even get to the conference finals any more 

I'm fairly confident the Bills would be the #1 s destination for a new head coach

Harbaugh is out there looking.   There are other coaches too with better resumes than Marty Schottenhiemer 2.0

Not true.  They speculated thats what happened.   It was a call from the sideline 

It was a calculated gamble that didn't work. So what? In the end, the risk taking didn't affect the outcome. I have no problem with the call.  

[Night Train]

 I don't think Pegula will make changes to GM or HC. . He just extended the McBean team this past year. 

Talking about it isn't wrong but it seems like a waste of time with no possibility , at present. 

So call better plays. Get better players. 

[That Aud Smell]

14 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

The quote tells the story.

It was a gutsy call by McD.  A good call.

Can't blame the coach if the players did not execute the play properly.

There's gutsy and then there's being foolhardy. A fake run from your own ~30 on 4th and 5 is foolhardy, imo. The play looked awful from the hop -- slow, plodding, equivocal. Hard to say which was worse -- the call or the execution.

[That Aud Smell]

7 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm just stating that's what the announcers stated. On the other hand, even if it was called by our HC who was not aware of the 10 men on the field, it wasn't an unreasonable call under the circumstances. (My opinion) Our coach took a calculated gamble. It didn't work. But in the end it was not a factor in the outcome.

I was at the game, so I didn't hear what they said. In theory, I guess it's not an unreasonable call -- to fake it in that situation. It would have made some sense to conclude: The D can't stop the Chiefs tonight. If we punt here, the game's effectively over. The play call just looked horrendous in every way imaginable. I have doubts/reservations about how Hamlin plays after coming back from the dead (totally understandable if he were a tick slower than he used to be!). I guess I wish they had a better looking fake punt call in the bag.

[#freejame]

19 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

A college coach should not come into the Bills at this point.

If a change is made (I don't think one will be nor needs to be) it will be for a proven NFL coach.

I think the only one available is Bill B.

Harbaugh has arguably had more success in the NFL as a head coach than McD. But I think you’re right, no changes will be made. 

[mjd1001]

I'm not all that upset today about the Bills game because, as I have stated many times, I'm not sure why but I'm not connected to the Bills/NFL as I used to be, especially in the last few years.

However, seeing this is a forum I have a few opinions.

-They don't have the best coach, they don't have the best WR's.  Bass had a bad year. A lot of issues, but NO team has the best of everything. You just can't.  Luck had a lot to do with them losing.  For me, that is primarily injury luck.  It was just too much of a lift to keep playing with the defensive devasted they way they are, and they still held the game close.

-WR is an issue but not un-fixable.  Diggs is done as a game changing WR. I wish the Bills could get out of his deal but they can't.  Now, could he have a bounce-back year and put up 100 catches next year? maybe, but it would be more because he is still 'decent-to-good' and Allen decides to just feed him the ball rather than he is great anymore.

-Von Miller. Wow, do I wish they could get out of his deal. I'm just hoping he will have an offseason and maybe come back a bit better next year, but I think the days of him being worth what you are paying him are LONG, LONG gone.

-Tre White.  When will he be back? When/if he comes back how good will he be? Can you move on from him if you must for cap reasons?

From what I heard, those 3 guys combine for almost $70 million in cap hit next year, and not much you can do about it.  Miller you can't even cut.  Digg and White...there might be some longer term savings (short term hit) if you cut them post June 1.  I'd consider it with those 2.

With that said, I hope the Bills don't do a bunch of restructures to push the cap problems farther to the future. You probably have to run Diggs and Miller back out there as they are not movable, but take next year to take that half-step back, evaluate, load up on some younger guys.  Basically, don't go 'all in', try to set yourself up for the next few years after.  It won't be a wasted year, this team Still has Allen, likely the entire OL, Kincade, Shakir, Cook, hopefully a higher draft pick WR....the offense will still be fine. As far as the Defense goes?  Some players not returning there, but honestly, even if you don't bring back the vets and cut some dollars there, is the 'healthy, scaled back Defense' you start the year with next year going to be worse than what you ended up playing with at the end of the year?

Make some tough choices to get rid of higher priced pieces where you must, but even with that you can still be 'good enough' to contend for the playoffs. Roll the dice with the young guys next year and set things up for time after that.

Edited January 22 by mjd1001