First of all, I rarely post a rant after a Bills win no matter how badly they’ve played. That said, all week I’ve been thinking about this week’s game against the Reid/Mahomes led Chiefs. Each day that goes buy I’ve become more and more convinced that we aren’t winning this week and that this season will be a colossal disappointment. I hope I am wrong but nothing that’s gone on since “13 seconds” has been positive for this organization. Let’s look at the facts:
Stubborn McDermott: Most people forget because we won the game but the season after the 13 second debacle, the Bills were playing the same Chiefs in the regular season. We kicked off with 17 seconds left in the half and the Chiefs got the ball at their own 28 (own 25 in the 13 second game) with 12 seconds left in the game. Surely the Bills had learned from the 13 second game to merely grab and tackle every single Chief’s receiver and allow Mahomes to scramble around for awhile, all eliminating the opportunity to get significant yardage while also running clock. Easy peasy Right? Wrong. McDermott didn’t learn. Chiefs moved the ball and Butker kicked a 61 yard FG just before halftime. That is the epitome of stubbornness and arrogance. “Even though it didn’t work the first time I’m going to do it again to prove I was right.”
The Bills are replete with this same stubbornness and arrogance through out their organization. Let’s look at Beane. Two years ago after losing once again in the playoffs, it was clear that the Bills needed speed at wide receiver. We’d seen defenses no longer afraid of Josh throwing deep resulting in more man/press coverage and moving safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to thwart the short passing attack and run game. The 2024 draft was a draft with possibly the best group of wide receivers in history. There was talk about whether the Bills should move major assets and picks to move up to get Marvin Harrison, Jr, Malik Nabors or Odunze. The consensus was that the Bills would have to give up way too much for those guys and that there were plenty of other guys who could fill the “speed and separation” need. The next WR chosen after the “Big Three” was Brian Thomas Jr. 6’3”, 210 lbs who ran a sub 4.33 forty. Instead of moving up from 28 to 22 (3rd round pick plus first), we sat and watched him get drafter #23. At #26 we had the opportunity to draft James Worthy, a smaller framed WR with blazing 4.21 time in the 40. Clearly Worthy was a guy who could separate and open up the field. Nope, we traded with the Chiefs (why?) and moved back to the 31st spot. At #30 the 49ers drafted Ricky Pearsall, a 6’1” 190 lb WR with 4.41 speed. Next was our turn. Instead of selecting Ladd McConkey (6’ 185 lb with 4.39 speed) or Xavier Legette (6’3” 221 lb. w/4.39 speed) we again traded down and ended up selecting Keon Coleman, a 6’ 3” 213 lb. WR with 4.61 40 time. It was universally acknowledged that he didn’t have the speed or separation that the other WRs drafted before him had. Instead he was a “50/50 ball guy who could catch balls in traffic. The past year and a half have proven that his pre draft reviews were correct. He doesn’t separate and does not stretch defenses.
After again losing to the Chiefs in the 2024 AFC Championship game Beane was a guest on the WGR55 morning show where he was challenged by co-host Jeremy White about the Bills failure to acquire a WR who fit the “speed/separation” need. Beane went off on Jeremy, talking about how many points the Bills scored and defending his choices at WR. The next week he furthered that claim by signing the legendary Elijah Moore (he of the inside handoffs for no gain). Now here we are at 5-2, with the Chiefs coming to town and with a passing game that has looked brutal since the second half of the season opener against the Ravens. This would be perfect time to pick someone up in anticipation of this “must win” game right? Well it’s Thursday and Beane has done nothing but add retread Gabe Davis to the squad. Arrogance and stubbornness personified.
And it’s not just the WR’s. Look at how many guys the Bills have on their roster that were cut by teams that aren’t even playoff teams. Retreads like White, Poyer, Hyde, Jackson, Davis, Phillips, Spector and the like. They aren’t good enough for non-playoff teams but are somehow good enough to get us a Super Bowl win?
Next up is Joe Brady. The stubbornness and arrogance was personified last season in the AFC Championship game. On 3rd or 4th and one, Josh had been stopped three of the last four times (2 of last three in this game v the Chiefs). Faced with the 4th and less than a yard at the biggest moment of the game what does Brady call? Of course the tush push to the left which, the officials ruled, didn’t reach the line of gain. What was even more arrogant about this call was that the Bills normal tush-push lineup (Anderson and Gilliam) weren’t even in the game (much smaller Kincaid and Johnson had replaced them). Arrogance!!! “I’ll show the doubters”!!!
This same arrogance has transpired through out this season. Three times he has galled for the “cute” inside handoff to Moore or Knox. All thee were blown up. The last time was on a huge 3rd and one where Moore fumbled and recovered for a 3 yard loss resulting in a Bills punt. Cook is averaging 5 yards/carry. Josh hadn’t been used in the tush push game in awhile. Give either of them the opportunity t get the yard.
Another instance is the lack of usage of Cook or the other RBs in the pass game. What happens when you blitz San Fran, Atlanta, The Eagles or the Lions? It turns into a swing pass to McCaffery, Robinson, Barkley or Gibbs and usually gets big yardage. James Cook has ONE FUCKING TARGET in the past three games in spite of teams blitzing Josh ad nauseum. Why not throw to your best non QB weapon? Why not get him involved in the pass game like every single other offensive coordinator in the league does with a talented running back? It’s the arrogance. It’s the Bills way of responding to criticism. It’s the “I’LL show them I was right” stupidity that pervades this team. It’s the reason the Bills won’t win Sunday against the Chiefs and the reason another year of Josh will result in disappointment. The Bills need to figure this out or find someone else to run this team.
Go Bills.