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I agree. And playoff appearances in two out of McDermott and Beane's first three seasons as Coach and GM shouldn't be overlooked. Not for a franchise that missed the postseason 17 consecutive years. We are at least 3-4 seasons away from getting rid of a coach because of lack of playoff success.
In all likelihood the offense will improve next season in both PPG (23rd, 19.6) and YPG (24th, 330ypg). Those shouldn't be totals that will be difficult to better in the 2020 season. They improved on both numbers from Daboll and Allen's year one together to year two.
The defense on the other hand could be primed for a dropback after finishing 2nd in PPG and 3rd in YPG. They were also 2nd in YPG in 2018. So any drop in defense we see we would like to see an equal rise in offensive production. The interesting thing when looking at our defense though is first, all the significant players should be back again.
Second, the Bills defense did not put up unsustainable numbers in the categories that are often unsustainable year to year. That would be TD's and turnovers. Bills were tied for 9th in the league along with 7 other teams in Takeaways. That basically means they were average in takeaways. So any dip in YPG or PPG could still easily come with a rise in takeaways per game which could benefit the offense. And the Bills tied for deadlast for defensive TD's per game at 0.
Scoring defense will likely be the hardest thing for them to replicate. Giving up 16.2 PPG is a tough act to follow. The Bills could see that average go up a couple points and they'd still have a pretty good scoring defense. In today's NFL any team averaging 20 PPG in scoring defense is likely a top-10 scoring defense. In fact, there were exactly 10 teams under that bench mark in 2019. So the Bills have some breathing room there before there is cause for concern.
With that said, imagine they are able to replicate that kind of scoring defense AND combine that with some improvements on offense. Maybe Josh Allen takes another step forward. Maybe they get that offense to closer to 24-25 PPG. That's a team that is going to win a lot of games.
I've never been a Patriots hater, and I'm not claiming the end is here for them just yet either, but it is exciting to see a young team developing in the AFC East that looks like it can be a contender for a while. Especially a team that has had such a long period without any playoff success. The Bills are on the brink of ending that playoff win drought.
The Bills lost one of the great players from their AFL years, Mike Stratton. He died of heart failure, was 78 years old.
It doesn't take me too long to get bent out of shape when I think of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame regarding people who should be in. Mike Stratton was one of them. IMO it is inexcusable to leave out players who are deserving for induction and have the numbers to prove it. Buffalo was an AFL playoff team from 1963 to 1966 and won the AFL Championship in 1964 and 1965. Tom Sestak led the defensive line, Stratton the linebackers, and Butch Byrd and George Saimes led the secondary as they were the elite of an AFL defense. In fact, they set a pro football record by not allowing a rushing touchdown in 67 straight quarters in the 1964/5 seasons. It's a pro football record that still stands 55 years later.
Do a web search on these words---"The hit heard round the world." I remember Curt Gowdy saying that very thing in the second quarter of the AFL Championship game against the San Diego Chargers as he and Paul Christman were doing the NBC telecast. It was as textbook a tackle as you would ever see when running back Keith Lincoln got blown up on a well timed tackle courtesy of Mike Stratton. He didn't lead with his head, led with his shoulder and Lincoln was carried off the field. The game turned that quickly and Buffalo dominated from that point forward, winning 20-7.
Stratton played from 1962 to 1973. Over the last decade he was heavily involved with the Bills alumni and a couple years ago he raised a lot of money for Wounded Warriors. It drew a huge crowd of fans and part of the reason for that was Keith Lincoln flew out to Buffalo and joined Stratton onstage for the evening. I would have loved to have been there as Buffalo is my second favorite team. They have actually been good friends all those years before as Lincoln played his last two years for the Bills. Lincoln passed in 2019.
Bills have four prime time games. Including two at home. I would have guessed three at most including the token Thursday night game.
3 of the final 5 games are prime time games with a possibility of another being flexed to prime time. It will either be a great run on the way to the playoffs or a nationally televised epic collapse to a disappointing season
Prime time games are:
vs. KC (Thursday Night week 6)
@ San Francisco (Monday Night- week 13)
vs. Pittsburgh (Sunday Night- rematch of last years game different venue- week14)
@ New England (Monday Night-rematch of last seasons game, same venue different day-week 16)
The Bills are huge favorite to win the AFC East by at least 2 games and anything less will be a disappointment. The Coach and GM have done a fabulous job reshaping the team and things look the best they have in decades. All they need now is a new stadium
We don’t know how good New England will be though. They should still have a very good defense. Winning the division by two games is asking a lot IMO.
OK, I'm doing an update to the Bills thread because Kumerow went to the Bills today. He is a cool dude and when he played at Whitewater, Wisc. fans nicknamed him touchdown Jesus. Hope he gets to play some for the Bills.
Thanks for the heads up Susan. I've never heard of Kumerow. Looks like he ended up on our practice squad. WR has gone from a position of weakness just two years ago to a position of strength for the Bills now. I think Diggs, Brown and Beasley are as about as good a starting three as you'll find in the league.
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Thoughts on Mike Stratton
