I'm in on Brandon Beane's defensive swing

Judgement Day isn't until mid-January. But here's why the Buffalo Bills GM is reloading (and then some) on defense. A look back at HOF quarterbacks past also helps.

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Every Super Bowl Champion supplies valuable lessons and, sometimes, that lesson is presented as a 90s slasher film. A sinister flashback to brighter football days.

Let’s put it this way: When a team is trailing 34-0 by the time it crosses the 50-yard line, the other 31 teams better be paying close attention. Against this pass rush? This coordinator? This suffocating defense? Patrick Mahomes was besieged, brutalized, lost. The sport’s greatest coach and quarterback couldn’t breathe.

All a bizarre 180 from two years prior.

In 2022, the Philadelphia Eagles led the NFL with 70 sacks, only to register zero against a hobbling Mahomes in the Super Bowl. They lost that day, 38-35.

What changed? All turmoil that went down in-between — specifically the final eight games of the 2023 season — fed all carnage inside the Superdome in New Orleans, La. Most players on this Eagles defense refused to dust off bad memories through the week leading up to a 40-22 win over KC. Not Josh Sweat. Not the edge rusher who’s seen it all in 100+ games over seven seasons in Philly. Three days before registering 2.5 of his unit’s six sacks on the greatest stage in sports, Sweat was blunt in our conversation.

To him, the No. 1 reason the Eagles climbed back to the Super Bowl was how badly their defense was molly-whopped in ’23. After surrendering 31 points per game those final eight games, GM Howie Roseman made sweeping changes to both personnel and coaching. Everyone was put on notice.

“To be real, I don’t think we’re here without last year happening,” Sweat said then. “If last year didn’t happen, I don’t know if we would’ve been this strong. I don’t think we would’ve made the changes we needed to. We built off whatever we had.”

He continued.

“We hit that wall and everybody suffered for it. And at the end of the year, a lot of people got punished. So, it’s like, ‘Man, you just don’t want it to happen again.’”

If a good team dares to be great — to hoist the Lombardi Trophy — it better ask itself some uncomfortable questions. Or, yes, the same thing will happen again. And again. A 10-1 season went up in smoke, and the Eagles evolved for good in hiring two new coordinators, breaking in four new starters on defense and… as the temperature turned up on everyone… the entire roster was physically and mentally hardened.

To the point of humiliating the best player of a generation.

All after that same player yet again gallivanted through the Buffalo Bills’ defense.

On Jan. 27, 2025, Mahomes killed the Bills for the fourth time in the postseason. He has now completed 74 percent of his passes for 1,163 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions with a 123.7 rating against Buffalo in the playoffs against the team that could’ve drafted him. He has been sacked only five times, while adding another 136 yards and three scores as a runner. The trade of Tyreek Hill. The erosion of Travis Kelce. Volatility on the offensive line. Nothing matters vs. Buffalo come playoff time.

On Feb. 9, 2025, against Philly, Jackson Mahomes apparently took his brother’s spot.

And yet, the events of Super Bowl LIX were no philosophical revelation to the GM of those Bills. Neither were the events of the big game four years prior when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers chased Mahomes around for a staggering 497 yards before sacks and throws. Or the time the “Legion of Boom” devoured Peyton Manning and a 2013 Denver Broncos offense that scored the most points in NFL history. Or when the New York Giants slayed Tom Brady — twice.

Those grisly scenes inside the Superdome were mere affirmation to Brandon Beane.

“If that game didn’t happen,” Beane told Go Long in a 1 on 1, “I already knew what we needed to do.”

So these Bills asked themselves hard questions.

Beane has spent eight years trying to build his own tenacious defense and this offseason was his most ambitious — and debated — reconstruction yet. In another universe, Beane doesn’t try to jigsaw a championship defense together and pours premium resources into pass catchers for Josh Allen. Leans into the 45-38 game. Drafts more than one wide receiver in the top 100. We’ve been critical. Many justifiably have.

That’s one response to the sting of Jan. 27 — RELEASE THE KRAKEN.

The other is to acknowledge the harsh reality that this Bills defense needed a swift kick in the ass.

Offense did not fail the Bills last season. Defense did. Which is why the GM loaded the roster with fresh blood for the next inevitable playoff moment.

Beane detailed his reasoning in a 1 on 1 with Go Long here, icymi.

Here’s why it can work.

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Last offseason represented a psychological reset. In shedding salaries, Beane was also able to inject the roster with players devoid of playoff “scars.” We can debate the merits of Xavier Worthy, a man who fully expected to be a Bill, but trading with the Chiefs is the sort of brass-balls fearlessness required vs. this team. On and off the field. No head coach can get a team to believe with one flip of the power switch, one fake punt to Damar Hamlin. It was always going to take a full calendar year to rewire how this team thinks. For too long, under this head coach, the Bills were a tight squad that played like a tight squad at the worst conceivable time.

To his credit, in 2024, Sean McDermott evolved for good. He told us he wants his players to believe in what can go right instead of fearing what’ll go wrong — rhetoric backed up by action. He unleashed Allen on fourth down. He stopped banishing players to the doghouse after one error, green-lighting a 61-yard field goal attempt the same afternoon Tyler Bass missed an extra point. He loosened up behind the scenes and in front of the cameras. No way did many of McDermott’s former colleagues ever imagine seeing their boss ask his QB to join him for snow angels on live TV.

Now, the Bills need a reset on defense. They need their defensive-minded head coach to cook up something different in Year 9.

The chicken-or-egg debate grows by the day as fans try to figure whether Beane or McDermott is to blame for this golden age of Bills football hitting the same cement wall. As another NFL GM texted me after the latest Chiefs loss, Beane’s built a roster talented enough to beat the Chiefs in four straight regular-season games.

A magic touch is missing in January.

McDermott now has a full menu of options.

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At his season-wrap presser, McDermott brought up the offense’s failure on the last drive first.

Many WNY’ers certainly share his lament.

Gently press that rewind button if you dare and, sure, you’ll find players dropping passes in playoff losses.

• 2019. At Houston, with 13 seconds left in the first half, Duke Williams drops what should’ve been a 22-yard touchdown on third and 9. In retrospect, this is the laser that foretold Allen’s superstardom.

• 2020. With 12:49 to go in the second quarter of the AFC Championship in KC, running back Devin Singletary lets a swing pass slip through his hands. Corral this pass, make Tyrann Mathieu miss and “Motor” is gone. The Bills would’ve taken a 16-7 lead. Instead, they were forced to punt. McDermott sent Singletary to the bench. The head coach opted for chip-shot field goals over TDs. The Bills were blown out.

• 2021. Nothing to see here. The Bills were nearly flawless on offense in their “13 Seconds” divisional playoff loss to the Chiefs. What a shame all parties involved were not fitted for rings.

• 2022. On third and 2, down 24-10, Gabe Davis cannot outmuscle a 45-yard bomb away from Cincinnati corner Cam Taylor-Britt. Davis spikes the ball in frustration. The next play — the final play of the third quarter — the Bills concede defeat with a punt.

• 2023. Who can forget Stefon Diggs dropping what would’ve been a HOF-level throw from Allen with 8:23 remaining? He wasn’t alone. Vet Trent Sherfield also had a pair of drops. Neither player was retained.

• 2024. This was no gimmie. Tight end Dalton Kincaid needed to hit the brakes and dive the opposite direction for Allen’s prayer on fourth and 5. This is also a play first-round picks are expected to make.

Zoom in to this degree and receivers drafted, signed, acquired via trade have let the Bills down. The play right before that fourth and 5 in KC, Amari Cooper briefly slips before catching a receiver screen. Keep his feet and he storms upfield.

Zoom out and the larger problem is obvious: Buffalo’s defense caved.

Zoom out — beyond the Bills — and you’ll find gaffes through virtually any playoff run from any Super Bowl champ. In that same ’23 Bills-Chiefs game, Mecole Hardman fumbles the ball out of the end zone. Two games later, he catches the game-winning pass in overtime of the Super Bowl.

Josh Allen and the Bills offense should not have to be perfect in every playoff game.

Take three greats who managed to win rings in the era of Brady and Mahomes.

• Peyton Manning goes down in history as a statistical juggernaut. When we think of Peak Peyton, we think of him as a PS2 Madden glitch. He was obviously a shell of himself through his ‘15 Broncos title run, but even the ‘06 run in Indy was no thing of beauty. Manning completed only 60 percent of his passes for 224 yards per game with five touchdowns and eight interceptions through the seven wins. In the ‘06 divisional round at Baltimore, he threw as many incompletions (15) as completed balls with two interceptions, a 39.6 rating led exactly zero TD drives. The next week against Brady? He threw a pick-six. And yet? The defense had his back repeatedly, from holding those Ravens to six points to Marlin Jackson’s game-sealing interception of Brady to dominating the Bears in the rain.

• Drew Brees was close to perfect through his 2009 run — 732 yards, eight touchdowns, no picks. But even he needed the New Orleans Saints’ defense to force five fumbles in the NFC title game… with a bountygate assist from Gregg Williams. No quarterback this century has been pulverized in a playoff game quite like Brett Favre that night in New Orleans. On to the Super Bowl, even Brees needed help in the form of a surprise onside kick… linebacker Jonathan Vilma covering wide receiver Austin Collie upfield on third and 11 to force a missed field goal… and, of course, a 74-yard pick-six from Tracy Porter to best Manning. That Saints D was full of belligerent ballhawks with an NFL-high 47 takeaways.

• Aaron Rodgers’ 2010 run will live in Packers lore forever. He was marvelous. I recently spent some time around the Atlanta Falcons and a couple staffers are still shocked by Rodgers’ 31-of-36 magnum opus in the second round that year. It’s also true the Packers defense stepped up repeatedly through those four playoff wins. Tramon Williams intercepted Michael Vick to close out a wild card win. Dom Capers’ genius defensive call puts B.J. Raji in position for a pick-six of Caleb Hanie in the NFC Championship. And want to pan a magnifying glass over drops? Give Green Bay’s 31-25 Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers another viewing. Yikes. Adjust for three throwaways and five drops — James Jones’ butter fingers on a potential 75-yard TD was the worst — and Rodgers could’ve realistically finished that night with 451 yards, five touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 rating. However, all of those drops were not poison pills thanks to 340-pound Howard Green getting a paw on Ben Roethlisberger’s hand to trigger a Nick Collins pick-six. And Jarrett Bush’s interception. And Ryan Pickett and Clay Matthews converging — “Spill it, Pickett! Spill it! Spill it!” — for a forced fumble on Rashard Mendenhall. That marked Green Bay’s 11^th takeaway of the postseason.

We can all agree that Mack Hollins leading your offense in receiving yards in an AFC Championship Game is not ideal.

But the Bills offense did score 29 points, gain 22 first downs and gain 374 yards with zero turnovers. At Arrowhead. Against one of the sport’s best coordinators ever in Steve Spagnuolo.

Just once it’d be nice if the defense carried the day. The margin for error shouldn’t be microscopic for Buffalo’s offense.

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Years from now, there’s a chance Beane looks back and wishes he drafted more receivers. Hindsight may be cruel. Mizzou’s Luther Burden III has already offered a warning shot. “Everybody who passed up on me gotta pay,” the mercurial Chicago Bear said this week. Yet, here’s thinking Beane’s greater regret would be not doing everything in his power to field a defense that can get off the damn field in the playoffs.

At this rate, Allen runs the risk of fading down a Marino/Fouts/Moon path instead of the the other three Hall of Famers. This path is more treacherous.

All had weapons galore, but combined for one Super Bowl appearance. A blowout.

There’s more than one way to support a quarterback.

Finding a cornerback capable of sticking stride-for-stride with those very-, very-,very-rich wide receivers in the AFC (Maxwell Hairston), a defensive tackle capable of trashing a weak link 1 on 1 on third down (T.J. Sanders), another edge with upside (Landon Jackson) in addition to Joey Bosa and Larry Ogunjobi and Michael Hoecht was deemed best. I believe the Packers would’ve drafted Sanders if the Bills didn’t trade up in the second round — likely others, too. Thus, it would’ve been harder for the GM to sleep at night if he missed out on this potential wrecking ball in the middle of the defense than, say, reaching for a receiver simply to have a receiver.

When Beane brings up the Carolina Panthers as a blueprint, I get the impulse to cringe. This is not a franchise romanticized on NFL Films or widely heralded as a bastion of innovation. But there’s logic in pairing a gold-jacket quarterback with a defense that mirrors the 2002 and 2015 units Beane witnessed firsthand. “Our defense was nasty. Like it was salty,” said Beane, listing off the names on both Panthers defenses that reached the Super Bowl. So, it’s simple now: This new collection of ass-kickers must win up front. Beane gift-wrapped the coaching staff as many variables as possible to finally bring his vision of a violent defense to life in Western New York.

Past attempts have shown promise through stretches of the regular season before disappearing in mid-January.

That’s why I asked Beane what gives him the confidence McDermott and staff can produce different results this time.

“Yeah, I mean that’s what we have to do,” he said. “Everyone’s on board and that’s how we’re attacking it.”

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Maim opponents along the line of scrimmage and dynamic plays are inevitable everywhere else — that’s the theory.

Create a clean environment on offense… and Josh Allen can detonate.

Cycle in different pass rushers along the defensive line to get opposing QBs off their spot… and those QBs are flustered into mistakes.

It’s not as if Beane is standing idly by. Keon Coleman and Kincaid were back-to-back top picks who must ascend. Joshua Palmer (three years, $29M) and Curtis Samuel (three years, $24M) are back-to-back signings. Khalil Shakir — the team’s top weapon — was re-upped at four years, $53 million. But the AFC is also a fascinating case study in different formulas. Right now, the wide receivers in Buffalo account for only 9.67 percent of the salary cap. That ranks 18th in the NFL. Elsewhere, Cincinnati is the runaway No. 1 after shelling out monster deals to both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Their wideouts eat up 19.57 percent of the cap. Miami is No. 2, at 15.37 percent, with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle making bank.

All of the above are sources of spontaneous explosion.

There’s no denying that all four are studs worth the money,

This commitment has also has left both clubs scrambling for substance at the line of scrimmage.

The Dolphins wither in the cold. They’ve now finished 6-13 down the stretch the last three seasons. Pressure’s rising into 2025. The last two drafts, Chris Grier and Mike McDaniel have tried to course-correct by drafting nothing but O- and D-Lineman at the top of the draft in DE Chop Robinson (2024, No. 21 overall), T Patrick Paul (2024, No. 55), DT Kenneth Grant (2025, No. 13) and G Jonah Savaiinaea (2025, No. 37).

Perhaps the Bengals bazooka their way to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara — put nothing past Joe Burrow. There’s no telling where they’ll improve on defense yet. They could only sign a handful of cheap vets in the spring, took a risk-reward swing on Shemar Stewart in Round 1 and are clearly counting on new defensive coordinator Al Golden providing a Midas touch. Oh, the unit’s best player recently showed up to voluntary workouts simply to rip his boss.

The Bills do not have such cracks in their foundation.

Aaron Kromer is one of the most underrated assistants in the NFL. He led a powerhouse unit under Rex Ryan, then built another with McDermott. I’d pay James Cook without thinking twice — legit contenders can afford to spend at this position. Cook has proven to be more “playmaker” than “running back” in elevating the entire offense. In the interest of evolving, Beane’s effusive praise of Palmer in our chat struck me as sincere. Not political theater. The Bills believe the former L.A. Charger will find a completely new gear with Allen.

Of course, the team referenced at the top of this column — those Eagles — have managed to pay everybody. It can be done. Roseman drafted DeVonta Smith, traded a first-round pick for A.J. Brown, then locked both up long term the second he could. Even in a world where “everyone eats,” the Bills will absolutely need one or two of their weapons to emerge as a star.

Defensively, Philly is the dream. Vic Fangio did not blitz Mahomes at all in the Super Bowl and still generated six sacks and 16 pressures. He sent waves of fresh bodies at the quarterback.

This battle plan in Buffalo comes with an exclaimer. Bosa, Sanders, Oliver, whoever has the pleasure of a 1-on-1 matchup on that crucial third and 7 must win — and win fast — because if you can’t get to Mahomes? Burrow? Even Lamar Jackson? It doesn’t matter if you’ve got seven players in coverage. They’ll make a play. This brings to mind another pre-Super Bowl conversation. Ten-year vet Steven Nelson didn’t even play in the game, but I wanted his perspective on Spags’ unique style since he’s seen it all at cornerback from Kansas City (2015- ’18) to Pittsburgh (2019- ’20) to Philadelphia (2021) to Houston (2022- ’23) back to KC again.

He was floored by Spagnuolo’s fearlessness, by his ability to crawl inside the mind of opposing quarterbacks and send the perfect blitz at the perfect time.

“There’s a lot of places I’ve been and it’s a ‘bend but don't break’ mentality,” Nelson said. “Nine times out of 10, that’s not the best way to go. These offensive coordinators are too smart. These players are too good to go out there and just say, ‘Oh, we’re going to go out there and play crash-out football.”

A few days later, the Eagles proved to be 1 out of 10. At halftime, they had more points (24) than the Chiefs had yards (23). Kansas City had manufactured all of one first down. Mahomes’ passer rating was 10.7.

This is the Bills’ hope, and it’s an equation Beane believed in long before Jalen Carter slapped Mahomes across the head.

For most of eight years, they’ve feasted on pedestrian quarterbacks and struggled vs. the elites. McDermott dares offenses to travel 12 to 15 plays at a time, knowing there’s a very good chance the opposing QB will flub up. A sack, a penalty, a turnover, something nukes the possession. He absolutely does not want to give up the 20+ yard play. But Nelson is correct in saying the best of the best quarterbacks are usually too accurate, too athletic, too talented. Over the course of a 60+ play game, dancing around the boxing ring is risky business.

Unless you’re armed with ill-tempered defensive linemen.

Unless the quarterback has approximately 2.2 seconds to think.

We’ll need to wait until January for a clear verdict but it’s better to reload more weapons on defense than do nothing at all.

Indeed, the Bills have taken down the Chiefs four times in the regular season.

What’s missing? A playoff kill shot on defense.

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