A trip to the Super Bowl is expected in Year 1? Good. That's how it should be for a Josh Allen-quarterbacked team that's fallen short year-in, year-out. Can Joe Brady handle it?
I can’t stand the McDermott lifers. WGR is still defending his defense in the playoffs. They didn’t want Sean gone (too risky), but now that he was fired they don’t want his hand picked OC to stay (not enough change!!). There is no logically consistent lens from which to complain about the Brady hire.
Also regarding receivers, all I have to say is the Seahawks better win the Super Bowl with JSN and Kupp, because if they can’t beat the pats with Mack Hollins and washed up Diggs McDermott (and Jeremey White WGR) are going to look like absolute clowns even more.
Thanks for what you do, Tyler. Count me as skeptical. I know the fans have a Super Bowl or bust mandate next year…and you’re right, that’s the way it should be. But I’m not convinced that Pegula will hold Brady and Beane to that same mandate. He waited too long to fire McDermott and he will wait too long to fire Beane and Brady if it comes to that. This whole thing succeeding is a long shot, but a long shot is still a chance. Ah, the life of a Bills fan.
Tyler, wonderful article as always! Your long form profiles are revelatory going back some years as well! I was surprised by the Brady hire initially; the noise around Pegula aside, the nuts and bolts of this decision make more sense. Brady must know it’s all or nothing at this point, and must have conveyed his readiness. Who will surround him on his staff remains the next piece of this…many thanks for your time and insights!
I'm a new subscriber here, and I enjoyed this read immensely. I'm in wait-and-see mode with this hire because, as you've argued, there's so much that we don't yet know about how Brady will run this team. Other than perhaps last year's star hires (Vrabel and Johnson), his resume stacks up pretty well when compared to other candidates.
But color me skeptical, mainly because the assignment is insanely difficult. Lots of very good coaches fail to reach the Super Bowl because, after all, only two of 32 get there in any given year and there's so much luck and variance that goes into a season and a game. Secondly, what we do know of Brady's track record doesn't indicate a history of surprisingly elevating a team above its perceived talent level.
Finally, the Bills made McDermott the scapegoat for playoff failures much like the Bengals tagged Lou Anarumo as "the problem" last off-season. Well, it turned out that the Bengals D still stunk because the talent was the problem. That's a cautionary tale for Bills fans. We can't be sure that the talent ISN'T the problem in Buffalo. In fact, I'll go further: we know that the Bills lack blue chip talent in many areas: WR, all along the DL, Safety, CB depth, ILB, etc. That's a lot of holes on a supposedly championship roster.
I can’t stand the McDermott lifers. WGR is still defending his defense in the playoffs. They didn’t want Sean gone (too risky), but now that he was fired they don’t want his hand picked OC to stay (not enough change!!). There is no logically consistent lens from which to complain about the Brady hire.
Also regarding receivers, all I have to say is the Seahawks better win the Super Bowl with JSN and Kupp, because if they can’t beat the pats with Mack Hollins and washed up Diggs McDermott (and Jeremey White WGR) are going to look like absolute clowns even more.
Thanks for what you do, Tyler. Count me as skeptical. I know the fans have a Super Bowl or bust mandate next year…and you’re right, that’s the way it should be. But I’m not convinced that Pegula will hold Brady and Beane to that same mandate. He waited too long to fire McDermott and he will wait too long to fire Beane and Brady if it comes to that. This whole thing succeeding is a long shot, but a long shot is still a chance. Ah, the life of a Bills fan.
Tyler, wonderful article as always! Your long form profiles are revelatory going back some years as well! I was surprised by the Brady hire initially; the noise around Pegula aside, the nuts and bolts of this decision make more sense. Brady must know it’s all or nothing at this point, and must have conveyed his readiness. Who will surround him on his staff remains the next piece of this…many thanks for your time and insights!
Great stuff. Good to read an article that is smart amidst all the silly knee jerk stuff!
I'm a new subscriber here, and I enjoyed this read immensely. I'm in wait-and-see mode with this hire because, as you've argued, there's so much that we don't yet know about how Brady will run this team. Other than perhaps last year's star hires (Vrabel and Johnson), his resume stacks up pretty well when compared to other candidates.
But color me skeptical, mainly because the assignment is insanely difficult. Lots of very good coaches fail to reach the Super Bowl because, after all, only two of 32 get there in any given year and there's so much luck and variance that goes into a season and a game. Secondly, what we do know of Brady's track record doesn't indicate a history of surprisingly elevating a team above its perceived talent level.
Finally, the Bills made McDermott the scapegoat for playoff failures much like the Bengals tagged Lou Anarumo as "the problem" last off-season. Well, it turned out that the Bengals D still stunk because the talent was the problem. That's a cautionary tale for Bills fans. We can't be sure that the talent ISN'T the problem in Buffalo. In fact, I'll go further: we know that the Bills lack blue chip talent in many areas: WR, all along the DL, Safety, CB depth, ILB, etc. That's a lot of holes on a supposedly championship roster.
If the Bills miss the playoffs next year would both Brady and Beane get fired?