The Buffalo Bills just lost for the third year in a row in the divisional round of the National Football League playoffs after a back and forth home defeat 27-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills looked strong in the first half, establishing their running game and controlling the line of scrimmage, including two running touchdowns from their University of Wyoming alumnus quarterback, Josh Allen (Go Pokes). But as they have been wont to do in this modern era of what some media personalities have called the 'Bills Dynasty', they let the defending super bowl champs hang around and crumbled down the stretch - with two terrible play calls on second and third down on their final drive, and a wide right field goal to seal the victory for Kansas City.
But I'm not here to talk about the game... I'm here to talk about their leadership, more specifically their head coaching position, and the opportunity they have to become the true Bills Dynasty - by bringing in their greatest rival, their most hated villain, the man who destroyed their hopes and dreams of 'slightly above mediocrity' for decades - and that man is Bill Belichick.
Let's first talk about their current regime - head coach Sean McDermott took over before the 2017 season, and by many measures for an NFL head coach has had solid success: 6 playoff appearances, in 7 years, an AFC title appearance, and 4 consecutive division titles. This to the good, simple people of Buffalo, at most other times, would be more than acceptable, as they did not go to the playoffs from 1999-2017 if my memory serves me properly, but expectations have changed since Josh Allen took over full-time at QB in 2019 and emerged as an MVP candidate year in and year out.
What McDermott may have going for him on paper, in the big games where it counts, his teams have not been nearly as formidable coaching wise, and yesterday was another example of that. A few odd calls, burned timeout in the third quarter they could've used later, an uninspired defense after the missed field goal in the 4th, not to mention the dude called a fake punt on 4th and 5 on his own side of the field to Damar Hamlin, a defensive back, after three awkward motions back and forth pre-snap that was a clear tell to the other side that something was up. We also had the case of the weird controversy about McDermott using the 9/11 terrorists as a positive role model for executing on their plan... nobody is going to win a super bowl with that kind of weirdness lurking in the background. His team still played well, and the teams he's lost to in the playoffs are super bowl contenders or winners year in and year out (namely Patrick Mahomes, and Joe Burrow - he ain't losing to Mac Jones) but the team clearly needs a spark to get over that hump, someone with that certain je na sais qois who has a history of winning the big games come playoff in spite of many of his team's follies.
Enter Bill Belichick - Bill would love nothing more than to stick it to Robert Kraft for the next 3-5 years - dude knows how to coach and win in big games like nobody else in the history of the National Football League. To the simple minded, former OneTake Radio contributors B-Rider and TacoMagic who say it was all Brady, in the biggest games of his career, Brady had many mistakes weathered by outstanding coaching and decision making by Belichick. You won't see it on NFL films since it's stricken from the record, but Brady threw 2 picks in SB 49 against the Seahawks, 2 in the 2018 (season) AFC title against the Chiefs that should've been 3, and the infamous pick 6 in SB 51 (that one you will likely still see on NFL Films). Whose the one weathering the storm there? Whose the one manning the defense, batting down the hatches, creating the gameplan and making in-game adjustments? It's Bill. Nobody knows this division better, nobody knows how to run a program better, and the story is too sweet - who better to bring your home your first super bowl than the man who defeated you for two decades? The boogey man himself... the big bad bully of the AFC East. It makes too much damn sense, you have to do it! Would I immediately switch my fandom from the Patriots to Bills if that were to occur? I don't think so but you're damn right it would be tempting. And we do see precedent for this - the Bills have a history of bringing in former divisional foes to Orchard Park for head coaching positions (see Rex Ryan coming over from the Jets in for a brief tenure from 2015-2016).
This would be a similar situation/nearly equivalent to Steve Kerr taking over for Mark Jackson for the Warriors - thanks man, you did a great job but we'll let the big dog take it from here. And they won 4 titles in 8 years with the core already in place, similar to what they have with the Bills.
On the offensive side of the ball, Bill has not had incredible success since the loss of TB12 with the Patriots over the last 4 seasons, but even after making the worst draft selection in team history with Mac Jones, the defense he has led up has been more than formidable - let it ride with the current offensive scheme and staff/coaches, let Bill come in and lead up the defense, keep the GM in place and BOOM - Buffalo wins their first damn Super Bowl in team history.
Belichick doesn't want to go to Atlanta, or Tennessee, or out west to Seattle or Los Angeles - he wants to be in the cold, in the rugged, near his family. Make the call, let's get Bill up north to win one more super bowl and call it a career. Or just keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, your move Buffalo. Don't whiff like Diggs yesterday! I believe in you.
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