Buffalo Bills Extend Hope They Already Hired the Right Guys
The Buffalo Bills could’ve seen if they make a Super Bowl first before retaining staff members. Or they can do the opposite, whatever. Wondering about the value of extensions is not to be thankless for all Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane have done to banish memories of the semipermanent postseason banishment that preceded their run. Fantastic expectations are the price of improvement.
Like Mister Burns’s steady stocks, a lack of sudden jolts is not necessarily beneficial. Successful teams aren’t in the habit of regularly changing coaches, one may note without context. Considering whether or not consistency is overrated in this particular case is moot yet going to be debated incessantly, anyway. Welcome to sports.
Bills fans appreciate updates in June. What else would we discuss: sunshine? Still, Buffalo’s proclamation about intending to maintain the employment status of their two most prominent non-players reflects curious timing both for this offseason and month. You may already know there is a season scheduled to begin in this very calendar year. Presuming society isn’t shut down or that Godzilla doesn’t come along riding an asteroid, ownership could’ve seen how the next round of games turned out.
The team with Josh Allen has an impressive staff. It’s uncanny how a young legend can make anyone who drafts or coaches him look like a wizard. Beane gets slightly more credit for ignoring alleged experts who didn’t comprehend how his completion rate had a ceiling based on throwing to Wyoming’s receivers. The difference between him and the majority of his predecessors offers an indictment of how overwhelmingly important quarterback is to this sport.
Super lucky Allen gets to continue working with a defensive coach. The wacky contrast between personalities was most memorably explored by Neil Simon. Comedic possibilities may not be as welcome on this particular stage. McDermott may have gotten just a bit of talent out of his quarterback. But wondering if an erstwhile offensive coordinator would get even more remains an alternate history like Don Cherry becoming Sabres coach.
This would be an ideal time for more of Beane’s non-Allen picks to start working out. Letting Tremaine Edmunds leave was for the best, which shouldn’t be the best-case scenario. While oh so reasonable fans expect a 100 percent success rate for draftees, his completion percentage is closer to EJ Manuel’s than his star selection.
McDermott elevated this team to the point of being disappointed by his own creating. He’s the one who got them to the point where he can get outcoached in the playoffs. A strategy based in trying not to lose has cost this team wins.
Pointing out how lousy those before them were at their jobs doesn’t affect the divisional race. The Bills don’t get sympathy points because Chan Gailey held the same position. To highlight the vastness of progress, hire oafs to screw up first.
Measuring how they’ve done on their own terms brings the added benefit of not wallowing in trauma. It doesn’t follow that they’re to be lauded as saviors because they’re better by comparison. Followers can feel glad for remarkable gains while being careful to avoid a poverty mindset where one must appreciate whatever one has as long as it’s better than atrocious.
Frugality doesn’t just apply to saving timeouts. A longterm investing strategy would’ve allowed the Bills to wait before paying them to continue working. The rather thrifty owner has been reluctant to fire coaches of one of his other businesses because he’s reluctant to pay them for not working. A franchise could hire good ones in the first place, but that seems like a lot of research.
Being ungrateful is how we express admiration for a higher standard. Even the crankiest pessimists have to be impressed by a record of 62–35, which is coincidentally the same for both workers in question. My journalist’s math indicates that’s almost a 64 percent winning record for a team that’s 33 games under .500 all-time. It’s not tough to imagine how brutal cheering was in primitive Rex Ryan era.
There’s been a good deal of relative success recently even without much intramural competition. McDermott is at least the fourth-best coach the Bills have ever had and may be even higher depending on one’s assessment of Chuck Knox and perhaps even Lou Saban. His achievements are both impressive on their own and an indictment of much of the franchise’s hiring history.
Playoff appearances have become normal for a team where they’re typically not. If the Bills were a person, the McDermott/Beane era would be one of the rare bouts of happiness. Enjoying dinner takes on urgency when you remember nights of ramen with ketchup.
Consistent disappointment makes it easier to accept incremental development. Buffalo’s Batman and Robin get grief for not preventing every offense after making cheering for the Bills livable. Their habit of winning divisional titles leads those blessed with a new run of success to anticipate even more spectacular thrills.
The pattern of existence leads us to conclude that even mildly swell times are fleeting. We can feel glad the pair has gotten the club to the point where it’s a perennial trendy offseason Super Bowl bet while also remembering that sportsbooks are profitable because bettors think they know what’s going to happen despite the rarity of that happening. The Bills are wagering on even more advancement based on what they’ve observed so far. What are the odds?
