The Defense had its own mantra, which this year was “bend but don't break”, and that they did. The Bills finished tied for 11th in the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks in points against (368), and 17th in yards against (5,806). This might seem middle of the road, and it is, but the Bills finished 2024 tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the third-best point differential in the league (+157). They had a good feel for the games and knew how to turn it on when they needed to. This season was filled with a lot of stressful drives where the Bills would give up big plays, but then hold the other team to a field goal attempt, or even better force a turnover. Whatever their method was this year, it worked until it didn’t; which was the AFC Championship this year. Taylor Rapp had a solid year, and Cole Bishop showed some promise. Christian Benford might be a legit number 1 corner moving forward. Terel Bernard and Dorian Williams are exciting pieces moving forward and Matt Milano's future is up in the air. We need help at the cornerback position and when you talk about the defensive line, we have a few solid players, but no stars. No game breakers, nobody who is going to go and ruin your opponent's most important drive consistently. Nobody who will dictate his will on the opponent in the most important situations, and that very well may be the focus of the offseason.
The last couple of weeks have been an interesting and entertaining start to the Buffalo Bills off-season. The Kansas City Chiefs got smoked in the Super Bowl, which for most of us was a welcome sight. That was nothing compared to watching Josh Allen win MVP. For the most part, I don't have any interest in the MVP conversation, but this year was different. Josh Allen deserves an MVP. His resume looks a lot better with one, not to mention he has been one of the most valuable players in the NFL for over half a decade now. Seeing Josh give his acceptance speech drove home even more the idea that he’s one of us; a Buffalonian. All the while there have been reports of Miles Garrett requesting a trade, and also the possibility that Maxx Crosby might be available. Cooper Kupp is on the trade block and might just get outright released. Deebo Samuel has been given the opportunity to seek a trade and all the while James Cook, the guy who tied a franchise record with 16 rushing touchdowns this year and comes off back to back 1000 yard seasons has unfollowed the Buffalo Bills on social media amidst reports, in which he is the source, suggest he may want to be paid north of $15 Million a year, on par with the top 3 running backs in the league. It will be interesting to see how Brandon Beane elects to approach this offseason, but either way it is going to be exciting to see how he decides to reshape this team.
