I know most of us are still hoping for a minor miracle and for us to somehow slip into the playoffs with the 7th seed. I am too, but it got me thinking about how good this team can be in 2023. Dan Campbell has erased any early season doubts in my mind and I 100% believe he is the right guy for the job. An unpopular opinion I have that AG has also done enough for me to want him he keep his job in 2023. This defense still has MAJOR flows, but these young guys are continuing to get better and impress. It has got to be tough to coach a defense with so much youth. I think with another off-season, AG would have no excuses in 2023, but this defense is lacking in a lot of areas this year.
With all that said, one thing was painfully clear to me today. We need to find our QB this off-season because Jared Goff isn’t it. Goff actually played a pretty decent game today. Nothing special, but he certainly was not the reason we lost. Still, when we got the ball back with under 3 minutes left, down 3, I didn’t feel like we were going to win. I really hoped we would win, but I was very skeptical. Goff made some plays to at least get us in position to tie the game. In the end though, When Josh Allen had the ball with just over 20 seconds I knew he would do what was needed to get them in FG range to win. Josh Allen is the main reason the Bills won today.
Not trying to make this a bash Goff thread, but it is clear Goff is not the guy. He is a solid QB that is probably better than 50% of the 32 starting QBs in the league. Problem is I dont ever see him being in the top 33%.
I also believe this defense is closer than what most of us think. Below are all the players on this defense that can play key roles in this defense in 2023 (I believe we re-sign Elliot, Buggs, Board and Cominsky).
Hutchinson (Budding Superstar)
Alim McNeil (Solid Starter With Upside)
Isaiah Bugss (Good Leader, Solid Depth)
Josh Pascal (Potential Starter With Upside)
John Cominsky (Very Good Role Player)
Julian Okwara (Very Good Role Player)
Romeo Okwara (Solid Starter If Healthy)
James Houston (A Lot of Potential)
Levi Onwuzurike (Health?)
Malcolm Rodriguez (Solid Starter)
Derrick Barnes (Very Good Role Player With Upside)
Chris Board (Solid Cover Backer, Elite ST Player)
Jeff Okudah (Solid Starter With Elite Upside)
Jerry Jacobs (Very Good Depth With Starter Potential)
Chase Lucas (Scrappy, Future Nickel?)
THE BALL HAWK (Solid Starter With Elite Upside)
Tracy Walker (Health? Elite Leader, Solid Starter)
Deshon Elliot (Capable Starter, Excellent Depth)
Ifeatu Melifonwu (Unknown Potential, High End Physical Traits)
There is a lot of youth on that list who are still developing. I see an elite DT, stud LBer, and a starting caliber outside CB and nickel as our biggest needs. I would add an edge rusher as well if Romeo doesn’t look right to close this year. If we moved on from Goff, we would get even more draft capital and cap space. Even if we only got an extra 2nd for Goff, that would give us 2 firsts, three seconds, and a 3rd. Even if we got our QB with the Rams pick, there would be more then enough to fill the holes on defense. Go out and get an outside CB like James Bradberry in FA. Maybe make a run at a LBer like Tremaine Edmunds. Then in the draft you could grab your DT with our 1st, a nickelback in the 2nd, and still have a 2nd and 3rd for a TE/G/RB/WR/LB’eror whatever we needed.
I know this is a bit of a rant, but I see a lot of talent on this team and potential for a bright future. Goff is not the leader this team needs.