One burning question for each NFL team
By John Buhler
Buffalo Bills: Will the Carolina boys make any difference?
The Buffalo Bills have not reached the AFC Playoffs since 1999. Yes, it’s been a very long time since the infamous Music City Miracle game in Nashville against the then newly christened Tennessee Titans. A lot has changed in the NFL, but the Bills haven’t played into the middle of January in 17 years. Will the 2017 NFL season be any different.
Well, the Pegula Family certainly hopes so. While the Bills seemed to show promise with a run-first offense built around tailback LeSean McCoy and mobile quarterback Tyrod Taylor, both last year’s head coach and general manager are gone. Replacing Rex Ryan and Doug Whaley are a pair of men from the Carolina Panthers organization: Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane. Will the Carolina boys make any difference in Western New York?
McDermott is an Andy Reid disciple from his years with the Philadelphia Eagles. He had spent the last several seasons as the Panthers defensive coordinator under head coach Ron Rivera. Clearly, McDermott has an eye for defensive talent, as well as assembling a solid coaching staff.
Trading back to land cornerback Tre’Davious White out of LSU was wise. Hopefully he does a fine job replacing Stephon Gilmore. New defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has head coaching experience. Rick Dennison knows what he’s doing in the passing game as the Bills’ new offensive coordinator.
McDermott has the track record to be a solid NFL head coach. The bigger question is if Beane is honestly ready to build a football team. While he has spent half of his life learning team building under Carolina general manager David Gettleman, Beane is only in his early 40s. Even Whaley could find talent defensively. In short, Beane will be more under the gun that McDermott despite entering this together in 2017. They have to work together to win.