Another season for the Buffalo Bills ended in heartbreak as they lost 32-29 in the AFC Championship Game. Josh Allen is now 0-4 against the Kansas City Chiefs in the postseason, and there are several doubts as to whether he’ll ever get the job done against Patrick Mahomes.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s job is safe, and he will return next season, but many have grown impatient about his inability to take the team to the Super Bowl. He has a record of 86-45 in the regular season but is 7-7 in the playoffs.
Former Philadelphia Eagles president Joe Banner recently appeared on “The Rich Eisen Show” and was asked to advise McDermott. During his time with the Eagles, Banner experienced similar results and urged the Bills head coach to be more aggressive.
Joe Banner Encouraged Buffalo Bills HC To Be More Aggressive
Banner was the Eagles’ president from 2001 to 2012. During that span, Philadelphia lost four Conference Championship games, two Divisional Rounds, and two Wild Card rounds and also suffered a 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Eventually, the Eagles had to part ways with him and Andy Reid. We could see a similar thing happen in Buffalo with McDermott, as the team cannot continue to waste Allen’s prime. As a result, Banner’s advice could be valuable to the Bills head coach.
“I’m probably the least qualified person to answer this because when we had Andy, we went to five championship games in eight years, and we never won a Super Bowl,” Banner said. “So, I’ve been right where Sean is, and I feel terrible because Sean’s a great guy, but you know we never figured out the answer when he was there.”
“I would encourage him to keep moving and being more aggressive,” Banner added. “Sean started as a defensive coach with a fairly conservative mindset about offense. He’s evolved a lot over the years, and he even started frankly as a more aggressive offensive-minded defensive coach than I would have expected, and I think they need to keep moving in that direction.”
Banner highlighted how the Bills ran the ball more this year with James Cook this past season, resulting in success. However, he also said that teams have to be aggressive in the passing game to win.
Banner mentioned the Eagles’ NFC Championship Game win against the Washington Commanders, in which Jalen Hurts made plays with his arm in the first half to give the team the lead. Philadelphia’s dominant win came on the back of seven rushing scores, but Hurts’ ability in the passing game helped open things up.
“They [Bills] ran the ball more this year, and they ran it very successfully, but the reality is running the ball has a lot of good purposes, but it is not the best way to score the most points,” Banner continued.
“The fastest way to do that is by throwing the ball… So, I don’t have a lot of criticism for Sean. I think he’s a great coach, and I think he’s generally had a good staff. I would encourage him to be even more aggressive in trying to dominate the game early, get the lead, and play as much of the game as possible with a lead.”
To win a Super Bowl, teams must maximize their quarterback’s ability to pass the ball. And as evidenced by Allen’s statistics in previous seasons, he is one of the best throwers of the football.
The Bills did well in utilizing the running game to limit Allen’s turnovers, but it’s also made him a less dangerous quarterback. Allen is at his best when slinging the ball, and if the Bills can find a way to complement that with their running game, they’ll be tough to beat.
Buffalo can probably beat any other NFL team by playing the way they did this past season, but to get past the Chiefs, they have to get the best out of all their players. For that to happen, Allen might be required to throw for over 300 yards and rush for 50+.
As Banner said, if the Bills are able to build a lead by utilizing their quarterback’s arm, then Cook can take over to slow the game down in the second half and not give Mahomes a chance to win.