By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
After two games in 2018, the Buffalo Bills have left their fans scratching their heads.
Buffalo followed up a 44-point loss on opening day in Baltimore against the Ravens, with a 31-20 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The game didn’t even feel that close, either.
In total, the Bills have been outscored 78-23 in their first two games combined. The offense has been out-gained 718 yards to 446 yards. Number after number after number shows how lopsided things have quickly gotten for the Bills.
Moving forward, Buffalo will look to get their first win of the season against the Minnesota Vikings. Oddsmakers aren’t too optimistic about the Bills’ chances, and why would they be? The Bills are a 16.5-point underdogs already. The early-season onslaught continues the following week as Buffalo faces the Green Bay Packers in Week 4.
After snapping a 17-season playoff drought in 2017, seemingly against all odds, Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott still had folks Bill-eving again this season despite numerous doubters. After the first two games, the polar opposite is now the feeling for many observers.
But this start the 2018 Bills are enduring early this season could run deep if things don’t turn around. The “process” can’t control everything.
The process plan orchestrated by head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane has a focus on the 2019 offseason.
Buffalo has nearly $53 million dollars in dead cap at the current time. The Dallas Cowboys are in second with approximately $28 million. There’s a method behind the madness, though. With all that dead weight of dead cap, the Bills currently only have $8 million in cap space.
The Bills will lose that dead weight next offseason. According to Spotrac, Buffalo will have nearly $90 million in free cap space to work with. That’s the third-most behind the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets.
If you follow, the idea is there.
The Bills aren’t looking too hot now, but that’s nothing a few dollars in free agency can’t fix in 2019, right?
Well…
The process plan is a good one. Get rid of all that dead cap. Use those dollars to fill the seemingly endless holes on Buffalo’s roster next offseason.
It sounds easy enough, but through two weeks of football in 2018, the Bills are doing damage to those free agency dreams.
You can throw all the money you want at players, but you aren’t drafting them. Money talks, but everyone has money in the NFL. A drafted player has to go to your team, a free agent doesn’t.
At the rate the Bills are going in 2018, who’s going to want to join this team?
The head coach decided at the start of the season to hand the keys to Nathan Peterman, a guy who made national headlines for throwing five interceptions in one half of football. The second-year quarterback followed that up with a 0.0 passer rating in this year’s season opener.
Who could’ve saw that one coming?
That miscue seems like a thing of the past already. Week 2 saw McDermott essentially demote defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier mid-game. McDermott took the play-calling duties from the coordinator.
That’s not the only thing that happened mid-game. A player retired at halftime… seriously. He didn’t feel the need to stick around with McDermott’s Bills. Vontae Davis hit the road after halftime.
That’s not the first time something like that has happened. Wide receiver Anquan Boldin joined the Bills late in training camp in 2017. That lasted two weeks before he decided enough was enough.
Sure, maybe those aren’t on McDermott and Beane, but it’s not the best look, either.
And the team needs to hope many forget the mounting roster moves.
The Bills released Jeremy Kerley, their most veteran hideout, hours before their Week 2 meeting against the Chargers on Saturday. Why? Because they needed a defensive tackle. Why did they need a defensive tackle? The team released one just days before in Adolphus Washington.
Huh?
That’s just scratching the surface, as of late.
There’s AJ McCarron. There’s not replacing losses on the offensive line. There’s signing Davis in the first place. There’s not sticking it out with Tyrod Taylor. There’s trading away a No. 3 overall pick for virtually nothing. It’s a tough process to completely trust.
Seemingly the only thing that could save the Bills’ 2019 free agency dreams are flashes from Josh Allen. The rookie has a lot of playing time left in 2018. He can do exactly that. The Bills are also only one snap away from Peterman being thrust back into action.
It’s a narrow line the Bills are currently walking on, but if they don’t start changing the narrative surround a roster lacking talent, which continues to be blown out, combined with some questionable personnel decisions at times, Buffalo could be doing much more than losing game early in 2018.