By Nick Wojton / Billswire.usatoday.com
This year the final four spots in the NFL Championship round belong to the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. The Buffalo Bills are only one year removed from their last trip to the NFL playoffs.
Nothing is guaranteed in the NFL, though. There’s optimism for the Bills moving forward, but are the Bills comparable to the final four teams playing this weekend in any ways?
Here’s how the Bills stack up against the team’s vying for a spot in the Super Bowl on Sunday:
Buffalo Patriots
Culture
The Bills are a long way from being the next Patriots, but there do have a few similarities. The top one might be the “culture” factor. If you’ve heard of the Patriots, you’ve heard of the “Patriot way.” If you’ve heard of the Bills, you’ve heard of the “Process.” Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott has preached team and comradery since the day he walked in One Bills Drive. Many players who end up with the Pats say similar things, although, they have some winning to fall back on.
Playmakers
The Patriots and Bills mirror each other in their rosters in one way in particular. They don’t exactly blow you away with their weapons. Buffalo has LeSean McCoy coming off his worst season, along with Zay Jones and Robert Foster. The Patriots have Sony Michel but feature a multi-look backfield along with Julian Edelman as their No. 1 receiver and a beat up Rob Gronkowski. One has to wonder how well their playmakers would look without Tom Brady. And the Bills don’t have Brady and it’s hard to imagine them ever having the best quarterback in NFL history (no offense, Josh), so this isn’t exactly a good similarity.
No. 1 CB locked up
It might be hard to admit, but both the Bills and Patriots have lockdown cornerbacks. Of course, the Bills have Tre’Davious White. He didn’t have as strong of a second season as his first, but he still played well. White was actually drafted to replace Stephon Gilmore, who left Buffalo only to join the Patriots and become Pro Football Focus‘ No.1 cornerback in the NFL this season.
Ground game matters
Brady exists. Brady is the reason the Patriots win. Not exactly an arguable point. But that doesn’t mean the Pats don’t have a run game. They actually had one better than the Bills’ rushing attack in 2018. New England has the NFL’s fifth-best rushing offense (127.3 yards per game). Buffalo was ninth (124.0).
Buffalo Chiefs
Construction
The biggest connection between Kansas City and their high-flying offense and Buffalo is at quarterback. The Bills traded out of their No. 10 pick at the 2017 NFL Draft, giving it to KC, who landed Pat Mahomes. Hindsight is 20/20 but… yeah. Josh Allen has helped heal that wound, but he’s also not one game away from the Super Bowl… yet. Only time will tell.
However, the team construction is there with Mahomes and Allen. A second-year player, Mahomes will have the next two years under his rookie contract and the Chiefs will undoubtedly pick up his fifth-year option. With the way a QB’s rookie deal lines up, if NFL teams can have a few years with a cheap QB, they can add players around them. The Chiefs added linebacker Anthony Hitchens and wide receiver Sammy Watkins this offseason. Having a cheap QB gives cap flexibility and that’s what the Bills will have moving forward.
Stud linebackers
Speaking of Hitchens, the Chiefs have a 3-4 defense but like the Bills, they stocked their defense with some promising linebackers. The Chiefs’ linebackers are highlighted by the experienced Dee Ford and Justin Houston for their pass-rushing prowess. The Bills have Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, who might be even better. Buffalo’s duo are young and all-around defensive playmakers. Sprinkle in Lorenzo Alexander, and there’s a case to be made that the Bills’ and better off than than KC in this position group.
Buffalo Saints
Rely on run game
Like the Patriots, the passing game will take center stage, offensively. But the run game is a huge factor for the Saints, too. Drew Brees has a huge luxury with defenses having to respect Alvin Kamara everywhere and Mark Ingram at the goal line. Overall, the Saints were the sixth-best run offense (126.6) this season. Buffalo needs more production out of McCoy if he sticks around, but him and Chris Ivory could be a similar duo to Kamara and Ingram next season. Currently most of Buffalo’s run offense comes from Allen which is less than ideal.
Improved from Ryan defense
It wasn’t too long ago that both the Bills and Saints had bad, bad defensive units. Both actually included the Ryan brothers, too. Buffalo couldn’t stop anyone on the ground when Rex Ryan was in town. When Rob Ryan was the defensive coordinator for the Saints (2013-15), Brees would have to win every game in a shootout. Having said that, both sides have improved thanks to a simple increase in talent, too. Marshon Lattimore, AJ Klein, Tyeler Davison and Eli Apple are all defensive players who’ve joined the Saints since a Ryan departure. Under that same category the Bills have Tre’Davious White, Tremaine Edmunds, Matt Milano and Star Lotulelei.
Have hit on draft picks
While both teams have vastly different molds, they’ve both hit on their own draft picks over the past two seasons. In 2017 the Saints added Lattimore, OL Ryan Ramczyk, safety Marcus Williams and Kamara. In 2018, DE Marcus Davenport and WR Tre’Quan Smith are the only contributors from their most recent draft class, but they have plenty of potential. From the last two drafts under McDermott, Buffalo has nabbed starters in Allen, Edmunds, Milano, White, Taron Johnson, Dion Dawkins, Levi Wallace, and Wyatt Teller.
Buffalo Rams
Construction
In a similar way to the Chiefs, the Bills and Rams have a similar roster construction. Los Angeles has the luxury of adding players to big contracts thanks to Jared Goff still being on his rookie contract. However, the Rams will only have one more year left of that. LA will pick up his fifth-year option for 2020 and then in 2021 his numbers will likely go up… a lot.
With that space, the Rams have signed free agents, but also their own. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald notably signed a massive deal this offseason. Digging deeper, both teams also value their running game in a financial sense. With the lack of capital pushed toward their QB, the Rams paid Todd Gurley more than $14 million a season while Buffalo pays McCoy near $8 million. They’re the second-highest and fifth-highest paid backs in the NFL, respectively.
Young coaches
The Bills and Rams both participate in the NFL revolution that is hiring a young coach. Currently the Rams have Sean McVay. He’s only 32 and the youngest of them all. Buffalo’s McDermott is relatively young as well. He’s 44, the 10th-youngest coach. However, when McDermott was hired, he was the fifth-youngest. The movement kicked up a notch in short time. Coaches hired since McDermott was hired that are younger than him include Cleveland’s Freddie Kitches (44), Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel (43), Jets’ Adam Gase (40), Chicago’s Matt Nagy (40), Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur and Arizona’s Kliff Kingsbury (39).