What Do the Bills Need to Do to Finally Get Back to The Super Bowl?

By Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

Pat Freeman, The Mighty O’Ba

The Buffalo Bills once again failed to advance to the Super Bowl, after once again being eliminated by the Kansas City Chiefs. Many of the faithful had their hopes on this team advancing to the Super Bowl especially after defeating the Baltimore Ravens the week before because, the only team that really defeated the Kansas City Chiefs when it counted, was the Buffalo Bills. Truthfully, I am amazed this team got out of the divisional round with the glaring deficiencies they have on the defensive side of the ball this year. The Bills need a serious upgrade at linebacker, safety, and cornerback positions to make a run at the super bowl. The linebackers that we have are just too small outside of Matt Milano who has been slowed the last couple of years by injury. Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams are skillful players, but they are very undersized to play linebacker at the NFL level.

All year, the position of safety has been an absolute disaster with Taylor Rapp and Damar Hamlin both showing that they are not NFL starters in this league. The organization was so spoiled over the last seven years by having Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, who I believe will go down as one of the best safety tandems in league history. Unfortunately, the organization replaced these two talented players with pure mediocrity, and it showed the entire season. Christian Benford, a former seventh round pick out of Villanova has quickly become one of the best cover corners in the league, but Rasul Douglas regressed this season and needs to be replaced. Kaiir Elam, the former number one draft choice has never fit into this defense since being drafted. Once the Bills address these issues that I have identified, there will be a better chance of making it to the Super Bowl next year. They also need to say goodbye to Von Miller and AJ Epenesa on the edge, as both proved little this year to justify bringing them back.