GM says Bills ‘not starting over’ after loss
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane backed the job coach Sean McDermott did in the face of criticism and a midseason slump on Tuesday, while dismissing the notion the team has plateaued after being eliminated in the divisional playoff round for a third consecutive season.
At the same time, Beane raised a red flag in assessing offseason challenges he faces rebuilding a roster that currently features 22 pending unrestricted free agents — nine of them regulars — while being handcuffed by salary cap restraints.
“Obviously, I’m going to have to be creative with the cap, and I don’t think I need to say it, but I don’t think you’re gonna see any splashes,” he said during a lengthy end of season news conference two days after a 27-24 loss to Kansas City.
The Bills are coming off a 12-7 finish in which they overcame a rash of defensive injuries and the midseason firing of their offensive coordinator by closing with five straight wins to claim their fourth straight AFC East title.
After a playoff-opening 31-17 win over Pittsburgh, Buffalo’s loss to Kansas City re-emphasized questions over the team’s short-comings. During the Bills five-year playoff run, they've been eliminated by Kansas City three times, including the 2020 AFC championship game, as well as Cincinnati in the divisional round last year, and the Texans in a wild-card outing in the 2019 season playoffs.
“I don’t subscribe to the window as closing or it’s closed,” Beane said. “While we’re extremely disappointed, nobody’s more disappointed than me, I’m also not going to just throw the whole season out and say, ‘Let’s tear this thing up and start over.’ ”
He then credited McDermott for how the Bills remained competitive, with their seven losses decided by six points or less.
“Those come down to a play here or there. And there wasn’t anything in those games where you’re going, ‘Man, he really botched this or botched that,’ ” Beane said.
Among the other topics Beane touched on Tuesday was Von Miller.
Beane said the team has received no updates on the Dallas police investigation into the former Texas A&M edge rusher after he was accused of allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, who is pregnant, in November.
Eagles fire offensive coordinator Johnson
Brian Johnson is out as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator as Nick Sirianni goes about remaking his coaching staff, sources told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday.
Johnson’s firing doesn’t come as a shock considering the offensive regression in his first year as coordinator. The Eagles still had one of the better units in the NFL, but they dropped from third to eighth in total yards and third to seventh in points scored.
Under Johnson’s guidance as an assistant, Jalen Hurts was a finalist for AP NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 and the Eagles reached the Super Bowl. But the Channelview product regressed this season with Johnson calling the plays.
He threw a career-high 15 interceptions and his passer rating dropped to 89.1 from 101.5 last season.
Ratings get big boost for divisional round
Last weekend’s four NFL divisional round playoff games averaged 40.0 million viewers on television and digital platforms, the highest on record dating back to 1988.
The viewer average is a 7% increase over last year and a 5% jump from two years ago.
Sunday night’s between the Chiefs and Buffalo Bills on CBS averaged a divisional round record 50.39 million viewers, according to Nielsen. The previous mark was 48.52 million for the Jan. 15, 2017, game between the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers on Fox.
The Texans-Baltimore Ravens game, which kicked off the weekend Saturday afternoon, drew 31.77 million on ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, making it the most-watched ESPN game since it started doing games in 1987.
League announces Super Bowl officials
Veteran referee Bill Vinovich will lead the officiating crew for the Super Bowl next month in Las Vegas.
The NFL announced Tuesday that Vinovich will work his third Super Bowl and be joined by a crew that includes umpire Terry Killens, down judge Patrick Holt, line judge Mark Perlman, field judge Tom Hill, side judge Allen Baynes, back judge Brad Freeman and replay official Mike Chase.
Killens, who the Houston Oilers drafted in the third round of the 1996 draft and spent parts of seven seasons in the NFL, will become the first person to both play in and officiate a Super Bowl. Killens made one tackle on special teams for the Tennessee Titans against the St. Louis Rams on Jan. 30, 2000.
Odds and ends
The Raiders have scheduled interviews with former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and former Browns coordinator Alex Van Pelt and Bengals quarterback Dan Pitcher for their open OC job . ... The Bears hired Shane Waldron as their offensive coordinator, replacing Getsy after three years as offensive coordinator for the Seahawks under Pete Carroll.