'Keep kicking the door': Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane 'not giving in' to Kansas City Chiefs
The Buffalo Bills general manager knows he has been knocking on Kansas City’s door for years now. But knocking isn’t enough.
Brandon Beane is lacing them up, taking aim and kicking and kicking and kicking.
The Buffalo Bills general manager knows he has been knocking on Kansas City’s door for years now. But knocking isn’t enough.
“I’ve heard it told to me by multiple people that have been in this league longer than I have: Keep kicking the door. Keep kicking the door and you’re going to knock it down,” Beane said Thursday. “And that is my mentality; that is our mentality. We are not giving in, we’re not.”
Bills general manager Brandon Beane speaks during his postseason news conference at One Bills Drive on Thursday. Derek Gee, Buffalo News
Over the course of a 73-minute, 43-question end-of-season news conference, Beane reiterated Thursday that it was painful to come up short this season, especially given how far the Bills made it, losing 32-29 to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game Sunday. But his belief in the Bills to eventually reach the top has not wavered.
"Ultimately, the further you go, the worse it stings. And there's more eyes on you,” Beane said. “We're right there, though."
Beane spoke four days after the Bills fell short in Kansas City, one game shy of the Super Bowl. It was the fourth time in five years the Chiefs eliminated Buffalo.
While the Bills have not been able to get past Kansas City, Beane said he still believes in the organization's process. He balances that with understanding external angst and criticism.
"Until you do it, you're always going to get questioned," Beane said.
And while noting that anything short of the Super Bowl is not good enough, Beane did want to note the team's successes in a 13-4 season where the Bills reached the AFC title game.
"I do want to make sure we balance the scale here, even though we have not gotten to the big game yet,” Beane said.
Balance, balance, balance – a resounding theme from the general manager. Here are some other takeaways from Beane’s end-of-season briefing:
‘Making our chip bigger’
Beane began his day by thanking players, coaches, staff and front office. The work those people all put in makes the loss harder for him, he said. It also motivates him, moving forward.“I can promise you, we haven’t slept a lot since that game,” Beane said. “And we hurt, and we feel bad for the fans that hurt, and everyone. All of our staff, support staff, it’s hard to come up short. And so, we’re going to continue to turn over every rock, every stone.”
In giving credit to Kansas City, Beane noted it is not just the Bills who have suffered at their hands.
“The entire (NFL) is chasing them,” Beane said.
There’s a balance – again, the theme of Thursday – in recognizing that Sunday’s performance was not enough, but that the Bills still have plenty to build on.
“One to two plays can change the outcome of a game, which, ultimately, changes the outcome of the season, and we wouldn’t be sitting here. So, it sucks. It hurts. But I’m not in the mood of thinking you have to blow it all up,” Beane said. “I don’t think that’s rational.”
It is too early to know next year’s salary cap numbers, but Beane was adamant that he does not believe the Bills need to strip down the roster and start over.
“We’re frustrated. We want to win, and all that’s doing is making our chip bigger,” he said. “We’ll reset, we’ll recalibrate, not make any rash decisions, and over the next few weeks and couple months, shape what the next team will look like, and again, it’ll be a new team.
“What hurts is, there’s no guarantee you get back to the championship game. You've got to build a whole new team.”
Weighing in on game officials
Some calls in the Kansas City loss had Bills fans up in arms. Beane made sure to refrain from saying anything fine-worthy, but he empathized with fans displeasure over the game officials' calls.“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Beane said. “There’s only so much I can say. We work with the league to try to get clarity, and I’ll give them credit: They’ve taken our calls. They’ve sent video and things like that.”
On the controversial fourth-and-1 call in the fourth quarter on which quarterback Josh Allen was ruled short – a ruling that was upheld after review – Beane said he thinks the Bills had it.
“I feel like he got that, and I still feel like he got that,” Beane said. “I felt that in the moment, and nothing has changed my mind on that.”
He also thought the challenge on a Xavier Worthy contested catch was “a good challenge.” (Worthy and safety Cole Bishop wrestled for control as they hit the ground, the ball touching the turf.)
Still, Beane emphasized that the Bills are not blaming the loss on that call or on any others.
“Those are just like plays we didn’t make in a game, too,” Beane said. “So, by no means are we saying that’s why we lost the game.”
McDermott echoed Beane a couple of hours later in his news conference, saying the Bills were not pinning the loss on officiating.
Building the Bills
Beane will shortly begin to turn his eyes toward building next year’s team. When that time comes, will he focus strictly on players that match up well against Kansas City? Not quite, Beane said.“I get the question, but it always starts in your division, because that’s your ticket to the postseason,” Beane said. “And if you don’t take care of business in your division, then you don’t get the opportunity, maybe, to play the Chiefs.”
So, in Beane’s mind, the team will always start by paying attention to the New York Jets, the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots, and how the Bills match up with them.
After that, yes, Kansas City is a consideration.
“When you get past that, yes, who are the perennial contenders? Of course, the Chiefs are right there every single year,” Beane said.
Beane also noted that the Bills are playing Kansas City every year the way scheduling works out, with both teams winning their respective divisions.
“You can't just build your team for one team. Like, that's dangerous,” Beane said. “Because if you do that, and you don't get there, or they happen to fall and another team is in your way, and you don't match up well with them now – ‘Well, we were prepared just for the Chiefs, and we met the Cincinnati Bengals.’ And I'm not – that's not going to fly with you guys when I come down here and say, ‘Well, we thought we were going to play the Chiefs.’ ”
‘It’s still too raw’
Beane was candid that he is still too early in his offseason to start to make major decisions. Part of that is to give himself a little more time to process the loss.“I can tell you, right now, I still have emotion,” Beane said toward the end of his news conference. “You can hear in my voice a little bit. So, it'd be unfair for me to make any big-time decisions, right now. And that's why, as you guys have asked about players, or whether they're coming back or free agents – like it's still too raw, it's still too emotional.”
Beane added: “I'm going to work through the things with our staff that we need to work through areas with that will lead to decisions. But I don't think it will be responsible for me right now this week to do that. But they're coming. We know we have a window of time, and we'll get there. I just got to get through the emotion of it.”
Injury updates
Beane said Allen did not break his wrist during Sunday’s game. Allen said Monday he was dealing with “some swelling” and had his right hand wrapped as he met with media.“My exit conversation with him, that didn’t come up,” Beane said of Allen’s injury.
Beane additionally said a few players are still getting scans or second opinions on various injuries, but nothing that will derail a player long-term.
“Nothing as I sit here today that I think would impact training camp, which is the most important thing,” Beane said. “But you may have some guys in red jerseys in the spring, whatever their participation level would be allowed in their rehab process.”
Beane said cornerback Christian Benford is still in concussion protocol, but said Benford was doing well, smiling and “all good,” when Benford stopped by Beane’s office.
