since79

I mentioned, I had heard this in one of the other threads. If this is true, I believe McDermott believes he is smarter than everyone. Defense is dictated by down and distance. How can you script your defense for an entire first drive. Is he doing this to take himself out of the equation early, to free himself up to think about the entire game. If so give up the defensive play calling. Micah Hyde confirms it here.

I thought I heard somewhere recently McDermott scripts his D at the start of the game. Can you imagine, calling a D by script. Down and distance does not matter I guess. No wonder our drops are consistently beyond the sticks. If this is the case, it’s fireable to me.

I think this is a move to also not have to sign week 1 and guarantee contract. If we signed him to the 53 that would be the case. Talking him into PS was great move to get him in to learn. If spot open stays past week 1, he will move up then. He was probably being told by others, if there are any, we will sign you after week 1. This lowers our risk and we may provide the best opportunity.

What did he say in a feminine voice as they broke pregame huddles” l luv you Josh Allen”. He must of liked Josh’s goofball leadership because he fed into it…..

Could be true….but so can this. Steph showed up, asked to talk to Bean and or McDermott. Called the coach out referencing his growth mindset. In doing so says “We have not grown at all, you keep making the same mistakes”. McDermott not liking it gets all defensive and jumps down his throat. Steph leaves in a hissy fit. A thin skinned McDermott, throws Steph under the bus because it makes him feel better. Just as likely….All human nature. We are all just guessing. Let’s wait it out.

As the draft approached I started to look at this guy. What I like is he was a basketball player. Some of the better pass catching TE were basketball players. Tony Gonzales, Zach Ertz and Travis Kelce all were basketball players. Even our last good tight end Pete Metzellaars was a standout basketball player. They are great in traffic, know how to shield with their body, have a firm grip on the ball in the paint and find open space in smaller holes. This guy will be very valuable if he displays any of these traits at the pro level. It has been a long time since we had a guy who actually stretched the seams. A lot of Kincaid's highlights show that downfield ability. He has big hands that are vacuums. I can't wait to see him lined up and see what miss matches he can create. I

Petterman, anyone?

Had a violent leg wip...

Not sure I like him, but 31 teams would not waste a pick on Brock Purdy. So why not.

Cinci’s adjustment, Chris Jones not in till last 2 plays. He should never leave the field.

I think no decision can be made until you know who directs and makes final decisions in the draft. If it is Mc Dermott, ask Bean to show you his boards. Review historically his thought process. Ask his staff for accuracy of information given. If the stressing of D line picks and choices were all McDermott's only with Allen here, he has to go. If Bean is the real deal he will be able to put it back together. If the choices were all Bean, he needs to go. You then need to know what the coaches feel about the choices. If in agreement. Coaches have to go along with Bean. I likely would keep them both. I think currently McDermott has final say on the roster now. We have made some mistakes there. If McDermott directs picks and roster, not his responsibility any more, Bean gets picks and roster. If Bean directs picks, give that job to Mc Dermott this year. Bean becomes salary cap responsible and directs staff for scouting in draft and player personnel. I would be looking at an upgrade to Frasier, likely Flores. Dorsey may have hung himself, we all stress on the actual plays called. Game planning in this last game was lacking and the opposite of what common sense would tell you to do. That's not being creative or sneaky to attack a team, but plain stupid. We have had good coaching up of late round picks, that's a bright side. A failure of early selections and decisions to hold them out of games, that's a bad side. When you listen to McDermott and Bean, the response is we need to evaluate. To make an educated recommendation and decision is wise . It sounds as though they are unwilling to begin to form any opinions until year end Our problems may be an offensive system(EP) with too much complexity in options where players need to read it the same. From what i have read added complexity in our secondary reads may have lead to some of our problems on D. Information gathering needs to be done, they likely know all they need to know. A wise leader would already know what they are going to find. Throughout the year short coming's and mistakes should be corrected, persistence of these problems leads to failure. Be decisive and make a decision.

We are best in the red zone when we continue to drive inside of it. Josh is the most effective inside the ten where he is a multi threat. When we struggled, we hit the 20 and immediately go for end zone strikes. The opponent didn't even have to cover the first down or short. When we struggled we got too aggressive. Dorsey may have liked it that way. A good coach would have recognized the flaw all year and been in Josh's ear to keep driving. Even when we scored on Sun we continued to drive the ball. On the failed red zone attempts, get to the 20 and throw into the end zone from there.

I may be off base here, but I notice very early in the game and throughout, players in all three phases on our team were focused on their footing. I don't know if this was discussed in our pregame but it was obvious players were reacting. Often in all three phase our equipment staff would run out with rugs for them to clean their cleats. I saw special teams guys asking the blower to clean their spot before coverage. Meanwhile I never saw anyone on the Bengals concerned about it or addressing it. If a seed was planted mentally, they could not get this off their mind. You become soft in your cushion, breaking down earlier in a tackle and not driving with force. Cinci had non of these problems. With our coaches wanting to control the minutia, I think footing likely was mentioned and became a distraction and excuse. We certainly were focused on the wrong things. We were on roller skates they were on snow shoes.

This idea is perfect provided all three teams win this weekend. The Ravens could not win division if they loose this week. If we are forced to play the Cincinnati game and loose a bye anyway give KC the bye but not home field in AFC championship game until we see the divisional outcome. If us, Cinci in divisional round, Cinci host as make up game. If Buffalo wins that game they become one seed, if Cinci wins they are now one seed. If Cinci had beat us this week and won Sunday they would be 1 based on current Tie breakers with a KC loss. If we had beat Cinci and win this week we would have been 1 seed, head to head with KC. If divisional round is Buffalo or Cinci vs another opponent, KC host Championship if they advance. If KC does not advance but Buffalo and Cinci do winner would host till Championship anyway. Who host championship game. KC if Buff or Cinci do not win in first round. If Cinci beat Buff round 2. KC would have been 1 if they won out and we lost. Buffalo if they meet Cinci and beat them. We would be 1 if we won out. Cinci if they meet Buffalo in divisional round and win. They would have been 2 if they beat us on Mon. And 1 if KC loose against Raiders. Host if KC looses first playoff game anyway. This way all three teams still have path to host the championship game.

Game No Contest- play out next week. Buff Cinci will play this week on emotion. Get week off to recoup mentally. Expand ACF 2 extra teams. You get one extra playoff Game. KC,Buff,Cinci First round bye no one penalized for decision on this game. All three get 2nd round playoff game Home. No penalty for decision. Championship game Home team will need to be decided if 2 of the three are in it. If it is just one, of course they host the Championship game. If two, Neutral site, decided by coin flip or win %. You don't have to worry about it until after round two to sort it out. To be real fair Baltimore would get first round game anyway like they won devision. The teams fighting their way in are not penalized either and in fact may be rewarded.

I think Beasley is elevated this week, Brown stays put. Brown up against the Bears, last call up, down for next 2. Beasley up for Cinci and NE. Playoffs unlimited call ups no need for a roster spot this way. If the offense improves with Beasley he will be up the entire playoffs and Brown will be insurance.

The good old days

Lately until this last game we have had red zone struggles, it seemed that when we reached the 20, we went for the end zone forgetting there was a first down option. This past game it felt like we continued to drive when we reached the 20 and got better down an distance before we went for the score. Maybe Dorsey and Josh have too much killer instinct. I hope they have been saving the imaginative plays for these final games and playoffs to not put them on film. Now that we are in the drivers seat, expect Josh to run more, like this time last year. Its getting to the time to turn him loose. That's what made us so hard to defend in the playoffs last year.

Don’s Place. A local bar owner from Buffalo, off of Duval St. It’s in the reviews here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34345-d10072848-Reviews-Dons_Place-Key_West_Florida_Keys_Florida.html

What a xmass gift it would be.

When does our WR coach not gesticulate wildly.

Tough week to introduce the screen game. All timing and not enough practice.

Compound the tough schedule with the chances of never winning the toss putting your D on the field for the start of the second half every game. In a few the opponent processed the ball for almost the entire third quarter. Our bend but don't break defense puts our offense in a difficult situation going into the second half if the opponent can sustain a drive. The offense can loose it's rhythm very easily in these circumstances.

It goes to the staffs thoughts on roles. In their eyes a return guy cannot be involved in the offense. They need to focus on returning only. Shakir was caught in this predicament. Could not spend enough time on offense because he was studying to be a return guy. You get Hines, thought is frees up Shakir to study the offense and make him available. Bring Duke up for returns so Hines can study for offense. It will become a rotating take turns returning with none of them in the offense wasting three roster spots because we don't feel they can prepare enough. Given the time they want guys to dedicate to special teams, we would have the second coming of Tasker. Although teams play can turn a game at times our preparation looks like not enough even though we dedicate unlimited resources to the effort. We need a running game, relief out of the backfield, a competent slot guy or TE to compete against the double high look. We incorporate none of that now because the staff lacks confidence in those that will give you that. If you believe your ability to evaluate talent is superior, how do you end up with guys you are not comfortable using. If and when they play, if they excel you are proven wise, if not you are exposed for what you are. You cannot play in fear, fear of losing because of mistakes or fear of being exposed will result in poor decision making and execution. The Fear has exposed itself many times when trying to defend a lead, in bad decisions in game management and challenge decisions. The fearless one is Allen who you give no extra resources to play with. Take the training wheels off these guys, let them ride or fall but shortchanging Allen with needed weapons for opportunity will continue to end in failure.

Winter is coming. Penguins like the cold..... Maybe it would work.