Luka

Even with a couple rough games they were the third scoring offense in the league. They played a wild card game in which they didn't punt. The negativity around the team now has skewed the perception of that team. The offense was dominant that season. No real other way to frame it. 4000+ passing yards, 2000+ rushing yards and nearly 500 points.

Ken Dorsey had nothing to do with the offense being one of the top scoring teams in the league. That's called having Josh Allen and Steffon Diggs. The issue with Dorsey was his inability to get other guys involved. I think Kincaid and Cook being used sparingly was the biggest issue for Dorsey. You have got to scheme around your talent. It can't just be Allen to Diggs every down. And maybe that's Josh too. It was not an issue under Daboll, however. McKenzie and Beasely were consistently schemed in. Quick outs, end arounds, jet sweeps. For Brady to be successful, he needs to get Josh back into an offense where he has multiple options. The RPO style of offense needs to return. Josh is one of the best rushing quarterbacks of all time. The threat of his legs needs to make it's way back into this offense. It's a massive advantage and weapon that the coaching staff has attempted to table. It's part of Josh's personality. He needs to stiff arm, he needs to hurdle, he needs to put a shoulder into someone. It doesn't have to be the focus, but it needs to be prominent enough that defenses respect it again and that Josh is back to his old self on the sideline. RPO would also be it's most dangerous this year with a weapon like Cook. He has shown that if you miss a gap assignment, you've given up a first down or more. The RPO puts pressure on the defense. The moment of hesitation the ball fake/hand off creates could really set Cook loose. His abilities as a receiver are woefully underused in this offense as well. I do find it amusing when everyone on the board wants the K-Gun to return because maybe they don't realize the true engine in that offense was Thurman Thomas. He was top 5 in yards from scrimmage nearly every year in that offense. Not to say Cook is Thurman Thomas, but he certainly could become the engine that makes this offense go. Takes the pressure off of Josh and gives him some high percentage completions when the offense bogs down. Shakir's role in this offense is downright criminal. He is sure handed and an excellent route runner. It's why he was drafted and those traits have translated to the NFL. Brady would do well to be in Josh's ear. Look for Shakir. The reliance on Davis to be the #2 in this offense has not worked. And it's silly with Shakir and Kincaid that they continue to look at Gabe as the second option. Kincaid by the way, looks to be a bonafide super star tight end. I've seen him running some pretty generic looking routes under Dorsey. Another playmaker that is underutilized up until this point. Dorsey was unfortunately very much like Fraizer in that statistically, things look great. But on the field, in key moments especially, the play calling and the decision making really let the team down. Brady may suffer the same fate, because ultimately, the guy putting his stamp on things is still there.

Ken Dorsey strikes me as the guy who's always angry at work no matter what the situation. I know that the overall mood at OBD is pretty poor right now. McDermott has not been great at managing the personalities on the team. His loyalty to people he has worked with prior has stagnated the team. The situation with Elam comes to mind. Rather than develop young talent, McDermott wants a guy he's coached before or one of his friends in the league coached them or they had dinner together or whatever the case. He is after like minded people because he really struggles with people outside of his comfort zone. Daboll was a big personality in the building. He built a close relationship with the best player on the team. For better or worse, he was creative. I think he related to the guys in the room better. Guys wanted to play for him. I mean the 13 second Bills had a Super Bowl winning offense. That side of the ball was absolutely unbelievable for most of that year. And I don't think McDermott had a single thing to do with it. And that was an issue. Diggs has become a toxic and polarizing figure on the team. The mellow drama that has played out with him this offseason and still continues into this week, should have been shut down immediately. But now his brother has created a rift between the franchise quarterback and not just his #1 receiver, but who he considers his best friend. And anyone who's ever held a job knows, these kinds of incidents at work definitely create tension. Everyone will have their own opinion about the situation. And the incidents with Josh on the sidelines. Are those truly harmless interactions? While a great player, I would not think that these would go unchecked by the head coach. The reports this offseason that Diggs may not even report for training camp eluded to a rift between coaches and players, Diggs clearly the figurehead in this situation. Fraizer was fired. Statistically, coached a top 5 defense in Buffalo. Assistant head coach. A highly respected coach and human being through out the NFL. Coaches typically don't step away from a position where they have been successful. The way it was presented outside of OBD, to me, hints at a power struggle that happened shortly after the end of the season and one that was lost by Fraizer. In my opinion, McDermott not bringing on a new defensive coordinator was a mistake, but it was never about who he felt could coach the defense successfully. It was about power within the organization. In the press conference, the mentioning of what a great relationship he has with Terry is what should worry all of us the most. He's basically saying to the media, don't bother asking about my status with the company or if I'll be fired, because he knows he won't be. Anyone that questions McDermott has been steamrolled right out of the building. Two very influential coaches in two consecutive offseasons. He puts Ken Dorsey, his guy, in as offensive coordinator. He no longer has an assistant head coach or a defensive coordinator. He already had a great deal of influence when it came to the draft and personnel decisions off the field. This team is more McDermott's than it ever has been. These press conferences will become more and more unsettled if the team continues to flounder because he has truly run out of scapegoats. Talking about "what's wrong with Josh" might be foreshadowing to who's going to bear the burden of McDermott's failures as a coach and leader this offseason.

Poor route concepts can lead to interceptions as well. There has been lots of double clutching and indecisiveness on Allen's part but we all know what he's capable so I'm inclined to put a lot of the interceptions on play calling. The one thing that Allen certainly can take full blame for is the multitude of fumbles he's been responsible for through out his career. Not sure why coaching hasn't been able to correct that honestly. It's fundamental football.

Can't change history.

We are devoid of talent on defense at this point. Jones, Milano and Tre all being out for the season has made this a very pedestrian unit. Von Miller isn't going to magically return to his former self. He's still playing limited snaps and has very little impact. Oliver has gone back to being doubled because there isn't anyone in the 3 or on the edge really commanding any attention. The linebacking corps is brutal without Milano. Bernard has looked good but I truly believe the adjustment to Milanos injury should have been Bernard in his spot and Klein or Spector in the middle. Dorian and Dodson are not good. And the corner play has just been atrocious. Not playing Elam has made zero sense with how depleted we are at corner. Benford makes all the same mistakes with holding and PI but only if he's anywhere near the receiver. Dane is still Dane, Taron looks lost out there sometimes, like he's unsure if he should be playing linebacker or corner. I think we've seen time and time again, zone defense with no pass rush means trouble. Recent history says we should be the Cheifs and the Cowboys but without pressure I don't think we can hold up against the best QBs in the league.

If we lose to the Broncos or Jets you can pretty much start making non football plans for January. This team has an absolute gauntlet to end the season. Philly, Dallas, KC, Miami, Chargers and the Pat's who we've already lost to. Zero room for error against the teams we should beat. Being swept by the Zach Wilson led Jets would be enough for me for this coaching staff. Every year we blame an assistant or a coordinator but the stench is coming from the top. We have to beat the Broncos, Jets and Pats and hopefully dominate Miami a second time. Then maybe beat the Chargers and back into the playoffs on a wildcard. I do not have hope that we can beat the Bengals, Cowboys, Chiefs and Eagles. 10-7 seems about right for this team.

You could argue Milano is the best linebacker in the league if he wasn't constantly injured.

I'd just be happy with some tempo once in awhile to capitalize on momentum after a big play.

Cook would have to be featured in the passing game more for 12 personnel to be truly effective. My big question is why no RPO? Josh is a big man and the threat of his legs needs to make a return. Run a QB power out of 12 personnel a couple times and teams might start thinking about who's out there depending on down and distance. We used to run that pop pass to McKenzie out of an RPO play action. Daboll was much better at threatening defenses with Josh's legs and it really created a ton of opportunities for Josh to make plays. Josh has to be Josh if this team wants to even sniff the playoffs. The defense is essentially a 2nd team defense with a couple notable names like Poyer and Floyd sprinkled in. Corner play has been awful. No matter who plays linebacker, if one of them isn't Matt Milano, that group is below average. It's time for it to be the Josh Allen show again.

And he's STILL better than any of the other corners we've been putting on the field. Benford and Jackson got worked by a bunch of nobodies with Mac Jones of all people throwing the ball.

Whatever you say, he's better than any of the other ones we've been putting on the field, full stop.

With Tre out we have the worst collection of corners in the league and the only one with natural talent and instincts for the position has been in the dog house with McDermott since he got drafted because he can't wrap his head around standing there and letting the receiver catch the ball like the other guys.

I think we just need less Diggs, more Kincaid, Shakir, Cook and Harty.

The difference between a good coach and a mediocre one.

He's killing the offensive momentum by not running. And not for nothing but every time he's gotten injured he's been in the pocket. New England was piling on the blitzes because teams are starting to realize Josh really isn't going to run.

Every year, he makes a scapegoat of one of his coordinators or assistants. But the one constant is McDermott and the results continue to speak for themselves. And at this point, he's lost the locker room. Diggs is a loose cannon, Allen's confidence is shot at this point. The defense is absolutely atrocious. It's about time to move on from this staff, way too much talent on this roster for these performances to continue.

Exactly. A good linebacker in the run game is able to diagnose the play before the linemen can get to that second level.

Are we talking about the Chargers or my fantasy team?

I agree. I mentioned this same thing in Virgil's thread. Dorsey needs to get of his own way. You can call the obvious play at times and it won't matter if the defense knows it's coming because you have Josh Allen and Diggs and Cook and Kincaid etc. It's almost as if Dorsey doesn't have the confidence in his players at times to just call the sneak and get the 1st and move on. That screen on 3rd and 12 was another play where it's like we went into a conservative shell. You run a route tree to pick up the first down and you let your top 5 QB make a throw to convert. That's the beauty of having a future Hall of Fame QB. We've watched plenty of teams where we all knew that screen was the only play that would give our offense a chance, this is not one of those teams.

The offense looks disjointed at times, most likely a side effect of having an inexperienced coordinator. Some of the play calls were just atrocious. The screen on 4th and half a foot is an obvious sneak situation and Josh is the only person that can prevent Josh from picking up at least two yards. Could've been called the play before and Josh would've picked it up. Dorsey should probably learn how to go with the flow and let Josh make him look good. Dab would do this also at key moments and it's why some fans got sick of him and weren't particularly sad to see him go. You do not need trick plays with this much talent on offense. If you want to use them, 1st or 2nd down is the time to call them and really should be used when you've got a defense on it's heels, say after a big gain on 3rd and long to convert. The front 4 have looked superb the last two games. The McDermott experiment so far is a rousing success. Much more aggressive, really getting guys into situations where their individual talent has the opportunity to wreak havoc. Bernard has clearly responded in a huge way after being handed the keys to the defense in the offseason. He is what you want out of a middle linebacker in this system. Quick to diagnose and fast to the ball. My hope now is that he can add some weight like Milano did and maintain his speed. If that happens Beane and McDermott may have really hit the jackpot with Bernard. I am with you on the situation at running back. I think it's obvious that Cook is RB1 and Murray is RB2. Cook is the kind of guy you want to feed a little bit because if he gets loose he's capable of a house call from anywhere on the field. Murray is a great change of pace and is more stout against contact but man, when I see Cook run I can't help but think the kid has a chance to be special. (Happy Birthday to him.) Harris is good too, but to me it seems like he was brought in as insurance maybe? If Cook couldn't cut it this year?

This is my thought as well. He's got a lot of yes men now, instead of coaches. His time committments outside of football could be a big part of it as well. Not hungry in the offseason anymore. Busy doing commercials, dating actresses etc. I love Josh but something is up in the background and it has really affected his play on the field. That could be the rift between him and Diggs for all we know. In his defense, I don't think Josh anticipated Dorsey making so many changes, I think his thought process was Dorsey will just come in and call Daboll's plays and that hasn't happened. And with McDermott focusing on the defense now, Dorsey is the top guy and he had never proven that he could be an NFL cooridnator, let alone an assisstant head coach in some capacity. The front office really should've had a hiring process for the offensive coordinator position, someone experienced enough to fill the assistant head coach position that Fraizer vacated. Someone that commands some respect, for lack fo a better term. The team seems more and more dysfunctional, which is in stark contrast to when McDermott took over and that was the first thing I think fans noticed, was how prepared his teams were in the past.

He was 2nd on the team in interceptions with limited snaps. McDermott is going lunch pail over talent. Very Jauron of him.

That happens when you can make any throw on the field.