Logic

I think the Bills are in a win/win right now as far as offensive coordinator is concerned. Either Joe Brady turns out to be great and creative and a big improvement over Ken Dorsey, in which case the Bills can keep him as OC and have continuity in the playbook and system and a guy who's already been working with Josh, but a better teacher/coach/playcaller running the offense. - OR - Brady proves not to be the guy, and the Bills can go out and find an OC this offseason (assuming they're not also looking for a new HC) that can start fresh and bring completely new ideas to the offense and hopefully reinvigorate Josh and everyone else. Either way, I'm so relieved that Dorsey is gone. Whether or not McDermott follows him out the door remains to be seen, but hopefully we can all at least agree that the Dorsey move needed to be made, and provides a breath of fresh air to a team direly in need of it.

Sorry. I should have said: I do not believe that anything physical is to blame for Josh Allen's shortcomings this year. I believe there have been two primary problems with him: The main one is his brain. The second one is the coaching he has (or has not) received. I do not believe that his shoulder is significantly hindering his performance in any meaningful way. Fix the QB's head, and you'll fix the QB. The shoulder ain't it.

You said it perfectly. Nothing more to be added. Sometimes, it's just time for a fresh start. It feels like the Bills and McDermott have reached that point. Let McD go turn around another franchise, like the Panthers. Let the Bills be re-invigorated by a new coaching staff. It's time. It's what's best for both parties.

No.

I think people just find the notion that this Bills team -- which has looked uniformly good in probably two games out of ten this season -- is suddenly going to pull such a 180 that they are able to go 5-2 in a stretch that includes road games against the Chiefs, Eagles, Chargers, and Dolphins, and home games against the Jets and Pats (who already beat the Bills) and Dallas (who looks legit). I'm an eternal optimist, and even I look at the remaining schedule, the way the team has played this year, and think to myself: If they go 5-2 the rest of the way and make the playoffs, it will be an absolute miracle. Besides, how often has a midseason offensive coordinator change been the type of spark for a team that ignites such a notable turnaround in fortunes? Personally, I see 8-9 or 9-8 and a bitterly divided and depressed Bills fan base when Pegula announces McDermott will remain head coach in 2024. I can only hope that he brings an a really high quality OC if that happens, otherwise my excitement for next year will be completely shot.

FIRE BRADY!!! (sorry...partly I'm trying to get a head start, but also I just don't like guys named Brady)

I don't disagree that the players were the primary problem last night...but whose job is it to get those players ready? When it's not just one player having issues with execution, ball security, and sloppiness...when it's pretty much every player on offense...that points to one thing, in my opinion: Coaching. Guys like Cook and Diggs and Allen didn't all just suddenly become worse players from last year to this year. Their trend of regression that begin when Daboll left and continues now points, again, to coaching. When an entire offense worth of players is failing and committing the same errors week after week, the coach in charge of that offense is not doing a good enough job.

This is it to me in a nutshell. It's not that Dorey had an awful playbook or didn't call a lot of plays that should've worked, but which Allen (and/or others) did not execute properly. It's that it's DORSEY'S JOB to coach Allen to see those things. It's DORSEY'S JOB to have the players prepared and executing well. For whatever complaints anyone has about his actual playcalling -- and I have many gripes, from poor understanding of game flow and logical play sequencing to misuse of personnel to abandoning what's working -- it's his actual COACHING of the players, the preparation and execution, that was his major weakness and his downfall. I defended Dorsey for a long time. But one can only witness so many consecutive weeks of unprepared/sloppy play, missed assignments, two receivers winding up in the same spot on the field, and lack of rhythm before saying "enough is enough". Analytics and EPA and DVOA be damned. Anyone with a set of eyeballs could see it just wasn't working for Dorsey. He failed in too many areas to think things were going to significantly improve. And worst of all, the MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER on the team is regressing and looking lost and reckless and depressed. This move needed to happen.

Well said. To add to what you just said: If your calling card as a head coach is mental toughness, attention to detail, and disciplined football, and your team is no longer ticking any of those boxes....what are you offering, exactly? If you're a defensive mind who -- when given the shot as the de facto defensive boss -- doesn't get the job done on defense (and yes, I know there have been an unreal amount of key injures), then what are you offering, exactly? I have always been a McDermott defender, but my gut and my eyeballs (not to mention the look on Josh Allen's face most games) tell me it's time for a fresh start.

Fair enough. I'll ask it again at the end of the season then, and we can compare results.

I'm trying to get a feel for where Bills fans stand on this issue this morning. Simple Yes or No question.

My best guess: 1.) Josh has the weight of the world on his shoulders. From 13 seconds, to a massive extension and commercials and the cover of Madden, to being Super Bowl favorites last year and all that happened, to this season. I don't think that people can imagine what the type of adulation and hero worship that Bills fans foist on Allen can do to a person. 2.) With the sky high expectations mentioned above, McDermott's coaching style, and the offense not gelling under Dorsey, I think Josh (and other players) have stopped having fun. And the worse things have gotten this season, the more it's snowballed. They all feel tremendous pressure to get it right, and the more they have continued NOT to get it right, the more the "not having fun, trying too hard" effect has snowballed and built on itself. The bottom line is this: Firing Dorsey was a good and necessary first step. Eliminate a variable. Put the crosshairs solely on the head coach. But in all likelihood, only one thing will fully save Josh Allen and restore the fun-loving, free-wheeling player (and team) we all miss seeing: A fresh start. A new chapter. Close the books on the Sean McDermott era, on 13 seconds, on all of it. A new head coach, a completely new coaching staff. Preferably a young, innovative, upbeat offensive mind who can re-spark the passion in this team that it appears to direly need. I have always defended Sean McDermott, and I still doubt that he actually gets let go this offseason, but frankly, I've reached the point where I feel that it's what's needed. It's not that he's a bad coach, it's not that he's entirely at fault for everything that happened. It's just....it's time. It's time for a fresh start.

That's true, but with a competent OC in the booth last night, it would have never come down to the field goal at the end anyway.

Good. At least SOMETHING good came from this loss. I defended Dorsey for a long time, but it became wildly clear over the past few weeks that he needed to go. He just didn't have a feel for game flow, sequencing, or logical play-calling AT ALL. Last night was the final straw. Now the Bills have a seven game audition for Joe Brady, and then hopefully they hire a bright, young, innovative OC in the offseason, since I doubt McD is getting the ax.

It seems pretty simple: While not TECHNICALLY certain, a loss tonight would likely mean the end of the Bills' playoff chances. Dropping to 5-5, with games remaining against the Chiefs, Cowboys, Chargers, Eagles, and Dolphins, not to mention the Jets and Pats who have both already beaten them...it's hard to see how the Bills could lose more than two games the rest of the way and have any kind of shot at playoffs, and even 10-7 might not get it done with how stacked the AFC is. It doesn't matter, of course, because the Bills are gonna win tonight. But if somehow, some way, they don't? Stick a fork in 'em, they're done.

The Bills could add the love child of Usain Bolt and Roadrunner and Ken Dorsey would have him running 5 yard hitch routes and outs all game.

Not.

I feel like the Bills are markedly better on offense EVERY SINGLE TIME they go into hurry-up! It simplifies what defenses can do, it allows Josh more time to survey the defense pre-snap and make protection changes and audibles, and it probably means a bit more Josh and a bit less Dorsey, which we can all likely agree seems pretty appealing right about now. I understand all the talk about varying tempos, controlling the flow of the game, blah blah blah, but if you ask me, the Bills' base offense should be hurry-up no huddle unless and until opposing defenses routinely show they can stop it.

Now is not the time for logic and for reasoned analysis, my friend. Now is the time for pounding on lockers and crushing beer cans against one's cranium and shouting cliches and listening to pump-up songs and saying "LET'S F'N GOOOO" way too loudly to people who were just innocently walking by. IT'S GAME DAY, MOTHERFU*KER!!! (just kidding, do whatever you want, it's your life).

All the Bills need to do is go out and kick ass tonight. Not a "take it down to the wire" win, not a "take 5 years off the life of Bills fans" win, not a "play down to the level of our opponents" win. I'm talking a scorched earth, Josh Allen 4 TDs, Stefon Diggs 2 TDs, 41-20 ass whipping, with Kyle Allen taking snaps in the 4th quarter and Josh and Diggs joking around on the sidelines. Go do that on national TV, then do it again next week against the Jets, and the Bills will be 7-4, with a shot of much needed confidence and a big matchup looming at Philly before the bye week. "You can get it done, you can get it done. And what's more, you've GOTTA get it done!"

Yeah...I know it's not this simple, but...I'd be fine with the Bills shedding a bunch of age and salary cap from their defense in the offseason and going with a youth movement there. I think they have some nice younger building blocks/cornerstones in Ed Oliver, Groot, AJ Epenesa (if re-signed), Bernard, Milano, Benford, Dane Jackson, and Taron Johnson. And they can keep a couple "old" guys like Rasul Douglas and Daquan Jones if they want. But...I like the idea of getting younger, faster, fresher, and cheaper on defense, and re-investing some of that money into the offense instead. The Chiefs went this route, and now are in better salary cap shape than the Bills going forward (if I'm not mistaken), AND they have the better defense. It would be one thing if the Bills defense was still elite, but it's not. They're currently bottom 3 in DVOA AND they're old and beat up. Yes, I realize injuries have played a big part in their poor performance this season, but...the injury issue is just going to get worse before it gets better so long as the Bills are so old on defense. **Side note** I'm so jealous of the Chiefs' coaching situation. They have an elite offensive mind (and Hall of Famer) locked in as head coach for the long term, and one of the league's best defensive minds in Steve Spagnuolo to run the defense. And because Spags isn't a trendy young name and has already had his shot as head coach, he's not likely to get poached any time soon. Great coaching on both sides of the ball, and stability on both offense and defense because neither playcaller is going anywhere any time soon. Damn them.

Guessing Benford and Hyde don't go. They'll wanna be cautious with both. Rasul Douglas may be about to see a full game's worth of snaps. If Bernard can progress from Limited to Full tomorrow, he should be good. Otherwise, he might be down for the week, too. Diggs will be fine.

If they bring in a new offensive coordinator this offseason, I'd like it to be a fresh, new take on things. A new mind from outside the organization. Enough with the "promoting continuity" thing. I fully understand why that might seem desirable, what with not wanting Josh to have to learn a new system and new terminology and all, but...If you're canning Dorsey, it's an admission that things as they are structured now are simply not working. And if THAT'S the case, then it's time for something completely different. I won't pretend to know enough about the various candidates to be able to pick which one I'd like best, I'm just saying I'd opt for something completely new over promoting Brady or Shula. As for defensive coordinator, I think it's much more likely they'll promote a Bobby Babich or an Eric Washington. Though frankly, I'd be in favor of them bringing in a fresh new mind on defense, as well. That's less of a big deal, because you can still pick a 4-3, zone-based guy, if you don't want to have to overhaul your defensive personnel. If the GM, HC, and QB are staying, but we come to the conclusion that the team is regressing rather than progressing, then the only logical solution in my mind is a fresh start on offense and defense. Again, I'm not equipped at this moment to pick specific names, but..."promoting from within for the sake of continuity" no longer makes any sense in my opinion.