SCBills

I can see how this is the counter argument.. and maybe some fans would have done that.. but the fact that the announcers, not even us fans, Romo and Nantz were just casually discussing what Allen will look to do in those 20 seconds before kneeling it lends credence to the fact the common reaction was confusion and jaw-drops when we saw him line up for the kneel. Furthermore, if anyone is like me, the entire house was screaming at McDermott for using that timeout to ice the kicker. I have to disagree with you. I think we all were ready to live or die with our franchise QB who was dismantling the Eagles Defense all day over a Head Coach making decisions given his track record.

The Defense did not hold them to a miracle FG. The Defense allowed them to get within a 49 yard FG and then the Eagles gifted us 10 yards on mistakes. What exactly about Josh Allen and the Offense that night made you worried about giving him 3-4 plays to try and get Bass into FG range? Heaven help us if we lost the coin toss and Hurts marched down and scored on our Defense like we all knew would happen the minute we decided to kick a FG in OT.

The fact he thinks his defense did it's job to force a tough kick is wild.. They should've kicked a 49 yarder. McDermott and his Defense didn't force two false starts. Is that your defensive mastermind of a plan?... to allow them to get inside a 50 yard FG to send the game to OT? The icing the veteran kicker decision is just out-dated, meathead thinking. If he had any faith in Josh Allen, he'd hold onto the timeout, let the chips fall where they may and then tell JA to give us a shot to win it with 20 seconds and 2 timeouts. It's Wednesday and I'm somehow getting angrier about this as the week goes on....

Looking back on what we believe to be his biggest wins.. It dawns on me that McDermott is kinda who he is, and has always been.. We have some great regular season wins, like Chiefs x2, but then it hasn't translated in the Playoffs. We've had some really fantastic defensive performances against high powered gimmicky offenses (Ravens, Dolphins) but struggle against more traditional elite passing games. I will say that the defensive performance against Lamar in that playoff game was special. We have playoff wins over teams we were flat out better than.. but even in the Colts game, it took Allen being Allen to win when our defense fell flat on it's face in the second half. Nothing's really changed over the years. We have the same type of wins and the same type of losses. And each year we come up short in the margins because the teams we are competing with have the coaching advantage. Same as '20, same as '21, same as '22... If I had to pick my biggest McD wins... it's two gimmick offenses he shut down (Ravens playoffs and Dolphins this year) along with two regular season wins at Arrowhead. He is who he is. And who he is, is who he's always been. Why do we expect this to change?

Punt Oakland into the sun

I think you give McDermott the season, but at the same time.. if we come out of the bye and lose to KC with our Offense looking like it has under Joe Brady but more Defense/Coaching blunders hold us back... man.... I'm getting real close to Joe Brady Interim HC territory to see what he can do leading a team before we open a full blown search for a new HC.

The plan should be cutting him in the offseason to save 4M. Signing didn't work. Move on. Draft some real WR's for Josh Allen ... no more niche gadget speed guys or big body blocking deep threats.

Cut Morse, Harty, Tre, Poyer & Johnson and we could probably figure out how to keep this DL together. I'm not opposed to it, tbh. Philly is patching it together in the Back 7, being driven by an elite DL. We could do the same, plus we'll have Bernard & Milano at LB.

The fact we can have such a lengthy discussion over the Mount Rushmore of brutal losses under a Head Coach that has never been to a Super Bowl is hilarious and completely unserious if we miss the playoffs.. continue the regression under him.. and run it back next season.

Yes, because ESPN has become the MSNBC/FOX of sports. All they do is try to drive engagement by riling people up. If Philly misses a 59 yard FG at the end, the entire narrative yesterday would be how Josh Allen is the MVP front runner. Instead, thanks to McDermott and his Defense, we get to deal with this nonsense. Just like 13 seconds has driven the post-season JA narrative.. again, thanks to McDermott and his Defense.

I just know we enter next year at roughly 29M over the cap and we need to get younger on Defense. Due to Floyd's age, we're probably not offering him a 3-4 year deal we could offer AJE, so it would probably be a 2 year deal at more AAV. If both sides want to get it done, I'm sure we could figure it out.. just not sure Floyd's side would be willing to take less and the Bills side would be willing to play more cap games for another older player.

Leonard Floyd has been good for a few years, but not THIS good. He's absolutely dominant in Buffalo. AJE is a good DE3 with some continued upside. If we can get him on a moderate DE3 contract over 3-4 years, I think that's doable for us financially. Next year, we probably have to hope Von, fully recovered, is what Floyd is for us this year. Hope is not a strategy, but cap-wise, that's where we're at. AJE as DE3 next year will still be playing on a DL with Von, Rousseau and Oliver... plus, if I had to guess, Daquan Jones and potentially an upgrade via the Draft at DT over Phillips/Settle/Joseph/Ford.

Yea, i could go either way .. but do think one of them, maybe both, gets cut. Taron Johnson has been exposed a bit this season and while he’s still very good, I’m ok walking away if it means getting younger on defense while funneling more resources to offense. Morse makes sense if we feel Bates is an adequate replacement at C, but then we’re also likely needing to draft a C on Day 2 if we’re serious about maintaining a strong OL for Allen. And this OL has finally gotten right.. and Morse is still playing at a high level. Again though .. I could see one or both as surprise cuts …and if anyone heard Chris Brown yesterday on the morning show, he alluded to some potential surprises this off-season.

AJE can probably get done. We can give him a 3-4 year deal and play cap games with his contract. Floyd would likely be a 2 year deal, without that wiggle room .. and, unless he loves it here and is willing to take a discount, has likely played his way to a big pay day we can’t afford. We also need to get younger on defense and paying big money to Floyd for a 2 year deal isn’t helping that. Coming off injury, DaQuan Jones may be affordable. Re-sign him and AJE. Bring back Shaq for cheap. Von, Rousseau, AJE, Shaq, Jonathan Oliver, Jones Draft a WR early and then load up on DT’s and DB’s as we take a machete to the Secondary outside Douglas & Benford. Might not be popular, but letting Hyde walk, cutting Po, Tre & Johnson frees up about 18-19M, I believe. Add in 4M from cutting Harty and we’re close to what we need to get under the cap.

I agree that Orlovsky seems like a fish out of water at ESPN, given he actually has insightful, fact-based things to say. Mina Kimes is pretty good too. I think she may be out on leave right now though? In regards to the race thing.. I’ve seen a lot of that start to be mentioned based on the over the top criticism from some black analysts. And there is some there, there.. Allen isn’t your typical white QB. He came into the league as an athlete.. the moniker typically given to black QB’s, and has been viewed through a racial lens ever since he made the jump to elite QB. Some thinking he’s been given a pass on certain things a black QB wouldn’t and/or the idea that he’s the “great white hope” at QB, given he possesses otherworldly athleticism and isn’t just a drop back guy with some wiggle like Burrow.

Id imagine that Beane and McDermott don’t plan on being a package deal / interviewing together for the rest of their lives Iike Will Ferrell and John C Reilly in Stepbrothers.

Broncos won 5 in a row with some gauntlet teams … no reason we can’t. …aside from our decided HC disadvantage in but 1, maybe 2 of the games.

Not really all that worried about the cap tbh.. We return Allen, our starting OL plus depth pieces, Diggs, Shakir, Cook, Kincaid and Knox. If we go WR early in the Draft, I think it's realistic to expect this Offense to be a juggernaut next year whether it's Joe Brady at OC or a new Offensive minded HC. Defense will likely need to be revamped quite a bit. Personally, I'd cut Harty, Tre and Poyer to free up 15M. We need more than that to just get under the cap. That leaves us with a core of Von (now fully recovered), Oliver, Rousseau, Bernard, Milano, Douglas, Benford and Johnson. Get a WR early and then pull a KC circa '21 and draft a bunch of defensive guys plus some fill-in team friendly vets. I'm sure we'll try to work out offers for Floyd, Jones and maybe Epenesa... Floyd may be a pipe dream unless he just loves it here.

Is giving your opponent a free pass to mid-field not a good way to hold a one score lead?

The Offense played at an elite level yesterday. Against a top defense, on the road, in bad weather. We ran 90+ plays. 1 turnover. His defensive starters were as healthy as they’ve been all season. Nobody got hurt in game to stress the depth. McDermott, as usual, couldn’t get it done when it came to him as a HC and/or a DC. He failed us, again, on both fronts. Philly turned it over twice. Philly’s playcalling for an entire half was ridiculous. Sirianni, once again, found a way. The cherry on top… They won the game on a play where they were in utter disbelief that anyone who watches film would give them that look. They knew the game was over before they even snapped the ball. Sirianni > McDermott. McDermott never wins the chess match against the upper echelon coaches .. and it’s so, so noticeable.

We’re likely never going to have an automatic kicker playing in Buffalo .. especially in this current stadium .. but he can go if this is what we’re going to get from him. That missed 48 yard FG was a complete momentum shift that gave life to a lifeless opponent.

Yea .. I don’t trust Bass at all anymore. He’s not bad, but it’s getting close to the point where if we can get out of his contract to help do anything else .. I’d do it.

McDermott owns it because he’s the HC and he always manages to lose these games with his decision making and his defense unable to get a stop. That being said.. We had the game won if Gabe Davis adjusts his route as he should have based on the look the defense gave us. Allen threw a game winning TD pass to where Gabe should have been. I voted Tyler Bass though. The entire game changed when he missed that FG. We had just got a stop on defense out of half. Philly looked miserable. Their fans were miserable. Go up 20-7, in miserable weather, and they’re getting pretty close to “on to San Fran” mode. Instead, he missed it. Gave them life. Gave them good field position. Defense immediately gives up an explosive run. Game on.

Agreed - Although it sounds like the read based on the look given by the defense was to where Allen threw it.. which was for a game winning TD. Gabe didn't read the look the same way and ran the route as called.

Steelers and Browns are both playing with fire every game and are bound to start losing some games... but to date, they both have 4 losses and keep winning rock fights against meh opponents - so how are we to just believe that will stop happening? Texans are good, but also young, and could hit a rough patch.. but given their schedule, that's more of a hope than expectation. And now we have to worry about the Colts and Broncos. Dolphins could hit the skids with their final 2 games before our season finale, but they don't seem capable - yet - of losing to bad teams... and I don't love having to hope they remain a team that can't beat good teams.