Yobogoya!

So... the Process is a pyramid scheme now?

Yeah. I mean on the one hand I feel like McD is at least something of a player's coach - he has historically opted not to practice in the elements ahead of a game with inclement weather, he practices almost extreme caution when it comes to guys coming back from injury, and then obviously the Damar situation from last year kind of speaks for itself. I don't think he's quite as despised as people on here assume. But on the other hand, I think he's a bit "stifling" for sure. Look at the Diggs situation, for example. He wants guys to keep their trap shut to the media, keep EVERYTHING in house. Does that stop the drama from becoming a circus, or just make it worse? I don't know. But some of these guys, Allen and Diggs included, seem like they're ready to burst a gasket, lol. You can preach the team first process. You can take a my-way-or-the-highway attitude. Belichick and the Pats did it for years and players put up with it -- but that's cause they were always competing for a championship. And many times, they won. That buys a lot more tolerance from players. If the "process" doesn't pan out, that angst will definitely turn to resentment. That might be where we're at now...

Yeah there's a lot of ways to look at those points you made. Obviously Philly thought Reid would never get them over the hump - in a sense, they were right. But also, Reid's won two championships since then and has over the course of his career got considerable production from QB's like McNabb and also Alex Smith. Guys who are probably mid or high-level journeymen in any other offensive scheme. The big problem with McDermott is it's hard to justify his value, especially in the context of having an elite QB. He's a solid defensive coordinator, and in some ways he and Frazier innovated the modern "big nickel" defense that's all the rage right now. But his situational decision-making, the level of preparedness we see on a week to week basis? It's not great. As a guy who can't coordinate the offensive side of the ball, he has to prove he's among the Harbaugh's and Belichick's of the world when it comes to getting this team's overall execution at a high level. If he can't do that, what's the difference between him and the next hot up-and-coming OC? That's where we're at, at this point.

Yeah that's the mob mentality that we humans love so much at work there. Not that I wasn't for moving on from Dorsey, but as you say, was this the right time? For me, I'd have either done it before Cinci (10 days prep) or just waited for the bye week. But whatevs. 🤷‍♂️

I get the sentiment here and certainly there's a lot to criticize when it comes to McD, but I don't get the fans asking to see "accountability" as if the man is supposed to... what? Is he supposed to fire himself? Just because a HC isn't immediately let go doesn't mean he's not being held accountable. I think sports fans are too quick to think of a coach being fired as the only acceptable response when a coach f's up. But just for some perspective, Andy Reid had some brutal playoff losses in Kansas City before Mahomes came along (to say nothing of his consecutive NFC championship game losses in Philly). Now he's paired with an elite QB and is leading the new NFL dynasty. The majority opinion after KC's 2015 divisional loss to the Patriots was "same old Andy Reid chokes in the postseason, he'll never win it all." If he was "held accountable" after that game and fired, is KC where they're at right now? I think Terry is in a tough position. McDermott and Beane have given Buffalo sports the most consistent success we've seen in over twenty years. Now I firmly believe Josh Allen deserve the bulk of the credit for that, but if we're holding McDermott responsible for the brutal losses, we also have to give him some credit for the success as well. Just trying to play some devil's advocate.

Mostly a bunch of knucklehead nobodies who routinely try and fumble games away. Personally, I hope he keeps them all long after Kelce retires 😏

A curse within a curse? Curse-inception???

Maybe Jauron was right all along. 😅

I thought it was the @Araiza Curse??

That you, McD??

Yeah you'd think he'd at least utilize the bye week for this change, so Brady could tweak and refine the offense at least a bit. Giving him a short week to prepare for that Jets D?? The timing definitely looks like McD is just trying to deflect from last night's performance. Hey, maybe the change invigorates the team for this matchup, but... well, I won't get my hopes up.

Are you saying Clark W. Griswold wasn't a wildly successful vacation planner? You take that back!

He's like a guy who plans out every detail of the family vacation but blames everyone else when it doesn't work out like he planned. He's the Clark W. Griswold of head coaches. 😂

Was that the wheels coming off or was that just another day at the office? Or is it that much worse that nothing about last night surprised me? 😂

I've wondered about this a lot, not just in recent years but in general. McD's first few seasons, we had relatively little in the way of season-ending injuries -- particularly to key players. I thought he must have brought in some S&C guru's that helped to provide that, but now the last couple years our injury report is miles long and key players are dropping like flies. Are we maybe investing too heavily in aging players? Paying guys lots of money after age 30 and putting them in key roles might be a factor here, at least as far as nagging injuries are concerned.

They aren't going to fire McD mid-season, not as long as the season is still salvageable. Frankly as much as I'm a critic of the man, I think he's earned that unless the wheels come completely apart over the next few weeks. But I think the door is open for him to be fired after this season. I didn't think that would be possible even with our early struggles, but I do now.

The data is actually interesting in a vacuum, but it's missing context. It may SUGGEST RANDOMNESS, but these games are NOT determined at random. This isn't a Madden simulator. In real time, coaches are making decisions and calling plays. At the end of these games, players are on the field trying to execute those decisions. Those decisions have led to such infamous outcomes as the Hail Murray and 13 Seconds. They've led to us losing in humiliating fashion to mediocre teams several times this year. Was it "random" that Tom Brady and Belichick routinely won these games? Is it "random" that Mahomes and Reid now do the same? Well, like you say: It's food for thought I guess. 😏

Lol, I'm really not sure why this is your hill to die on right now. Regardless of how you get there, if the game is close at the end someone is (probably) going to win it. This season we're 2-5 in those games, and the two games we won the argument could be made we never should have had to survive a last gasp effort by those teams. Especially Tyrod and the Giants, it's just inexcusable. But if you're ok with our clown-shoes coaching staff sending 12 players onto the field to blow another close game, in prime time, at home, in laughable fashion, go ahead... keep defending them on this.

Yes, even worse than just losing these types of games is that we love to lose them in some gaffe, clown-shoes type of way. This last game with the 12 men on the field negating a missed goal that would have sealed our victory was just hilarious because it's exactly how we routinely blow these games! haha

I actually didn't leave out 2020, I mentioned that year second line in my post. It's part of what makes the last three years so frustrating. I feel like the point you're trying to make is that everyone sucks in one score games, so we shouldn't judge McDermott too harshly in this regard. Which is fine, except the top team in this graph is the exact team that stands between us and a championship EVERY year. Frankly the Chiefs and Mahomes are the primary team I'm concerned about comparing against. And as you've illustrated perfectly: the Chiefs close out and win these games very well. We don't. If you're OK with that, that's fine. But our best chance for a super bowl came down to 13 seconds. Remind me: the top team in your graph won that game, didn't they? Well, I guess it's fine if we lost since your chart shows 27 other teams probably would have lost too. I guess? Right.

What would make me feel better is if we didn't blow a go-ahead score to QB's who suck. QB's like Mac Jones. Take a look at this image of Mac Jones' passer rating this year. Does anything stand out to you? What would make me feel better is if the Bills defense, coordinated by our head coach, wasn't the worst at shutting down an absolute train wreck of a QB this year. That would make me feel better. A little bit anyway.

That number includes playoffs. It's a similar 6-13 if you don't include those games. This is after a 2020 season in which the Bills were 4-1 (including playoffs) in games decided by 7 points or less. I knew Josh was a gamer after his rookie season in 18, despite the struggles. There were flashes of greatness my eyes had never seen in a Bills QB (I was just a tot when Kelly played and had no real appreciation for the game back then). After 2019, there was progress and a sense we were turning the corner. But after that 2020 season, when Josh was not just a great QB but a guy who routinely led 4th quarter comebacks like it was nothing? Man, I remember thinking: "THIS is it. THIS is what it feels like to have a QB where you just KNOW you can win any game at the end." Since then, this team has coughed up more winnable games -- and against some downright terrible competition mind you -- than I ever thought possible. And even though Josh has literally "thrown away" a couple of those games, there's been plenty where he's led us to the go-ahead score just for it to fall apart afterwards. That's on the culture. That's on guys in the locker room who just don't have the "gamer" in them to close out and finish. That's on coaches missing the key detail that gets the stop. And I hate to say it, but we've seen this for a long while now... even despite the strong records this regime has put up and the massive point differential we were boasting about for a while there. We need guys on the field and on the sideline who "know how to win." This team has looked its weakest in the biggest moments they've faced. That kind of says it all, doesn't it?

Well I had a couple shots too 😅

There's a sick part of me that hopes Allen can't start a game this year (not that I want him hurt, of course). Some people on this board deserve to see what this team looks like with Kyle Allen as it's QB. I can assure you it will be the clusterf--- of the McDermott era. Possibly even worse than the Peterman debacle.