Tanoros

The way you speak about the underutilized guys comes across as if you think the offense is broken or something. We have one of the top offenses in the league, and yes we also have room for improvement. Cook, and Shakir are rookies. They have both shown flashes, and have earned more reps over the course of the season. Hines bas been in the team for a few weeks, and is a role player. He will get more work, but he and Cook steal reps from each other. So your noting two guys as being under utilized while acknowledging that there reps directly compete each other. Knox is the most baffling one, I mean he has a great all around game, but I expected more from him in the passing game. This is Dorsey’s first year, maybe that has something to do with it. I don’t know. But that one’s legit, the rest are guys who it’s a bonus if they are more than a role player this season. BTW, it’s a bit of an over reaction to begin to even suggest Beane isn’t getting good player. Like I said, our offense is far from bad, we’ve lost 3 games by a combined 8 points, and if not for mistakes made by our team (as in correctable) we could have won all 3 of them. Yes, we can better, yes we have things to fix, but it’s plain silly to act as if there are major issues. Let’s see how we finish the rest of the regular season and go from there.

What offensive coach do you move to? It’s a dice a roll and absolutely no reason to do it at this juncture.

I don’t personally think offense is the issue either. Most who want a new coach want an offensive coach, and my point is, we can do just fine taking the next hot thing at o coordinator who can parlay that into a head coach gig. Between a top offense with Allen and a top defense. What more can anyone want? A team like that is always in the hunt for a Super Bowl. It comes down to how the season unfolds like injuries, weather, personal stuff, etc. Even though last offseason wasn’t as good as the one before, the team was, and we were 13 seconds away. Yes it’s on McDermott, but the team as a whole DID grow even though the record in the post season didn’t. Yes wins matter, but we can’t deny the team itself didn’t grow and McDermott was driving the boat. We have no clue about this season. No reason to speculate. But as you said, our offense is top notch, as is our defense. Id argue, that this years team (when mostly healthy…big if I know) is better than last years team. Again, growth/improvement. Let’s see how it ends before we make assumptions, but the team IS better. No argument there.

Projecting that far out is too hard though. It obviously depends on what happens. If we were to be as good as we are now and last season perpetually for 10+ years, it would come down to why (specifically) that we didn’t get to the Super Bowl? Another mistake like 13 seconds would be very hard to overlook, as it would show a lack of growth. But what if the losses came down to a player making a key mistake, or us having unlucky injuries, thus losing our edge (Think Tre White being out last post season, that was a key loss). It really depends. We can only look at it here and now and as it is, there has to be a specific coach in mind, and even that isn’t guaranteed. This season isn’t over, let’s see how it ends and how the team performs down the stretch. Allen has always improved from the start of the season to end. Let’s see what that is this year, and what that means for our offense.

It’s not even close to the same. Building a business isn’t the same as taking a dice roll on a new coach. As far as binding something, McDermott has built a culture any fanbase would dream of having, and we’d be lucky to get from a new coach. What has McDermott shown that makes you believe we should move on? Is 13 seconds the only thing? Or is it because we haven’t won’t a Super Bowl? Having a perfect NFL roster, including head coach isn’t going to guarantee anything, because of injuries and flukiness of the NFL season, and you want perfection. Having a team that can play with anyone year over year, gives a better chance of winning a Super Bowl. Seriously, how many coaches out there are better than McDermott currently? Would you be willing to take a gamble on a first time head coach? That could set us back years if it doesn’t work out, years that we could be right in the hunt having a chance at a Super Bowl. The chances are better than great that a first time coach will make mistakes and have to learn from them. Lord forbid that mistake come in post season, or else we’ll have a fanbase rallying to start over again. Buffalo is in a prime position to be in the hunt for a Super Bowl every year for the next 10+ years. We are more than capable of winning a Super Bowl this season and for the foreseeable future, yet you want to gamble that away because of 13 seconds? Or because we haven’t won a Super Bowl in general? Back to the growth of your business analogy, since McDermott started as a head coach, he has shown growth. He has gotten better at challenges, better game management, grew with the offense (more aggressive 4th down calls, even more aggressive 4th and goals calls). Not to mention his defense literally becoming the new, “hot” defense to stop the new hot offenses. However, growing a business isn’t the same as taking a roll of the dice on a new coach. The business growth analogy, works better when comparing to a rebuild such as McDermott/Beane did. Cut the fat, build a culture, bring people in who fit that culture, budget accordingly (FA contracts and re-signing contracts). Taking a new coach is like hiring a new manager. I’m sure some of them didn’t work out too. Quite frankly, McDermott hasn’t shown any indication that is peaked out. But let’s just say he is (which is beyond absurd, but anyway), as he is now, he is more than good enough to win a Super Bowl. Look at Pete Carroll for instance, yes he got a Super Bowl early, and had two appearances. But that was off of the back of an insanely dominant defense, and McDermott can do the same, only he has Allen (Russ wasn’t special those first couple seasons, he was just elusive and a gamer). Besides those first couple of seasons, Carroll has largely been in the same boat as McDermott. I’d personally choose McDermott over Carroll, largely because Pete hasn’t shown a willingness to adapt his offense. McDermotts already done that. What about Harbaugh, Belichick, or Tomlin? You’d prefer a coach such as them over McDermott? All have super Bowls, are not offensive coaches, and I personally would rather keep McDermott. I don’t see anything either of them would offer that McDermott doesn’t already bring.

It’s fine to feel that way, but you also have to acknowledge that it’s not a given that a coach comes in and does better either. If the organization was to move on from McDermott, it has to be for someone specific, not just anyone. The way we are constructed now with Beane/McDermott/Allen, we are in a place where we will be competitive and able to beat any team for years on end. Which also means, we have a shot at a Super Bowl for years on end. Beane has shown great ability drafting, trading, and signing contracts leading to a great roster year over year. McDermott has built a family orientated culture, which has lead to brotherhood on field, these players will run through a wall for each other (the Miami game this year is exhibit A). Besides the culture he has built, he brings a championship defense with him. Additionally, he has shown the ability to be more aggressive as Josh and the offense grew. Which is proof of his growth mindset. Which also means, there is better than good chance he learns from things such as 13 seconds (I swear, so many feel the way they do because of emotions from 13 seconds and not logic, which is fine, but not how super bowls are won). Allen can power ANY offense. With the league being the way it is, we are in a perfect position to take calculated risks at the next up and coming hot commodity at offensive coordinator, and who wouldn’t want to work with Allen for a chance to be a head coach? To me it makes more sense to take our gambles at O coordinator rather than on a brand new coach. Obviously if we get a new coach we aren’t going the defensive route, or else we stay McDermott. Better to risk an unknown at O coordinator than at head coach. Plus, this regime has already shown they will move on after 1 year if it doesn’t work out. We don’t need perfection to win a Super Bowl. What we need is to have a chance year over year. The NFL is full of injuries and other funky stuff each season. Being a serious contender every season increases the odds of getting a Super Bowl. Wishing and hoping is nice and all, but we know what we have. And what have is more than capable of getting a Super Bowl. Or do you not feel this current team can’t compete with everyone? Which point 😉

You said, “in almost any other fan base McDermott would be on the hot seat” which isn’t a, “fact” it’s an opinion, and it’s that statement that drew the emoji’s such as the puke emoji. Dude, you don’t even remember your own post, or, and I believe this proves it, your just trolling.

I didn’t post when Allen was a rookie, take it for what you will, I’ve wanted Allen since pre draft and Baker after him at the time. I can see many losing faith in a coach after something as 13 seconds. Makes sense. However, wanting to move on from him because of it, is more an emotional based decision, and not a logical one. Which is fine, but I don’t think most organizations aren’t making decisions based on emotions. From an organizational standpoint, he’d have to make a mistake like that again, stop growing, or show a decline to move on. The way the Bills are constructed now, as a football team and as an organization (Beane/McDermott/Allen), we are in a position to have a team that can beat anyone year over year. If we move on from McDermott, who is this pick? It’s a dice roll any which way, but it can’t be to move on and take a long shot, so who? You want perfection, and that’s fine, but we don’t perfection to win a Super Bowl. Beane has shown he can draft/trade/sign contracts and build a good team year over year. McDermott has shown he can build a top tier culture within his team. With players truly feeling like brothers on the field. Not to mention he brings with him an amazing, championship caliber defense. Then, Allen a qb who can power any offense. What’s that leave us, needing that’s of great importance? A great offensive coordinator! in a league valuing the next best thing as offensive coordinators. It leaves the Bills in the perfect spot to take some calculated risks on some up and coming bright offensive minds. Who wouldn’t want to work with Allen with a chance to parlay the experience into a head coaching job? I see this position as great place to be as an organization, and wholly viable way to win a Super Bowl. Ken Dorsey hasn’t shown one way or another whether he should stay or not. However, the Bills have shown that they will move on after one season if it doesn’t work out. So far, our offense is far from horrible, so let’s see how they finish the second half of the season. Allen, personally, has shown growth down the stretch each one of his seasons. So I’m curious to see what that is this year, and if Dorsey/offense has a whole do the same (kind of like how our team did at the end of last season).

I see. You’d prefer the more offensive minded. It makes sense, that’s the way the league is going. I suppose it would have to be Sean Payton or a dice roll, unless there someone else out there. I’m not 100% sure about Dorsey. But I’m sure our offense can be fine going the coordinator route, while having a defensive coach. We always have a top defense, and Allen will power any offense. Yes, it’s crucial to have a good offensive coordinator, but at this level, the Bills can afford to take some calculated risks to get some, “up and comer” who can parley the position into a head coaching job, like Daboll. This is Dorsey’s first season, he hasn’t shown that he’s a failure, but he has shown that he has room to improve. But our offense is far from bad. Beane has to prove it, but if Dorsey did fail, they better move on (we did move on from o coordinator after McDermotts first season), and that’s yet to be determined.

Of course it doesn’t mean McDermott will succeed. My point, I’ve said in a few other posts is that examples such as Reid are evidence that it CAN happen. That’s it’s not out of the realm of possibilities. But when looking at McDermott personally and trying to guess whether he will grow or not, I look at things such as him greatly valuing the growth mindset. Then other things such as the strong family type of culture, leading to amazing camaraderie on the field. Besides all of that, McDermott has gotten better at clock management, challenging, and as Allen grew, he too opened up his offensive approach and his aggressiveness (4th downs, even 4th downs near the goal line). Not to mention everything on the defensive side of the ball. I mean, it would be very hard to get a coach who would be better than him, chances are great our coaching would be worse. Obviously he isn’t perfect, and he does have things to improve. Like the mid season slumps, and 13 seconds of course. Like how you mention Bills fans hearts being ripped out (and it’s true), it feels like alot of people are speaking from a emotional perspective, rather than a logical one. To replace him though, it couldn’t be just anyone. Because the chances aren’t great to have anything better, and McDermott/Beane are the kind of combo who give your team a fighting chance every season. There is always going to be injuries and weird stuff each season, so having a team that can play with anyone is what is needed. You want perfection, and that’s fine. What your saying, you’d have to have a person and mind and even then, it’s not guaranteed.

The point your not getting, is your exact comment above could have been said about Andy Reid while with the Eagles. As you know, history is used to help understand the present, and looking back we see Andy Reid grew and developed and later won a Super Bowl on his second team, after his first gave up on him. How many others have grown and learned from mistakes? Can McDermott grow to become a coach everyone considers one of the best of his time? it’s very possible, the opposite is also possible that he doesn’t. However, we know he values the growth mindset greatly, and we’ve seen his growth from year 1 to 6. At this point in time, I don’t see evidence that his growth has stagnated or declined. Do you? If so, what do you see?

No, the 13 second blunder will ALWAYS be a part of his legacy. That’s just the way it is. But, at the same time, 13 seconds doesn’t define who he is, or who this team is. I know I have made mistakes in my career, and I’ve also learned from them, and became better for it. Many times in life, we learn more from mistakes than we do times we don’t make mistakes. That’s what so many on this board overlook, or fail to realize. They act as if we need a coach who is perfect, and never makes mistakes, especially in the biggest of moments. That’s entirely unrealistic. A more realistic outlook, is to have a coach who grows and learns from their mistakes, and gets better for it, and I believe whole heartily that McDermott is that kind of coach!

P.S - Show us some of your comments where you were down on McDermott and Allen before week 1 this season, or even after the first couple weeks of this season. Or did your opinion change after the last few weeks? Most (maybe even you), were very high on this team before the season and in the early parts of this season, now many are down on McDermott and even Allen. That’s my exact point about instant gratification. If we don’t win/boat race every team, many on this board fall apart and point fingers everywhere.

I’m referring to this season alone, ala, “instant”. The tone changed mightily after we’ve lost these last 2 games. Like you said, this is year 5 for Allen and 6 for McDermott, they’ve shown that they can beat anyone, which is exactly why people shouldn’t be overreacting. Both Allen and McDermott have defied expectations since they’ve been in Buffalo (who thought McDermott would make the playoffs year one when he was, “tanking”?). I know many will never let go of 13 seconds, and it obviously wasn’t good. But one moment doesn’t define a person or a team. I’m sure if we look back, we could point out post season blunders from other coaches who have gone on to win a Super Bowl later in their career. I personally, have no reason to doubt McDermott or Allen. They have a growth mindset, and that’s pretty damn evident.

I personally disagree about Davis. He hurt his ankle before our week 2 matchup, missing the game. He played hurt and limited weeks 3 and 4, and the only other weeks he had that weren’t so good are weeks 8 and 9 (GB and NY), with both teams putting their number 1 cb on Davis (Sauce being one of them) and bracketing Diggs. His remaining games were pretty damn good, and the Bills give him a lot of end zone targets. He still has room to grow, like learning to bear those strong man corners. But you can’t look at the stats alone and make a judgement, you have to understand the context. I also think, after the KC playoff game, most expected to see a 1B type of wr, but Gabe is a number 2, however, a really good number 2, who like I said, is still growing and developing. As for the slot, McKenzie, Crowder, and Shakir isn’t a bad way to go into the season and that’s exactly how the majority on the board saw it too. Because Crowder has injury concerns does that mean we should have signed yet another slot guy? I didn’t hear a lot of that before the season started. In just keep seeing alot of people using hindsight and saying we should have done this, or should have done that, when much of what is being said is the exact opposite of what was said before the season started. Personally, I REALLY hope we can get OBJ. He would help open up this offense even more. Him, Diggs, and Davis would be a nightmare to defend.

Most people these days want instant gratification, and if they don’t have it, they look to those that do currently and draw conclusions. Essentially, there is lack of critical thinking, replaced by knee jerk reactions/comments.

Think of all the years of fans saying the same type of sht about Andy Reid before he won his Super Bowl. Remember, he was let go from the Eagles. Coaches grow and develop too, and the Coach (like a player) can’t do it all themselves. It took the right combination of players for Andy to get a Super Bowl (no one thought KC was a Juggernaut when Alex Smith was their QB). Additionally, how many seasons has Andy Reid been a head coach? How many seasons before he won his first Super Bowl? McDermott has best Reid and the Chiefs twice, and we are 13 seconds away from beating them the last 3 times we played. That’s not even close to holding Andy Reid’s jock.

The overall amount of wr depth hasn’t changed too much the last few seasons, we’ve just not been this banged up at wr in many seasons. If you didn’t complain about the amount depth in last seasons, or earlier this season, it seems strange to complain after we’ve taken hits to our wr depth. If this was such an issue, it would have been brought up long ago. When a position group is banged up anyone can look back and say shoulda woulda type comments. Are you one of the posters who has pushed for 7 active wrs? If not, you really don’t have a lot of contribute, your just using hindsight, and anyone can do that. I’m sure Beane wishes he did more using hindsight as well. But we don’t know, it’s all guessing. What we do know, is anyone complaining about the wr depth who didn’t campaign for 7 wr on the active roster, doesn’t really have a leg to stand on now, at this point in time.

Seriously. Many fans here are showing they don’t deserve to root for a good team, to give up on the team after a couple of close losses, that we beat ourselves in. It certainly makes me disappointed in many fellow fans. As if the team has to boat race teams every week for the fans to stay fans, disgusting!

Why even watch or be a fan with a mentality like that? After suffering through the drought, how can so many forget where we were a few short years ago? I watched every Bills game I could during the drought, I love the Bills and this is still the best team we have had in a long time. I love watching this team play, even our losses. We have had 3 close losses to some good teams and the general theme for many is as if we are back to the drought Bills. People like that, will never be happy in life. Enjoy the journey, but if watching a sport gets someone so upset they are unhappy all the time. It’s most likely time to give it up. Personally, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to move in from losses much easier, and even appreciate the close game that are losses like Minnesota or even Kansas last year. As bad as I wanted to win both, I thoroughly enjoy the games that come down to the wire. I’m full of energy, cheering for the team with my daughter. It’s fun! When we win in a blowout, obviously I’m happy, but it’s not the same energy, it’s more quiet and chill. Anyway, it’s best to learn to appreciate the things we can control, while learning to better control our emotions in regards to the things we can’t control.

Every game is it’s own game. Just because we have lost close game in the past doesn’t mean we will continue to. This year specifically, this team hasn’t shown any reason to doubt them in their losses. All of the losses can be attributed to lack of execution on a handful of plays that would have led to a win. We haven’t had any blowout losses like years past. This team can literally hang with anyone, and we have Allen. EVERY season of Allens he has gotten better towards the end of the season. I for one don’t expect this season to be any different. Think back over the years, many of the teams that go on to win a Super Bowl get hot towards the end of the season, including many times the QB playing at new heights down the stretch too. What we have seen from the Bills this season, is that once we clean up the mistakes, we are unstoppable. So we have seen it this season, the Bills just need to be more consistent over the course of a full game. Also, it’s hard to knock the Bills for losing close game when many of their wins are blowouts. They haven’t had alot of close games these last few years. But think back to Allen first two years. He was one of the best at 4th quarter come backs during that time. Allen comes to play in the big moments, and he typically plays very good. I don’t expect the mental mistakes of the last few weeks to be the norm, Allen hasn’t shown any reason to believe that.

Exactly! So many are acting like the sky is falling, but we’ve been right there in everyone of our loses, and if simply cleaning up our mistakes is enough to win any/all of those games. To be quite honest, I’m feeling way better about the team this year vs last year. Not to mention, every season Allen has got better down the stretch, there is no reason to think he won’t do the same this year. Adversity builds character, we want a Super Bowl win, if losing some close games is the cost of building the character our team needs to win it all, then that’s what it takes. Either, my confidence isn’t shaken at all. This team, this season, has shown they can hang with anyone, and can beat anyone when playing mistake free. The Bills literally control their own destiny, and have the tools win it all.

Agree, Allen had Davis wide open on the 3rd down play. No one questions the play calling if we get a TD there. Sure running could have worked, but we called a play that should have been a TD if not for the execution of the players.

The only thing disappointing this season with Poyer are the injuries, his play while on the field, hasn’t been disappointing at all. Besides the injuries, he has battled like hell to play through them, that’s FAR from disappointing. Tell me, what about Poyer this season, other than injuries, has been disappointing?

If he plays, he plays the game. I don’t see them bringing him in for a series or two, that’s what practice is for. Not a live game.