JohnNord

I don’t believe they have identical strategies but I don’t think McDermott interfered in the offense as much as some haters want you to believe. I think he largely gave Brady the autonomy to call the offense and he elected to focus more heavily on the running game, screens and shorter throws based on the lack of talent at WR the past few years. I don’t believe McDermott was trying to “choke out a win” as an overall philosophy. If this was the case why was he upset that Beane never traded for WR? He wanted to score point. The offensive style IMO was almost entirely Brady. What happens when you have WR’s who can’t consistently win or challenge a defense vertically? You lean into the running and screen game to move ball in small chunks. Aka death by 1,000 paper cuts Unless it’s not the Wild card round and Josh has the ball on the final possession of the game. That’s almost always a loss. Check his stats Spot on. Beane claims this is a Super Bowl roster. That should be standard. Of course, if the Bills don’t win the Super Bowl this season, you’ll have the usual suspects here make about a million excuses.

Yeah that’s a great point. On one hand people blame McDermott for “slowing down the offense.” One the other hand the biggest argument for making Brady the HC was his success with the offense over the past three years. So McDermott gets the full blame for failures and no credit for any successes. This is the same exact narrative that Terry Pegula was trying to push about Brandon Beane. Sound familiar? What did Skip Bayless say about journalists making deals? It’s called Substack journalist which literally is blogging disguised as journalism

So convenient excuses for the offense but not the defense? Done Also let’s not pretend that Hancock is some kind of stud.

And you can’t fathom that this narrative might NOT have some truth to it. We will find out whose right when the season starts

That’s an extremely convenient excuse and it fits perfectly with the Tyler Dunne narrative you’d bought into. Like I’ve said before, we’ll see whether this correct very soon this season.

Kind of like how Josh missed receivers and threw an INT…when it mattered most? The Bills did a pretty effective job of pressuring Nix with blitzed and simulated pressures. There are only 11 players on the field, you can’t double cover everyone. When your front 4 can’t get any pressure, you need players to win some reps. Conversely if they played coverage you’d complain about not being aggressive enough

This is a convenient excuse Yes, and it’s not just Sanders and Walker. You also have players like Landon Jackson, DeWayne Carter and Terrell Bernard at LB. Maybe even Dorian Williams. it’s largely the same group as last season, partly because these players were higher draft picks and I think Beane wants to show that he can draft. So much of the success this season will come down to Jim Leonhard. It’s a lot to ask for a first-time DC but it’s the position he’s in. Of course if he’s bad there will be tons of excuses. If he’s really good, there’s a chance he could be a HC very soon…if not 2027

The whole “complimentary football” trope is getting comical in the Bills Mafia. Coaches use that phrase all the time, including the ones who aren’t considered to be conservative like Andy Reid. The Dunne narrative that McDermott slowed down the offense is a convenient narrative to push optimism toward Brady. We will find out if it’s true next season. I personally think it was a result of leaning onto what they were good at (rushing) and getting away from what they struggled to do (throw the ball downfield to crappy WRs)

You clearly have bought into the Dunne bias. We will see very soon whether McDermott held back the offense or if that was the Joe Brady offense. You made a point that I have been harping on a lot regarding injuries. When McDermott defense were at full strength or close, they have looked completely different from the maligned group on the field the last few years. It happened in 2022 with a healthy Von Miller. In 2023 when Milano and Jones were playing at high levels and Tre was getting back himself. Then last season with a healthy Hoecht and Oliver. His defense needs to win in the trenches and get pressure with 4 rushers. It’s not meant to pressure through blitzing. In fact, McDermott did a really good job of cooking up simulated pressures this season because his front 4 largely sucked. When the defense was healthy it looked completely different than the much maligned group that has taken the field in January. And despite ALL of this, the “transcendent QB” and offensive OC mastermind had the ball with a chance to win the game with a TD the last 3 years. They failed every time. But now that failed OC is a great HC because he’s “high energy.” Or because Dunne told you so…

You did an excellent job of summarizing Dunne’s work - especially since he left mainstream media. I think Tyler Dunne is a good writer but he definitely has a specific pattern he follows now. His deep dives on players or draft picks are well-done, but they just don't get the clicks or interest big controversy does. His MO is pretty clear to me. He zeros in on a high-profile vested person in a successful franchise who already divides the fan base (Mike Zimmer, Sean McDermott, Aaron Rodgers, Dave Gettleman). To make his point, he brings in a ton of anonymous quotes from former players or coaches who are no longer with the team. A lot of these guys could have an ax to grind, and while Dunne might include one "on-the-record" person for balance, that perspective usually gets drowned out by all the unnamed sources. This ends up creating a huge confirmation bias for frustrated fans. They read his stuff and treat it like it’s hard-hitting news from a major outlet, when really it’s more of an editorial built on anonymous gossip. Since he’s not at a big publication anymore, that checks and balances system where editors force you to triple-check sources just isn't there. The funny part is how he pivots once the team finally moves on from the guy he was targeting. He immediately starts hyping up the replacement (ie KOC, Jordan Love, Joe Brady, or Joe Schoen) and goes soft on them when they disappoint. You see it with Brandon Beane now too. Dunne won't say a bad word about him and always finds ways to minimize his mistakes. Not surprisingly, he was granted one of the first exclusive interviews with Beane after the Brady hiring where he dropped the F non about 20 times “on record.” His co-host Jim Monos stays critical on Beane, probably just to balance out Dunne’s strong biad and to give him an out to say “if I was going to be soft on Beane why would I ever allow my cohost criticize him.” It is pretty interesting that he’s finally turned on LaFleur, though. I didn’t see that. It’s like the honeymoon phase eventually wears off and the "new guy" eventually becomes the next target. Wonder if KOC is next! And to anyone who thinks I’m connecting dots or wearing a tin foil hat, “Substack reporting” is a massive point of contention in journalism right now. These are just my opinions… but this criticism is extremely topical in 2026.

Its because injuries are an inconvenient excuse…even though they were a factor on defense over the past 4 seasons

Epinesa is way better than Solomon, Carter or TJ Sanders

That’s true. I think the defense is a little better but there really aren’t major additions. So it’s basically the same roster, in a new scheme, and they are betting that a first year DC is going to get more out of a roster that probably isn’t exactly what he wants. It’s a pretty big gamble. Also Brady is a first time HC and making that transition isn’t always that easy

13 seconds was 5 years ago. You can blame McDermott for that But Injuries did play a major part of the defensive struggles the last 4 years. Oh and by the way - the undermanned defense did find a way to get the ball back to the offense with a chance to the football game the last 3 losses. Facts - they are funny things As a wise man named@GoBills808 once said “Zero Nuance”

I mean… I feel they are warranted. There are some Bills fans who can’t accept ANY Josh Allen criticism and want to find a scapegoat - much like @GoBills808 Hey… at least I can answer questions directly the first time they are asked