RoscoeParrish

Man, is it me or does it feel like McD has pulled a lot less punches in the last 12 months? Between these comments and the comments made about Kincaid/Coleman last year, he’s clearly trying a different tact

I think that’s part of Hard Knocks. I don’t think he is that involved regularly.

I think lots of folks think the difference between the drought and the Bills annual march to 11+ wins is in large part due to Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane.

How much does McD’s coaching mean for Allen now at year 8

I don’t know if I would say expected as much as I would say hoped. players with elite physical profiles and proof of concept that they can utilize those gifts aren’t late first round pick prospects. The Bills clearly like to take shots on physical specimens that they hope they can coach up and refine. Josh, Edmunds, Elam, Hairston, Greg. Josh most importantly worked out the best there. But you are right that most of them aren’t really even too often probowlers, as low of a bar as that is, and as much as you’d expect with how much physical talent they have. That’s why I am for chasing Parsons with multiple firsts, if necessary. Sure, the next Greg Rousseau type guy might hit massively and be a top 8 EDGE, but we don’t have 3 years to develop them and the odds of it happening at all are quite small.

That all might be true. It probably is true. but does Josh need McDermott now?

Rousseau was a pretty physical specimen coming out that needed to develop as a pass rusher. As it stands, he’s third in his draft class in career sacks, and the only two guys ahead of him are Kwity Paye and Micah Parsons. Jaelyn Phillips was seen as the more complete pass rusher but has not been able to stay healthy at all in Miami. Ultimately, I have no problem with drafting Rousseau and hoping he can develop. where I think the issue may eventually lie is paying him as they did and his performance not really changing. They doubled down on him. Maybe it will work and he will continue to improve, or maybe, they gave a B+ player an A- contract that won’t look great in 2 or 3 seasons. Its not dissimilar to Eddy, but Eddy flashed very hard his contract year or the year just after and showed the vision of his pass rusher ability imo.

I think you are wrong to place this solely at Beane/McDs feet. I think it’s impossible in the salary cap era to keep elite defenses together. Can you be effective over the years long term? Absolutely. But can you be consistently great? I don’t think so. on a fundamental level, to be a really great defense, you need next to no weak links and you need to stay outrageously healthy. And even then, it’s a lightning in the bottle outcome. Bill Belichick had several down years where he had to retool his defense. They were still good in some things, like TOs, but he had several bottom 10 finishes in a lot of categories. To me, that’s par for the course. Elite CBs can quickly fall off at 28-29. It’s just how it goes. Ultiamtely, I think it becomes an argument even more for positional value in the draft, and an argument for a less defensive focus. If the Bills hit on 50% of their defensive picks into plus starters, we may have another top 2-3 defense for a year or two before guys age out and fall off. Is that really worth the cost? I don’t know but there’s an argument there imo.

Elway was in danger of losing his job if he took another raw physical specimen at QB and failed. The unfortunate reality of the nfl is that a lot of decisions are not made for football reasons.

The 2021 roster was the most stacked Bills team in the Josh Allen era imo. The OL took a step back in 21 compared to 20, but the rest of the teams’ talent was undeniable imo.

This is a very interesting post. Do we want McD and co to be drafting a 1st round QB, even trading up to do so, in Josh Allen’s 14th season? That’s only 6 years away. Here I thought the SB window had plenty of time, this post makes it seem like we are on the back nine already.

Giants’ defense probably didn’t gameplan much either and held the Bills to 1-9. its preseason but something to monitor. I would like to see more individual plays made on the defensive side. If we are relying on coaching/playcalling to make up the difference, it’s a tough ask to maintain in the postseason.

I don’t know if any of that is true. First of all, Lynch isn’t really Shanny’s boss if I recall correctly. Shanny recommended Lynch and they both came on together in SF. I think they are much like Beane and McD. They all hitched their wagon to the Brock Purdy experience. They missed the playoffs last year. If they are terrible and missed terribly on paying Purdy, I think they are all on the hotseat. They already have that whiff on Trey Lance on their resume.

I would find Shanahan intriguing. He has made multiple Superbowls with much worse QBs. He reminds me of a younger Andy Reid who will probably never get it done in his first stop without a truly gifted QB, but is an unequivocally great offensive coach. And paired with an elite QB, has dynastic potential.

Just another really bad coaching strategy in a do or die game against the Chiefs. Again. I feel like McD at this point has the “no matter what you do, you’ll be wrong” bad luck or psychological disadvantage vs KC. We’ll do exactly what the Eagles did and let up 500 yards of offense

I really wonder what someone would have said, back then, if Sean McDermott unequivocally deserved to continue to be our HC if he loses to the Chiefs 4 straight times. My gut tells me a lot of the folks who think it’s not worth discussing today would have said “definitely not.”

He didn’t have to take Mahomes to not give him to Andy Reid.

Correct. i went back to 2021 and there was a fan poll of firing McD. 74% of TBDers said McD gets 2022 and beyond no matter what. Right after 13 seconds. Fastforward a few seasons and there’s a poll in the middle of 2023 where 75% of fans wanted McD gone by 2024. Obviously, the 2023 Bills got turned around and the 2024 Bills were much better, (so I’m not sure if 75% of folks want him fired today) but there’s no way 74% feel the same way they did in 2022. it will only continue to worsen.

Oh I didn’t mean that, I meant internally with Josh Allen. you are seeing it in the media more and more. A topic on McD’s job security would’ve been absurd in 2020-2021. Another heartbreaking Chiefs playoff loss and it’s gonna be the season storyline, whether he’s really on the hot seat or not.

It’s definitely not easy, and I can see how it’s tiring. imo, it’s only gonna get worse and crescendo more until the monkey IS off his back. No one was talking about firing McD 4ish years ago.

I’ve been pretty impressed with Sanders. He doesn’t seem completely out of place, but it’s preseason.

True leanings? I already said I love McD. And I really wish he had beaten KC once in the postseason because I think he’d have a Super Bowl and this conversation would never even happen. just because you give a guy time to ostensibly improve, doesn’t mean it’s going to matter. We have given Sean 5 years to get better against KC in the playoffs. I’m not sure he should get a sixth crack at it, if he can’t get better enough to win the game. Does that make me some kind of hater?

He led the league in passing yards and passing TDs. He had the best passer rating of his career. He’s third in MVP odds next year. I think it’s safe to say he’s still great.

Do you think Josh is better than Burrow, and/or Burrow’s backup? Would you have expected if we just let Trent or EJ or JP Losman to play for 5 years, they would have gotten better? I would. would I expect them to improve to the point to make a difference? I wouldn’t. What makes you think McD is better at coaching against Andy Reid than he was in 2021? Be specific.

Do you think Sean McDermott is better coaching against Andy Reid in the playoffs than he was in 2021?