Brand J

OBD should institute a live poll during the draft with 5 players they’re considering. Then have Bills fans pick the player. I have no doubt this team would be in a better position if such a thing existed.

Nick Wright had an interesting stat on First Take that I was unaware of… every HC and QB combo that has ever won a Super Bowl has done so within their first 5 years together. Every single one. Which means if McD and Allen go on to win a Super Bowl at some point, they’ll be the first to ever do so after 5 seasons (this year was season 5 for them).

I think one thing’s for certain: these coaches have tape of every play from every game. They can see if the offensive scheme is a problem (ie no open receivers) versus if their QB is just making the wrong reads/forcing plays, etc. If Dorsey is back, I think it’ll speak volumes that the problem wasn’t mostly scheme based. If players are open, which is what falls on the coordinator, but they aren’t getting the ball, you have to look at the trigger man. And of course his protection.

Don’t care what Apple has to say. I could never root for the Chiefs and their fans, especially in what was supposed to be a retooling year (they have the resources to be much better next year). Go Bengals! But I’ll probably end up rooting for the NFC team to win it all.

He really disappointed this year, no question. We need more games like Thanksgiving against the Lions, Thanksgiving against the Cowboys, against the Jets that one game where he single-handedly wrecked an entire drive. I was all for re-signing him prior to the season, but he disappears far too often for my liking. Even with his pec injury, he should’ve put on a clinic going against 2nd and 3rd rate Bengal OLineman. Should’ve looked like Warren Sapp or Aaron Donald, but I don’t recall a single play he made.

With regards to Mahomes and Burrow, I think it’s fair to say that Allen doesn’t have the advantage over either QB in accuracy, ball placement, timing, touch, and field vision. He is a better runner than the two but has the lowest floor. When he’s been bad, he’s bad. McD mentioned in his presser that everyone needs to improve, including his QB, if they’re to take the next step. With that being said, this loss to the Bengals wasn’t at all on Josh.

I’m fine with a defensive HC, provided his defense isn’t a liability. Bills defense has come up small in every single playoff game against good offenses. The one exception was Baltimore, but they were terribly one dimensional, so I’m not sure if I’d classify that group as a good offense. McD’s defenses have given up an average of 30+ points in these losses. Why do we have him if his schemes come up short time after time after time after time? EDIT: And if I’m Beane, the only way, the ONLY way, I’d allow McD to keep his soft cover 2 defense is if he plans to call the plays himself. Otherwise I’d mandate bringing in a fresh perspective, a coach that may run a different system, but had a proven track record of success elsewhere (Fangio). Promoting the LB or DB coach to take over for Frazier so they can run the same BS isn’t real change.

Was looking at a lot of tweets Apple was retweeting. The Bills OL was an even bigger problem than I thought when watching live. Too many jailbreak plays and Dawkins was getting beat like a drum, along with Saffold. Meanwhile you have Cinci backups doing nasty things to our starters…

By the NFL’s rules the snap has to be imminent, meaning everyone is set and waiting for the snap. Sean called for TO before that happened. I said before it would’ve been better taking the 5 yard penalty. The timeouts are infinitely more valuable than 5 yards, especially in the 2nd half when trailing.

He’s usually been a bit of a homer and valued players more than their worth, but I thought he hit it all on the head here.

That was probably the most open interview McD has ever given. I grew tired of listening to his pressers because they were always vague and he refused to answer anything with a response we didn’t already know was coming. I found it interesting he wouldn’t commit to the same coordinators being here next year. I do like Beane’s pressers and expect to learn something tomorrow.

Some of you guys are making this more than it is. If the offense was moving and putting up points successfully, then Diggs is not on the sideline screaming at his QB. He feels he can help and was not being given the opportunity - either through overthrown balls or Josh not looking his way. Of course he’s frustrated with the offense as a whole and he’s going to take that out on the player who’s throwing - or in this case not throwing - him the ball. He’s not screaming at Josh in frustration because other receivers around the league are being schemed open and he’s not. C’mon.

I think if it was any other year, McD would definitely feel the heat from his seat, but after this tumultuous season he’s safe. Beane even felt he should’ve been named coach of the year. With that said, his defensive approach absolutely has to change, no more soft zone reactionary defenses. They depend too much on the defensive line winning its battles. Get me someone who has a history of scheming his players and getting the most out of whatever little they have. I like Vic Fangio most. On offense I’m willing to give Dorsey another year. He had his faults at times, but was also a rookie coordinator. The thinking is that he can only get better from here. If we go HC after another McD failure next year, I’m all for an offensive coach. Like Simms says, you’d have three layers - HC, OC, and QB coach, three minds to maximize offensive scheme.

@MasterStrategisthad the following breakdown of that play:

I’m sure if you asked Diggs he’d tell you he’s open almost every play. That’s how these receivers think. I don’t for one second believe he’s ever sitting somewhere thinking “man, [insert coach’s name here] can sure scheme open his receivers!” If the connection between him and his QB isn’t being made, he’s going to vent those frustrations at the guy throwing the ball, rightly or wrongly. I didn’t like to see it, because it’s dressing down another teammate in front of the public eye, but I didn’t like hearing that he left early even more.

Pick up the phone they use to talk to the booth coordinators. His frustration was not aimed at Dorsey as he yelled at JOSH on the sideline.

Don’t think so, otherwise he’d be yelling at Dorsey and not his QB on the sideline. It’s Josh’s job to get the ball to him and Diggs obviously felt like that wasn’t happening yesterday. I saw Diggs open quite a few times but the two couldn’t connect more often than not. Frustration boiled over and there you have it.

Even the great Pat Mahomes looked not so great behind an inferior OL. The Chiefs wised up, signed Joe Thuney, then got Creed Humphrey (2) and Trey Smith (6) in the same draft. They hit on all those positions. Overnight their line was revitalized and Mahomes was back to doing Mahomes things. We need to fortify this OL going into next year, no more excuses, no more allocation of resources elsewhere. All 5 positions should be up for competition.

Yes, I know you said it’s on both, but I’m putting it more on the execution. The players. It’s on Dorsey to get people open or call well-timed plays against certain defenses that yield positive results. If Josh has options - open options - but he isn’t taking them, that’s not on the coordinator. He can sit down with Josh and they can all “learn” from the moment, but if the same issues arise game after game then at some point you have to put most of the blame on the players. For those who want to blame the OC equally, or more so, they’ll rebuttal with “if those plays weren’t working then he needed to run some others!” People debated whether Belichick or Brady was behind the Pats success and I rolled my eyes. Belichick is a great defensive coordinator, possibly the greatest of all time. His defenses stepped up in many big SB moments BUT Brady was the one who made clutch plays when they were absolutely needed. He did that all season and in the playoffs, Belichick doesn’t win 7 rings without the GOAT. McD can’t win a ring as a defensive coordinator if his defense is a liability and never steps up in the big moments and his QB doesn’t make the throws - clutch or otherwise - that are there to be made.

If Knox is effectively being schemed open, but the QB isn’t throwing him the ball, how is that on the OC? Too many complain about Dorsey - and I’m not saying he didn’t have his faults - but I do see open players on the field. That’s not a scheme issue. I don’t see our QB always making the best decisions on where to go with the ball.

Someone who was at the game told me they had 12 men on the field. I’d actually rather take that 5 yard penalty (they stop the play, it’s not free) rather than take the timeout. Timeouts are far more valuable, especially in the 2nd half when you’re trailing.

I forgot which poster it was, but he said Frazier was more valuable than the two 3rd round picks we’d get if he got picked to be a HC. I laughed. So much homerism.

For the love of all that’s holy, STOP throwing away early day 3 picks by trading up for non QBs! Aside from Allen, not one of those players Beane has traded up for has been a huge difference maker.

Both Spags and Lou A, the Bengals coordinator, get much more out of their defenses. Neither one of those units have much more talent than the Bills, but their coordinators are simply better X’s and O’s chess players.

To be fair, right after Allen air mailed another pass to him out of bounds, Josh started motioning with his hand, “run the route this way” like it was Diggs’ fault. Didnt matter how he ran the route given the fact the ball sailed 5 yards out of bounds (and he was open). Also, do the players have an escape road away from the stadium that the general public doesn’t have access to? If Diggs leaves early, wouldn’t he be caught up in the rest of that traffic?