MRM33064

All this McDermott backlash, you'd think he benched Brady. Good grief. Perhaps all these media geniuses long for the days of Dick Jauron, when we really hated turnovers, except when we loved them and called them punts. And we loved playing it safe. And tried not to lose. And we'd, you know, try to make sure that, we kept this fragile, turnover-ratio-propped-up 5 win team "in the hunt", with a defense that gets more porous by the minute. Puuuuuleease. We've all been abused to have absurdly low expectations. Which usually get met. McDermott took a chance on a kid, showed a pair - a huge pair - undoubtedly believing that: (a) Tyrod is not the future; and (b) the team's chances to beat the Chargers, Chiefs, the Patriots (twice), etc. are, with both a porous defense and Tyrod starting, SLIM at best. And if you say you didn't get a little bit charged (if you'll forgive the pun) with that first pass Nate threw to Benjamin, you're just lying. One pass does not a QB make, but for a brief moment I (and I'll bet most of Bills Nation) thought: maybe?!?! The football gods even noticed. And .... There goes Benjamin, out. Then, DOINGGGGG, right off DiMarco's moderately-useless hands, and the ball doesn't go sideways or hit the turf; rather, it goes conveniently upward and right into the hands of the defense. And of course, they run it all the way back for a TD, which I wasn't even sure should've counted. CURSED. Or, more accurately: REGRESSED! All those crazy-town bounces that went our way in those 5 wins, they're back going the other way now. And reality came back home. Please do NOT get on McDermott because he saw little practical or likely upside in Tyrod and this defense, and took a swing for both the short-term and the future. Please don't turn him into another gutless, fearful place-occupier whose greatest ambition is to keep-it-close. I like watching Tyrod pull off crazy-great runs as much as anyone, and he can throw a killer deep ball (every 6 weeks or so when he does it), but there's a reason why he took a pay cut to come back to a losing team as a (not-guaranteed) starter. He came back to the BILLS, to make LESS MONEY and maybe not even start. So maybe Nate is a dud (I don't think he is), but this wasn't exactly the greatest gamble of all time.

I can envision McDermott's crew seeing the Chargers, Chiefs, and two games with the Patriots on the horizon, thinking we'd need to score to win those games (even if the defense played better than putrid) and felt pretty certain Tyrod would not be able to do that. In addition, it seems all but certain Tyrod will not be the 2018 starter. Enter Peterman. I think McDermott looked at the situation as one of having very little to lose, and a lot to potentially gain ... but it was a risk. A big risk. I agreed with it, and ... well ... it didn't work out. At least not immediately. And, it didn't help that what looked like a darn good start was immediately cursed with standard Bills luck: Benjamin immediately hurt, followed by DiMarco blowing an easy catch that (by further terrible luck) turns into a pick-6. I'm as tired of the slump as anyone, but I'm not going to pile on McDermott for not being happy with mediocre, thinking Tyrod probably couldn't put up enough to string some more wins, trying to get better, and having it blow up on him. At least in the short run.

It's nice to at least have the feeling that there's a plan, and that plan isn't subject to ... say ... what Jerry Sullivan might write any particular week, or how the marketing department is forecasting next season's season ticket sales. I like it, but who knows. Only time will tell, and no matter how sound the plan is or how touchy-feely the locker room gets, the reality is it'll probably all come down to whether we are fortunate enough to land the next Brady, Rodgers, Brees, etc. We'd all probably be just fine with 11-5 record with a true franchise QB and a team full of rude knuckleheads, but the "family", "team" stuff plays well in Buffalo in the meantime.

The Book of Wilson, Chapter 2010: "And the LORD sayeth - you think I forgot about that Stevie thing?"

Thanks for your comment Approaching interesting Sort of like the Bills!

Beane and McDermott It's Groundhog Day for Terry Eighteen here we come. Run and stop the run Sign more fullbacks and punters Worked great for Grandpa I'm a new Daddy! A brand new Bills fan is born! Playoffs by college?

Rex seems like a very nice guy. But "bad ideas, executed horribly" should be on his business card. Bravo Sir, you should get a royalty on that.

Punting in that spot, under these conditions, was one of the dumbest game-day tactical decisions in the last few years. And man, that is saying something. Not just brainless. Gutless too!

That last punt ... at home, in OT, on a 4th-and-short, with your last chance to stay alive hanging in the balance, in a game when neither defense was stopping anyone ... was the dumbest, most gutless, laughable, lamest, and the most perfect single representation of everything I can't stand about Rex. A PUNT?! Are you kidding me?! When it actually came time to act like a bully (what Rex always likes to spout), to put up or shut up, we put our skirts on, danced like a twinkle-toed Christmas fairy, and punted. The voluntary turnover. The #1 playcall of choice for Bills coaches in clutch situations over the last 15 years. You could actually hear the cheers (and laughter) from the Dolphin fans from South Florida when we did it. That said, would I fire Rex? Truth be told if I were Pegs I probably wouldn't, primarily because I'm not interested in paying Rex $5mm or whatnot to ride his bike around with Rob while I pay some other re-tread with old, tired ideas that don't work anymore either ( Tom Coughlin anyone?), when no matter who we bring in here is going to be somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7 until we get our elusive franchise QB. To borrow a phrase Slick Willie, circa a time long ago when the Bills were good: It's the QB stupid. But that wimpish display was bad Rex. Really, really bad.

Come on ... it's NICK O'LEARY time.

Right now I've got no complaints. After an 0-2 start, standing now at 3-2 with a win against the evil empire in there ... good times. I don't need style points. I don't care about all the problems. Just win baby.

I was excited for the season .. who knows ... Tyrod with another year, Sammy, Shady ... anything goes. Hope springs eternal. I thought this season was over after the Jets. Done. Finished. Tanked. Stick a fork in it. Fin. This team sucks. I'm done. I'm not watching anymore. Now, we've strung together 3 in a row, including a road win against the Pats*. Well .. if we just win a few more ... and the Jets and Fins lost again ... and ... well ... Yes, it's football season in Bills country.

Rex: Starters can come out Sir. That's allowed.

Fisher pulled off one of the worst 4th quarter game management performances since the Buffa .... nevermind. Thanks Fishy!

LOL ... it counts folks! Let's leave it at that ...

Fisher is brutal.

Donald Trump called in ..... He said: "Guys, we're in LA ... we're celebrities ... just go out there and grab 'em by the Rex"

Jauron is out there somewhere just drooling over our fabulous punt game.

That Fisher FG was right out of the Bills vs. Patriots history books. Genius. Give us the ball back still down 4.

Dying to get to 4th down and hear Rich Gannon explain why the FG makes so much sense (?!?!?!?!)

Rex mental note: "how did I forget to shave the logo into my head?"

This.

On next week's very special episode of "CHEATERS" ...

The war analogy is actually pretty good, insofar as the last thing that usually works is "trying to win the last war." In other words, gearing up using bigger, better versions of the same tactics that worked the last time around. Prep to win the next war, not the last one. Nothing against Reich, Marv, Polian - these guys were amazing - but it'll be a great day for this organization when it decides it's going to hire in an attempt to shape and define the future for success in the league rather than trying to regurgitate a long-gone past. Let's hire the people who are going to invent and execute the new and innovative tactics that all the other teams will want to copy.

Edit: " ... in a 2 sport town [in which neither team rarely presents itself as a serious contender for a championship]." I agree with most of what Schopp says, so his intolerance for low information callers doesn't bother me so much. Actually, I kind of enjoy when he jabs at the "they gotta bench that Kyle Horton"/"our O-coordinator needs to stop running 95% of the time on 1st down" types.