Sean McDermott is Out of Answers

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Just now, jrober38 said:

 

Why wait though?

 

Based on the results over the past 25 games, why would anyone with a brain in their head entrust Beane and McDermott to fix the offense? 

 

Only because you don't want the Bills to be the Cleveland Browns and fire GM's and HC every two years. 

 

They made the Playoffs in 2017 and so they get 2018 and 2019. 

 

But they need an offensive consultant. 

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

23 minutes ago, zow2 said:

McD is never going to criticize any of his players or coaching staff.  Ever.  That's just how he is.  But in private I'm sure he is beyond frustrated and annoyed at what is going on.

 

A coach that cries to the media is far and away the worst type to have.  

[Southern Bills Fan]

1 minute ago, MAJBobby said:

 

Excuse 

Well I guess it doesn’t matter what either one of us think, he isn’t going anywhere. 

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

1 minute ago, Soda Popinski said:

Maybe, but I don't think so.  I think McDermott and Beane have Pegula convinced that the process is going to take a while.  I do believe that 2020 is make or break.   They had 3 years to build a culture, draft a QB, and remake the roster.  

 

In 2019 there will be a ton of new faces starting, I don't expect everything to jell overnight.    It never does for the Bills.   And Allen was not a year and a half project.  He's not going to be much better in 2019 than he is right now. 

 

This is exactly right.  Frankly, its obviously right.  

 

I knew this last year, I knew it going into the season, and I for the life of me cannot see how everyone doesn't see it now. 

[Soda Popinski]

Just now, Straight Hucklebuck said:

 

Only because you don't want the Bills to be the Cleveland Browns and fire GM's and HC every two years. 

 

They made the Playoffs in 2017 and so they get 2018 and 2019. 

 

But they need an offensive consultant. 

We need better players on offense.  Daboll can only do what he can with a limited playbook, a sketchy oline and no wrs getting separation.    Hell I could be an offensive consultant.    Get better on the line, get a deep threat, and get a true #1 WR.  

[PolishPrince]

53 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

A stat was shown last night pointing out that 40% of the Bills' roster is either 1st or 2nd year players.

Correct, people look at average age which gets stretched older due to Lorax, Kyle Williams, Derek Anderson now and a few others who I would say are "old" for their positions.

The one thing that worries me is that we obviously need to go all in on offense... but arguably two of our best pass rushers (not including Hughes) are quite up there in age

[Success]

4 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

They have 2019 and that's it. 

 

You trot Allen out there with this "revamped" offense and he's still struggling, we're getting blown out. 

 

See ya McDermott and Beane. 

That could happen - but they deserve to have their shot.  Too many fans judge them by the failures of the past.

[Jrb1979]

Just remember that according to a some posters on this board. "It's hard to win in the NFL"  

[iinii]

47 minutes ago, Charlottebillsfan2 said:

Personally I could care less about what any player or coach says to the media. 

Not me, I want Lynch back at the mic!

[Straight Hucklebuck]

3 minutes ago, JoshAllenHasBigHands said:

 

A coach that cries to the media is far and away the worst type to have.  

I just wish there was more insight, more thought than you the fans have to eat poop and someday we'll be winning big. 

 

Eat this poop because building a culture takes time and don't you worry, our elite culture will meaningfully differentiate us from the rest of the league and will pay off with winning. 

 

We're building this thing and learning how to win with a young team. 

[HomeskillitMoorman]

1 minute ago, Jobot said:

 

Disagree that you can claim this.. I think we've seen plenty from the defensive side.  The thing about the 40% stat of the team made up by year 1 and 2 players is that year 1 and 2 players have THE most room to improve (when compared to a veteran).  So the Bills have got significant upswing potential on their roster.

 

Shore up the O-Line in the draft.

Add an explosive WR in FA

 

40% of the roster now in year 2 and 3 results in improved play

 

...I just don't think tossing McDermott is the best idea.

 

You're overrating what we have and marginalizing how much we need.

 

What players on the offensive side of the ball do you think are potential legitimate starters on a championship caliber team? That's the end-game here right? A player being young doesn't automatically mean he's going to improve just because he has the most room. 

 

And "shore up the o'line in the draft"? Do you know how much we need on the o-line? It's not like we're missing one piece. We have 1 legit starter on the O-line, and that's after 2 offseasons. We're supposed to believe that they're going to find 4 in one? 

 

We have no starter quality WR"s or TE's. Our 2 best RB's are both 30. 

 

It's a total mess. It's almost hard to believe we're this bereft of talent after 2 offseasons. Even by shear, dumb luck we should have more than this. 

[JoshAllenHasBigHands]

Just now, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I just wish there was more insight, more thought than you the fans have to eat poop and someday we'll be winning big. 

 

Eat this poop because building a culture takes time and don't you worry, our elite culture will meaningfully differentiate us from the rest of the league and will pay off with winning. 

 

We're building this thing and learning how to win with a young team. 

 

Yeah, but I think every fan wishes for more insight.  But we pay coaches not to be fans, to make smart media relations decisions.  If he gives that insight, and he then misspeaks or is too honest, he will be crucified by the media and the fans.  I mean, that is exactly what happened to Whaley.  At the end of the day, the fans are pissed and nothing he says is going to make it better.  It can only make it worse.  It is a no win scenario.  His best bet is always to stay tight lipped. 

[jrober38]

8 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

 

Only because you don't want the Bills to be the Cleveland Browns and fire GM's and HC every two years. 

 

They made the Playoffs in 2017 and so they get 2018 and 2019. 

 

But they need an offensive consultant. 

 

I don't think that matters.

 

We need a progressive offensive mind leading the team, and just ask him to keep Leslie Frazier as DC so there's no turnover on that side of the ball. 

 

We need a coach capable of fielding a modern NFL offense. 

[Buffalo Boy]

1 hour ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

I listened to the post-game show last night, and Sean McDermott is out of answers folks. When his team gets kicked in the teeth, he pulls out his Dick Jauron cue cards repeats the most bland answers and cliches. 

 

First question out of the gate: "your offense has 2 Touchdowns in the last 5 games, explain it" and McDermott leads with "the defense came out and played well at times"... "go back and find answers". 

 

On McCoy's ineffectiveness as a runner - "making sure we are giving LeSean opportunities, and I have to go back and look at the tape" - HEY SEAN, MAYBE STOP ALLOWING SWEEPS AND PITCHES TO THE EDGES

 

"Learn from our mistakes"

 

"We are developing a football team"

 

"Learn from the tape"

 

From your time in the NFL could you recall any offense you've been a part of that has struggled like this? .... "establish the line of scrimmage early, thought we did some of that early, they made adjustments, and we weren't able to sustain it really the rest of the game" 

 

Derek Anderson evaluation: "thought he made some good throws, and he had some throws he'd like back"

 

What is holding Derek Anderson's back: "being able to establish the run game ... stay in 3rd and manageable"

 

Why is first down such a problem? "Can't get it going"

 

 

 

 

And so I ask Bills fans, do McDermott's answers bother you? Because they aggravate me. You have Bills fans sitting out there all night to watch a 47 yard and 51 yard FG and they get: we have to study tape harder. They get we are building a culture as we "move this thing forward".  

 

I think McDermott really thinks that you can line up in 2018 with an extra Tight End and Fullback, and run over teams across a 16-game schedule. That you can line McCoy up and just use the run game to control the line of scrimmage and that still works in the NFL. That you can watch tape, correct mistakes, and learn to be good offensively. That stay in 3rd and manageable is an accomplishment. 

 

Halfway through the season, 11-13 as a Coach and I think McDermott is out of answers. If he was gifted Alvin Kamara today he wouldn't know how to use him. He'd slam him into the line 8 times and talk about physicality. 

 

This is a rebuilding year.

Rebuilding years suck.

As a head coach he can’t come out and say, “ We gutted the team for salary cap purposes and the offensive skill players we have aren’t good  enough to win with.”

He has to BS his way through this season. 

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

3 minutes ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

 

You're overrating what we have and marginalizing how much we need.

 

What players on the offensive side of the ball do you think are potential legitimate starters on a championship caliber team? That's the end-game here right? A player being young doesn't automatically mean he's going to improve just because he has the most room. 

 

And "shore up the o'line in the draft"? Do you know how much we need on the o-line? It's not like we're missing one piece. We have 1 legit starter on the O-line, and that's after 2 offseasons. We're supposed to believe that they're going to find 4 in one? 

 

We have no starter quality WR"s or TE's. Our 2 best RB's are both 30. 

 

It's a total mess. It's almost hard to believe we're this bereft of talent after 2 offseasons. Even by shear, dumb luck we should have more than this. 

This is an accurate assement. 

 

As fans we're getting excited when Andre Holmes is catching passes. 

 

A fringe NFL special teamer is our 3rd WR. 

 

We are expected according to Chris Brown to get excited that Zay Jones has 6 catches for 55 yards like it means something in the NFL in 2018. 

Just now, Buffalo Boy said:

This is a rebuilding year.

Rebuilding years suck.

As a head coach he can’t come out and say, “ We gutted the team for salary cap purposes and the offensive skill players we have aren’t good  enough to win with.”

He has to BS his way through this season. 

 

Its his answers, but also the philosophy he thinks wins in the NFL. 

 

He really thinks that lining up and imposing your physical will (with LeSean McCoy) works in the NFL over a 16 game schedule in the NFL. 

 

Like that really will beat the LA Rams when they go 3-wide 95% of the time. That lining up in the I, or running toss sweeps late in the 3rd quarter against the New England Patriots (scoring 38+ ppg for 4 straight games now) is going to work. 

[Rob's House]

He can't exactly tell the truth. What's he supposed to say?

 

We knew the offense would be limited but we didn't expect this total ***** abortion. We thought Nasty Nate was serviceable given his solid preseason. We didn't realize that every time he came in contact with a bed he'd ***** in it. Losing our underwhelming prospect just added insult to injury.

 

The real question is whether it's our players or OC that suck. We're leaning towards both. These lovable losers become less lovable every day. Half of these guys would be lucky to make another team's practice squad. At this point we're just trying to keep these bums motivated enough to stop making me look bad on TV. 

[blacklabel]

I guess I'm just not sure what people were expecting this season. I think the playoff run last year set the bar real high for 2018 when in fact, 2018 was always going to be a tough one as they worked through the rebuild.

 

McDermott's answers don't bother me. It's coachspeak. Most coaches do it. He doesn't owe us or the media anything. And what would you like him to say? Do you want him to start calling out players? Start throwing some position groups under the bus? They've said it from the get-go, they handle everything internally and keep a tight lid on it. So his answers are always going to be bland because he's not going to make any comments in public that could disrupt things behind the scenes. And really, what can he say? It's football, all they can do is regroup and try again. Do you want him to place blame on people? He knows it starts with him, but he also knows that this season was all about growth for the youth movement. I believe their plan was the same as last season, lean on a strong defense to create turnovers and short fields, rely on a decent running game, take your shots where you can and keep it close. Unfortunately, they've had some bad breaks with injuries and unexpected departures (E. Wood) and things just haven't panned out how we all would've liked but what can you do? At the end of the day, I try to see the big picture. They're trying to build something that can sustain success. They had to tear it all down and start fresh. There were always going to be growing pains. 

 

I mean, how soon people forget that this dude took a team devoid of stars (aside from McCoy) to the playoffs last season. They finished 31st in passing last season. McDermott was able to get quite a lot with very little last year. Even now, he's getting mostly solid performances out of the defense. If that's a sign of things to come then, I'm psyched. In three out of four games against New England, that defense allowed exactly ZERO Tom Brady TD passes. We obviously saw how he can bring a team together as those guys really love playing for each other. You hear Thurman last night say one of the main reasons those 90s Bills teams were so successful was because they were a family. Sounds corny, but McDermott is trying to instill that family atmosphere. This organization has had talented rosters in the past but couldn't come together as a team.

 

That's not to say "the process" is free from criticism. I think they overestimated what they had on offense but they did try to add some free agents in the off-season and got turned down. That's business, it happens. So many people act like it's a super easy process to sign a free agent. The player has to wanna be here as well. 

I think they tinkered with the OL for too long over the summer. I've said that before. OL's need time to gel so they can play fast and not have to think too much. Obviously losing Eric Wood has been a big detriment to them. He was a team leader and one of the smartest dudes out there and likely would've been super helpful with Allen in terms of calling out the right protections and identifying defensive alignments. Incognito, eh, he started to decline as the season went on last year and if he was as awesome as a lot of this board thinks, he'd be playing somewhere right now.

 

It's a bummer, yeah, but this is what happens when an organization finally says, "Enough of the band-aids, enough of the quick fixes, enough of the 'we can win now if we just get this guy or that guy' mentality, let's tear it down and start over." And for years I've seen so many people calling for the rebuild. Now they finally go through with it and those same people want heads to roll in the middle of a season. You can't sustain any sort of success if you're constantly in turnover mode. 

 

It looks bad right now, but honestly, brighter days are coming. No one said it was gonna be easy. Just let these dudes do their work and see what happens. They're here through 2019 at the very least. I'm interested to see what they can do when they (McBeane) have a complete off-season to work together. Just stay the course. And if at the end of 2019 they finish 4-12 or something, then yeah, probably need to reset again. But if they make progress and hit 8-8 or 9-7 again, then they're on the right track. I dunno. I'm just gonna watch it play out. At the end of the day, it's a game and if they don't get it right this time, well, the team ain't going anywhere so they'll just take another crack at it with different personnel, wash, rinse, repeat. 

 

Go Bills.

[Freddie's Dead]

Out of?  You're assuming he had any to begin with.

[MAJBobby]

13 minutes ago, Southern Bills Fan said:

Well I guess it doesn’t matter what either one of us think, he isn’t going anywhere. 

 

And neither are bills 

[blacklabel]

8 minutes ago, jrober38 said:

 

I don't think that matters.

 

We need a progressive offensive mind leading the team, and just ask him to keep Leslie Frazier as DC so there's no turnover on that side of the ball. 

 

We need a coach capable of fielding a modern NFL offense. 

 

The defense is a combination of things from both McDermott and Frazier... and it was only when McDermott took over play-calling did the defense turn it around, so...

32 minutes ago, jrober38 said:

 

That was McDermott's choice. 

 

Yeah, and?