Which Ex Bill Takes The Fall For The Jags Disappointing Year?

[Phil The Thrill]

Jacksonville is a team some very foolish pundits (Adam Schien) and even some foolish NFL fans picked as a Super Bowl contender before the year began.  Douglas Marrone was suddenly hailed as a “great coach” and Nathaniel Hackett was an “innovative” offensive coordinator.  

 

Many Bills fans drooled for Marrone and even said he was a better coach than McDermott.  Fans also drooled for Marcel Dareus who has been a non-factor this season, despite earning a top dollar contract for a DT.  

 

Well in Week 11, both teams have a 3-7 record and are huge huge huge underdogs to make the playoffs.  The difference is, Buffalo was expected to take a step back.  Jacksonville was expected to content for a championship.  

 

So if the Bills find a way to win on Sunday, who do you think takes the blame for a team that was to content for the Super Bowl drafting near a Top 10 picks.  There are several candidate that have connections to Buffalo:

 

1. David Caldwell - the Buffalo born Jags GM that drafted many talented defenders but also had a few high profile flops.  His biggest being drafting Blake Bortles and re-signing him to a deal which likely keeps him on the team for atleast one more year.  Caldwell also cut the cord on another former high pick flop in Dante Fowler. The former #3 pick was traded for a 3rd and 5th rounder.  Not exactly a great return.  

 

Also, aside from Bortles, you can argue that Caldwell did a poor job upgrading a weak offense this past offseason.  Fournette has proven to be somewhat disappointing in his 2nd year running behind a much maligned offensive line.  He also let his two best WR’s leave town and replaced them with marginal starters like Donte Moncrief.  (I understand Caldwell is not a former Bill,  but included him given his connection to Buffalo, NY)

 

2.  Doug Marrone - St. Doug can’t work miracles.  His teams offense has sucked this season but that was to be expected.  What was bot expected was how Doug’s defense has sucked.  The same people who said how great of a head coach Doug was, are awfully quiet this year.  IMO athletes a chance Doug takes the heat for the abymismal performance this year.  

 

3.  Nate Hackett - Nate has worked exclusively for Marrone for about a decade, yet his offense has been disgusting.  He’s trying his best to disguise a bad QB by running an antiquated offense - even by Bills standards.  The series of running plays late in the game vs Pittsburgh was disgusting and should put the nail in his firing.  But will St. Doug fire the man who has run his offense for a decade?  Probably not.  

 

4. Marcell Dareus - He doesn’t deserve to be a scapegoat but he can’t be sitting pretty.  His numbers are not very impressive and Jacksonville’s rush defense has been fairly weak.  To make matters worse, Marcel was in the news again about a lawsuit involving alleged sexual assault, which probably didn’t make old Mr. Coughlin too happy and could potentially result in a suspension in 2019. Jacksonville has a chance to get out of his bloated contract after the season and could free up some money to address their OL.  I would be shocked if he’s on the Jags next year.  

 

How many of the 4 do you expect to see with the Jags next year?  IMO all could very easily be gone 

Edited November 23, 2018 by Phil The Thrill

[HomeskillitMoorman]

Well by many on this board's logic, 1 playoff year apparently should buy you at least 3 extra years no matter what happens or what direction the franchise seems to be going. So I guess they should all stay. 

[Phil The Thrill]

Just now, HomeskillitMoorman said:

Well by many on this board's logic, 1 playoff year apparently should buy you at least 3 extra years no matter what happens or what direction the franchise seems to be going. So I guess they should all stay. 

 

Way to take things out of context.McDermott and Marrone are in different situations as you’ll read above.

 

When ownership expects your team to contend for a Super Bowl and you are 3-7 in Week 11, that’s certainly an offense worth firing.  

[Doc Brown]

The Jags GM for the reasons you outlined.  Even Bortles playing his best two games in his career in the playoffs last year wasn't good enough to propel you to a Superbowl.  You had to find a way to upgrade the QB position to go along with a great defense.

[ClemsonBills]

1 minute ago, Doc Brown said:

The Jags GM for the reasons you outlined.  Even Bortles playing his best two games in his career in the playoffs last year wasn't good enough to propel you to a Superbowl.  You had to find a way to upgrade the QB position to go along with a great defense.

Hmmm sounds like what we did when everyone was in tears over Tyrod leaving

[Phil The Thrill]

4 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

The Jags GM for the reasons you outlined.  Even Bortles playing his best two games in his career in the playoffs last year wasn't good enough to propel you to a Superbowl.  You had to find a way to upgrade the QB position to go along with a great defense.

 

Part of his problem was cap management.  He gave up big contracts on defense the previous year and with adding Marcell’s phat deal, he didn’t have the cap space to go after any of the top FA quarterbacks.  Also Jacksonville was drafting too far down to get one of the top QB’s this year (outside of Lamar).

 

His hand was essentially forced with Bortles, though I guess he could have tried to work a trade.  Again though, he didn’t have the money to take on a QB contract.  

[HomeskillitMoorman]

20 minutes ago, Phil The Thrill said:

 

Way to take things out of context.McDermott and Marrone are in different situations as you’ll read above.

 

When ownership expects your team to contend for a Super Bowl and you are 3-7 in Week 11, that’s certainly an offense worth firing.  

 

I think there are some similarities in the logic, which I think is very flawed. If you put the Jaguars situation in ours, a 10 year playoff drought and they had gone 4-12, 3-13, 5-11, 3-13 in the 4 years before Marrone was made head coach, and then in his first year went 10-6 and took us to the AFC Championship game and lost a competitive game and then had a clunker of a year the following season...there would be plenty of defenders here for him talking about how he broke the drought and deserves a few more seasons and how he hasn't gotten to develop his own QB yet. I mean does any of that sound familiar? 

 

I happen to agree that Doug should take blame for the defense as well because he's the head coach...but many on this board try to relieve McDermott of any blame for the offense because of his background as a defensive coach. A good head coach should have significant input on both sides of the ball, and therefore be responsible for the possible failure of either side.

 

Personally, I disliked Doug for some of the same reasons as I dislike McDermott. One of the biggest being that both are overly conservative coaches. In fact, they've both punted on 4th and 1 on the opposing team's territory in the 2nd half of big games with the season on the line and an offense that was struggling to even make it to mid-field. That's the aura of guys who don't win championships. They both also seem to really struggle with evaluating and hiring the right offensive coordinators. 

 

To talk singularly about their situation...first and foremost whoever's idea it was to give Bortles the extension should be shown the door. At the beginning of Marrone's time here when I heard the rumors about the rift between he and Whaley because he had never wanted EJ had given me hope...but I didn't like his coaching style in the end anyways. If it were me, I'd can them all for the same reason I don't like McDermott going forward...because I think coaches like these are destined for long-term mediocrity. I will always "risk" losing that in the hopes of finding a perennial winner and championship-level coach. 

Edited November 23, 2018 by HomeskillitMoorman

[JerseyBills]

31 minutes ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

Well by many on this board's logic, 1 playoff year apparently should buy you at least 3 extra years no matter what happens or what direction the franchise seems to be going. So I guess they should all stay. 

Except the Jags have the most expensive active roster and the Bills have the least expensive , by design of course , for both teams. They currently have a roster worth 62 million dollars more than the Bills , so that is a huge variable in your statement. 

 

Basically , the Jags were all in entering the season and Bufffalo was in year 2 of a 3 year rebuild . Hackett couldn't hack it in Buff and has been extremely inconsistent in Jax, I understand Bortles is trash but they obviously felt they could win with him and Hackett hasn't seemed to help at all. 

 

I think both him and St Douglas seats are extremely hot , as well as their GM , who has relied mainly on FA , I don't see many 1st or 2nd year guys having much of an impact . Buffalo on the other hand has drafted extremely well since aquiring McD and next year will be able to put the finishing touches on the rebuild and add a bunch of high quality talent. Jax will be in cap hell and have to start the process all over again. 

 

Sorry I got off topic a bit , but Jax is the perfect example of how not to build a team , while the jury is still out on our beloved Bills , the vision and blueprint they have for this team , long term , is starting to come together and I love the direction they are taking the franchise. 

 

I think Nate "Can't" Hackett is gone this year , followed by St Douglas around week 10 next year. 

[HomeskillitMoorman]

2 minutes ago, JerseyBills said:

Except the Jags have the most expensive active roster and the Bills have the least expensive , by design of course , for both teams. They currently have a roster worth 62 million dollars more than the Bills , so that is a huge variable in your statement. 

 

Basically , the Jags were all in entering the season and Bufffalo was in year 2 of a 3 year rebuild . Hackett couldn't hack it in Buff and has been extremely inconsistent in Jax, I understand Bortles is trash but they obviously felt they could win with him and Hackett hasn't seemed to help at all. 

 

I think both him and St Douglas seats are extremely hot , as well as their GM , who has relied mainly on FA , I don't see many 1st or 2nd year guys having much of an impact . Buffalo on the other hand has drafted extremely well since aquiring McD and next year will be able to put the finishing touches on the rebuild and add a bunch of high quality talent. Jax will be in cap hell and have to start the process all over again. 

 

Sorry I got off topic a bit , but Jax is the perfect example of how not to build a team , while the jury is still out on our beloved Bills , the vision and blueprint they have for this team , long term , is starting to come together and I love the direction they are taking the franchise. 

 

I think Nate "Can't" Hackett is gone this year , followed by St Douglas around week 10 next year. 

 

The last part of my comment there was a joke about people here saying Beane/McDermott earned extra time because of last year. I don't actually think they should stay in Jacksonville. I'd fire them all.

 

To the point on the Bills, I don't like the vision or blueprint at all on the offensive side of the ball and don't agree that we're on the finishing touches stage on it. We have a ton of holes on offense and a couple on defense as well. But the offensive side is why I feel we're behind. 

 

[BruceVilanch]

They should gut that team and front office and start with a new HC and let him draft his QB. Borltes has proven what he is, inconsistent and can't be trusted to protect the ball. 

[H2o]

I don't think any ex-Bills member takes the fall. If anyone it will be Bortles or they take into account how injuries have derailed their season a bit. I think everyone is safe outside of Blake. 

[Phil The Thrill]

19 minutes ago, H2o said:

I don't think any ex-Bills member takes the fall. If anyone it will be Bortles or they take into account how injuries have derailed their season a bit. I think everyone is safe outside of Blake. 

 

So you see Jacksonville paying out this salary to Dareus, when they clearly have an out for 2019.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/jacksonville-jaguars/marcell-dareus-7718/

 

Also, when your team is “built” for the Super Bowl and doesn’t make the playoffs someone’s getting fired.  

5 hours ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

 

The last part of my comment there was a joke about people here saying Beane/McDermott earned extra time because of last year. I don't actually think they should stay in Jacksonville. I'd fire them all.

 

To the point on the Bills, I don't like the vision or blueprint at all on the offensive side of the ball and don't agree that we're on the finishing touches stage on it. We have a ton of holes on offense and a couple on defense as well. But the offensive side is why I feel we're behind. 

 

 

People just know that Terry is giving both of these guys their full five years.  

[Thurman#1]

6 hours ago, HomeskillitMoorman said:

Well by many on this board's logic, 1 playoff year apparently should buy you at least 3 extra years no matter what happens or what direction the franchise seems to be going. So I guess they should all stay. 

 

 

Hi, I'm an apple. Would you like to compare me to an orange.

 

One team is in a rebuild. The other made the AFC championship last year. Since sucking is part of a rebuild, you don't get punished for suckage unless your owner has zero patience or just doesn't get it. Neither of these seems to be the case with the Pegulas. The Jags were expected to be good. There'll be some kind of consequences. Hard to say what, though.

 

As for who will be gone next year, I think they might keep Dareus. He's wildly underperforming when recieving $16 mill a year, but keeping him next year would only cost $10 mill. In other words you'd be getting Lotulelei-like performance, but at a Lotulelei-like price. Not bad if they feel he still fits as part of this defense. My guess is they'll give Marrone another year. Hackett will likely depend on what Marrone thinks.

 

The problem with the Jags is that they're already $12 mill OVER the cap next year. There'll be salary cap cuts somewhere and it would be hard to defend just kicking all of the salaries down the road after a year like this one. They'll have to cut some guys they would rather not. Dareus could easily be one of them, I'd guess.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Thurman#1

[atlbillsfan1975]

I would hate to see Caldwell fired because I have met him a few times and spoke football with him a bunch while he was here in Atlanta. I do think this mess falls on him. Bortles was Caldwell’s pick and it appears he won’t give up on the kid. Bortles is another Tyrod. 

Caldwell also hired Doug and we know what he is. Doug peaked last year, best you are going to get out of him as a HC. It was pretty good don’t get me wrong. I just never found Doug as being a dynamic leader.

Hackett has Bortles enough said. 

Marcell was another move by Caldwell most likely with Doug’s input. Marcel will play good to prove to people he doesn’t stink. Motivation like that doesn’t last.

[stuvian]

given how this season has gone, I don't feel much inclined to gloat over another teams misfortunes. It's clear that Bortles is either a bust or at best a Fitz-like journeyman

[Phil The Thrill]

17 minutes ago, stuvian said:

given how this season has gone, I don't feel much inclined to gloat over another teams misfortunes. It's clear that Bortles is either a bust or at best a Fitz-like journeyman

 

Theres a difference with each teams “misfortunes.”  Read above.

 

Also this thread Hardy is gloating, but pointing out there likely will be some changes with some former Bills

[PlayoffsPlease]

7 hours ago, JerseyBills said:

Except the Jags have the most expensive active roster and the Bills have the least expensive , by design of course , for both teams. They currently have a roster worth 62 million dollars more than the Bills , so that is a huge variable in your statement. 

 

Basically , the Jags were all in entering the season and Bufffalo was in year 2 of a 3 year rebuild . Hackett couldn't hack it in Buff and has been extremely inconsistent in Jax, I understand Bortles is trash but they obviously felt they could win with him and Hackett hasn't seemed to help at all. 

 

I think both him and St Douglas seats are extremely hot , as well as their GM , who has relied mainly on FA , I don't see many 1st or 2nd year guys having much of an impact . Buffalo on the other hand has drafted extremely well since aquiring McD and next year will be able to put the finishing touches on the rebuild and add a bunch of high quality talent. Jax will be in cap hell and have to start the process all over again. 

 

Sorry I got off topic a bit , but Jax is the perfect example of how not to build a team , while the jury is still out on our beloved Bills , the vision and blueprint they have for this team , long term , is starting to come together and I love the direction they are taking the franchise. 

 

I think Nate "Can't" Hackett is gone this year , followed by St Douglas around week 10 next year. 

So you are saying it is very possible when the Bills add all of that money to the roster next year, they might be any better at all.  Because other posters seem certain increasing the payroll means you get more wins. 

[Phil The Thrill]

16 minutes ago, PlayoffsPlease said:

So you are saying it is very possible when the Bills add all of that money to the roster next year, they might be any better at all.  Because other posters seem certain increasing the payroll means you get more wins. 

SMH at some of the comments like this one

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I just don’t think they were ever that good to begin with. Before this year started I said I bet they have a big set back and a lot of people on here actually agreed. Let’s just be real for a minute. The Bills really weren’t that good last year but we should have won that play off game. It was on the road in their first good season in forever and if Tyrod can make anything happen for the entire game, we win. I think the Jaguars just were a part of amazing circumstances last season and Marrone is a good coach. The Jaguars have good players on their defense but I never thought their defense was anywhere near as good as people say. I actually feel like there was a reverse synergy going on. They gave up to many points, to often to be considered a great defense. Bortles isn’t just not good, he’s absolutely terrible. You aren’t going to string good seasons together with him as your QB. I can’t believe they didn’t address the QB position in the last offseason. I felt like this season was going to be a long one for the Jags. I didn’t expect them to be 3-7, but I didn’t expect them to win the division and I didn’t expect them to make the playoffs.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

4 hours ago, H2o said:

I don't think any ex-Bills member takes the fall. If anyone it will be Bortles or they take into account how injuries have derailed their season a bit. I think everyone is safe outside of Blake. 

 

...interesting that da Fuhrer Coughlin has been eerily silent....................