“Become the best version of themselves...”

[Doc]

LOL!  "Say the phrase at the podium or I'll cut/bench you!"  Say it.  SAY IT!"

 

You can't make this stuff up.

[Johnnycage46]

1 minute ago, Doc said:

LOL!  "Say the phrase at the podium or I'll cut/bench you!"  Say it.  SAY IT!"

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

I think they just want to be unhappy.  It's a mission of sorts.  Or a psychotic obsession.  One or the other.

[Shaw66]

10 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I agree that the phrases are not necessary for the culture. On that core point you are right. They are a result of it. The fact that the players repeat them in interviews is a symptom of the culture McDermott has built.

Well, some phrases are necessary to the culture.  McDermott has a system, a process, and he needs everyone to learn the system and follow it.  His formula for success is to have everyone follow the process all the time.   He has to communicate the system to 100 people and get them to buy into it.   In the process, he, like any leader, finds words that work to convey the message, and other words that don't work so well.  He repeats the words that work.  They become sort of a mantra.  

 

Your point is, I think, that no particular words that are necessary.  I agree with that.  But the only way to teach what he wants to teach is to have some mantras of one sort or another that connect with the team.  Do your job, where would you rather be, etc.  They're all intended to create a particular frame of mind, to get everyone on the same page.  

 

Just win, baby, is a losing mantra in modern football.  It says "just go out there and play your game."  No professional sport team (except baseball, which doesn't depend on teamwork) succeeds with that approach in this era.  

[ColoradoBills]

15 minutes ago, Doc said:

LOL!  "Say the phrase at the podium or I'll cut/bench you!"  Say it.  SAY IT!"

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

"SAY IT!"  LOL, this thread cracks me up!

 

 

[purple haze]

3 hours ago, Gugny said:

I really wish he would come up with something a little more original and concise.  "Just Do It," has a nice ring.  Maybe he'll consider that in a couple years.

“Find A Way” is this season’s motto.  It’s hanging on signs around the practice facility.

[Gugny]

5 minutes ago, purple haze said:

“Find A Way” is this season’s motto.  It’s hanging on signs around the practice facility.

 

I like that.

[Logic]

I just read Michael Lombardi’s article about the Jaguars, and it really made me appreciate the culture that coach McDermott has developed in Buffalo.

 

Basically, the Jaguars have hit on some draft picks at key positions (Ramsey at CB and Ngakuoe at DE), but because Jacksonville’s culture is so toxic, the players were not able to “become the best versions of themselves”, and both demanded trades. Now, instead of having franchise cornerstones at the two most important defensive positions, the Jaguars are back to square one defensively.

 

There are three key elements to team building: drafting good players, developing them, and re-signing them. The Jags have shown that even when they hit on the first element, they fail at elements two and three. It’s hard to have hope as a fan of a team like that, knowing that even if your team drafts well, they are failing to develop and re-sign players. 

 

The Bills, meanwhile, have shown so far that they can draft and they can develop (i.e. “helping a player become the best version of himself”), now they just need to show they can effectively re-sign players when it’s warranted. So far, so good with Dion Dawkins. Tre White will be the big test.

 

All of this is just about the on-field, skills development portion of the Bills culture. I could also talk all day about the way in which this culture encourages and allows players to become better teammates, better community members, and better men. 

 

Culture is real. Just look at the Jaguars and the Bills.

Edited August 22, 2020 by Logic

[folz]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

To these guys they are pretty meaningless I bet.  The older guys have heard it all and the young guys spot "corny" from miles away.

 

It's hard to imagine he has cornered the market on getting his NFL players to be good teammates and work hard.   How many coaches are not doing this exact thing?  He's a very good coach.  This other stuff is for the masses to digest.  It's myth building.

 

I don't know. I think like someone else said, catch phrases are just a lot of talk, until you back them up. McDermott doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. We have all been on teams or in jobs where a boss/coach/company uses cliches or slogans, but then they don't seem to live what they preach and you end up with a lot of disgruntled people. Listening to both the Quinton Jefferson and Mario Addison interviews, both who came from good/winning cultures in Seattle and Carolina respectively, both said the Bills culture is different. It is family, it is fun, coach lets you be yourself, etc. They were careful not to put their old teams down in any way, but you could genuinely see that they meant it. They like the culture in Buffalo better. 

 

And it never seems to me that McDermott is saying things for "the masses." It is always about the players and the organization. Sean doesn't pander to the press and public like a Rex Ryan. And yes, all coaches try to build a culture, come in with slogans, etc. But how many of them can back it up, make them stick? Get everyone to buy into them? How many coaches have we seen come through Buffalo and tell us they are going to change the culture and somehow the team never fully bought in? It has a lot to do with a coach's personality and people skills (some just don't have them). It is about his words meaning something and pertaining to everyone, even himself. He and his coaches, and the FO are not above the law. They practice it too. How many times have you heard Sean talk about the "growth mindset" also being for himself. To learn to be a better coach, a better man everyday. That is living accountability, not just preaching it.

 

Everything about McDermott is genuine. And I don't know this from anything that he says to the press, but by how the people he is leading talk, act, and perform.

 

[Gugny]

4 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

The culture of the Jaguars was pretty damn good just 3 years ago when they were minutes away from being AFC division champs.... I think the Jags are a prime example of how a lot can change and change quickly in the NFL.

 

 

 

The culture of the Jags was never good under Coughlin.  They got that far despite the culture.  That culture, as proven, was not sustainable.  It's antiquated and ineffective in the long-term.  These players are millenials.

[Logic]

16 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

The culture of the Jaguars was pretty damn good just 3 years ago when they were minutes away from being AFC division champs.... I think the Jags are a prime example of how a lot can change and change quickly in the NFL.

 

 

 

11 minutes ago, Gugny said:

 

The culture of the Jags was never good under Coughlin.  They got that far despite the culture.  That culture, as proven, was not sustainable.  It's antiquated and ineffective in the long-term.  These players are millenials.

 

What Gugny said.

 

The Jags got that far (for ONE year) in spite of their toxic culture, not because of it. Their failure to repeat that success and their immediate descent into mediocrity and then laughingstock status are proof that culture matters.

 

That Jags team was an elite collection of players. It wasn’t necessarily a great TEAM, and they surely didn’t have a sustainable culture. The minute things went poorly (AFC championship collapse), they crumbled. No resiliency, no mettle, no perseverance. Just finger pointing and selfishness.

 

Culture is real and it matters. 

 

 

[Gugny]

14 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

Which is what? What “was” the culture under Coughlin? The Giants weren’t millennials 8 years ago when they won the SB? 
 

I don’t buy it. I think Marrones schitck got tiresome and that isn’t uncommon in the NFL with HC’s. Bills have a good thing going right now, my point is it can change in a heartbeat.

 

The players on that SB winning team were barely millenials, but I'll give you that.  The Coughlin way is, "it's my way or I'll fine you and publicly humiliate you."  That's old school crap and it blew up in his face.  Just like it did with Parcells everywhere he went after leaving the Giants.

 

I am certainly not saying that Marrone is a great HC by any means.  But the Jags had a Coughlin problem far more than a Marrone problem.

[IDBillzFan]

3 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

Lol.  But seriously, does any of this visit-from-the-regional-manager canned motivational cliche spouting make you "happy"?  Does pointing out that the coach is retreading old internet memes to peddle to his players as fresh deep soul lifting motivators...make one "not happy"?   How unhappy were you before you heard  McD' s latest sloganeering that it has warmed your heart?  (kidding a bit, there).

 

So in other words, no, you're never happy. Got it. 

[Mr. WEO]

24 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

So in other words, no, you're never happy. Got it. 

 

I'm quite happy.  Thanks!  But my happiness doesn't hinge on the utterances of a coach of a team.  There's BS in every bit of life.  No big deal to point that out now and then.

 

Soon all this sideshow stuff goes away though--and the team has to perform.  Play ball!

[Mr. WEO]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

LOL!  "Say the phrase at the podium or I'll cut/bench you!"  Say it.  SAY IT!"

 

You can't make this stuff up.

 

Yeah they have guns trained on them by snipers and everything, doc.  You can make it up, doc--I just did.  I figured you knew that---but lately I'm not so sure.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, folz said:

 

I don't know. I think like someone else said, catch phrases are just a lot of talk, until you back them up. McDermott doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the walk. We have all been on teams or in jobs where a boss/coach/company uses cliches or slogans, but then they don't seem to live what they preach and you end up with a lot of disgruntled people. Listening to both the Quinton Jefferson and Mario Addison interviews, both who came from good/winning cultures in Seattle and Carolina respectively, both said the Bills culture is different. It is family, it is fun, coach lets you be yourself, etc. They were careful not to put their old teams down in any way, but you could genuinely see that they meant it. They like the culture in Buffalo better. 

 

And it never seems to me that McDermott is saying things for "the masses." It is always about the players and the organization. Sean doesn't pander to the press and public like a Rex Ryan. And yes, all coaches try to build a culture, come in with slogans, etc. But how many of them can back it up, make them stick? Get everyone to buy into them? How many coaches have we seen come through Buffalo and tell us they are going to change the culture and somehow the team never fully bought in? It has a lot to do with a coach's personality and people skills (some just don't have them). It is about his words meaning something and pertaining to everyone, even himself. He and his coaches, and the FO are not above the law. They practice it too. How many times have you heard Sean talk about the "growth mindset" also being for himself. To learn to be a better coach, a better man everyday. That is living accountability, not just preaching it.

 

Everything about McDermott is genuine. And I don't know this from anything that he says to the press, but by how the people he is leading talk, act, and perform.

 

 

Successful coaches are doing this throughout the league and other sports.  It's all great.  Gives fans something to cling to until they can see the long awaited results.  I get that.

 

As far as "pandering to the press"  few modern coaches were as shameless and needy as Rex.  Yet we hear all of these stories about McD's motivational phrases because he tells us, or the Bills put it out there, or his players tell us.  It's meant for us to know, so we can buy in as well. The Bills aren't paying their PR people to just print programs.....

 

 

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, ScottLaw said:

Which is what? What “was” the culture under Coughlin? The Giants weren’t millennials 8 years ago when they won the SB? 
 

I don’t buy it. I think Marrones schitck got tiresome and that isn’t uncommon in the NFL with HC’s. Bills have a good thing going right now, my point is it can change in a heartbeat.

 

Jacksonville's only good season was Marrone's first full season as coach.

The only reason they did well that year was they went a spending spree that sailors arriving in port would of been proud of.

 

Jacksonville's culture has been poor for many years.

[Sherlock Holmes]

6 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

 

I prefer this:

 

 

Lol.  But seriously, does any of this visit-from-the-regional-manager canned motivational cliche spouting make you "happy"?  Does pointing out that the coach is retreading old internet memes to peddle to his players as fresh deep soul lifting motivators...make one "not happy"?   How unhappy were you before you heard  McD' s latest sloganeering that it has warmed your heart?  (kidding a bit, there).

 

Slogans, as we know, don't win championships--even different ones every year.  It reminds me of the movie Being There, where Chance the Gardener (later "Chauncey Gardiner"), a simpleton, utters completely innocuous phrases (about all he knows of: gardening) while all those around him, not knowing who he really is, fawn over his "down home" wisdom. 

 

"Just win, McD", then you can posterize any phrase that pops into your head....and we will hail you as a genius!

 

 

 

nom nom...

Only if they offer me an assistant to the regional manager position...

[GunnerBill]

4 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

At this point in the year, he controls their professional and financial future.  They would read from Mein Kampf at the podium if he told them too.

 

That he can wrap that power in an Etsy needlepoint slogan is 4D chess, I guess.

 

 

 

I think you underestimate how hard it is to create a shared understanding and commitment to doing what it takes. 

 

There isn't a guy in the NFL who doesn't want to win. Wanting to win isn't enough. Even just talent isn't enough. Having a framework for winning is absolutely 100% necessary. 

4 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Well, some phrases are necessary to the culture.  McDermott has a system, a process, and he needs everyone to learn the system and follow it.  His formula for success is to have everyone follow the process all the time.   He has to communicate the system to 100 people and get them to buy into it.   In the process, he, like any leader, finds words that work to convey the message, and other words that don't work so well.  He repeats the words that work.  They become sort of a mantra.  

 

Your point is, I think, that no particular words that are necessary.  I agree with that.  But the only way to teach what he wants to teach is to have some mantras of one sort or another that connect with the team.  Do your job, where would you rather be, etc.  They're all intended to create a particular frame of mind, to get everyone on the same page.  

 

Just win, baby, is a losing mantra in modern football.  It says "just go out there and play your game."  No professional sport team (except baseball, which doesn't depend on teamwork) succeeds with that approach in this era.  

 

But the phrases are a symptom. The only have any effect because you have created an environment that allows that buy in. If that were the limit of @Mr. WEO's point I'd agree with him. It doesn't seem to be, though. His point seems to be you either win or you don't and the rest is irrelevant. What I say is having the framework in place increases your odds of winning significantly. McDermott has improved the Bills odds since he arrived because he has created an environment that makes winning easier. 

[Mr. WEO]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I think you underestimate how hard it is to create a shared understanding and commitment to doing what it takes. 

 

There isn't a guy in the NFL who doesn't want to win. Wanting to win isn't enough. Even just talent isn't enough. Having a framework for winning is absolutely 100% necessary. 

 

But the phrases are a symptom. The only have any effect because you have created an environment that allows that buy in. If that were the limit of @Mr. WEO's point I'd agree with him. It doesn't seem to be, though. His point seems to be you either win or you don't and the rest is irrelevant. What I say is having the framework in place increases your odds of winning significantly. McDermott has improved the Bills odds since he arrived because he has created an environment that makes winning easier. 

 

I don't think I underestimate that.  It's obviously difficult.  But I also don't think McD is doing anything that many others of his colleagues are doing.  It's not unique.

 

I don't think it's as hard to get a very young team to buy in.  Without talent, all the love in the world won't produce a winner.  After gutting the team of it's talent, He and Beane have restocked.  The results of all this family bonding etc will be apparent this season. It's got to be....

[GunnerBill]

3 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I don't think I underestimate that.  It's obviously difficult.  But I also don't think McD is doing anything that many others of his colleagues are doing.  It's not unique.

 

I don't think it's as hard to get a very young team to buy in.  Without talent, all the love in the world won't produce a winner.  After gutting the team of it's talent, He and Beane have restocked.  The results of all this family bonding etc will be apparent this season. It's got to be....

 

No. He is just doing it better than most of his colleagues. 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

Yeah they have guns trained on them by snipers and everything, doc.  You can make it up, doc--I just did.  I figured you knew that---but lately I'm not so sure.

 

Figured I knew...what?  That you say silly stuff?  That I know.  What I don't know is whether you do it because you're a masochist or because you really believe it? 

[folz]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

Successful coaches are doing this throughout the league and other sports.  It's all great.  Gives fans something to cling to until they can see the long awaited results.  I get that.

 

As far as "pandering to the press"  few modern coaches were as shameless and needy as Rex.  Yet we hear all of these stories about McD's motivational phrases because he tells us, or the Bills put it out there, or his players tell us.  It's meant for us to know, so we can buy in as well. The Bills aren't paying their PR people to just print programs.....

 

 

 

I agree with you that other coaches are doing it as well, he's not the only good coach out there who knows how to build a good culture. And no question that the Bills PR department is always trying to pump us up and give us a positive outlook on the team. And I think McDermott does want the fans to buy in too...he won't alter his course based on our opinions, but if you have the fans behind you, that is a tremendous help.

 

I'm just saying that with McDermott, the words don't seem like empty and baseless PR or just coach speak. I think he really believes the things he says and tries to enact them.

 

 

[BuffaninSarasota]

8 hours ago, Gugny said:

I really wish he would come up with something a little more original and concise.  "Just Do It," has a nice ring.  Maybe he'll consider that in a couple years.

 

or something akin to Belichick's "just do your job"......simple and not a current catchphrase in today's self-help ethos

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

No. He is just doing it better than most of his colleagues. 

To be determined 

29 minutes ago, folz said:

 

I agree with you that other coaches are doing it as well, he's not the only good coach out there who knows how to build a good culture. And no question that the Bills PR department is always trying to pump us up and give us a positive outlook on the team. And I think McDermott does want the fans to buy in too...he won't alter his course based on our opinions, but if you have the fans behind you, that is a tremendous help.

 

I'm just saying that with McDermott, the words don't seem like empty and baseless PR or just coach speak. I think he really believes the things he says and tries to enact them.

 

 

I don’t doubt he believes all that stuff

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

Figured I knew...what?  That you say silly stuff?  That I know.  What I don't know is whether you do it because you're a masochist or because you really believe it? 

You, of all people,  know that I’m a sadist, not a masochist, doc.

 

 

 

 

[TroutDog]

8 hours ago, njbuff said:

 

McDermott wants young men who are all focused on the same goals.

 

It doesn't really matter what their background is, just be able to fall in line with everyone else as to having the same vision.

 

Pretty simple.

I personally don’t think it’s ‘simple’. Getting an entire organization to march as one is no small feat. In addition, background makes it much harder to change an individual’s future. Again, buy in is required and is challenging to achieve depending on the personnel...thus they pick them carefully. 
 

Just my opinion and experience. 

[Mr. WEO]

14 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

He's established himself as the best Bills HC in years.... considering what he was up against that isn't some incredible feat. As I've said, the standards were incredibly low that once McDermott accomplished that 9-7 season and playoff birth in 2017 fans thought he was the best thing since sliced bread.

 

Hes a good coach no doubt. His record against BB and winning teams in general is a concern going forward though. That has to change this year, IMO.

 

He's a good coach for sure.  It's time to reap  the results.  They should take at least a game off of NE this season. 

[Doc]

23 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

You, of all people,  know that I’m a sadist, not a masochist, doc.

 

You misspelled "saddest."

[Mr. WEO]

13 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

You misspelled "saddest."

 

I'm no saddest, doc.  

 

That was like wit, though right...only different?  cool..

[njbuff]

1 hour ago, TroutDog said:

I personally don’t think it’s ‘simple’. Getting an entire organization to march as one is no small feat. In addition, background makes it much harder to change an individual’s future. Again, buy in is required and is challenging to achieve depending on the personnel...thus they pick them carefully. 
 

Just my opinion and experience. 

 

I can respect your opinion.

[Shaw66]

3 hours ago, TroutDog said:

I personally don’t think it’s ‘simple’. Getting an entire organization to march as one is no small feat. In addition, background makes it much harder to change an individual’s future. Again, buy in is required and is challenging to achieve depending on the personnel...thus they pick them carefully. 
 

Just my opinion and experience. 

Excellent.  This captures what is about.

[GunnerBill]

9 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

To be determined 

 

The job McDermott has done in his 3 years at the helm is among the top half dozen coaching performances in the league during that time. 

 

Again your position of "you either win or lose" is far too simplistic. Some coaches in the NFL inherited frameworks that made winning possible. McDermott inherited none of that. He has built one. If McDermott ends up being Marvin Lewis who has a playoff football team that he can't get over the hump then it still won't be fair to view him as a failure of a Head Coach. He has been a success in Buffalo simply through engineering that organisational turnaround. Culture change is real. And it is really freaking hard.

[Doc]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

The job McDermott has done in his 3 years at the helm is among the top half dozen coaching performances in the league during that time. 

 

Again your position of "you either win or lose" is far too simplistic. Some coaches in the NFL inherited frameworks that made winning possible. McDermott inherited none of that. He has built one. If McDermott ends up being Marvin Lewis who has a playoff football team that he can't get over the hump then it still won't be fair to view him as a failure of a Head Coach. He has been a success in Buffalo simply through engineering that organisational turnaround. Culture change is real. And it is really freaking hard.

 

This.  There are few other HC's I'd take over him right now.

[eball]

14 hours ago, ScottLaw said:

He's established himself as the best Bills HC in years.... considering what he was up against that isn't some incredible feat. As I've said, the standards were incredibly low that once McDermott accomplished that 9-7 season and playoff birth in 2017 fans thought he was the best thing since sliced bread.

 

Hes a good coach no doubt. His record against BB and winning teams in general is a concern going forward though. That has to change this year, IMO.

 

I don't think it's fair to cite "record against winning teams in general" as a concern because last year the Bills had three "upset" wins -- at Tennessee, Dallas, and Pittsburgh -- and they really only had one "stinker" vs. the Eagles.  Every other loss was a one score game, which tells me McD did what he was supposed to do -- give his team a chance to win.

 

I think in the NFL the goal is to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and give yourself a chance against the teams you're supposed to lose to.  By that metric McD did an outstanding job last year.

 

I'm just as disappointed as anyone he hasn't beaten BB and the Pats*** yet but I certainly don't think it's because he was intimidated or doesn't know what to do...in all three years NE*** was the better team.

[Mr. WEO]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

The job McDermott has done in his 3 years at the helm is among the top half dozen coaching performances in the league during that time. 

 

Again your position of "you either win or lose" is far too simplistic. Some coaches in the NFL inherited frameworks that made winning possible. McDermott inherited none of that. He has built one. If McDermott ends up being Marvin Lewis who has a playoff football team that he can't get over the hump then it still won't be fair to view him as a failure of a Head Coach. He has been a success in Buffalo simply through engineering that organisational turnaround. Culture change is real. And it is really freaking hard.

 

So Marvin Lewis was not a failure as a HC?  Of course he was.  He had the talent to regularly appear in the playoffs but he couldn't win those games.  If McD has the same career, how can you say he would not be considered a failure?  The essence of the season, of the game, is to advance in the playoffs.  Failing that, if all you did was "change the culture", what was the point?

 

McD has in the past 3 years, one more win than  Rex/Lynn/Marone had the previous 3.  If the Bills were to choke away another one and done playoff game  this year, you think everyone would be circling back to:  "but at least the culture is different"?  And the year after that?   I bet not, except for the handful of true believers (who thought the same of Rex, Marrone, etc).

[machine gun kelly]

15 hours ago, BuffaninSarasota said:

 

or something akin to Belichick's "just do your job"......simple and not a current catchphrase in today's self-help ethos

Sarasota my southern neighbor, I kind of liked the Incomparable Rocky reference as the last one was on the other day.  He gave that speech to his son outside the restaurant, “It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward, that’s how winning is done”.  I know it was corny, but I always liked that scene.  I workout a lot, but couldn’t believe how ripped he looked at age 60 in 2006.  Good thing he wasn’t drug tested. ?

[eball]

3 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

The Dallas game was their best win of the year. 
 

As has been pointed out numerous times, Tennessee was a completely different team when we played them to what they were at seasons end and Pittsburgh against Duck Hodges is a joke. They were not a good team and I stand by that. 
 

I’m not one for moral victories. Losing to teams by one score is still a loss. It means absolutely nothing if you can’t finish the game with a victory. Bottom line is coach McD is a whopping 4-18 against winning and playoff teams throughout his 3 years here. That absolutely has to change and should this season. 

 

Do you disagree with my premise that the goal is to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and give yourself a chance in the other games?  How else should one look at it?  You and others say "they need to beat good teams" and it sounds sort of silly to me, because as the team gets better that's exactly what one would expect.  It's just odd that this is how you and others find a way to "criticize" McD.

[TBBills]

1 minute ago, ScottLaw said:

One should look at it as something is off when you are as poor as you are against the better teams in the league. 4-18 is awful. Talent absolutely played a part but that isn't an excuse anymore.

 

Hell even Marrone did a better job to this point against the better teams than McD. 

FFS how do you manage to take even the most positive thread and turn it into absolute garbage...

 

[Mr. WEO]

10 minutes ago, eball said:

 

I don't think it's fair to cite "record against winning teams in general" as a concern because last year the Bills had three "upset" wins -- at Tennessee, Dallas, and Pittsburgh -- and they really only had one "stinker" vs. the Eagles.  Every other loss was a one score game, which tells me McD did what he was supposed to do -- give his team a chance to win.

 

I think in the NFL the goal is to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and give yourself a chance against the teams you're supposed to lose to.  By that metric McD did an outstanding job last year.

 

I'm just as disappointed as anyone he hasn't beaten BB and the Pats*** yet but I certainly don't think it's because he was intimidated or doesn't know what to do...in all three years NE*** was the better team.

 

 

They lost to a 3-6 Browns team.  

 

The Steelers were down to their 3rd string QB.  

 

Tennessee was the Mariotta version, not the Tannehill one.

 

In the second NE game, then took a lead into the 4th Q, gave up 11 straight points, drove down to 1st and 8 on the NE 8 with 2:21 to go for the tying TD.  Bills call 4 straight pass plays.  They turn the ball over on downs with over a minute left on the clock.

[eball]

Just now, ScottLaw said:

One should look at it as something is off when you are as poor as you are against the better teams in the league. 4-18 is awful. Talent absolutely played a part but that isn't an excuse anymore.

 

Hell even Marrone did a better job to this point against the better teams than McD. 

 

If you're comparing 2017-18 results -- with a subpar roster -- to 2019 and beyond, I don't think that's an accurate and honest evaluation.  By the way, they won 4 games against winning teams in 2017 and 2018 so I think your numbers are off.

 

Again -- you and others seem to be looking for reasons to critique McD rather than recognizing his accomplishments and the direction the team is headed.  We ALL know that the roster is now as complete as it has been since the late 90s and expectations are high.  Do you really think we need to hear "well they better start winning more games?"  How is that insightful?

[Don Otreply]

36 minutes ago, TBBills said:

FFS how do you manage to take even the most positive thread and turn it into absolute garbage...

 

Its a special skill, I’ll bet he’s great at weddings and funerals too, ?

[Shaw66]

49 minutes ago, TBBills said:

FFS how do you manage to take even the most positive thread and turn it into absolute garbage...

 

Threads get better when you use the ignore feature.