Can Sean McDermott Coach the Bills to a Championship?

[Dopey]

I didn’t vote. So we have at least 146 Nostradamus’ on tbd. 
How would anyone here know?

[BillsPride12]

10 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

How is that also not on McDermott? You don't think he has a say in who they bring in and who they let go? 

I think it's partially on McDermott...I think the personnel shortcomings is more on Beane than McDermott though.  I am frustrated with both of them right now but I also know how much worse it could be at the same time.  I'm feeling very torn/nervous about whether we should blow this thing up and bring in another regime.  Realistically though I highly doubt the Pegulas are pulling the trigger on that anyways.

[billsfan714]

I think a good analogy would be Denver and Elway.   Elway a generational talent at QB, went to multiple superbowls with Reeves.   They made a change after the losses.  However it took Shanahan to get them  to the promised land.   Reeves was a good coach, got Atlanta to the SB, Im sure he was also a nice guy, just not a SB winning coach.   Sean hasn't even made the conference game, let alone gone to multiple superbowls.

[ProcessTruster]

Yes.  He had it won last year, but Heath Farwell choked and blew the season.  

[bmur66]

63 total rushing yards in a playoff game on a cold, snowy day, in Buffalo. If he is the architect of this then I say no.

[Southern Bills Fan]

I thought he would change to a more aggressive playoff style after losing by being too passive in the past but punting inside Cincinnati territory and the soft defensive coverage show me he will always be too cautious in the playoffs. 

[GunnerBill]

34 minutes ago, billsfan714 said:

I think a good analogy would be Denver and Elway.   Elway a generational talent at QB, went to multiple superbowls with Reeves.   They made a change after the losses.  However it took Shanahan to get them  to the promised land.   Reeves was a good coach, got Atlanta to the SB, Im sure he was also a nice guy, just not a SB winning coach.   Sean hasn't even made the conference game, let alone gone to multiple superbowls.

 

He did in 2020.

[Gregg]

49 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

How is that also not on McDermott? You don't think he has a say in who they bring in and who they let go? 

 

Back when McBeane got hired they interviewed Terry and asked him who is in charge. Terry said both men report to him. When it comes to practices, managing the game and everything that goes with the season McDermott is in charge since he is the HC. Beane can offer his advice/opinion, but McDermott has the final say. But the offseason stuff with the draft, FA, salary cap that is Beane responsibility. McDermott can offer his opinion, but Beane has the final say according to TP.

[GunnerBill]

38 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I think it's partially on McDermott...I think the personnel shortcomings is more on Beane than McDermott though.  I am frustrated with both of them right now but I also know how much worse it could be at the same time.  I'm feeling very torn/nervous about whether we should blow this thing up and bring in another regime.  Realistically though I highly doubt the Pegulas are pulling the trigger on that anyways.

 

The same. And certainly among this field of candidates. I'm not giving up a 1st round pick when the roster has so many holes for a Head Coach with Payton's record of losing to less talented teams in the playoffs. If he was a free agent that is slightly different. He isn't. And I have zero interest in anyone else in this field. 

 

The guy I might be interested in if he backs it up in 2023 is Ben Johnson the Detroit OC. Thought he was the best young coordinator in football this year. If he backs that up and the Bills disappoint in 2023 then maybe I'd be interested in doing that. It's easy to say McDermott is a good coach, not a great one, and maybe that is true. But that doesn't mean you replace him with a bad one.  

[GoBills808]

42 minutes ago, billsfan714 said:

I think a good analogy would be Denver and Elway.   Elway a generational talent at QB, went to multiple superbowls with Reeves.   They made a change after the losses.  However it took Shanahan to get them  to the promised land.   Reeves was a good coach, got Atlanta to the SB, Im sure he was also a nice guy, just not a SB winning coach.   Sean hasn't even made the conference game, let alone gone to multiple superbowls.

How about 2015 Broncos firing Fox who had multiple divisional exits and then Kubiak wins SB that season

 

Elway at the time said something to the effect of there's something wrong if you can't get your players excited for playoff football

[Ethan in Cleveland]

44 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said:

I think it's partially on McDermott...I think the personnel shortcomings is more on Beane than McDermott though.  I am frustrated with both of them right now but I also know how much worse it could be at the same time.  I'm feeling very torn/nervous about whether we should blow this thing up and bring in another regime.  Realistically though I highly doubt the Pegulas are pulling the trigger on that anyways.

Agree. Nobody is going anywhere and I'd be shocked if even the coordinators change.

For me I channel my anger more at McDermott than Beane. I think McD is the guy that overvalues special teams, decides to keep 10 DL, and gets Beane to draft a smurf LB in the 3rd round. I have no proof of any of what I just said, other than just my sense of who has the real power there. 

Hopefully this playoff failure will allow Beane more sway on the roster and coaching makeup but somehow I doubt that. 

 

[Teddy KGB]

No

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I don't know. I started to wonder last year and this year I have larger doubts. He's a great human being I think. High character, honest, with loyalty and integrity. However, during the game I said some derogatory comments on the particular subject. My wife responded, that especially since the Damar situation she sees him as a great human being . I responded, my Mother is a wonderful human being, that doesn't mean I want her trying to make a defensive stop for the Bills.😀

Edited January 25, 2023 by D. L. Hot-Flamethrower

[78thealltimegreat]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

The defense this year had massive injury problems, massive. And still were really good. The same defense with a healthy Tre, DaQuan and Von puts up a whole different kind of result, IMO.

 

Do they need more of a pass rush, particularly with Von out? Yeah. They do. For the rest, when they're of average healthiness they are very good.

 

And can we please acknowledge that every team in the world has bad games sometimes. This was one. With the season they've had, and the injuries, it's not surprising.

Every decent QB not named Lamar Jackson lights them up when you invest that heavily in your defense and basically rely on your all world QB to make street free agents and low round picks look good and let’s not talk about the oline. 

[Gregg]

Wishful thinking on my part but if Bill decided to retire from the Pats. I would throw a blank check at him if I were Pegula. Won 6 Super Bowls with Brady. He would definitely win one or more with Josh. Back to reality since I know this won't happen.

[BillsPride12]

13 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Agree. Nobody is going anywhere and I'd be shocked if even the coordinators change.

For me I channel my anger more at McDermott than Beane. I think McD is the guy that overvalues special teams, decides to keep 10 DL, and gets Beane to draft a smurf LB in the 3rd round. I have no proof of any of what I just said, other than just my sense of who has the real power there. 

Hopefully this playoff failure will allow Beane more sway on the roster and coaching makeup but somehow I doubt that. 

 

I was actually expecting the coordinators to change but after Beane's presser yesterday now I'm not so sure of that.  It sucks I just feel like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.  This team is good so your not going to completely blow it up but they aren't in a place with the salary cap and their draft status to add the big pieces this offseason to take this team up a level.  It's tough because some of Beane's draft whiffs have caught up to us now.  

[T master]

Well before he got here we had a big fat nothing as far as play offs go & since he's been here the Bills have 3 AFC east CHAMPIONSHIPS so if your counting those which i guess because the fan base has become board with that i guess they don't count .

 

The past has shown us that changing coaches every 2 or 3 seasons isn't a good recipe for success & if you look at the likes of the Steelers, the Pats, the Chiefs & before the Saints coach left stability at HC & in the coaching ranks is the way to go & you also need a bit of luck .

 

I voted yes because McD i feel has what it takes & in some ways is still learning all of the different things that come up while being a HC how long was Andy Reid in Philly among other places before he got to learn what he knows as a HC to be where he is now ? 

 

I don't know how long it may take but we've already heard the fans here that have said fire the guy which is par for Bills fans and although it sucks to be where we are right now i would rather have this than what we had before McD getting here . It's only a matter of time before the puzzle pieces are in the right place .

[NastyNateSoldiers]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

The defense this year had massive injury problems, massive. And still were really good. The same defense with a healthy Tre, DaQuan and Von puts up a whole different kind of result, IMO.

 

Do they need more of a pass rush, particularly with Von out? Yeah. They do. For the rest, when they're of average healthiness they are very good.

 

And can we please acknowledge that every team in the world has bad games sometimes. This was one. With the season they've had, and the injuries, it's not surprising.

I don’t think Von would’ve made a difference unless he helped McD & Frazier change the philosophy on defense which i highly doubt he would’ve. Burrow got the ball out within 2 secs and knew exactly where to attack the soft spots in our defense as u can tell the players weren’t being covered in man to man there Wrs and TEs were wide open nobody around them . They were just going to the soft spots and Burrow was eating us up. Now Daquan he would’ve made a difference in stopping the run I truly believe that so his loss what felt but not so much Von. Btw the Bengals had plenty of injuries and they adapted. At the end of the day this was a coaching mismatch to the highest of levels. 

[Chicken Boo]

The only defensive coach I can think of that doesn't value the run game or running backs, in general, and he coaches an outdoor, cold weather team.

 

No he cannot.  

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Chicken Boo

[Eastport bills]

The way he coaches, the players will give maximum effort and that’s the good news. The bad news is his game day decision making is questionable and his grasp of maximizing offensive personnel performance is solely dependent on a good OC. From the Dabol leadership to Dorsey’s 1st year, we took a step back and it resulted in a early exit. With Dabol I would’ve said a championship was probable. Dorsey hasn’t established a system, with this roster that features a consistent  running attack (other than Josh) or a dynamic number 2 receiver or TE reliably involved in the attack. The screen game has been nonexistent and rbs are not used in the downfield passing attack. The league caught up with our offense and unless there’s multidimensional improvements, there’s zero chance for a championship.

[Thurman#1]

1 hour ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Every decent QB not named Lamar Jackson lights them up when you invest that heavily in your defense and basically rely on your all world QB to make street free agents and low round picks look good and let’s not talk about the oline. 

 

 

Sorry, man, but that's demonstrable bull####. Unless you're willing to seriously argue that "every decent QB not named Lamar Jackson" doesn't include Mahomes. 85.2.  That was Mahomes' passer rating against us.

 

Who's the best offense in the league? The Chiefs. The Chiefs scored 20 points against us this year when we were a bunch healthier. I'm sure you'll come up with a million justifications, that's how it works when someone so obviously gets shown as wrong. But it's a fact. When healthy early, we looked really good.

 

One team held the Chiefs to less than 20. So, obvious crap.

 

 

 

 

[Gregg]

50 minutes ago, Chicken Boo said:

The only defensive coach I can think of that doesn't value the run game or running backs, in general, and he coaches an outdoor, cold weather team.

 

No he cannot.  

 

 

 

It's crazy they don't build a team that is built for the elements. The current and new stadium don't/won't have a dome. You will always have to factor in wind, rain, snow every season in OP.

[Thurman#1]

55 minutes ago, NastyNateSoldiers said:

I don’t think Von would’ve made a difference unless he helped McD & Frazier change the philosophy on defense which i highly doubt he would’ve. Burrow got the ball out within 2 secs and knew exactly where to attack the soft spots in our defense as u can tell the players weren’t being covered in man to man there Wrs and TEs were wide open nobody around them . They were just going to the soft spots and Burrow was eating us up. Now Daquan he would’ve made a difference in stopping the run I truly believe that so his loss what felt but not so much Von. Btw the Bengals had plenty of injuries and they adapted. At the end of the day this was a coaching mismatch to the highest of levels. 

 

 

Guess we'll have to disagree on Von, then.

 

But Burrow absolutely did not get rid of the ball in two seconds every play. He just didn't. A lot, but not every play. He was flushed by one guy a bunch of times.

 

https://www.bengals.com/video/joe-burrow-highlights-top-plays-bengals-bills

 

In this video alone you see, what, five plays where the ball came out late or not at all but only one guy was pressuring. Von in there on those plays and odds are decent we'd have had different outcomes on one or several.

 

And yeah, the Bengals had a bunch of injuries but not at key positions the way we did, and not nearly as many overall. Also don't remember any cataclysmic snowstorms or good friends having their hearts stopped.

 

This was a mismatch for the players too. It just was. The coaches were NOT blameless. Very true. But the players played badly.

 

I mentioned three particular players that really hurt us. If Tre was playing like he was before the injury, whichever WR they put him on in that case would have had a much harder game. Which would have forced Burrow to go through more reads and take more time to allow Von to do his thing. And I can see we both think losing DaQuan hurt a lot. Now what if Poyer's not limping, Hyde is in there ... this team was in bad shape. Hell, they had to put Jaquan Johnson in for 34 snaps on defense, on top of Cam Lewis for 13 more.

 

[78thealltimegreat]

34 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Sorry, man, but that's demonstrable bull####. Unless you're willing to seriously argue that "every decent QB not named Lamar Jackson" doesn't include Mahomes. 85.2.  That was Mahomes' passer rating against us.

 

Who's the best offense in the league? The Chiefs. The Chiefs scored 20 points against us this year when we were a bunch healthier. I'm sure you'll come up with a million justifications, that's how it works when someone so obviously gets shown as wrong. But it's a fact. When healthy early, we looked really good.

 

One team held the Chiefs to less than 20. So, obvious crap.

 

 

 

 

Do you really want to go there? Do you want me to remind you of 13 seconds? Do you want me to remind you of what Tua and Raheem Mostart did in the second game? Do you want me to remind you what Kirk Cousins did to them and that was after the O spotted them a 27-10 lead ….Seriously they have the second most money on defense and the 18th most in offense. That must change. As you are the only one on the planet currently defending a defense who forget Joe Burrow for sec..gave up 6 yards a carry to Joe Mixon and Perrine when they haven’t had a hundred rusher in 2 months with 3 backup linemen. 

[hondo in seattle]

Sadly, I believe every team still alive in the playoffs is more talented than the Bills.  

 

McD isn't perfect.  But we just don't have SB talent.  

[TheFunPolice]

We have all those 1st and 2nd round picks on the DL and ALL are basically invisible when it matters (playoffs) 

 

That is the major issue, IMO. 

 

A second issue is philosophical: this regime constantly talks about linemen needing to "slim down." I've heard Beane say it more than once about different guys. 

 

No, we need powerful big dudes who can slug it out in the trenches, not "slimmed down" linemen getting pounded into the turf. They basically made Epenesa useless by taking away his game, which was power and strength. Now he's a skinny DE who just gets pushed around. 

[BBills_88]

I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can, I think he can.

 

But will he?

[Your Brown Eye]

I do not think so. There seems to always be something than he did not anticipate or plan for as a coach, especially in a big game. I think he could if he has a team that is overwhelmingly more talented than the rest. I do not believe he can coach them to a championship with an evenly talented team or a lesser talented team than the opponent(s).

[BillsfaninGa]

I love what he's done to turn around the franchise but maybe instead of using the same old cliches like, "humble and hungry", "trust the process", "playoff caliber", try using, "mean and nasty", "progression not regression or stagnant", or "Super Bowl caliber".

Biggest mistake of his is stubbornness. Like, I understand the concept of, after winning the coin toss, to defer to try and double up scoring at end of first half beginning of second half. But good teams alter that depending on situations and opponents. He never changed that. Case in point, week 17, Bengals game he deferred after winning the coin toss and the Bengals went right down the field and scored a TD. The Bills responded with a FG and on the next Bengals drive they were moving toward another score when Hamlin happened. So Bengals playoff game comes and we win the toss again. He deferred once again knowing very well what happened a few weeks back. Instead of playing behind a team like Cincinnati, maybe the Bills should have received the kickoff and went down and scored a TD so the Bengals have to play catch-up all game. 

I've not seen anywhere where this has been mentioned.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Guess we'll have to disagree on Von, then.

 

But Burrow absolutely did not get rid of the ball in two seconds every play. He just didn't. A lot, but not every play. He was flushed by one guy a bunch of times.

 

https://www.bengals.com/video/joe-burrow-highlights-top-plays-bengals-bills

 

In this video alone you see, what, five plays where the ball came out late or not at all but only one guy was pressuring. Von in there on those plays and odds are decent we'd have had different outcomes on one or several.

 

And yeah, the Bengals had a bunch of injuries but not at key positions the way we did, and not nearly as many overall. Also don't remember any cataclysmic snowstorms or good friends having their hearts stopped.

 

This was a mismatch for the players too. It just was. The coaches were NOT blameless. Very true. But the players played badly.

 

I mentioned three particular players that really hurt us. If Tre was playing like he was before the injury, whichever WR they put him on in that case would have had a much harder game. Which would have forced Burrow to go through more reads and take more time to allow Von to do his thing. And I can see we both think losing DaQuan hurt a lot. Now what if Poyer's not limping, Hyde is in there ... this team was in bad shape. Hell, they had to put Jaquan Johnson in for 34 snaps on defense, on top of Cam Lewis for 13 more.

 

I never said every play! And yes the players have fault in the matter no doubt. But if plan wrong u play wrong and that’s exactly what happened. These teams are pretty equal in talent even with the injuries . They were just much better at masking there deficiencies on the offensive line and at corner then we were with our injuries. Btw Hubbard and Hendrickson are also playing hurt . 
 

As easy as u can say what if this what if that! I can say what if we had coaching that squib kicked vs the Chiefs and then put 9 players in the secondary and didn’t allow Kelce & Hill to get clean off the line or what if we had coaches then are better at scheming away Burrow timing throws ? We’ve seen Baltimore do it we’ve seen Tampa ***** them out for a half until Amarillo made adjustments that lead to 4 Brady pks in the 2nd half and 4 short fields that allowed the Bengals to come back in that game or maybe like Belicheck he made key adjustments in the 2nd half of there game vs Burrow that shut him out in the 2nd half and led to multiple picks of Burrow a game in which Mac Fricken Jones led a comeback that fell short because there RB fumbled the ball at the 3yd line. 
 

At the end of the day yes our players should’ve played better but the common denominator when we lose in the playoffs are McD and Frazier Defense. We’ve givin up 100pts in the last 3 playoff losses combined. 

[kota]

you guys act like this is easy.  There are 32 teams all trying to get to a championship.  one loss and you are out.  

[TheFunPolice]

Can't stand Nick Wright but just listened to him on Cowherd and he makes (cringe) a great point about McDermott's defenses and how the Bills seasons ended the past 3 years:

 

2020: 38 points given up to KC in AFC Title Game (38-24 loss) 

2021: 13 seconds and 42 points given up (42-36 loss)

2022: Bengals bullied that defense all day. 27 points but if they needed more they could easily have done it. 

 

McDermott's defense didn't have " a bad day" they have had 3 very bad days in the playoffs. another way to say it is that they barely slowed the opposition down when the games mattered most.