A players perspective on the Bengals game

[boyst]

History will record it as this...

 

We got Our asses kicked for.any reasons but in the grand scheme of things when we finally fire McChump we will  realize he squandered 3 rosters, had ***** execution and decisions.

 

He will coach again with a few years experience. He will rebuild lost franchise like Houston, Atlanta, or New England. He will get credit for it. But he won't bust the hump here or do so easily unless he can practice what he preaches. He's not accountable. He's a chump.

[MJS]

1 hour ago, mrags said:

So…. The players had no fire and no urgency in the game at all. The coaches apparently didn’t notice this like some of the players did and did nothing about it. I understand the players need to play the game. But when things like this happen on a grand scale, when it’s not just one player, it’s a coaching issue. At the very least the coaches needed to rein it in and change something. 

Here we have a player saying it was the players' fault and not the fault of coaches or decision making, and you find a way to turn that around on the coaches.

 

There's literally nothing you could hear or see that would change your mind, is there?

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

But I was told the loss was “100% on coaching” by multiple members of this forum.  

Hilariously, they are using this as evidence for that, even though the exact opposite is being said.

[mrags]

3 minutes ago, MJS said:

Here we have a player saying it was the players' fault and not the fault of coaches or decision making, and you find a way to turn that around on the coaches.

 

There's literally nothing you could hear or see that would change your mind, is there?

Hilariously, they are using this as evidence for that, even though the exact opposite is being said.

The players of course will stick of for their coaches or other players. 
 

regardless, if it is the players playing flat, it’s the coaches responsibility to change that. McDermott is a great rah-rah guy. Why couldn’t he get his team up for the biggest game of their lives. 

[Gugny]

They weren't prepared.  They didn't want to be there.  They didn't want to play.  I'd have rather seen them forfeit than sit through watching them barely go through the motions.

 

The better coached, better prepared team won.

 

Par for the course in the Bills' postseason ventures, unfortunately.

 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

The Bills were a good regular season team that didn’t have a next step for for the playoffs. Hell they nearly blew Miami wildcard game at home against their third string QB because of an epic late second quarter 3 phase collapse. They gave Miami 4 scores in the 7 minutes around halftime. It was ominous indication of what’s to come 

[Beck Water]

22 minutes ago, Iverwig said:

It was obvious the team was emotionally spent. We can blame coaching but at some point the players need take responsibility.  It is vital to have leadership from a couple of players on the field and on that day we just didn’t have it. 

 

So Ty Dunne makes a point that Taiwan Jones is a Captain on the team and a glue guy or "heartbeat" who guys look to.  And Taiwan Jones makes a point "I try not to yell at people or get on players about bad plays too much".  Jones is still a free agent as of this point.

 

Ty Dunne has made points in the past that McKenzie is the longest-tenured WR on the team.  McKenzie was the one who spoke to the WR huddle before each game this year and was left to be a spokesman in the locker room after the loss.  McKenzie is a Colt as of this point.

 

Maybe if the problem was bad play and players not playing with a sense of urgency, part of the solution is having different player leaders who are willing to be more vocal on the field and in the locker room when they need to be. 

Edited March 22, 2023 by Beck Water

[Real McClappy]

Players and the coaching staff were prob spent as a whole. 

 

1st round bye is like a NFL cheat code. 

 

 

[Franco_92]

21 minutes ago, boyst said:

History will record it as this...

 

We got Our asses kicked for.any reasons but in the grand scheme of things when we finally fire McChump we will  realize he squandered 3 rosters, had ***** execution and decisions.

 

He will coach again with a few years experience. He will rebuild lost franchise like Houston, Atlanta, or New England. He will get credit for it. But he won't bust the hump here or do so easily unless he can practice what he preaches. He's not accountable. He's a chump.

It's hit a point where this sort of wailing is becoming so obnoxious that I am going to save every single post I see and, when we win the super bowl, create a thread for each poster where we all go in and make fun of the garbage they spewed with such assurance, a sort of internet-forum tarring and feathering. 

[Malazan]

So the players feel like they didn't show up.. what are they doing about it? 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Nextmanup said:

Yep, and yet look at the reactions people give you.  LOL

 

We straight up got our butts kicked up an down the lineup on both sides of the ball and were thoroughly out-schemed and out-coached in the game.

 

Other than that, we almost had 'em!

 

If you look at the ignorance that fills this world, we should be thankful when people disagree with us. Fools in disagreement are still fools.

[boyst]

13 minutes ago, arcane said:

It's hit a point where this sort of wailing is becoming so obnoxious that I am going to save every single post I see and, when we win the super bowl, create a thread for each poster where we all go in and make fun of the garbage they spewed with such assurance, a sort of internet-forum tarring and feathering. 

Bring it on. McDermott is a loser for this organization as it is structured now.

 

We missed our biggest window with the best talent this roster has had in decades. It will be nearly impossible to match the quality of the roster we had in '20 and '21.  We had no business pretending we were good in '22 for a number of reasons but McChump built a soft team. 

[NoSaint]

2 hours ago, Magox said:

Sort of goes against the grain of the mainstream thinking.

 

 

 

I think it’s pretty mainstream that the team was completely flat and out of gas. There have been thousands of posts about hitting the wall after all the adversity of the season 

[boyst]

12 minutes ago, Malazan said:

So the players feel like they didn't show up.. what are they doing about it? 

Well, McDermott didn't hold himself or the other coaches accountable for KC... so why would the players if they didn't do it for themselves either? 

Just now, NoSaint said:

 

I think it’s pretty mainstream that the team was completely flat and out of gas. There have been thousands of posts about hitting the wall after all the adversity of the season 

And there have been thosudans of posts like mine by more than just me wondering why McDermott couldn't coach his team up when it mattered most to give at least a modicum of effort against the Bengals. 

[Magox]

2 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

I think it’s pretty mainstream that the team was completely flat and out of gas. There have been thousands of posts about hitting the wall after all the adversity of the season 

There has been more posts about the fault landing squarely on the coaches fault.

 

So yes, it is in contrast to the prevailing thought in this message board.

 

 

I believe on that day it was a failure on coaching and players.

[Billl]

51 minutes ago, Snappysnackcakes said:

So, after this game, our DC semi-retires. Then, our HC comes out and says that he wants to be the DC and that it will be more of an attacking style of defense. Frazier lost the last couple playoff games. Period. Nobody wants to talk about it, but that is what happened. Sure, the HC takes the ultimate blame. But our DEFENSIVE failures cost us our last two playoff games by being too damned soft; once in the last 13 seconds and one for almost an entire game. Leslie is a nice guy, but the blank stares on the sidelines do not exactly exude confidence in me. I mean, WE talk about it, but Taiwan ain’t exactly keepin it real by not specifically discussing this fact. Playing prevent defense in Q1 while already down multiple scores is just about stupid. He schitt the bed. Now, a player needs to speak the damn truth. “Man, we had some real bad situational defense calls in that game.” That’s what I want to read. 

How was it a defensive failure when the offense scored 10 points?  Before the game, if someone said that the Bengals would score 27 points, you might not have been excited about it, but you still would have felt like you had a reasonable shot at winning.  If you were told only that the Bills would score 10 points, you’d have known the game was a lost cause.

[Don Otreply]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

Excuses.

 

We lost because the Bengals are the better team right now. From coaches to players.

You are wrong as usual, it’s wasn’t the players, it was the coaches not putting the players in position to be successful, that is pretty damn obvious from the get go in both Bengals games. 

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Success said:

 

Did you just compare this Bengals team to Mike Tyson?

 

Sorry - they were not "well on their way" to blowing us out before the injury in the regular season game.  We were 9 minutes in, and both teams had a drive where they went down the field pretty easily.

 

I'd understand if someone thought that if they had just started watching the NFL that week.  Otherwise, no.

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

32 minutes ago, Malazan said:

So the players feel like they didn't show up.. what are they doing about it? 

 

When it happens in the season, you can rally. Have a players-only meeting. Take the team on a field trip. Make a cardboard cutout of your owner naked, and take off post-it notes for every win. Whatever.

 

Unfortunately, when it happens in the playoffs, all you can do is find your reset button in the offseason and move on to next year.

[NoSaint]

1 hour ago, John from Riverside said:

It is long been one of my theories that the team just wasn’t ready to continue playing after what happened with the Hamlin thing

 

The problem is, it’s not provable, so the only thing to do is just to move on from it new season arriving

I know it was a novel event but also at some point it maybe shouldn’t totally derail a team? I really don’t know. 
 

Given the hindsight of damar potentially coming back to play next year it makes me wonder about other possible paths through the situation. 
 

I’ll never say that they got it wrong, but I do wonder about how other approaches could’ve played out. ie what if they quickly pushed into win for Damar instead of sitting in the space they did. 

[teef]

This ***** place…

[NoSaint]

20 minutes ago, Magox said:

There has been more posts about the fault landing squarely on the coaches fault.

 

So yes, it is in contrast to the prevailing thought in this message board.

 

 

I believe on that day it was a failure on coaching and players.

I don’t know that you will find much opposition that everyone failed that day. Heck, throw in equipment managers too with how much worse the players footing seemed to be. 
 

it was a full collapse. We can debate whether 60-40 on players vs coaches or the other way around but I think essentially every single person agrees there’s a lot of accountability to go around.

[Drew21PA]

Sounds all too familiar to the 4 straight super bowl losses

 

they said that a lot too

 

 

[Beck Water]

24 minutes ago, Billl said:

How was it a defensive failure when the offense scored 10 points?  Before the game, if someone said that the Bengals would score 27 points, you might not have been excited about it, but you still would have felt like you had a reasonable shot at winning.  If you were told only that the Bills would score 10 points, you’d have known the game was a lost cause.

 

The Bengals offense was allowed to march down the field and control the clock with at least two drives >6 minutes and one >5 minutes.

They had an 8 minute advantage in TOP

Absent fumbles and turnovers (of which there were none until near the end of the game), it seems generally accepted that the defense is not Doing Its Job in stopping the other team and getting the ball back for our offense.

[CincyBillsFan]

15 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

The Bengals offense was allowed to march down the field and control the clock with at least two drives >6 minutes and one >5 minutes.

They had an 8 minute advantage in TOP

Absent fumbles and turnovers (of which there were none until near the end of the game), it seems generally accepted that the defense is not Doing Its Job in stopping the other team and getting the ball back for our offense.

When the KC defense holds a team to a 3 and out it feels like a TO because their powerful offense is getting the ball back.  This is how the Bills must operate on D.  Even when the Bills forced a punt all to often it came after the other team had gained a couple of first downs , ran clock and improved their field position. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by CincyBillsFan

[Big Blitz]

When you start asking about or feeling like you need a philosophy change - that means the Coach probably should be fired.  
 

Or you’re just wasting Peak Josh Allen.  We’ll be looking for his offensive OC HC when he’s north of 30.   
 

BUT, we aren’t there yet.  Not justifiable.  

 

So - what has to happen is Dorsey needs to be elite right now.  

Become one of the best OCs in the game.  
 

That’s the difference between us and the Chiefs.   

 

If Dorsey doesn’t and this O steps back or the team does……..we’ll I don’t want to worry about that at the moment.   

Edited March 23, 2023 by Big Blitz

[Billl]

24 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

The Bengals offense was allowed to march down the field and control the clock with at least two drives >6 minutes and one >5 minutes.

They had an 8 minute advantage in TOP

Absent fumbles and turnovers (of which there were none until near the end of the game), it seems generally accepted that the defense is not Doing Its Job in stopping the other team and getting the ball back for our offense.

Bills possessions:

Punt (3 and out)

Punt (3 and out)

TD

Punt

FG

Punt

Turnover on Downs

Interception

 

3 playoff teams won when their defense gave up 27+ points.  None won when their offense scored 10 or fewer.

[LABILLBACKER]

3 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Yeah, pretty much what a lot of us saw. They were spent.

Yup....emotionally,  physically and psychologically.  We were lucky to survive Miami and their 3rd string qb. Too much drama & injuries. We didn't stand a chance.

[3rdand12]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

I agree, the second game felt like it was just finishing what was happening in the mini-game, but worse. The slippery conditions made it even more painful. We’ll never know for sure, but we’ll never forget it, either. 

 

I hope we see some tweaks on D with the DC and safeties coaches gone, but it will be much the same with McD as HC. 

 

What concerns me most is Dorsey. We need better protection and some weapons, but he needs to grow into that job in a hurry. 

 

 

.

I am not over the Coaching fails on both sides.

and we all know my lingering opinion of Ken Dorsey as OC. Strong as some about Leslie Frazier. But at least he moved on.

 Remain hopeful McD learned a shton from that game and how the season was trending.
 

But honestly

 I get it. Exhausted. Whole team. Emotionally bankrupt at that point, anyone could see it.

 

New season coming. and a rebirth of optimism is in order. Even if Quesenberry was brought back  lol

2 hours ago, Snappysnackcakes said:

So, after this game, our DC semi-retires. Then, our HC comes out and says that he wants to be the DC and that it will be more of an attacking style of defense. Frazier lost the last couple playoff games. Period. Nobody wants to talk about it, but that is what happened. Sure, the HC takes the ultimate blame. But our DEFENSIVE failures cost us our last two playoff games by being too damned soft; once in the last 13 seconds and one for almost an entire game. Leslie is a nice guy, but the blank stares on the sidelines do not exactly exude confidence in me. I mean, WE talk about it, but Taiwan ain’t exactly keepin it real by not specifically discussing this fact. Playing prevent defense in Q1 while already down multiple scores is just about stupid. He schitt the bed. Now, a player needs to speak the damn truth. “Man, we had some real bad situational defense calls in that game.” That’s what I want to read. 

whats the point though. Everyone knows it.

 

[IronyAbounds]

Exactly the same thing happened to Arizona in its first round loss to Princeton. I'm the common denominator, so obviously I'm the problem. My heartfelt apologies.

Edited March 23, 2023 by IronyAbounds

[Freddie's Dead]

Brutal indictment of McD and the coaching staff in general.

[Brian Higgins hair]

No excuse. They went through what we go through every day…and caved in. 

Hamlin was fine.

 

[Dopey]

3 hours ago, Einstein said:

  

 

If you fought Mike Tyson in his prime, you would look uninspired too.

 

It doesn't mean you weren't focused. Or that you were drained before the fight. It would be because he's that much better.

 

We all like to ignore it, but the Bengals were well on their way to blowing us out BEFORE the damar injury. They were up 7-3 and driving with ease again.

Not all, you’ve not ignoring it. But you’re making sure we know how you feel. Deja vu all over again. We know, we know. 

[In Summary]

Good article.  This sticks with me, "This is the team’s most important draft since ’18."  Have to agree.  

 

To me, what has to change is this:  Allen only has so much mental processing and athletic movement he can do on a given play.  Consider this his "play capacity".  When the Bill don't give him a line where he can calm down, set his feet, and throw on rhythm, the majority of his play capacity is used on evasion and improvising.    I think the Bills waste his play capacity on him escaping and improvising instead of giving him a line where his capacity is used properly to execute plays and make the best decisions.  Daboll ran Josh into traffic to build his career and Beane cheaped out on the OL to give McDermott his 8 starting D linemen.  Both are Allen abuse.

Edited March 23, 2023 by In Summary

[thunderingsquid]

I honestly think Kim's situation affected the organization more than we know. 

[Royale with Cheese]

2 hours ago, Einstein said:

  

4 hours ago, Einstein said:

Excuses.

 

We lost because the Bengals are the better team right now. From coaches to players.

Well at least they signed a bad left tackle so Zack Taylor must not know how to evaluate offensive linemen like Andy Reid.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Royale with Cheese

[Snappysnackcakes]

41 minutes ago, 3rdand12 said:

I am not over the Coaching fails on both sides.

and we all know my lingering opinion of Ken Dorsey as OC. Strong as some about Leslie Frazier. But at least he moved on.

 Remain hopeful McD learned a shton from that game and how the season was trending.
 

But honestly

 I get it. Exhausted. Whole team. Emotionally bankrupt at that point, anyone could see it.

 

New season coming. and a rebirth of optimism is in order. Even if Quesenberry was brought back  lol

whats the point though. Everyone knows it.

 

Diggs had a multi-hour meltdown on the sideline during that game and this will continue to happen if they don’t hold each other accountable. Not one person on that sideline knew how to keep him from losing it. Diggs is the kind of personality who can destroy a sideline during a game and I’ll repeat it, nobody could talk him off that ledge. If the coaches are not doing their jobs to perfection, he’s gonna lose it. My point is that the coaches lost that game. It was poorly prepared for, poorly called, and many players knew it. Frazier lost his job, McDermott has one more chance and, if they don’t get it right THIS season, they’re gonna blow it up and start over. They will only have the QB with which to build the team around. Coach is not gonna have the same leeway as his HC mentor Andy Reid. 

16 minutes ago, In Summary said:

Good article.  This sticks with me, "This is the team’s most important draft since ’18."  Have to agree.  

 

To me, what has to change is this:  Allen only has so much mental processing and athletic movement he can do on a given play.  Consider this his "play capacity".  When the Bill don't give him a line where he can calm down, set his feet, and throw on rhythm, the majority of his play capacity is used on evasion and improvising.    I think the Bills waste his play capacity on him escaping and improvising instead of giving him a line where his capacity is used properly to execute plays and make the best decisions.  Daboll ran Josh into traffic to build his career and Beane cheaped out on the OL to give McDermott his 8 starting D linemen.  Both are Allen abuse.

You nailed it, my friend. 

[Einstein]

23 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Well at least they signed a bad left tackle so Zack Taylor must not know how to evaluate offensive linemen like Andy Reid.

 

Orlando Brown isn’t a bad LT. He’s mediocre and he’s not worth what Andy Reid foolishly gave up for him. He got taken to the cleaners. 

[Royale with Cheese]

4 minutes ago, Einstein said:

 

Orlando Brown isn’t a bad LT. He’s mediocre and he’s not worth what Andy Reid foolishly gave up for him. He got taken to the cleaners. 

Reid wins the Super Bowl and Brown gets the largest ever signing bonus for a lineman in FA…LOL.

 

He was taking to the cleaners 🤣

[LABILLBACKER]

48 minutes ago, In Summary said:

Good article.  This sticks with me, "This is the team’s most important draft since ’18."  Have to agree.  

 

To me, what has to change is this:  Allen only has so much mental processing and athletic movement he can do on a given play.  Consider this his "play capacity".  When the Bill don't give him a line where he can calm down, set his feet, and throw on rhythm, the majority of his play capacity is used on evasion and improvising.    I think the Bills waste his play capacity on him escaping and improvising instead of giving him a line where his capacity is used properly to execute plays and make the best decisions.  Daboll ran Josh into traffic to build his career and Beane cheaped out on the OL to give McDermott his 8 starting D linemen.  Both are Allen abuse.

That happens when you go 6 years without improving the OL while you draft defensive busts.  

[Nephilim17]

10 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

That happens when you go 6 years without improving the OL while you draft defensive busts.  

So is this the gist of the pay-wall hidden rest of the article, that the Bills need to protect Allen? That's the philosophical change Dunne alludes to early on in the free part of the article?

Thanks for the info.