Stupidest Challenge of All Time

[Hermes]

16 minutes ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

A gain of 9 yards is nowhere near close to the value of a timeout.

 

The play was not obvious and should not have been challenged.

 

Whoever made that decision is a moron. 

I mean the ball literally hits his glove and not the ground. I get that the play was incomplete on the field, but that was very clearly a catch

[Bubba Gump]

15 minutes ago, buffblue said:

To me it was obvious. The ball clearly tipped upward off his fingertips, not the ground 🤷

 

Where did the black pellets come from then? The ball clearly hit the ground.

[WMDman]

I think it was a catch however it was a dumb challenge the TO was definitely more valuable than the 9 yards 

[WEATHER DOT COM]

3 minutes ago, Hermes said:

I mean the ball literally hits his glove and not the ground. I get that the play was incomplete on the field, but that was very clearly a catch

 

If it was clearly a catch it would have been ruled a catch.

[Dr.Sack]

In hindsight a very poor decision. 

[Hermes]

2 minutes ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

 

If it was clearly a catch it would have been ruled a catch.

Just like the clear pass interference/facemask on Davis or the clear tripping/slide tackle on Kincaid. Or the clearly not intentional grounding that was called on Josh.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Hermes

[BillsFan130]

6 minutes ago, Bubba Gump said:

 

Where did the black pellets come from then? The ball clearly hit the ground.

Ya Looked to me like it hit the ground as well.

 

Regardless it was a 9 yard play you’re challenging on first down.

 

Makes absolutely 0 sense to challenge that unless you’re 100 percent sure

[WEATHER DOT COM]

1 minute ago, BillsFan130 said:

Ya Looked to me like it hit the ground as well.

 

Regardless it was a 9 yard play you’re challenging on first down.

 

Makes absolutely 0 sense to challenge that unless you’re 100 percent sure

 

Makes 0 sense to challenge even if you are 100% sure because you're relying on someone else to also be 100% sure

[BillsFanNC]

9 minutes ago, NJKBillsfan said:

You really think it was a catch?

Didn't the ball hit the ground? 

 

Yes, I think it was a catch.

 

I also think it didn't exceed the bar of irrefutable evidence. 

 

Therefore dumb challenge. 

[BillsFan130]

Just now, WEATHER DOT COM said:

 

Makes 0 sense to challenge even if you are 100% sure because you're relying on someone else to also be 100% sure

Haha well if it’s 100 percent clear and obvious, I get it as why would you pass up 9 yards

 

But that wasn’t even close to being clear and obvious 

[Zag20]

1 minute ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

 

Makes 0 sense to challenge even if you are 100% sure because you're relying on someone else to also be 100% sure

The burden of proof needs to be changed then, because his hand is clearly between the ball and ground and then it’s caught. What do they need to see exactly? The ball can’t hit the ground if there’s a hand under the ball.

[Bookie Man]

I agree. It was not a good time to use the challenge. It may have been a catch, but it was almost impossible to tell if it was all glove underneath the ball. The TO was worth more than the 9 yards at the time.  I WANT SOME BUTTS!

[WEATHER DOT COM]

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

McD is so dumb. It was 9 yards and the clock was stopped. It was probably better that it was incomplete and the clock stopped.

They had 3 more downs to get a first.

[BADOLBILZ]

28 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

I'm disturbed by the sequence at the end of the half

 

 

Yeah Allen can't run a crisp 2 minute offense even though he's in his 6th year in the same system.    So many mistakes and lack of situational awareness on offense.  It's a problem.

[HardyBoy]

My only defense is maybe they wanted to huddle up for 90 seconds plus to discuss it and they were going to take a time out anyway, and this gave them more time than a time out would, and a chance to keep a free time out. 

[Turk71]

Whether it was a catch or not (I think it wasn't), it's a terrible challenge unless you can clearly see that he caught it; especially in that situation.

I think McD tends to panic when pressed to make quick decisions, you can see it on his face

 

[buffblue]

41 minutes ago, mrags said:

Not the point. It was called incomplete in the field. Much harder to overturn it. Especially when it’s 50/50

I guess you missed my use of the word clearly. There was absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever imo

[Rocbillsfan1]

Actually thought it was a catch as it looked like ball bounced off his hand not the ground but yea didn’t think the refs would make the right call as they were horrible all night. 

[ngbills]

Combine that with the halftime stupidity 

[Freddie's Dead]

15 minutes ago, Alpo Chino said:

I agree. It was not a good time to use the challenge. It may have been a catch, but it was almost impossible to tell if it was all glove underneath the ball. The TO was worth more than the 9 yards at the time.  I WANT SOME BUTTS!

 

[Dan Darragh]

2 hours ago, Billsatlastin2018 said:

 

Who among us could ever,ever, ever trust ‘13 Seconds’ to close out games properly?

 

13 seconds was the effective end of the McDermott experiment. He could have salvaged it by coming clean on what happened and owning it but now it's too late.  I'm beginning to think "13 seconds" will rival "wide right" in the pantheon of Bills pain.  At least "wide right" was in a SB.

[jlgarsh]

2 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Trust the process!!!

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

2 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Trust the process!!!

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

2 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Trust the process!!!

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

2 hours ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

Trust the process!!!

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McDermott 

[BillsShredder83]

3 hours ago, buffblue said:

Risk? What was the risk? We could have had 17 timeouts and not stopped the Bengals. It was the right decision and I am on the fire McDermott train

yeah, the risk was exactky what played out.

 

the timeout wouldnt have helped but at the time we didnt know that.....

 

you can close your eyes and speed through a red light, and not get t-boned too.  if you're in the passenger seat afterwards do you say 'good call, im glad you did that, we can save so much time the rest of the trip home!"

 

or do you look over, realize this dudes a fn idiot, and get out of the car before his stupid ass ends your life (future seasons). 

 

(spoiler, we got t-boned)

 

it was completely incompetent. Risk was losing a high value time out, reward was 11yards on what 2nd down, not even 3rd (we were in 4 down territory, so had 2 more whacks left at it)? insane

 

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by BillsShredder83

[Doc Brown]

I'm sure he has a guy in his ear that told him it was obvious so we wouldn't lose the timeout.  That guy might be fired now.

[Doc Brown]

5 hours ago, Bermuda Triangle said:

His game/clock management was horrendous.

 

want to hear his explanation for sitting on a timeout at the end of the half and the absolutely smooth brained challenge 

Yup.  Should've taken a timeout with a second left and tried a Hal Mary.  My guess is he was too heated about the intentional grounding penalty to think straight.  Inexcusable. 

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, WEATHER DOT COM said:

A gain of 9 yards is nowhere near close to the value of a timeout.

 

The play was not obvious and should not have been challenged.

 

Whoever made that decision is a moron. 

 

Agreed. I will post fuller thoughts on where culpability for this lies later on... but even if you win that challenge it is a terrible challenge. Down 2 scores inside 6 minutes to play a TO >>>>>>> 2nd and 1. 

[JoshAllin]

The challenge and going for 2, the worst calls of the day, bengals now forced and determined not to give the ball back or the'd lose with a td

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

4 hours ago, motorj said:

The challenge and going for 2, the worst calls of the day, bengals now forced and determined not to give the ball back or the'd lose with a td

 

Does anyone think this Bills defense would get a stop either way ? I like the aggressiveness of going for 2 there. Interestingly enough it was an identical situation to the Bucs game last week, only the Bucs defense got a stop. 

 

I liked the challenge too. It 100% should've been overturned. 

[SCBills]

It didn't matter because our 20M per year DE couldn't set the edge on a RB who I could beat in a race... but hoo boy, if we got the ball back down 6 with 1:10 left and came up short because we ran out of time due to McDermott burning a challenge in that situation... FOR NINE YARDS... this board would be apocalyptic.  

 

He shouldn't be let off the hook just because it didn't matter. 

 

That challenge was legitimately insane. 

[WEATHER DOT COM]

6 hours ago, Doc Brown said:

I'm sure he has a guy in his ear that told him it was obvious so we wouldn't lose the timeout.  That guy might be fired now.

 

 

Shouldn't the coach who makes probably 20-30x more than that guy in his ear realize that it is a 9-yard play and not worth the challenge regardless of what the guy in his ear is saying? 

 

I want a coach who has the awareness to not make stupid decisions like this.

 

[Bruffalo]

McDermott's worst quality as a coach is his gameday management, so this shouldn't be shocking to anyone, but that challenge was egregiously horrible.

If Arthur Smith, McDaniels, or any other bottom feeder team did this the national media would have a field day raking them over the coals.   

[Billl]

11 hours ago, buffblue said:

I guess you missed my use of the word clearly. There was absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever imo

Anyone who thinks it was a clear catch should never complain about officiating again because your vision is so clouded by homerism that you have no idea what you're watching.

[BananaB]

12 hours ago, dma0034 said:

McD's use of TOs are a huge problem. Taking TOs for the defense. Dumb challenges

Seems to be the excuse every week. Can’t win the turnover battle when the D can’t generate any. Been over a month without a pick. Lol

[buffblue]

21 minutes ago, Billl said:

Anyone who thinks it was a clear catch should never complain about officiating again because your vision is so clouded by homerism that you have no idea what you're watching.

Yeah, I'm not going to be lectured about officiating from a Chiefs fan. Pretty rich to dog others for questioning a call when your team has been the biggest beneficiary of gifts from referees in the post Brady era, and still you will argue otherwise 

Edited November 6, 2023 by buffblue

[NoSaint]

11 hours ago, Rocbillsfan1 said:

Actually thought it was a catch as it looked like ball bounced off his hand not the ground but yea didn’t think the refs would make the right call as they were horrible all night. 

the problem is you have to be certain no part of the ball hit ground and that was a tough angle. I’d say catch but wouldn’t bet my house on it 

[Bob Jones]

12 hours ago, buffblue said:

To me it was obvious. The ball clearly tipped upward off his fingertips, not the ground 🤷

That ball CLEARLY BOUNCED off the ground. If it had hit ONLY his fingers, then it wouldn'thave bounced up so abruptly.

[DabillsDaBillsDaBills]

25 minutes ago, Billl said:

Anyone who thinks it was a clear catch should never complain about officiating again because your vision is so clouded by homerism that you have no idea what you're watching.

 

Do you have a screenshot of the ball touching the ground? 

 

The pellets that we can see are pretty clearly from the back of Sherfields hand scraping the turf. The ball hits his hand, bounces up, and then Sherfield completes the catch with the ball never touching the ground. 

 

100% a catch. Unless you have an angle that I didn't see in the broadcast. 

[jlgarsh]

10 hours ago, jlgarsh said:

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McClown

I'd trust a process server to call plays before Dorsey & McDermott 

Wow sorry my phone was glitching last night. Or I was reposting half asleep. But both these guys need to go.

[BuffaloRebound]

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/McDeSe0/challenges/

 

McDermott is 7 for 29 on challenges over his career.  A dude who’s batting under .250  shouldn’t be risking a timeout there for 9 yards.