The Cook "doghouse"

[Success]

I didn't get it.

 

Obviously, Cook had kind of a rough night.  3 fumbles - one which set the tone for the game, one that didn't seem to be his fault, and one that fortuitously bounced back into his hands for a long gain.

 

But he also had a pretty great night, and was one of the most impactful players on the field.  He led the last TD drive entirely on his own until the actual TD play.

 

Sitting him for a series makes sense - it's what a lot of coaches do. But what McD did made little sense.  He kept Cook out for too long, and it really hurt our offense.

 

[Process]

First fumble in what, 14 months?

 

Give me a break.

[dorquemada]

as it turns out, his 1st fumble did set the tone for the game, and our QB picked up on it

 

Cook is our best RB but what do you do as a coach when your team isn't responding to coaching?

[MJS]

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

[NoSaint]

1 minute ago, Process said:

First fumble in what, 14 months?

 

Give me a break.

yea, unless something was going on in practice all week that cook blew off… it made zero sense to bench him for essentially a quarter over an at that point isolated fumble. 

Just now, MJS said:

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

cook was already running hard and fumbled because he was fighting. I don’t think he’s had any issue with loafing.

[Mark Vader]

Just now, MJS said:

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

Perhaps it did help, although Cook was on the sidelines a lot longer than he should have been.

[BillsFooteball]

Important game, want to set the tone and very first play fumble. It’s unfortunate but I get benching for one series and that’s it. Also would not be passing to Murray. 
All for accountability but issue is what about next drive with davis? Bills moving broncos territory and Davis drop and interception. Cost the team points. Next offensive series davis was out there..

[Process]

2 minutes ago, MJS said:

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

They held him out 3 series. Interception, punt, punt. First drive he comes back in we score a TD. 

 

You don't take your best RB out of the game for THREE SERIES because of one fumble in 14 months. 

[Big Turk]

7 minutes ago, Success said:

I didn't get it.

 

Obviously, Cook had kind of a rough night.  3 fumbles - one which set the tone for the game, one that didn't seem to be his fault, and one that fortuitously bounced back into his hands for a long gain.

 

But he also had a pretty great night, and was one of the most impactful players on the field.  He led the last TD drive entirely on his own until the actual TD play.

 

Sitting him for a series makes sense - it's what a lot of coaches do. But what McD did made little sense.  He kept Cook out for too long, and it really hurt our offense.

 

 

Did it?  Murray rumbled for big gains while he was out.  Murray also averaged 7.6 YPC last night too...I don't agree with that.

[Chaos]

One of the commentators mentioned that Cook was held out because he had lost his composure.  Not as punishment. And was re-inserted when he regained his composure.    If true that seems like a legit reason to hold him out.  

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

I wonder if Cook wants to invest in a fast food joint, serving Sahlen's hot dogs.  We could clean up, naming it after this thread. 😁

[phypon]

What McD should have done was said "don't do that again".  Way to mind F your players.  But, that's McD's style, keep 'em scared, be in control of everything.  F'ing stupid.  Fumbles happen and it was a close call as to wether he was even down when the fumble occurred.  Bang bang plays happens and the ball comes out, that's football.  Wrong time in the season for McD to discipline a player.  McD is a complete tool.  Cost us a game...

[ChanticleerBillsFan]

I don’t understand how Davis wasn’t benched. His play was just as bad. The proverbial McDermott “doghouse” only applies to certain players unfortunately 

[dorquemada]

MCD is feeling the heat and knew damn well that the Bills had to play as close to mistake free football as possible.  As it turns out, this is what 'as close to mistake free football' as the Keystone Kops Buffalo Bills are capable of playing.  Queue up the yakety sax and let's watch the antics next week!

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

O.J. wasn't exactly a paragon of steady handed ball control, but he did a decent job of running the ball.

 

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/how-many-fumbles-did-o.j.-simpson-have#

[Bills aPHILLYate]

It's difficult to blame Cook because of how sparingly he is used. 

We call running plays like they are trick plays which is crazy. 

This is the 2nd rb who is being terribly underutilized for no apparent reason. 

Singletary before and now Cook...

Cook should be a feature back to balance things out. 

These OC's keep promoting less hero ball from Josh all while completely relying on him to do it all and neutering the offense as a whole.

 

 

[julian]

That benching was fireable to me when it happened, I couldn’t believe it. He’s coaching like it’s a pop Warner team.

[dorquemada]

1 minute ago, ChanticleerBillsFan said:

I don’t understand how Davis wasn’t benched. His play was just as bad. The proverbial McDermott “doghouse” only applies to certain players unfortunately 

 

Because we've ignored the WR position and Davis had that one great game 3 years ago. 

 

McD is obviously a complete hack, I'm glad that Dorkey is gone, but let's hope Beane will at least consider drafting skill players this year.  oh and someone to replace spencer brown

[Golden*Wheels]

I mean he is gone now so it doesn't matter but....why were we calling 3-4-5 runs in a row multiple times with him when he came back? Was Dorsey sticking it to McDermott?

 

Seems not a great idea to gas a guy out like that when he has already fumbled...can't remember the last time I even saw 3 runs in a row outside of ending a game.

[BADOLBILZ]

2 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

O.J. wasn't exactly a paragon of steady handed ball control, but he did a decent job of running the ball.

 

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/how-many-fumbles-did-o.j.-simpson-have#

 

 

Different era.   More violence, more fumbles.   Bigger discrepancy between good, middling and bad teams.  Always been an important stat but with talent spread more evenly around the league by ever enhanced parity measures, now turnovers make a bigger difference.    For reference that Rams/Steelers SB after the 1979 season featured the two teams that turned the ball over THE MOST that season.

[Preds]

19 minutes ago, MJS said:

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

The problem is we have a control freak HC who NEVER takes accountability for his numerous gameday mistakes and instead deflects blame everywhere but on him or his precious defense.  Our GM can't even hold McDummy accountable, and with Terry running the show, he doesn't have the courage to hold McDummy accountable either.  

When a coach preaches and demands accountability for everyone but himself (and often his precious defense), you lose players and coaches and cause a divide on the team, which we've seen in place since at least 13 seconds and his gag order on any discussion of that coaching misconduct.  

The Bills are just spinning wheels until someone finds the courage to hold McDummy accountable for his gross coaching misconduct on so so many gamedays.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Preds

[Jauronimo]

2 minutes ago, Golden*Wheels said:

I mean he is gone now so it doesn't matter but....why were we calling 3-4-5 runs in a row multiple times with him when he came back? Was Dorsey sticking it to McDermott?

 

Seems not a great idea to gas a guy out like that when he has already fumbled...can't remember the last time I even saw 3 runs in a row outside of ending a game.

Because it was the only thing that worked.  Cook and Murray gashed Denver all night.  Even Dorsey won't leave the run when its averaging 7.5 yards per carry.  

 

Anything else?

[Punch]

Cook appeared to respond just fine as soon as he stepped back onto the field. Whether or not there's any longterm impact remains to be seen. 

 

The only leeway I can give McD is if he checked in on Cook and felt he needed more time to focus. I'm not suggesting that was the case, but it's ultimately the only acceptable reason in my mind.

[DuckyBoys]

12 minutes ago, Bills aPHILLYate said:

It's difficult to blame Cook because of how sparingly he is used. 

We call running plays like they are trick plays which is crazy. 

This is the 2nd rb who is being terribly underutilized for no apparent reason. 

Singletary before and now Cook...

Cook should be a feature back to balance things out. 

These OC's keep promoting less hero ball from Josh all while completely relying on him to do it all and neutering the offense as a whole.

 

 

what they want is not possible  They want a safe mistake free offense but yet put in Josh to move the chains  Cant have both  Either run and take some of the load off and establish space to throw w the threat of the run or live with the consequences of a heavy pass offense 

[Drew21PA]

Yeah you bench cook

 

 

yet Davis over and over again causes picks and drops everything 

 

idk I feel Davis should sit 

[Success]

8 minutes ago, Punch said:

Cook appeared to respond just fine as soon as he stepped back onto the field. Whether or not there's any longterm impact remains to be seen. 

 

The only leeway I can give McD is if he checked in on Cook and felt he needed more time to focus. I'm not suggesting that was the case, but it's ultimately the only acceptable reason in my mind.

 

That's a fair point.  We don't know all of the details. I was just frustrated, because we were running well against that D & Cook is our most explosive back.

 

[Golden*Wheels]

9 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

Because it was the only thing that worked.  Cook and Murray gashed Denver all night.  Even Dorsey won't leave the run when its averaging 7.5 yards per carry.  

 

Anything else?

Oh I am not against running, even running consecutively. I just can't recall when the last time I saw the same back (especially after having fumble-itis) get so many consecutive carries.

 

Perhaps my "why were we calling 3-4-5 runs in a row multiple times with him when he came back?" was too vague for you to follow but the thread IS about Cook.

 

And calm down with the "anything else?" teach. sheesh. Take it out on the team if you mad, or understand my point the first time.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Golden*Wheels

[Ethan in Cleveland]

It's a juvenile move for a pop Warner coach. Stupid for a NFL coach. 

He hurt the team benching the team best RB. 

 

Why did Allen not get benched for the INT and fumble? 

 

[HomeskillitMoorman]

Cook was one of the few that had a fighter's mentality last night. It was stupid to bench him. 

[BillsShredder83]

46 minutes ago, Success said:

I didn't get it.

 

Obviously, Cook had kind of a rough night.  3 fumbles - one which set the tone for the game, one that didn't seem to be his fault, and one that fortuitously bounced back into his hands for a long gain.

 

But he also had a pretty great night, and was one of the most impactful players on the field.  He led the last TD drive entirely on his own until the actual TD play.

 

Sitting him for a series makes sense - it's what a lot of coaches do. But what McD did made little sense.  He kept Cook out for too long, and it really hurt our offense.

 

he was fired up, but blocking was nice. they seemed pissed too

[Punch]

13 minutes ago, Success said:

 

That's a fair point.  We don't know all of the details. I was just frustrated, because we were running well against that D & Cook is our most explosive back.

 

I was as frustrated as you and I agree 100%. It's just me trying to rationalize what I thought was a shortsighted and draconian coaching decision.

[BillsFanForever19]

That's just how McDermott responds to those kind of plays. I knew when it happened he was going to make Cook sit for a while. It's his MO.

 

My issue was that I felt Davis getting hit in the hands and dropping it leading to an INT was a bigger infraction. And he was out on the field the very next offensive play.

 

If you're going to punish Cook for his infraction, logically Davis should have been punished as well.

[Jukester]

2 hours ago, phypon said:

What McD should have done was said "don't do that again".  Way to mind F your players.  But, that's McD's style, keep 'em scared, be in control of everything.  F'ing stupid.  Fumbles happen and it was a close call as to wether he was even down when the fumble occurred.  Bang bang plays happens and the ball comes out, that's football.  Wrong time in the season for McD to discipline a player.  McD is a complete tool.  Cost us a game...

Absolutely agree with all of this.  He is a total control freak.  Players fumble from time to time.  He treated it like Cook fumbles every other carry.  Totally hurt our offense in the first half.  

[Ballhawk]

1 hour ago, Drew21PA said:

Yeah you bench cook

 

 

yet Davis over and over again causes picks and drops everything 

 

idk I feel Davis should sit 

I agree 100%. Drops balls are one thing, but breaking off routes and not being on the same page with Allen have been drive killers at best and INTs at worst. I realize communication is a two way street but I don't see any of the other WRs or TEs doing this as blatantly as Davis. 

 

Problem is he makes just enough plays to make the coaching staff keep him in there, but his inconsistency is a major contributor to the offensive inconsistency overall.

[CapeBreton]

McDermott is the worst, but I have no issue with benching Cook. Fumbling on the first play of the game is not acceptable, really started off the whole disaster of a game. I was scared Cook was going to fumble every time he touched the ball, and he did again but got very lucky he didn't lose it.  

[dave mcbride]

2 hours ago, Process said:

They held him out 3 series. Interception, punt, punt. First drive he comes back in we score a TD. 

 

You don't take your best RB out of the game for THREE SERIES because of one fumble in 14 months. 

 

[warrior9]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

It HELPED the offense. Cook was pissed and went out and balled after.

 

Davis should have been benched after that dropped pass too.

 

The players need to be held accountable just as much as coaches. They are making too many bone-headed mistakes out there. That is what has been killing most of the drives.

 No, this isn't high school. You have 4 good players on offense. You don't sit one for a quarter and a half. It HELPED? We didn't score in the first quarter. James Cook was going to run like that whether he was benched or not, he's a professional football player. It absolutely destroyed the team and our efficiency. This isn't fking peewee football you don't "that'll show him" your starting running back for a fumble when your team is CLEARLY on the down slope.

 

Why don't we bench Josh after INT's then ?

 

 

McDermott then had the balls to stand up there and say "Fumbling isn't in a running back's job description" OHHH but "Not having your team prepared on final plays of drives" is in head coaches job description? 

[JoshAllin]

Murray did a decent job replacing him early on, they went back to Cook once Murray stopped being effective and had a dropped pass. Also comparing Allen being benched to Cook is silly as they may as well forfeited the game

[Warcodered]

All of the fumbles were ridiculous, the first one he gets stopped and the defender basically grabs him by the football and ragdolls him by it until it comes loose, which we were apparently snake bit enough for it to not be blown dead by then, second one I don't know what the ***** I saw on that handoff, 3rd one of course a defender comes behind him and lands a perfectly placed punchout on the ball because that is our ***** season.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Warcodered

[Nextmanup]

4 hours ago, Success said:

I didn't get it.

 

Obviously, Cook had kind of a rough night.  3 fumbles - one which set the tone for the game, one that didn't seem to be his fault, and one that fortuitously bounced back into his hands for a long gain.

 

But he also had a pretty great night, and was one of the most impactful players on the field.  He led the last TD drive entirely on his own until the actual TD play.

 

Sitting him for a series makes sense - it's what a lot of coaches do. But what McD did made little sense.  He kept Cook out for too long, and it really hurt our offense.

 

It's just idiotic Sean "meathead football guy" McDermott coaching.

 

He also thought punting to the best punt return guy in the league, over and over, was a good idea too.

 

70 some punt return yards later and an entire game of good field position for Denver, that's looking like a bad idea too.

 

Or his decision to receive the ball to star the game.  Another mistake.

 

The guy is just horrible.