Firing Dorsey did not solve Bills' number 1 problem: Sean McDermott (damning Warren Sharp article)

[Heavy Kevi]

30 minutes ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

2020: 40.0% of drives made it to the red zone

2021: 41.4%

2022: 33.9%

 

None of this is surprising. 

 

When McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017 he was asked about his offensive philosophy. 

 

It was all the same buzzwords: toughness, physical run game, snowy Buffalo weather. 

 

We all know he wants to run the ball and stay ahead of the sticks, 3rd and manageable. 

 

 

The article said it once, but it needs to be highlighted, and Beane owns some of this too: the Bills have not drafted a WR higher than the 4th Round since 2017 (2nd Round - Zay Jones). So in the Josh Allen era, Gabe Davis at 128th overall is their highest draft investment at WR. 

 

2018

Ray Ray McLoud #187

Austin Proehl #255

 

2019

None

 

2020

Gabe Davis #128

Isaiah Hodgins #207

 

2021

Marquez Stevenson #203

 

2022

Khalil Shakir #148

 

2023

Justin Shorter #150

 

That's your WR investment with Josh Allen as your QB. 

 

So you get what you deserve Buffalo. You're getting what you have invested in - running backs and tight ends. 

 

Imagine if they had done what EVERY fan wanted them to do when they traded up for Cody Ford and instead drafted Metcalf.

 

That was Beane's "maybin over orakpo" moment. And it changed the trajectory of the team, just like the maybin bust.

 

The swing from Cody Ford to DK would have been massive 

 

And I won't get into the endless parade of could-have-been-Bills WRs via trade or FA. It's criminal, and the one thing that really gives me pause about Beane is flat out ignoring the WR position after getting diggs 

[Peter]

12 hours ago, Dopey said:

McCoach!?!? Really!?! What are you, 8 years old?

I wish all this juvenile name calling would end already. Bunch of clowns. 
Sincerely, 

McDopey. 

You mean like Dopey Dopey.

[BufBills83]

I mean, I may be wrong in this line of thinking, but why wouldn't McDermott want to run the type of offense that is most successful for this team, moves the ball best  and scores the most points?  If that happens, you win football games and that is the ultimate goal.  People say he wants to run the ball, but he runs a defense scheme that is suited better for stopping the pass than the run.  So he knows the league has evolved to more of a passing league.  So why would he be the opposite in his philosophy of the offense and want to run the ball?  Unless he wants to go against the grain and run more because teams are going smaller on defense to defend the pass, which I don't think is true, then the whole McDermott wants more ball control and less passing and high tempo just doesn't make sense to me.

[WotAGuy]

8 minutes ago, BufBills83 said:

I mean, I may be wrong in this line of thinking, but why wouldn't McDermott want to run the type of offense that is most successful for this team, moves the ball best  and scores the most points?  If that happens, you win football games and that is the ultimate goal.  People say he wants to run the ball, but he runs a defense scheme that is suited better for stopping the pass than the run.  So he knows the league has evolved to more of a passing league.  So why would he be the opposite in his philosophy of the offense and want to run the ball?  Unless he wants to go against the grain and run more because teams are going smaller on defense to defend the pass, which I don't think is true, then the whole McDermott wants more ball control and less passing and high tempo just doesn't make sense to me.

He wanted a run game because the offense had become Josh playing Superman every drive.  Everyone could see the offense needed something other than Josh playing hero ball. The run game was the obvious solution. 
 

I don’t think he wanted the Bills to become a running offense, he just wanted a competent run game to complement Josh. 
 

Unfortunately, Josh hasn’t been playing Superman consistently this season, which leaves very little for this offense. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

4 hours ago, Heavy Kevi said:

 

Imagine if they had done what EVERY fan wanted them to do when they traded up for Cody Ford and instead drafted Metcalf.

 

That was Beane's "maybin over orakpo" moment. And it changed the trajectory of the team, just like the maybin bust.

 

The swing from Cody Ford to DK would have been massive 

 

And I won't get into the endless parade of could-have-been-Bills WRs via trade or FA. It's criminal, and the one thing that really gives me pause about Beane is flat out ignoring the WR position after getting diggs 

Yes, yes and yes. 

 

I, like you, was screaming at the TV - DK Metcalf - after that Draft lead up????????? After that Combine? 

 

In 2019 it was Cole Beasley and John Brown - and that got the Bills to respectable (but again Cole and John were 30/29 years old when we picked them up, so they gave you the last bit the could. 

 

In 2020 it was the Diggs trade, still had Beasley and Brown, it was the fuel to get to the AFCCG. 

 

2021 was where it started to come off the rails for me - because we went back to the well and signed Emmanuel Sanders on the fringe of retirement. And look at the game logs, he was out of gas 7 games into that season. 

 

2022 was the year WRs were on the move everywhere and we didn't get one (I don't blame them for not getting Hill, I don't think the Chiefs were trading him here, but there were others. Also, this is the boneheaded Von Miller contract which sucked all the rest of the cap space. 

[LABILLBACKER]

45 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

He wanted a run game because the offense had become Josh playing Superman every drive.  Everyone could see the offense needed something other than Josh playing hero ball. The run game was the obvious solution. 
 

I don’t think he wanted the Bills to become a running offense, he just wanted a competent run game to complement Josh. 
 

Unfortunately, Josh hasn’t been playing Superman consistently this season, which leaves very little for this offense. 

I'll say one thing, the only drives against Denver that relied heavily on running resulted in all 3 of our tds.  Whether Josh likes it or not, we have to run more.  If for no other reason than take pressure off 17.  The problem is we have a weak run blocking OL.

[WotAGuy]

1 minute ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I'll say one thing, the only drives against Denver that relied heavily on running resulted in all 3 of our tds.  Whether Josh likes it or not, we have to run more.  If for no other reason than take pressure off 17.  The problem is we have a weak run blocking OL.

Denver has a bad run defense. Unfortunately the run game disappears against better d lines. Maybe Brady will have a better strategy for running the ball and a more creative mix of runs. It could really turn things around. 

[TheBrownBear]

Yeah, not a very persuasive article.  Reads like poster fan fiction to me.

[FireChans]

I would argue this game was damming for Warren Sharp and Kenneth Dorsey.

[Big Turk]

On 11/16/2023 at 9:30 AM, Straight Hucklebuck said:

2020: 40.0% of drives made it to the red zone

2021: 41.4%

2022: 33.9%

 

None of this is surprising. 

 

When McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017 he was asked about his offensive philosophy. 

 

It was all the same buzzwords: toughness, physical run game, snowy Buffalo weather. 

 

We all know he wants to run the ball and stay ahead of the sticks, 3rd and manageable. 

 

 

The article said it once, but it needs to be highlighted, and Beane owns some of this too: the Bills have not drafted a WR higher than the 4th Round since 2017 (2nd Round - Zay Jones). So in the Josh Allen era, Gabe Davis at 128th overall is their highest draft investment at WR. 

 

2018

Ray Ray McLoud #187

Austin Proehl #255

 

2019

None

 

2020

Gabe Davis #128

Isaiah Hodgins #207

 

2021

Marquez Stevenson #203

 

2022

Khalil Shakir #148

 

2023

Justin Shorter #150

 

That's your WR investment with Josh Allen as your QB. 

 

So you get what you deserve Buffalo. You're getting what you have invested in - running backs and tight ends. 

 

I would suspect those red zone percentages got skewed last year with so many long TD passes by Allen meaning many of those drives never made it to the red zone because they scored before they ever got there. Seems disingenuous to  try and spin it like it was something bad in terms of red zone percentage.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Big Turk

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

On 11/15/2023 at 3:41 PM, zow2 said:

I like this one quote: "McDermott’s defense has been terrible on opening drives and early in games (#29 defense on opening drive yards allowed, #31 defense in points allowed the first two drives of games)."

 

So let me get this straight, McDermott's defense has been terrible at the beginning of games...and in all 5 losses it's been pretty awful at the end of games, unable to get the crucial stop to either win, or give the offense the ball back for a chance to win.  Man, that's a problem!  I'd say even the Giants game was technically a stop at the end, but the Bills got lucky.

Defense is getting stops missing 6-7 starters most games.  We have the highest cap percentage on IR and it’s all on defense it’s honestly pretty crazy.

 

If we had one of jones/white/Milano/von miller without a clunky knee brace we’d probably be 7-4 or 8-3 right now with no real defensive question marks 

 

the defensive has honestly exceeded expectations given the circumstances…only real stinker they had was NE

Edited November 20, 2023 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Beck Water]

I don’t know if Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane will win a Super Bowl  with the Buffalo Bills

 

But I’m pretty sure Sean McDermott has forgotten more football than Warren Sharp knows.

 

 

 

[Warcodered]

9 minutes ago, FireChans said:

I would argue this game was damming for Warren Sharp and Kenneth Dorsey.

I don't know after the Broncos game I became less certain about McDermott, things were definitely wrong with the team and there needed to be a change. I'd definitely hesitate to just clear McDermott's name because of one game I'd like some consistency first. It was definitely either a bad night or certainly an awkward night for Dorsey, generally you'd think if he got along well with his players he'd be happy they played well, but it definitely painted him in a poor light.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

On 11/16/2023 at 2:19 PM, BufBills83 said:

I mean, I may be wrong in this line of thinking, but why wouldn't McDermott want to run the type of offense that is most successful for this team, moves the ball best  and scores the most points?  If that happens, you win football games and that is the ultimate goal.  People say he wants to run the ball, but he runs a defense scheme that is suited better for stopping the pass than the run.  So he knows the league has evolved to more of a passing league.  So why would he be the opposite in his philosophy of the offense and want to run the ball?  Unless he wants to go against the grain and run more because teams are going smaller on defense to defend the pass, which I don't think is true, then the whole McDermott wants more ball control and less passing and high tempo just doesn't make sense to me.

I’m sure he wants to be able to run on the cover 2 shells we frequently see as he should.  This whole bills fans criticizing him like he wants to run the ball at all cost no matter the situation is getting a little out of hand imo 

 

schematically we should be able to run fairly easily on a lot of the looks we see and we haven’t been able to in years past. 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

10 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

I would suspect those red zone percentages got skewed last year with so many long TD passes by Allen meaning many of those drives never made it to the red zone because they scored before they ever got there. Seems disingenuous to  try and spin it like it was something bad in terms of red zone percentage.

Yup you’re right. 
 

Disingenuous intentionally on my part.

 

By all means you’re right, let’s get Dorsey back.

[Dan Darragh]

The entire article consists of one sentence paragraphs.  Never trust anyone who can't write a paragraph with more than one sentence.

[Logic]

4 minutes ago, Dan Darragh said:

The entire article consists of one sentence paragraphs.  Never trust anyone who can't write a paragraph with more than one sentence.

It seems to be the way of the world in online journalism these days, for better or worse. Modern readers have such short attention spans and will click away from something incredibly quickly if it doesn't immediately grab their attention, or so the theory goes, anyway.

Gone are the days of erudite and eloquent journalism or of journalism as art, at least as it relates to sports writing. Dr Zimmerman, Sharp is not. Unfortunately, it's all about clicks and "minutes spent on website" and ad revenues these days.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Logic

[EasternOHBillsFan]

11 hours ago, FireChans said:

I would argue this game was damming for Warren Sharp and Kenneth Dorsey.

 

Let's hold off on that assessment until we see how they look against the Eagles, KC and the Cowboys. Eventually the tapes on how Brady calls games will be dissected and countered, and we will see if Brady can continue to adjust in game. I look forward to it!

[Mango]

7 minutes ago, EasternOHBillsFan said:

 

Let's hold off on that assessment until we see how they look against the Eagles, KC and the Cowboys. Eventually the tapes on how Brady calls games will be dissected and countered, and we will see if Brady can continue to adjust in game. I look forward to it!

Also, it was more or less universally accepted that the Jets game was a bad day at the office for the QB. He was toasted in almost every A22 review and Dorsey was given a lot of credit for calling a very good game. 
 

I think Saleh was pretty insightful yesterday, they were basically waiting for Josh to self destruct. He didn’t, he had a great game. 
 

That said, getting Josh to do that is also part of the job of OC. So credit to Brady for sure. But like you, I am slow to call this “a new offense”.

 

EDIT: Hoping for Joe Brady to be the truth. We need it down the stretch. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Mango

[EasternOHBillsFan]

4 minutes ago, Mango said:

That said, getting Josh to do that is also part of the job of OC. So credit to Brady for sure. But like you, I am slow to call this “a new offense”.

 

EDIT: Hoping for Joe Brady to be the truth. We need it down the stretch. 

 

I'm really not shocked at all the national media is not giving the Bills a shot in the next three games... we seem to be at our best when we are underdogs, and this month is certainly the month for Brady to prove he can be the man.