Tyler Dunne story on McDermott - 3 parts, 25 interviews, one damning conclusion

[Einstein]

1 minute ago, Royale with Cheese said:

To me, it sounds more like Jerry Hughes.

 

That’s an excellent thought that didn’t occur to me.

[thenorthremembers]

4 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

Quinton Spain.  He went to Cincinnati and played 100% of their postseason snaps in 2021 so, there's that.

 

 

I would have to agree.

And then never played another down in the league because he has the mental disposition of a child.

[LeGOATski]

Another Tyler Dunne Bills bashing article? I'm shocked!

[DrDawkinstein]

49 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Why is this moment more right than any other moment?

 

2.5 weeks until Christmas. This article went viral. If he got just 100 people to subscribe in order to read it then there is $800 in his pocket, and his travel/gift money for the holidays. Gotta get creative for a Christmas bonus when you're working for yourself.

[Buddy Hix]

9 minutes ago, ProcessTruster said:

Heath Farwell screwed up 13 seconds by not getting the skwib kick call in and was effectively fired for it, with McD being man enough not to call him out in the media. 

 

Get your facts straight.  

It was McD who procrastinated and caused the screw up…

[Freddie's Dead]

21 minutes ago, Warcodered said:

So that's obviously Levi Wallace.....and it's so nice of him to throw McDermott under the bus for a play he doesn't make.

 

Levi Wallace was the only person on the Bills who took any responsibility for 13 seconds.  He's got a right to complain.  McDummy hung him out to dry.

[Beck Water]

9 hours ago, TheyCallMeAndy said:

I know this will be taken as 100% factual information, but I struggle with unnamed sources. 
 

If someone got benched for fired, they won’t have favorable reviews of McD period because lack of accountability is a very common problem. 
 

Some of these stories just sound made up, opinions, or exaggerated. 
 

And for what it’s worth, my stance on McD has changed. I do think we will be best served with a new direction. 

 

I don't necessarily struggle with unnamed sources - journalists have to protect their sources at times.  Organizations that hold a high standard and require two independent sources to corroborate info before publication, I'm fine with that.

 

I struggle with Ty Dunne's unnamed sources, because his current business model requires him to obtain subscribers to his own work, which intrinsically requires that he generate controversy and bring in views.  And I say that as someone who liked Ty Dunne's writing for TBN and BR. 

In that context, I kind of feel as though 25 unnamed sources are ....I can't think of the name of the film, one of the sub-plots is a historical re-enactment group that's contracted to stage a battle for a film producer, the producer wants them to be totally inaccurate and the re-enactors revolt against him and do the historically accurate battle.  Afterwards the producer smiles at the leader and says "we have so many camera angles on that, we can make Any Thing We Want out of it."

 

 

[Warcodered]

8 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

To me, it sounds more like Jerry Hughes.

So instead of a player starting on another team it's the one that's not?

[Beck Water]

Just now, Freddie's Dead said:

Levi Wallace was the only person on the Bills who took any responsibility for 13 seconds.  He's got a right to complain.  McDummy hung him out to dry.

 

I can't keep up.  I thought our complaint was that McDermott WOULDN'T hang anyone out to dry but just said bland general things about execution.

[Low Positive]

52 minutes ago, Peter said:

In case anyone still had any doubts about who was calling the defense at the end of the 13 second game against the Chiefs:

 

 

"The strangest stories from Ty Dunne's blockbuster story on Sean McDermott"

Well, now we know that he talked to Levi Wallace. That’s the only former DB that could be loving life on a new team.

[K-9]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

2.5 weeks until Christmas. This article went viral. If he got just 100 people to subscribe in order to read it then there is $800 in his pocket, and his travel/gift money for the holidays. Gotta get creative for a Christmas bonus when you're working for yourself.

Hadn’t thought of the Christmas angle and that’s a fair point. But the team’s low point came after losing to Denver. If the intent was to hit a man when he was down, that was the better time.

[Warcodered]

1 minute ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

Levi Wallace was the only person on the Bills who took any responsibility for 13 seconds.  He's got a right to complain.  McDummy hung him out to dry.

That does sound familiar, but it sure is written in a way that makes it look like it's him, then again that article has a lot of opinion twisting around quotes. 🤷‍♂️

[Beck Water]

7 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said:

And then never played another down in the league because he has the mental disposition of a child.

 

I mean, he was 30 after 2021, and his "mental disposition of a child" went on to play for a winning team that went to the Superbowl

[Freddie's Dead]

2 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I can't keep up.  I thought our complaint was that McDermott WOULDN'T hang anyone out to dry but just said bland general things about execution.

 

He hung him out to dry with the play call, not verbally.

[Cray51]

35 minutes ago, beer can shower said:

 

Dude has 17 likes on his post lol

 

it was stupid, but we are talking about something 4 years ago….  I certainly don’t care

[Beck Water]

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

Hadn’t thought of the Christmas angle and that’s a fair point. But the team’s low point came after losing to Denver. If the intent was to hit a man when he was down, that was the better time.

 

I actually think it got more attention now.  The Bills kind of looked as though they got it together and might be turning it around - thumped the Jets solidly, played last year's NFC Champions very very tough into OT.  So they're back in the news as a team "In the Hunt".

 

I don't think the intention is to "hit a man when he's down", I think the intention is to generate views and subscribers and make money.

[JohnNord]

2 hours ago, Beck Water said:

 

Back in the days when Ty Dunne was writing for TBN, I loved his work.  During his 4 years at Bleacher Report, I frequently enjoyed it.

 

Then, I got to hand it to him for nerve and verve - he decided to go out on his own to support himself by pulling in paid subscribers to an independent long-story 'blog' format, right at the time when bloggers and subscription newsletters seemed to be dying in favor of social media content by advert-supported 'influencers'.

 

But since then - I haven't admired a lot of content he put out.  I don't feel that he holds himself to a high standard for verifying sources.  He started out relying on disgruntled former Bills FO guys Jim Monos and Doug Whaley, who no one else in the NFL have wanted to hire.  He needs to draw in subscribers to make a living, and the way to do that is to generate controversy.

 

If you want to believe his shows, Isaiah McKenzie gets open all the time against zone and Josh Allen just inexplicably refused to throw him the football last season.

 

I don't know who this "former assistant coach" Dunne quotes might be and whether he has an 'ax to grind' on the way out the door. 

 

I do know that in the 6 games prior to him being 'relieved of his duties', the Ken Dorsey offense spearheaded by the "gift from the Football Gods", Josh Allen, was averaging 20.6 ppg (a point  BELOW league average 21.7 ppg) - this without any major injuries to key offensive personnel - and had given up 13 turnovers (more than 2 TO per game).  

 

In the same time period and despite all the turnovers, the injury-depleted defense, missing starters to season-ending IR at 2ndary, LB, and DL and down to the 3rd string at DB and LB on a game to game basis, has held opponents to 21.5 (slightly better than league average).

So call me Cray-Cray, but from my seat in a comfy chair, I kind of feel like where we are is the result of the offense not living up to what a "gift from the Football Gods"-led offense should be able to generate.
 

Do with this info what you will.

 

PS I'm pretty sure Sean McDermott has an ego.  I don't think anyone becomes a head football coach without having an ego.  But for the successful coaches, that's typically tempered by a good leaven of humility and willingness to listen and hear.   If McD is such an accountability-free egomaniac - well, it's harder to sustain winning year to year in this league than not.  It was said that Daboll wasn't happy working with McDermott.  Well, Daboll had a great first year with the Giants but the wheels have fallen off this season and Daboll has been seen screaming in Wink Martindale's face on the sidelines.  Do with this info what you will, also.

 

I agree with you here.  There is no doubt that Dunne is an excellent writer and storyteller but I noticed that he often forms an opinion and then writes his stories to support that take, using quotes from former players and coaches, rather than presenting the evidence and letting the reader decide. 
 

Case in point, years ago he believed that Jordan Love should take over for Aaron Rodgers, so he wrote a feature using anonymous former Packers players to paint Rodgers in a negative light.  That year the Packers went 13-3.  Now that Love is playing better and Rodgers tenure with the Jets has been a disaster, he gets to take a victory lap three years later and say “see I told you.”

 

He did the same thing when he decided Mike Zimmer in Minnesota was too conservative a few years ago.  

 

Now it’s Sean McDermott.  Dunne opined that McDermott is “tight,” freezes up in big games and changed the way Josh Allen played football.  So of course, he writes an article that supports his narrative - using…you guessed it.  Former players and coaches. 
 

Do you see a pattern here?  He writes about polarizing, unpopular figures and disgruntled fans latch (like the ones here) who desperately want a change will blindly believe everything he writes.  
 

Like you, I don’t the article is pure bull####.  I’m sure there is a lot of truth in it and that Dunne wouldn’t just slander McDermott for no reason.  I do think he had a predetermined narrative about McDermott and carefully selected sources/quotes that would support his preconceived notion.   
 

Edited December 8, 2023 by JohnNord

[Beck Water]

3 minutes ago, Freddie's Dead said:

 

He hung him out to dry with the play call, not verbally.

 

You mean, hung him out to dry with the play call Wallace acknowledged he didn't execute correctly?

You kind of can't have it both ways here, Freddie.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Beck Water

[JohnNord]

3 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Dude has 17 likes on his post lol

 

it was stupid, but we are talking about something 4 years ago….  I certainly don’t care

Who in the blue hell is Zach Gelb?

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

I actually think it got more attention now.  The Bills kind of looked as though they got it together and might be turning it around - thumped the Jets solidly, played last year's NFC Champions very very tough into OT.  So they're back in the news as a team "In the Hunt".

 

I don't think the intention is to "hit a man when he's down", I think the intention is to generate views and subscribers and make money.

I don’t think the intention was to hit a man when he’s down, either. I was referring to a previous post that suggested that may have been the reason for Dunne’s timing in releasing the article.