Best coaching move of the game yesterday

[dave mcbride]

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that can be the difference in a game.

Edited January 2 by dave mcbride

[dma0034]

I'll say that about the Eagles. Everyone knows when it's 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 what's coming. Bills earlier handed the ball off to Murray instead of doing the 1 yard QB sneak. No need to out think yourself

[MJS]

Yes, the Cover 1 guys mentioned that as well. Playcallers have a tendency to over think things sometimes. I remember that a lot with Daboll, Dorsey, and now Brady, too.

 

But I'm a firm believer in running things over and over until the defense proves they can stop it. If it is working, keep doing it. Good job by McDermott making that change.

[BuffaloBillyG]

3 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that be the difference in a game.

But I thought it was bad when McDermott put his fingerprints on the offense? 

 

You are 100% correct though. Excellent situational awareness by Sean. That play was HUGE.

[Yobogoya!]

Yeah that was legit a great call!

 

Mcd when at last he calls a timeout to get the play right, and in fact does get the play right:

 

[RyanC883]

I’ll critique him when necessary and am still not sold on him as a championship coach, but that was a great job by McD.  No need to get “cute” there.  Also like thar he wanted more turnovers from the D (according to the sideline reporter), shows an aggressive style. 

[Stanley Lombardi]

Agreed--pulling them out of shotgun was first-class coaching at a crucial moment.

 

And, if I may, a modest proposal:

 

I nominate Sean McDermott for Coach Of The Week--an award which does not exist, but should. 

 

At the very least, Coach Of The Week would give message boards across the land something else to banter about.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

You are correct. 

Worst decision was not going for it on 4th and 1 after the Murray fail. 

[Dr. Who]

42 minutes ago, BuffaloBillyG said:

But I thought it was bad when McDermott put his fingerprints on the offense? 

 

You are 100% correct though. Excellent situational awareness by Sean. That play was HUGE.

So, McD should call time outs to stop his OC from making a foolish choice. His defensive TOs OTOH are usually a signal to the opposing OC that whatever he plans on doing, it's likely to result in points or at least a first down.

[TampaBillsJunkie]

46 minutes ago, dma0034 said:

I'll say that about the Eagles. Everyone knows when it's 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 what's coming. Bills earlier handed the ball off to Murray instead of doing the 1 yard QB sneak. No need to out think yourself

Murray blew three drives yesterday and we lost points because of him. He looks out of steam and it would be nice to get Fournette back in there with Johnson and Cook.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

They’re getting really good at the tush push. 

[BADOLBILZ]

5 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that be the difference in a game.

 

It was ridiculous that they even had to call that timeout..........it should have been a no-brainer to go to the tush push.  

 

Not only is the tush push easy money when you have a big QB..........you don't see pre-snap or holding calls on the offense on those plays.     How many times do we see flags ruin 3rd down conversions?  

 

I actually preferred the tush push on the play that sealed the game with the last first down as well.    They needed 2 yards so they went with a QB run play instead and then Allen gets smashed at the end.   Much safer on top of the pile than in the open field where defenders can get downhill and put a helmet into you. 

 

 

Edited January 2 by BADOLBILZ

[scuba guy]

The nice thing about what he did he walked right over to knox and talked to him about something 🤔. Making sure he knew what to do about where to line up and anyone coming around the corner.

Coach also talked to Josh.  Coach had a paper up against his face for that so I could not lip read what he said.

[Man with No Name]

ill tip my cap to McD but it was an obvious call, especially after we screwed up the other 3 and 1 with Murray up the middle. 

 

i think the bigger takeaway is that shows Brady is not a sound decision maker. He did it twice in one game. Sorry to say, but he should not get the job. 

 

If he is not feeling those obvious situations correctly, he most likely isn't doing it right throughout the game when there is a bit more nuance to what is and isn't the right call. 

[BADOLBILZ]

8 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

They’re getting really good at the tush push. 

 

And they are going to need it if they are only going to pass for 150-200 yards per game and lean on the defense.

[WotAGuy]

McD screamed into his headset at Brady:

“Hitler went with the ground game when he invaded Poland - NOT the air game.”

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

Yes, the Cover 1 guys mentioned that as well. Playcallers have a tendency to over think things sometimes. I remember that a lot with Daboll, Dorsey, and now Brady, too.

 

But I'm a firm believer in running things over and over until the defense proves they can stop it. If it is working, keep doing it. Good job by McDermott making that change.

 

What I highlighted above may be true 10 times that when the play caller is an ex QB.  I could imagine Dorsey often thinking to himself, boy what I could have done if I had JA's skill set.  Let me live vicariously through him now and call the plays I always thought about, but I didn't have the skills to pull off.

 

Ex QB's are probably great QB coaches as Dorsey was with Daboll, but scare me as an OC.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Weren’t there a few moments yesterday it seemed like Josh was annoyed with the guy talking to him in his helmet?

[Buffalo03]

I feel overall, his game management has been a lot better in this 4 game win streak. It hasn't been perfect but it's been better

[Aussie Joe]

3 minutes ago, WotAGuy said:

McD screamed into his headset at Brady:

“Hitler went with the ground game when he invaded Poland - NOT the air game.”

Hitler might have won the game against Poland … but the lack of the air game was a factor at the away games against England and Russia … Cost them the Championship that season …

[nedboy7]

Am I the only one who thinks Josh is going to get hurt during a tush push?  Seems like he usually ends up with a DT and LB trying to bend him in half. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

1 minute ago, nedboy7 said:

Am I the only one who thinks Josh is going to get hurt during a tush push?  Seems like he usually ends up with a DT and LB trying to bend him in half. 

Sometimes he gets too high with sneaks. I do worry he’ll get bent wrong.

[henry jones]

The coin toss

[Nextmanup]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that be the difference in a game.

And think how rarely they work in our favor with McDermott as the HC.

 

Truly unusual and surprising.

 

We usually have to play our way around McD's many coaching mistakes, every game.

 

 

 

 

[Bookie Man]

The Shno-plow

Edited January 1 by Alpo Chino

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

They’re getting really good at the tush push. 

 

Yeah, but I wish they'd use a fullback or a blocking TE behind him instead of putting a RB there.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

8 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

 

Yeah, but I wish they'd use a fullback or a blocking TE behind him instead of putting a RB there.

Why?

[WhoTom]

1 hour ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Why?

Newtonian physics. F=ma

 

Heavier body = stronger force.

 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

3 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that be the difference in a game.

Dr. McDermott stepping in for the disease that every OC is inflicted with: shotgun 3rd and 1 runs. 

[jaab1028]

Sitting Von Miller.

[stevewin]

I had dropped out of the GDT by them - I assume there were anumber of McD haters going insane at the time that he called a TO

[Eastport bills]

4 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that be the difference in a game.

That’s a great point, in fact in short yardage I believe we can be more effective than Philly with Josh on the shove play. With a yard or less he sees a small crack and that’s a big athletic battering ram moving the pile.

[4th&long]

Punting. The punter played great!

[stevestojan]

4 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

McDermott wisely calling time out when on the Bills’ final drive Brady had them lined up in shotgun in third and less than one at the NE 26 yard line with 2:41 left. I remember earlier in the season McDermott losing it when Dorsey did the same inside the one, which predictably resulted in a failure. The call there is ALWAYS to sneak it when you have Josh Allen and the tush push remains legal. My strong assumption is that McDermott saw them line up in shotgun and thought “what the actual f**k??” and called the TO. The Bills then reverted to the smart play, which of course worked. It’s those calls that can be the difference in a game.

I asked this in the other current McD thread, but if this is really how it went down during that timeout, why didn’t he veto Dorsey the 48 times he called it? 

[BillsVet]

4 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

And they are going to need it if they are only going to pass for 150-200 yards per game and lean on the defense.

 

And if the defense struggles, I doubt they'll be able to adjust the offense in-game to make up for the passing game decline.  

[Mikie2times]

4 hours ago, Buffalo03 said:

I feel overall, his game management has been a lot better in this 4 game win streak. It hasn't been perfect but it's been better

Let me call time out and think about that

[bmur66]

5 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

They’re getting really good at the tush push. 

It’s the Shnow Plow!

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

4 hours ago, Aussie Joe said:

Hitler might have won the game against Poland … but the lack of the air game was a factor at the away games against England and Russia … Cost them the Championship that season …

snow was a bigger factor vs. Russia 

[The Red King]

I'll critique McD, so it's only fair to credit him here.  When I saw that shotgun I wondered if Dorsey snuck in, kidnapped Brady and was disguised as him on the sideline.

[sven233]

Fact is, on the play sheet, the only play under the 3rd or 4th and 1 or less section should be the tush push.  That's it.  One play.  No need to overthink anything.  It is a dominant play that will probably work AT LEAST 90% of the time. 

 

If a team stops you on 4th down doing it, you tip your cap, say nice play, and then do it again the next time you get in that situation because it is going to work, especially with a horse like Allen running it.  If it's 3rd and 1, then you run it and if they stop you, you run it again.  There is no way any team is stopping Josh Allen twice in a row on that play back to back times.  Not happening.

 

I don't care where you are on the field, just run the play.  I promise you we will extend drives and it will look easy instead of watching Murray run directly into the backs of our lineman who get no push on traditional running plays in short yardage.