McDermott says a Lombardi is "not a matter of if, just a matter of when"

[<bills4life>]

3 hours ago, Dr. K said:

The endless ranking on McDermott, in which the same people say the same things over and over again, and nobody raging that he should be fired has said anything new since the 13 seconds game--or at least in the last year--makes me never want to come back here again.

 

The few who want to talk about other things relevant to the Bills and not ride their hobby horses to death keep me coming back here to check in now and then.

 

And the repetitive anti-McDermott whining drives me away again. You can't begin reading any thread without eventually running into the necessary quota of bitter complaint that McDermott will never win a title/is a fool/is arrogant/is lazy/is too conservative/has lost the locker room/is surrounded by his yes-men, yada yada yada. 

 

Maybe he should be fired. I don't know. My instinct and life experience tell me that the world is not fair, that time and chance happen to us all, that the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, that even brilliant people make mistakes, that leadership takes many forms, and that finding success is not as simple as these people insist. But apparently there are a lot of Bills fans who have never been wrong in their entire lives. 

“It’s business, it’s not personal”. A lot of McDermott detractors would say he is not a horrible coach. However like you so eloquently laid out with your “of mice and men” analogy, things go awry. We are now going into year 7 with 1 afc championship appearance. I’m sorry but that’s a problem. I understand many are infuriated with the ungrateful negative Nancy’s.  But on the flip side many are infuriated with the good ship lolly pop “beane is a wizard” “McDermott is doing a great job crowd.”I think most can agree that the bills are not achieving at the level they should be. One group wants to be divorced from the negativity and the other wants to be divorced from complicit apologists.  The truth is somewhere in the middle. I’m older so I don’t have time for excuses. I have more of a sense of urgency. When you are younger, there is a lot more time to wait. 

[LABILLBACKER]

5 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

And Tyrod Taylor is elite, too?  

 

When did Josh start coaching that top-10 defense?

Oh right, that same top 10 McD defense that gets shredded every playoffs.  Got it!  Yeah, Tyrod was pretty dynamic that day against the Jags.  My bad, I know better than to include the playoffs in any Bills discussion.  

[HomeskillitMoorman]

Basically he's content. He thinks it's an accomplishment to just do what we have, and if we do win the Superbowl, great. It's a big problem that he doesn't see this, especially 3 division round losses in a row with a top 3 QB, as a massive failure. 

[Mikie2times]

15 hours ago, BillsFan2313 said:

I am just praying Babich can put together a game plan that offers a little resistance against offenses in the playoffs, then what McD is saying will happen

It’s funny how people think it will be Brady’s offense and Babich on defense. McD will put Babich in a very tiny box and then he will have some degree of freedom. But he will not actually have freedom to make it his. Brady will be using most of the same things we saw last year. McD is not going to let him completely rebuild and redesign our offense from what it has been.
 

The perception of change is more important than actual change. Said somebody somewhere about excitable gingers.

[The Wiz]

Sean got the pre-draft copy of "The Script 2024"

[Governor]

Sean. Why? Why Sean? Why you do it.

[Repulsif]

I'm not mad for the fake punt

I went quickly from "WTF is that" to "defense couldn't stop a Vatican football team anyway so they had to try something"

By that timestamp I believe KC scored every single drive and we were behind

It isn't the play that caused the loss

[Dr. K]

11 hours ago, &lt;bills4life&gt; said:

“It’s business, it’s not personal”. A lot of McDermott detractors would say he is not a horrible coach. However like you so eloquently laid out with your “of mice and men” analogy, things go awry. We are now going into year 7 with 1 afc championship appearance. I’m sorry but that’s a problem. I understand many are infuriated with the ungrateful negative Nancy’s.  But on the flip side many are infuriated with the good ship lolly pop “beane is a wizard” “McDermott is doing a great job crowd.”I think most can agree that the bills are not achieving at the level they should be. One group wants to be divorced from the negativity and the other wants to be divorced from complicit apologists.  The truth is somewhere in the middle. I’m older so I don’t have time for excuses. I have more of a sense of urgency. When you are younger, there is a lot more time to wait. 

I find this funny. I'm 73 years old. In my experience, the younger you are the more impatient you are and the less willing you are to admit that life is not simple. 

 

I'm not on "the good ship lollipop." If you'll go back a few years you'll see that I was one of the most skeptical of McDermott's "Trust the process" mantra in his first years. I think it's possible firing him might work out for the best, but it seems to me that those who are most eager to do this underestimate how hard it is to do what McDermott has done, how many times in life dumb chance prevents a desired outcome, and have a fantasy in their heads that "if they just hire X, then we will win a Super Bowl."

For this particular old dude, the repetitive raging that fills this board (and this particular thread) seems characteristic of men (mostly) who cannot face complexity. 

[The Jokeman]

7 hours ago, The Wiz said:

Sean got the pre-draft copy of "The Script 2024"

It seems like a lot of teams that get new stadiums have also been winning Super Bowls lately, maybe a coincidence or maybe not...

[Sweats]

2 minutes ago, Dr. K said:

I find this funny. I'm 73 years old. In my experience, the younger you are the more impatient you are and the less willing you are to admit that life is not simple. 

 

I'm not on "the good ship lollipop." If you'll go back a few years you'll see that I was one of the most skeptical of McDermott's "Trust the process" mantra in his first years. I think it's possible firing him might work out for the best, but it seems to me that those who are most eager to do this underestimate how hard it is to do what McDermott has done, how many times in life dumb chance prevents a desired outcome, and have a fantasy in their heads that "if they just hire X, then we will win a Super Bowl."

For this particular old dude, the repetitive raging that fills this board (and this particular thread) seems characteristic of men (mostly) who cannot face complexity. 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with this....i'm 55 and been following the Bills for nearly 50 years. I rant and rave and B word and moan about this team all the time, however, on the flip side, when was the last time this franchise had any sort of stability at HC or in the FO? We might not be where we want to be yet, but we certainly don't want to be where we've been, that's for sure.

 

My only regret is that my dad couldn't witness a Bills SB win before he passed....his 3 greatest passions were the Steelers, Packers and Bills (not in any particular order, mind you). 

Now, i'd like to see the Bills win a SB before the day i ever pass.

For a lot of us fans, this team is a generational type thing....it's in our blood, our DNA. It's who we are as a fanbase and yes, we always think the grass is greener on the other side, however, when not seeing the team through rose colored glasses, sometimes that grass in your neighbors yard is worse.

[BillsFan2313]

8 hours ago, Mikie2times said:

It’s funny how people think it will be Brady’s offense and Babich on defense. McD will put Babich in a very tiny box and then he will have some degree of freedom. But he will not actually have freedom to make it his. Brady will be using most of the same things we saw last year. McD is not going to let him completely rebuild and redesign our offense from what it has been.
 

The perception of change is more important than actual change. Said somebody somewhere about excitable gingers.

 

Ok

[Cray51]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:33 AM, H2o said:

Josh has had Diggs, yes. He had a couple years where Beasley was the failsafe outlet, yes. Outside of those two, who has he had? John Brown? Please. An on his last legs Emmanuel Sanders? An inconsistent Knox and Gabe Davis? Cook emerged this year, but also had some big drops in the passing games at times. They drafted Kincaid, who will only get better. Truth is Allen has been the offense mostly just because of the player he is, outside of Diggs being his #1. His OL has also been EXTREMELY suspect up until this past season where they were better, but still not KC, SF, Philly, or Dallas good. No one is saying the offense is the worst. But he doesn't have McCaffrey, Kittle, Samuel, and Aiyuk. He doesn't have Chase, Higgins, and Boyd. He doesn't have Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle. He doesn't have Devonta Smith and AJ Brown. He hasn't had some of the weapons like many of the top offenses in the league. Like I said, he does more on his own. 

Per the bolded, Allen's not on a rookie contract either like Purdy and Tua are.  You dont get a top 5 qb + top RB + Top WR all being paid top $$$.  And for the Eagles, Hurts is a very average QB, and his contract is nothing close to Allens.

 

The Bills also were never as bad as Cincy was when they drafted Burrow and Chase in b2b years top 5.  Add in Higgins, there is your talent.  Boyd is a Beasley/brown level talent.  And he will be gone.

 

They have put SOME talent around Allen, but the reality is Allen takes up space as he is a top 2 QB in the league.  We pay for the right to have him and it shows in other ways.

[H2o]

43 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Per the bolded, Allen's not on a rookie contract either like Purdy and Tua are.  You dont get a top 5 qb + top RB + Top WR all being paid top $$$.  And for the Eagles, Hurts is a very average QB, and his contract is nothing close to Allens.

 

The Bills also were never as bad as Cincy was when they drafted Burrow and Chase in b2b years top 5.  Add in Higgins, there is your talent.  Boyd is a Beasley/brown level talent.  And he will be gone.

 

They have put SOME talent around Allen, but the reality is Allen takes up space as he is a top 2 QB in the league.  We pay for the right to have him and it shows in other ways.

Purdy is the fluke in all of this. They had Jimmy G prior to, but he was on a middle of the road QB contract. Reason being, Shanahan's offense can almost be run by a chimp in pads. Ok not literally a chimp, but you get what I am saying. He knows how to coach up QB's and get the most out of them.

 

Tua is in the same system with McDaniel as Purdy with Shanahan. Miami is about to find themselves in a more tight cap situation as well when they pay middle of the road Tua top QB $$$. They also have Waddle coming up soon, and possibly Jaelen Phillips. 

 

No, Allen is not on a rookie contract anymore. In all fairness though, this season is where his new $$$ is finally ballooning for the first time. They had opportunities to do more for Allen, but they have not. Part of it is because Allen himself makes everyone else around him better than what they actually are, outside of Diggs who was good before he got here. Part of that is they were banking on Gabe's development. Then the rest of it is they spent resources elsewhere and hoped to get lucky while bargain hunting. It hasn't worked out. He has not had the same talent around him as the other top offenses in this league. Whatever the reasoning may be or how people try to justify it, this is the case. 

 

For Allen's future cap figures, they will likely have to renegotiate a deal after this season tacking on more years and throwing in more guaranteed $$$. We know what we have so it's not a bad of a situation overall. 

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

On 2/26/2024 at 7:00 AM, Ray Stonada said:

McDermott says a Lombardi is "not a matter of if, just a matter of when"

 

[GoBills808]

4 hours ago, Cray51 said:

Per the bolded, Allen's not on a rookie contract either like Purdy and Tua are.  You dont get a top 5 qb + top RB + Top WR all being paid top $$$.  And for the Eagles, Hurts is a very average QB, and his contract is nothing close to Allens.

 

The Bills also were never as bad as Cincy was when they drafted Burrow and Chase in b2b years top 5.  Add in Higgins, there is your talent.  Boyd is a Beasley/brown level talent.  And he will be gone.

 

They have put SOME talent around Allen, but the reality is Allen takes up space as he is a top 2 QB in the league.  We pay for the right to have him and it shows in other ways.

Allen's cap hit has never been above $18.6M prior to this coming season

 

they have absolutely failed in putting the pieces together on offense

[LABILLBACKER]

4 hours ago, The Jokeman said:

It seems like a lot of teams that get new stadiums have also been winning Super Bowls lately, maybe a coincidence or maybe not...

This ^ and Josh may be our only hope?

[<bills4life>]

7 hours ago, Dr. K said:

I find this funny. I'm 73 years old. In my experience, the younger you are the more impatient you are and the less willing you are to admit that life is not simple. 

 

I'm not on "the good ship lollipop." If you'll go back a few years you'll see that I was one of the most skeptical of McDermott's "Trust the process" mantra in his first years. I think it's possible firing him might work out for the best, but it seems to me that those who are most eager to do this underestimate how hard it is to do what McDermott has done, how many times in life dumb chance prevents a desired outcome, and have a fantasy in their heads that "if they just hire X, then we will win a Super Bowl."

For this particular old dude, the repetitive raging that fills this board (and this particular thread) seems characteristic of men (mostly) who cannot face complexity. 

in order of bolded:
-I never implied that you were

-and what exactly has he done? Win some afc east titles? Okay I guess

-I would argue that most decent coaches would have similar outcomes with josh allen as their qb.

-people pointing out flaws or criticism is not always necessarily ranting or raging in my humble opinion.

 

i am also not saying you are wrong with your assessments.  However I also subscribe to the mantra “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.  I have zero problems with McDermott as a leader, culture builder, teacher and scheme builder.  My problem is his in game coaching decisions at critical points during the game especially in the playoffs.  At times he exhibits very poor judgment and mental lapses.  If you are telling me you have a franchise qb and other talented players, not to mention the qualities I gave him props for, and it still isn’t enough?  That tells me a change needs to be made.  

[SoCal Deek]

9 minutes ago, &lt;bills4life&gt; said:

in order of bolded:
-I never implied that you were

-and what exactly has he done? Win some afc east titles? Okay I guess

-I would argue that most decent coaches would have similar outcomes with josh allen as their qb.

-people pointing out flaws or criticism is not always necessarily ranting or raging in my humble opinion.

 

i am also not saying you are wrong with your assessments.  However I also subscribe to the mantra “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.  I have zero problems with McDermott as a leader, culture builder, teacher and scheme builder.  My problem is his in game coaching decisions at critical points during the game especially in the playoffs.  At times he exhibits very poor judgment and mental lapses.  If you are telling me you have a franchise qb and other talented players, not to mention the qualities I gave him props for, and it still isn’t enough?  That tells me a change needs to be made.  

You and I are on the EXACT same page. Very, very well said! 

[Dr. K]

26 minutes ago, <bills4life> said:

in order of bolded:
-I never implied that you were

-and what exactly has he done? Win some afc east titles? Okay I guess

-I would argue that most decent coaches would have similar outcomes with josh allen as their qb.

-people pointing out flaws or criticism is not always necessarily ranting or raging in my humble opinion.

 

i am also not saying you are wrong with your assessments.  However I also subscribe to the mantra “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.  I have zero problems with McDermott as a leader, culture builder, teacher and scheme builder.  My problem is his in game coaching decisions at critical points during the game especially in the playoffs.  At times he exhibits very poor judgment and mental lapses.  If you are telling me you have a franchise qb and other talented players, not to mention the qualities I gave him props for, and it still isn’t enough?  That tells me a change needs to be made.  

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

I'll just suggest that there is no guarantee your new head coach is going to have the qualities that I bolded in your post and leave the floor to you. I only wish I didn't have to hear the same complaints every day in every thread. 

Edited February 27 by Dr. K

[<bills4life>]

1 minute ago, Dr. K said:

We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

I just suggest that there is no guarantee your new head coach is going to have the qualities that I bolded in your post and leave the floor to you. I just wish I didn't have to hear the same complaints every day in every thread. 

Fair enough.  I respect your opinions.  And I apologize that people’s “complaints” take your enjoyment from the message board.  I do appreciate your intelligent banter back and forth without personal attacks.  You write very well by the way.

[Cray51]

5 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Allen's cap hit has never been above $18.6M prior to this coming season

 

they have absolutely failed in putting the pieces together on offense

Correct, but you don’t add a talent on offense with term when you know you have Allen with differed years already happening.

 

said differently, you don’t sign a WR for 5 years at top market deal last off-season knowing you have Allen already on a mega deal along with Diggs.

 

Kincaid was our young piece to add last year, and I expect them to add another this year 

[GoBills808]

2 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Correct, but you don’t add a talent on offense with term when you know you have Allen with differed years already happening.

 

said differently, you don’t sign a WR for 5 years at top market deal last off-season knowing you have Allen already on a mega deal along with Diggs.

 

Kincaid was our young piece to add last year, and I expect them to add another this year 

That's a problem of their own making

 

They found the money for Miller and went cheap on Sherfield/Harty plus a slew of questionable 'well he's our guy and he earned it' deals

[AlCowlingsTaxiService]

And the reason the sabres exist is to win multiple cups … Yada yada yada

[PBF81]

McD first has to prove that he can even beat the top seeds in the playoffs.  He hasn't even crossed that bridge yet.  He's already given one away gift-wrapped to our arch nemesis in '21 and hasn't even sniffed another.  

 

Until that pattern is broken the odds are greater that he continues to give them away.  

 

 

Edited February 28 by PBF81

[BufBills83]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:13 AM, TheyCallMeAndy said:

This will turn into a McD bash thread, but I have no issues with his answers. Felt like something other than coach talk. 

 

I actually really liked the "a Lombardi isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when" line.  It made him sound confident and that he isn't just sulking around because of another loss.

[BufBills83]

On 2/26/2024 at 6:30 PM, Turk71 said:

McD doesn't 'own' the past and that's the problem. He doesn't own up to anything....ever

He makes mistakes that he never 'owns'....in fact he makes sure to deflect blame onto someone else.

That's a terrible trait for a leader 

 

He says almost every press conference "it starts with me."

[Slack_in_MA]

11 minutes ago, BufBills83 said:

 

He says almost every press conference "it starts with me."

As Paul Simon once sang, "A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest".

[BarleyNY]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:14 AM, SoCal Deek said:

What I read in McDs comments is that he is out of ideas. Feels to me like his strategy is to go another season hoping our opponent screws up at our time of need. 

No. He’s out of other people to blame. He’d already fired all of his coordinators prior, so now all he has left is to blame it on bad luck. The alternative would be to actually take real accountability himself.

[SirAndrew]

We’ll see, but thanks for jinxing us McD.

[Cray51]

17 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

That's a problem of their own making

 

They found the money for Miller and went cheap on Sherfield/Harty plus a slew of questionable 'well he's our guy and he earned it' deals

They did find money for Miller, but that was a lauded move to try to put the team over the top after they lost to the Chiefs 42-36.  The thought was he could be a piece to take us over the top, and Davis would develop into a #2 next to Diggs.  Miller is an unfortunate result, but I dont blame them for taking that chance at that time.  I dont think they have made many concerning deals over the past 3 years.

 

What "well he is our guy and he earned it" deals have they had?  Knox?  He is a top 10 TE even with his catching problems, and that deal was made before we brought in Kincaid.  Milano?  Worth it.  White?  Injuries, but when healthy has played incredibly well.  Oliver?  Worth it.  We let Edmunds go, and that has shown to be a great move.

 

You can't expect a GM to operate to perfection.  They have a hole a WR2 because no team in the league is perfect.  We will see if they can address it via the draft, and move onto the other areas that have become weaknesses (Safety, D-End).

[Watching since 1964]

5 hours ago, BufBills83 said:

 

He says almost every press conference "it starts with me."

That’s Seanspeak for ‘execution’…

 

😀

[BillsfaninCT]

the script disagrees.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 2/27/2024 at 9:48 AM, Cray51 said:

Per the bolded, Allen's not on a rookie contract either like Purdy and Tua are.  You dont get a top 5 qb + top RB + Top WR all being paid top $$$.  And for the Eagles, Hurts is a very average QB, and his contract is nothing close to Allens.

 

The Bills also were never as bad as Cincy was when they drafted Burrow and Chase in b2b years top 5.  Add in Higgins, there is your talent.  Boyd is a Beasley/brown level talent.  And he will be gone.

 

They have put SOME talent around Allen, but the reality is Allen takes up space as he is a top 2 QB in the league.  We pay for the right to have him and it shows in other ways.

 

And if you do you very likely have a trash defense.  Or a trash offensive line, thus negating a lot of that talent.  

[Lionel Hutz]

McDermott is delusional. He really believes he’s a defensive genius. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

On 2/26/2024 at 8:03 AM, SoonerBillsFan said:

Stop giving Allen weapons chosen so low in the draft. Get him another Quality WR or two.  Then hit on draft picks for the DL instead of drafting guys that turn out to be JAGs.  That is what's left you can do.

 

That isn't really his job though.  Why are you criticizing the coach for decisions made by the GM?

[BarleyNY]

Just now, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

That isn't really his job though.  Why are you criticizing the coach for decisions made by the GM?

Who has the final say in those decisions is still an open question. I think it’s McDermott, but the Bills won’t divulge the information. My reasoning is that McDermott was not only hired first, but waited until after Beane’s contract ran out with Carolina (post draft) rather than hire him immediately. At the time a promotion to a position with final control over the roster would have kept Carolina from blocking Beane from interviewing. (Rules have since changed.)

[PBF81]

9 hours ago, BufBills83 said:

 

I actually really liked the "a Lombardi isn't a matter of if, it's a matter of when" line.  It made him sound confident and that he isn't just sulking around because of another loss.

 

Has anyone ever gotten the impression that he lacks confidence?

 

If anything, it seems like the opposite.  

 

 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, BarleyNY said:

Who has the final say in those decisions is still an open question. I think it’s McDermott, but the Bills won’t divulge the information. My reasoning is that McDermott was not only hired first, but waited until after Beane’s contract ran out with Carolina (post draft) rather than hire him immediately. At the time a promotion to a position with final control over the roster would have kept Carolina from blocking Beane from interviewing. (Rules have since changed.)

 

Theoretically McDermott does. This is his show. He has more power than Beane. But he also has ultimate trust in Beane and doesn't meddle in the personnel decisions any more than your standard HC per sources I have. The coaching staff do evaluate and grade targets prior to the draft and the scouts take that into account but the decision maker on draft night is Brandon Beane. He makes the personnel decisions. Is there a decision he has wanted to make that McD has vetoed? I can't say definitely not, but the person I spoke to says his trust level in Beane is very high and he broadly trusts him to get on with running personnel.

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Theoretically McDermott does. This is his show. He has more power than Beane. But he also has ultimate trust in Beane and doesn't meddle in the personnel decisions any more than your standard HC per sources I have. The coaching staff do evaluate and grade targets prior to the draft and the scouts take that into account but the decision maker on draft night is Brandon Beane. He makes the personnel decisions. Is there a decision he has wanted to make that McD has vetoed? I can't say definitely not, but the person I spoke to says his trust level in Beane is very high and he broadly trusts him to get on with running personnel.

Thanks for the info. It does seem like Beane been shopping with McDermott’s list. That fits with it being his show. 

[GunnerBill]

5 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

Thanks for the info. It does seem like Beane been shopping with McDermott’s list. That fits with it being his show. 

 

They are very aligned. But I posted the numbers the other week I think by and large Beane's draft priorities reflect a man who learned his trade under Harney and Gettleman in Carolina. They relentlessly picked DLine and linebackers early, only took three receivers in the first 3 rounds over the course of a decade and until Ekwonu hadn't taken a first round OL in nearly 20 years. So I think some of it is the influence of coaching... but some of it is just this is who Beane is and how he believes in building a team.