Why doesn't McDermott call the Defensive plays full time??

[T master]

15 hours ago, Special K said:

I saw somewhere that McD took over the Defensive play calling in the 2nd half.....is this true??

 

The Defense was markedly better in the 2nd half compared to the 1st, and he has done the play calling takeover before when Frazier was DC.

 

This got me to thinking.....why doesn't McD call the Defensive plays full time??

 

All the Offensive minded Head Coaches call their own Offensive plays(Reid, MacVay, Shanahan, even loser Mike McDaniel), so doesn't it stand to reason that a Defensive minded coach should be calling the Defense??

 

Maybe he should put the Defense in his own hands for a while to see if this would make a difference.

He did a much better job I feel when he was calling the D of that season ...

[Mr. WEO]

3 hours ago, NewEra said:

Because he was focused on being the best head coach he could be in my opinion

The defensive performance in the 2nd was most definitely markedly better than the first.  

 until it allowed a 14 play (6 1st downs!) scoring drive in the 4th Q that put the game out of reach.

 

2 hours ago, Taro Nimbus said:

Yes.  But if the offense was at least competent, the Bills would have won that game.  

 

two things can be true at the same time.

Edited Wednesday at 11:09 PM by Mr. WEO

[NewEra]

28 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 until it allowed a 14 play (6 1st downs!) scoring drive in the 4th Q that put the game out of reach.

 

 

two things can be true at the same time.

And it was still markedly better.  Gave up 330 yard and 21 points in the 1st half. 3 points 110 yards in the 2nd half

[Mr. WEO]

8 minutes ago, NewEra said:

And it was still markedly better.  Gave up 330 yard and 21 points in the 1st half. 3 points 110 yards in the 2nd half

 

yes we can all read the box score, but clearly those 3 points iced the game for Atlanta.  The D just had to get off the field. They could not.

[NewEra]

13 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

yes we can all read the box score, but clearly those 3 points iced the game for Atlanta.  The D just had to get off the field. They could not.

But the defense in the 2nd half was 💯 markedly better, which is the point of this thread.   But the point of your post is to single out one drive.  
 

if McD did take over calling plays in the 2nd half, I pray he continues to do so.  The defense was much better in the 2nd.  Too bad the offense sucked the entire game

[Mr. WEO]

9 minutes ago, NewEra said:

But the defense in the 2nd half was 💯 markedly better, which is the point of this thread.   But the point of your post is to single out one drive.  
 

if McD did take over calling plays in the 2nd half, I pray he continues to do so.  The defense was much better in the 2nd.  Too bad the offense sucked the entire game

 

it was the nail in the coffin drive.  14 plays with 6 1st downs late in the 4th Q  sealing the loss is a disaster.  But yeah,  McD late in a game calling Defenses has always been a fantastic idea. 

[NewEra]

34 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

it was the nail in the coffin drive.  14 plays with 6 1st downs late in the 4th Q  sealing the loss is a disaster.  But yeah,  McD late in a game calling Defenses has always been a fantastic idea. 

That’s not what we’re talking about.  Stay on topic.  
 

Babich sucks. We all know that by now.  Would you prefer Babich call plays bs KC in the playoffs or McD?  Because it’s likely going to be one of them unless they give Nielsen the headset 

[LABILLBACKER]

5 hours ago, NewEra said:

But the defense in the 2nd half was 💯 markedly better, which is the point of this thread.   But the point of your post is to single out one drive.  
 

if McD did take over calling plays in the 2nd half, I pray he continues to do so.  The defense was much better in the 2nd.  Too bad the offense sucked the entire game

He absolutely must take over. Clearly the 2nd half reflected inproved defensive play calling.  I know he wants to remain in the roll of HC but he doesn't have that luxury anymore. I don’t understand why he can't just do what a litany of other HC's have done. Sean if that's your expertise than lets see it.

[Richard Noggin]

18 hours ago, JohnNord said:

I can guarantee the idea has crossed his mind and if things don’t get better, it’s something that might happen.  McDermott prefers to be the “CEO” of the team, as most coaches do.  
 

Taking control from Babich is akin to benching your rookie/young QB.  Once you’ve de-committed it’s usually the beginning of the end.

 

i definitely think McDermott believes in Babich and doesn’t him to fail.  Babich has been groomed for this role early in his career so he’s kind of like McDermott’s protege, just as McDermott was Jim Johnson’s protege in Philly.  The two have been together for almost a decade and he has a relationship with Babich Sr.  I think he also knows he’s been hurt by injury/suspension.  
 

 

 

Most "old school" head coaches prefer this approach (Tomlin, Carroll, Harbaugh, McD, etc.) but that's not the structure that works lately. 

 

17 hours ago, DJB said:

He doesn’t call the plays so that he can blame someone else and scapegoat them at the end of the season. 

 

Mcdermott is a coward 

 

Kind of agree. But also, he wants to entrust someone else to call the D for legit reasons, too. 

 

[Buffalo Ballin]

19 hours ago, machine gun kelly said:

Well, the answer he gave yesterday was he didn’t want to damage his confidence as he’s only in his second year as a DC. 

Fire McDermott. Mental midget. Who gives a EFF about Babich's ego? OMG. Only McDermott.

[cwater10]

On 10/15/2025 at 6:08 AM, machine gun kelly said:

Well, the answer he gave yesterday was he didn’t want to damage his confidence as he’s only in his second year as a DC.  To me, you keep him as the DC, but for now McD calls the plays.  Let Babich continue to learn from him.  Something has to stop the bleeding.  So bottom line is I agree with the guys on the board that believe he should assume play calling.

This rang so familiar to me that I had to go to the Google machine to verify I was not having a severe case of deja vu.  Regarding the lead up to Dorsey's firing, Google AI had this to say:

 

"The firing and shift in focus

 

After a disastrous performance in a Week 10 loss to the Denver Broncos, McDermott fired Dorsey on November 14, 2023. In explaining the decision, McDermott shifted his comments away from Dorsey's personal confidence and toward the confidence of the entire offensive unit. 

 

New energy needed: McDermott stated the team needed to "be a confident offensive football team" and that the firing was a way to create "new energy".

 

Team confidence over individual: He explained that when the offense failed to produce consistently over time, "confidence levels spin," indicating that the issue had become larger than any one person.

 

Difficult decision: While highlighting the need for change, McDermott also noted how difficult the decision was, calling Dorsey a "good person" who had worked hard. 

 

Ultimately, McDermott's statements indicate that preserving Dorsey's confidence was no longer the primary concern, as the broader issue of the offense's lack of consistent production and the team's declining confidence became the deciding factor. "

 

So....  No deja vu.  Foreshadowing?  We shall see

[Mr. WEO]

10 hours ago, NewEra said:

That’s not what we’re talking about.  Stay on topic.  
 

Babich sucks. We all know that by now.  Would you prefer Babich call plays bs KC in the playoffs or McD?  Because it’s likely going to be one of them unless they give Nielsen the headset 

 

how would we know the difference?

[All_Pro_Bills]

We've had this same conversation about the defense since day one with this GM and HC. Poor drafting on players that don't perform to their draft position and free agents that under perform to the size of their contract is the problem. Add in wasting cap space resigning average talent to big money and it all comes down to personnel decisions. This defense just doesn't have enough talent to be a top 10 group. Maybe getting back injured players and others off suspension will be enough. 

 

The answer after this season which seems like it's going to end in more disappointment and another wasted year of Allen's career is to get somebody better to make decisions on drafting and free agency. And probably the coaching staff.

Reality is that no matter what anyone wants to believe we're not closing the gap on the Chiefs. Since 13 seconds we've been slowly falling behind season after season and now other teams that have been adding more talent through better draft positioning and better decisions are biting at our heels.

Edited 18 hours ago by All_Pro_Bills

[NewEra]

23 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

how would we know the difference?

Again- avoiding the question by asking another question.  What does that have to do with my question?  It doesn’t matter if we know or not.  
 

I think McD calling plays on D gives us a better chance of winning vs any team.  That’s what matters….not whether or not if we know who’s calling plays

[Coffeesforclosers]

11 hours ago, NewEra said:

But the defense in the 2nd half was 💯 markedly better, which is the point of this thread.   But the point of your post is to single out one drive.  
 

if McD did take over calling plays in the 2nd half, I pray he continues to do so.  The defense was much better in the 2nd.  Too bad the offense sucked the entire game

 

So our Defensive scheme works, but only McD knows how to call it is what I'm getting from this.

 

Babich has been promoted beyond his abilities. That's on McDermott.

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Again- avoiding the question by asking another question.  What does that have to do with my question?  It doesn’t matter if we know or not.  
 

I think McD calling plays on D gives us a better chance of winning vs any team.  That’s what matters….not whether or not if we know who’s calling plays

McD could not get his Defense off the field when it mattered most Monday.  Nothing could be more obvious.  
 

also, 13 seconds…

[Mango]

On 10/15/2025 at 2:40 AM, BeastMaster said:

If this is true, then Babich has to be relieved of his duties

 

That would make it multiple seasons where McDermott had to step in and call plays

 

It's a major indictment on both Babich, and also McDermott because he keeps the guy around

 

Not just had to step in.

 

But an instant, measurable, and major improvement. Which means that the current status is so so so below acceptable.

 

To answer the question of the thread, McD is the HC, he's the CEO of all things on the field.  The CEO can't be jumping in and doing the CFO's job all the time just because he cut his teeth in finance.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

I’d prefer him to not even know how to get into the room that the defense is in. Can we just make that guy we brought in from the Pats the DC? Can we just bail on every single part of this defense. We had 8 years of wasting time. Let’s get an overhaul in philosophy. Man up on the outside and fit runs. Enough of this passive soft blanket BS. I’ll live with someone hitting us over the top once in a while. Idw to see teams have whatever they want all game long and pray for turnovers. Defense should be SETTING tone. Not in prevent on purpose drive 1.

[NewEra]

5 hours ago, Coffeesforclosers said:

 

So our Defensive scheme works, but only McD knows how to call it is what I'm getting from this.

 

Babich has been promoted beyond his abilities. That's on McDermott.

And McD doesn’t even call it very well while also being the HC from my recollection

[colin]

the O has such a massive advantage in the modern nfl it's crazy.  you start at the what, 31 yard line on average?  kickers are great now, so you have to be two steps better than a 3 and out to be close to FG range, and with all the athletic qbs there are a lot of ways to advance the ball in the redzone.  

 

it seems to me the better Ds basically play O on D now.  they decide what they will take away, what they will make difficult, and what they will live with.  the old school idea of basically tampa 2 being conservative but excellent so that teams just won't be able to find the holes in the zone, or gain enough yards running, and living to take away the deep pass above all (the most difficult thing to execute in pro football, a bit of a goofy basket to put all of your defensive eggs into) just is simply not effective.

 

a well prepared and coached bills team would have walked over atl and won by double digits.  over power the small fast front, use multi backs and tes to wear them down, and trickery to pass on them with play action and out of heavy sets.  i give the credit to the d adjusting in the 2nd half, it shoulda been enough for a win.  the d was "lucky" in the first half w atl not getting the touch at the end, but also atl was lucky to have the fumble called back, the garbage 3rd down DPI, and the sack on 1st prior to the long td run take out by penalties.