Is it McDermott or Brady?

[DCOrange]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We were explosive last Sunday because the Tampa secondary sucks. Conversely the Houston secondary is really good. 

 

It is as simple as that. Against a good set of DBs our guys failed to get open, again.

This is the best answer. Would add on to this that it slightly goes beyond the plays that Brady (or as the OP infers, McD) is calling too. They get the initial call in but as Josh looks over the defense, he is often changing things too. So the defense reacts a certain way to us motioning the RB out wide and we think we have numbers out there now so we run that screen pass instead of the initial play call. Light box; we audible to a run, etc. To an extent, the defense is dictating what we do on offense (though it kinda goes both ways, right? We see the heavy box and hit the screen pass successfully a few times and theoretically you start to get the defense to come out with lighter boxes to take the screen away).

 

But yeah, ultimately our offense is very limited by our WRs inability to get open. That's not to say they're the only issue. Josh has relatively struggled in his pre-snap reads this year after showing a lot of improvement in previous seasons, his willingness to take the easy yards has been inconsistent this season (and for an offense that struggles to get open, we kinda need to take the easy yards any time we can), between Josh and the OL we've really struggled with certain blitz looks this season, etc.

 

Would also add on to this that last night for example, yes our WRs struggled to create separation, but there was also often no safety help. It was purely 1 on 1 and Josh was unwilling to give his guys chances to win. He finally tried with Gabe at the very end and Gabe was inches away from making the play. Those kinds of throws aren't high probability completions, but they were available to Josh basically all game and he just opted to take sacks instead of giving his guys an opportunity.

 

TLDR: WR is the biggest issue in the offense and improving the WR room probably fixes a lot of our other issues, but it's seemed to snowballed into hurting other position groups too. Hopefully we address it in the offseason and having better WRs allows Josh to return to MVP form, OL looks a bit more in sync, etc., but it's also possible that these other issues could linger.

[gonzo1105]

I’m not going to get on Brady a ton for last night. Guys didn’t get open and his offensive line was abused all night. I don’t care who is calling plays or who the QB is . The Texans performance against us was very similar to what the Eagles did to Mahomes last year in the SB. The fact we were inside the 20 with a shot to win was remarkable 

[Nuncha]

12 minutes ago, Solomon Grundy said:

I also watched the Texans pick on Tre White the entire game 

Tre gave up a few plays but thought he did OK overall.  Not being able to stop the run, especially the 3rd and short plays (Taron Johnson dragged for a first on one of them) was painful to watch.

[DCOrange]

3 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

They threw the ball downfield constantly vs the bucs with an insane level of aggression. I thought they finally " got it "

 

McDermott then got scared and told Brady to dial it back because of the turnovers and his defense. 

 

They treated the texans with too much respect because the head coach is scared 

I know it's cool to hate McDermott right now, but I promise you he did not watch our offense hang 40 points in a win and pull Brady aside to chastise him for scoring too much lol. Houston is just a lot better defensively than Tampa is and both of our tackles seemed to be playing hurt.

[jkeerie]

32 minutes ago, BillMafia716ix said:

McDermott calls the defense. IMO I think he’s doing a good job holding the defense together and keeping it afloat despite all the injures they have especially up front. Joe Brady and Josh run the show on offense. 

I agree. For all those saying McD just wants to run the ball, he wants balance.  He has said in his pressers that you need a good passing game AND a good running game.  That's what keeps defenses honest.  Without a good passing game, defenses key on the run, and vice versa.  The worst thing that could have happened to the Bills was Allen becoming the MVP with a bunch of no names at WR.  That gave McD permission to ride that wave and ignore the offense again in favor of the defense.  

 

Last year the Bills made it to the AFCCG with the no name WRs...but also a once again banged up defense... because the defensive players can't make it through a whole season. 

 

The biggest problems this season are the Coordinators.  McD has already taken over defensive play calling and that has helped.  The offense is all on Brady, who is clueless.  He is incapable of adjusting during games and yesterday it got his QB killed.  I wonder, even if the Bills had a true number 1 receiver, could Brady even handle him to be effective in his offense?  None of us are crazy about Keon, but has Brady even tried him in the slot where he was most effective in college?  Brady has only one answer for everything...and scheming of any kind does not seem to be involved.

 

 

[Nuncha]

2 minutes ago, gonzo1105 said:

I’m not going to get on Brady a ton for last night. Guys didn’t get open and his offensive line was abused all night. I don’t care who is calling plays or who the QB is . The Texans performance against us was very similar to what the Eagles did to Mahomes last year in the SB. The fact we were inside the 20 with a shot to win was remarkable 

Agree.  We were -2 for turnovers, Josh sacked 8 times, and we still could have won in the end.  A couple more plays is all we needed, and the missed PAT ended up being huge.

[Freddie's Dead]

Yes.

[5ths the charm]

3 hours ago, VaMilBill said:

I think McD has done a solid job keeping this defense held together considering who is playing in that side of the ball right now. 
 

Think about all our losses this season. It’s been the offense failing in key situations that have lost us our games. Whether that be turnovers, going three and out in high leverage moments, or simply not scoring when it’s absolutely needed. Yes we don’t have a pass rush right now. But half our d line is out and Bosa is playing with one arm. 
 

I think you have to bring in a new OC this off-season. I think you also need to consider firing Beane. I would retain McD. At this point in Josh’s career, we don’t have the years to waste on a, probably, rookie head coach who needs to get the correct pieces in place. 

I think replace both coordinators and McClappy with an OC minded coach with a great DC like a Saleh

[Chaos]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Yes I think he would. 

Which implies we have a talent problem. I think.

[jkeerie]

3 minutes ago, DCOrange said:

I know it's cool to hate McDermott right now, but I promise you he did not watch our offense hang 40 points in a win and pull Brady aside to chastise him for scoring too much lol. Houston is just a lot better defensively than Tampa is and both of our tackles seemed to be playing hurt.

Dion wasn't hurt.  He just played poorly.  His attitude is too laid-back.   When a player says things like "You don't have to win every game" or "It's not Super Bowl or bust," that player is a problem, especially when the going gets tough.

[Wayne Cubed]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We were explosive last Sunday because the Tampa secondary sucks. Conversely the Houston secondary is really good. 

 

It is as simple as that. Against a good set of DBs our guys failed to get open, again.

I think it's a bit of both. Our WR room is right near the bottom in the NFL, if not dead last. Maybe the Titans are worse. It's close with the Browns/Raiders.

 

Saying that, I don't love Joe Brady's passing concepts. And I think I'm starting to see why Carolina didn't either. They are just not imagentive at all. He goes back to the same simple concepts, which are good sometimes, but feel a lot like they work better in college ball but not so much in the NFL. Expecially when you've been found out by a defense.

[GunnerBill]

25 minutes ago, Chaos said:

Which implies we have a talent problem. I think.

 

We UNQUESTIONABLY have a talent issue. There is a legit debate that then can take place about whether coaching is maximising what we DO have. And that is fair. But it starts with a talent issue. 

[Low Positive]

44 minutes ago, 5ths the charm said:

I think replace both coordinators and McClappy with an OC minded coach with a great DC like a Saleh

Why would Saleh make a parallel move from SF, where he is currently the DC, to Buf? All the proven ones already have DC or HC jobs. The same goes for offensive head coaches. To make this move, you need to hire a current OC with no HC experience as HC and a position coach as DC. You have no idea how they will do in the new roles. Our best hope is that the Browns do something stupid like fire Stefanski.  

[Man with No Name]

4 hours ago, VaMilBill said:

I think McD has done a solid job keeping this defense held together considering who is playing in that side of the ball right now. 
 

Think about all our losses this season. It’s been the offense failing in key situations that have lost us our games. Whether that be turnovers, going three and out in high leverage moments, or simply not scoring when it’s absolutely needed. Yes we don’t have a pass rush right now. But half our d line is out and Bosa is playing with one arm. 
 

I think you have to bring in a new OC this off-season. I think you also need to consider firing Beane. I would retain McD. At this point in Josh’s career, we don’t have the years to waste on a, probably, rookie head coach who needs to get the correct pieces in place. 

the defense really has been all-around okay for all the injuries, IF you look at the totallity of the numbers.

 

problem is, they get torched the entire first half of the game. setting a weird tone for how the offense tries to react and respond. the defense turns it around at halftime, but the tone has often been set already by that point. 

[BigAl2526]

4 hours ago, Lake Ontario said:

It's whoever decided to do a drop-back hand-off to a stationary Cook (no running start) 5yds behind the LOS on 4th and 1.  That was crunch time.  Our inability to control the D line was well established by then.  Let's assume one of them called the play (B) and the other didn't call it off (McD). So both.

I doubt McDermott does more than make his philosophy known to Brady.  The individual calls are up to Brady.  IO do think Brady gets cute in his play calling at bad times on occasion.

[Low Positive]

15 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

We UNQUESTIONABLY have a talent issue. There is a legit debate that then can take place about whether coaching is maximising what we DO have. And that is fair. But it starts with a talent issue. 

If I step back and look at this objectively, what I'm seeing in the AFC is the salary cap working how it's designed. Teams like the Pats, Colts, and Broncos are on the upswing because they went through the rebuilding cycle. On the other side, teams like the Chiefs, Bills, and Ravens are in a downward cycle due to aging rosters, late draft picks, and a lack of cap space. The main reason the Chiefs are struggling is that some of their elite talent (Kelce and Chris Jones) is aging out of the league. But they got KC three rings. The problem for all of us is that we didn't win during our window, which ran from 2020 to 2023. The Ravens are in a similar spot.

 

The logical step for the Bills is to actually tear it ALL down and rebuild from nothing, take their lumps for 2-3 years, and come back with a new GM, HC, and franchise QB. You do that because this group will never win, and by the time they could be ready to actually contend again Josh Allen will be 34 at best. But that is a drastic step that I'm sure no one actually wants to take. I don't see a solution. 

[hondo in seattle]

I think Brady is designing game plans, though I'm not sure what that was yesterday.

Because the Texans are good at pressuring QBs, and have a particularly strong secondary, I expected a heavy dose of Cook and the RBs, balanced with some short, quick passes.  

 

Instead, I got a huge serving of Josh dropping back, scrambling, and getting sacked.   Downfield passing is not a strength of the Bills, nor a weakness of the Texans, so I'm not sure what the idea was.  Why would we dial up weakness versus strength?  

 

And with 116 from Cook, maybe someone could say we did get a heavy dose of Cook.  But not really.  We only ran him 17 times despite a 6.8 ypc against the league's best defense.  And for a long while it seemed like Brady forgot about him.  RBs only totaled 19 carries versus 34 pass attempts.  

 

I'm not sure what Houston vulnerability Brady was trying to attack, but he didn't do it very well.  

[FireChans]

I just want to shout out @GoBills808 for coining the phrase “Teflon Sean.”

 

Somehow this guy gets unilateral credit for saving the franchise from the drought, and every good thing that has happened to us since then, and gets to pass the buck when the offense sucks, or the team disappoints or they lose a game.

 

He has the best job on the planet.

[GoBills808]

6 minutes ago, FireChans said:

I just want to shout out @GoBills808 for coining the phrase “Teflon Sean.”

 

Somehow this guy gets unilateral credit for saving the franchise from the drought, and every good thing that has happened to us since then, and gets to pass the buck when the offense sucks, or the team disappoints or they lose a game.

 

He has the best job on the planet.

you can see how it happens tbh. everything about our trajectory over the last decade suggests he's a good HC. it's why imo when things start going sideways we get blame shifting to allen or brady or beane...who in all honesty have earned their fair share (allen less so) but still

 

it's when you look just a little deeper you see McDermott's hands all over our current situation. it's just a crazy combination of this particular franchise, our results not matching the eye test, and the burden of not being quite good enough

[TBBills Fan]

1 hour ago, gonzo1105 said:

I’m not going to get on Brady a ton for last night. Guys didn’t get open and his offensive line was abused all night. I don’t care who is calling plays or who the QB is . The Texans performance against us was very similar to what the Eagles did to Mahomes last year in the SB. The fact we were inside the 20 with a shot to win was remarkable 

The only reason we had that chance was our D and ST