McDermott still in over his head

[Paup 1995MVP]

2 hours ago, davefan66 said:

Gotta say, the whole McD is a problem thing is getting old.

 

10-4 without a true number 1 and maybe number 2 WR. Many, many injuries on defense and they had an amazing game after the first half.

 

McD has this team playing well. Yeah, need to start off faster, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a terrible coach.

 

As far as the review? He stated he saw it on the in stadium Jumbotron and it looked close. Replays had not been available to the team before the patsies hurried up to the line. Not sure why this is such a big deal. At the end of the day, don’t matter.

 

 

 

Its a big deal, because it set the tone for the entire first half.  And if it looked close, no reason NOT to throw a challenge flag.  We lose a TO in the 1st half at worse.  

 

McDermott airs on the side of caution too much.  Throwing the challenge flag there was almost all upside, and minimal downside.  He needs to own that.  Just like he showed have owned "13 seconds."

 

That being said, the team made some real nice adjustments at halftime, and stayed calm and focused even down 21 points.  Kudos to him and the coaching staff for that.

[TheWeatherMan]

3 hours ago, Billsfed1 said:

He said something about how they didn’t have the ability to see the replay in the stadium, they have to get that figured out moving forward.

This explains his 5% success rate on challenges the last 8 years. 

Edited 8 hours ago by TheWeatherMan

[GoBills808]

6 minutes ago, Chuck Schick said:

Wait, what?  How could the Bills have scored another TD before halftime?

take timeouts here

 

[Danger Mouse]

We should get a coach who the players all hate and creates a losing culture  - but who can throw a mean challenge flag. Ultimately that’s all I want 

[davefan66]

3 minutes ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Its a big deal, because it set the tone for the entire first half.  And if it looked close, no reason NOT to throw a challenge flag.  We lose a TO in the 1st half at worse.  

 

McDermott airs on the side of caution too much.  Throwing the challenge flag there was almost all upside, and minimal downside.  He needs to own that.  Just like he showed have owned "13 seconds."

 

That being said, the team made some real nice adjustments at halftime, and stayed calm and focused even down 21 points.  Kudos to him and the coaching staff for that.

I don’t think throwing the flag without knowing what happened is the move.  Can you imagine if McD threw the flag, and lost the challenge? These boards are lighting him up in a win…. Can you imagine if we lost the game?  
 

His 4th down coaching this year proves he’s not playing it safe.

 

And yes, whatever adjustments they did at the half certainly won the game. Team never wavered and that is a reflection on Sean.

[JerseyBills]

that no flag had me fuming but McD apparently took over play calling in the 2nd half and absolutely dominated,  if not for a flukey TD, he was flawless 

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Argue all you want about McD’s replay and clock management issues because he certainly has some warts when it comes to that but if we are gonna do that then he should also get credit for holding Drake Maye to his worst half of football since turning pro; to the tune of an 18.4 QB rating.
 

As hard as it it may be for those in denial to admit, Maye is the real deal and will be a problem from now on and McD and Co. deserve credit for their efforts yesterday. 

McD has cracked the code.

 

If he just allows 200 yards rushing and his QB manages to score 5 straight touchdowns, he can get credit for a passing defensive masterclass.

[Chuck Schick]

14 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

take timeouts here

 

I mean, I think NOT calling timeouts at that point probably saved NE from scoring a TD instead of kicking a FG. I give him a little credit for realizing making a stop was not a given or even probable at that time. 

[Mark80]

3 hours ago, vtnatefootball11 said:

It's games like this, against a well coached team, where McDermott's ineptitude is magnified. He just doesn't have a feel in critical game management situations. Not challenging that deep pass on the first drive was atrocious. It spotted the Pats 7 points early and we almost didn't recover.  The entire stadium knew it wasn't caught, the Pats were sprinting up the field to hike the ball, it's early in the first losing a timeout means nothing, why not challenge? Just terrible. He's always overthinking critical game management calls and for guys like Vrabel, Reid, McVay, others, it just comes natural. McDermott is not a bad coach, and I've been impressed with the way he's responded to criticism and challenged himself to grow and change in these last couple years, but he just doesn't have an elite football mind. It's painfully obvious when we go up against good coaches.  Even if Josh carries us to a superbowl this year, won't change how I feel about McDermott. 

Name a single coach he has a losing record against.  Just one.  Thanks.

[FireChans]

2 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

ok

 

we can say ridiculous things like this because we have allen. but he is an anomaly. more proof bills fans do not have realistic expectations 

 

for normal teams 7 points on the first drive of the game is HUGE. similarly, getting a stop on the opening drive is basically stealing a possession because you're getting the second half kickoff. 

In real NFL terms, requiring your QB and offense to rip off 5 straight TDs to win a game disqualifies your defensive performance.
 

Allen and co are completely taken for granted. The standards are not the same. McD’s standard is only allow 31 points instead of 35 and we’ll call it a triumphant performance.

 

Allen and the offenses’ standard is “score a TD every time you touch the ball to give us a chance to win the game at the end.”

 

It’s legitimately Stockholm syndrome at this point.

[folz]

1 hour ago, GoBills808 said:

if you watched that game yesterday and came away w anything but the truth that (in general) the bills win because of allen i dont know what to tell you

 

Is Josh the main reason we win (particularly in close games)? Yes.

 

Was Tom Brady the main reason the Pats won so much? Was Mahomes the main reason K.C. won so much? Was Marino the main reason for the Dolphins to win so much? Was Rodgers, Montana, Manning, Elway, etc., etc. Yes. Kind of comes with the territory of being a top-10 All-time QB. That's why those guys are those guys. You always count on your star players to come through for you in the clutch (no matter what sport).

 

Is Josh the only reason we win (because our FO, Coaching staff, and roster all suck)? Absolutely not. There are 90+ people involved. No matter how good that one player is, he is not the only reason. Plenty of top 10/elite QBs have missed the playoffs over the years (and some never won a SB). Josh is not doing it on his own.

 

-How do you ignore Cook and being the #1 rushing team in the league as help? Cook has 399 yards from scrimmage and 3 TDs over the last 3 games. I bet a lot of teams would like a guy averaging 133 yards and a tuddy per game (on the year he is averaging 120 yards and almost 1 TD/game). And Davis and Johnson aren't too shabby either. Both are ballin'.

-How do you ignore having a top-offensive line as not having help. 

-Are we weak at receiver? Sure, but over these last two comeback wins (and since Kincaid's return), our TEs have had 217 yards and 4 TDs. Our TEs are second in the league in yards and TDs by TEs. Seems helpful.

 

And over the last three games, the defense has had 5 sacks, 12 QB hits, 11 TFLs, 4 Ints, 4 FFs, 1 FR (5 total TOs in 3 games), and they scored two touchdowns (14 points). No help? Yes, they gave up yards and points to two very good teams/QBs in the Bengals and Pats, but they also came up clutch at the end of those games (as people have been clamoring for the defense to do for so long).

 

Bosa helped close the game out with his deflection of Maye's pass on Sunday. And no matter how big the "S" is on Josh's chest, do we come back against Cincinnati without the two late interceptions and defensive TD? I don't think so.

 

Pittsburgh's lasts six offensive possessions went like this: End of half, Fumble, INT, Punt, Downs, End of game.

Cincinnati's last six offensive possessions were: Punt, Punt, TD, Int, Int, TD.

New England's last six offensive possessions were: FG, Punt, Int, TD, Punt, Downs

 

So, last 18 possessions (basically a little more than the 2nd half of each game) for three teams to close out the games: 24 points, 9 drives (50%) ended in a punt or on downs, 5 drives (28%) ended in a Bills takeaway, while only 4 of 18 drives (22%) ended up in points for the other team. And if 24 points still seems like a lot for three teams over 6+ quarters, then let me just point out that on 18 possessions, if the other team scored a FG on each (but no TDs), they would still have 54 points. Even if they scored only a FG on half of their possession (no TDs), they would still have 27 points.

 

Josh has plenty of help despite the overblown and overused narrative. Would it be nice to have a stud receiver for Josh? Yes. Do we have no talent on the roster to help Josh without a stud WR? No.

 

 

1 hour ago, notpolian said:

Hey, if McDermott had risked a timeout on a challenge, he might not even able to take those critical defensive timeouts.  At least this week they didn't have to call one for an extra point.

 

First of all, more often than not over his career, those defensive timeouts have worked out, getting a critical defensive stop at a crucial point of a game. If you don't understand that it helps to see how the offense is lining up and what play you think they are going to run, I don't know what to tell you. Also, even if they change the play because they already showed you too much, then you got them to get out of the initial play that they thought would work best.

 

Yes, if they call a timeout because of too many men on the field or a bad alignment or substitution or whatever, that's totally on the coaches. But when he uses them strategically on defense, I'm good with it. It may have happened once or twice, I really can't recall one off the top of my head though, where using that TO cost us not having it at the end of the game---but if so, it is rare.

 

And as others have noted, it's not just about losing your timeout, it's about possibly losing a challenge that could be needed on a more important play at a more crucial moment later on.

[GoBills808]

7 minutes ago, Chuck Schick said:

I mean, I think NOT calling timeouts at that point probably saved NE from scoring a TD instead of kicking a FG. I give him a little credit for realizing making a stop was not a given or even probable at that time. 

i do too

 

but calling TOs there, provided we got a stop, allowed for the possibility of a TD

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

34 minutes ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Its a big deal, because it set the tone for the entire first half.  And if it looked close, no reason NOT to throw a challenge flag.  We lose a TO in the 1st half at worse.  

 

McDermott airs on the side of caution too much.  Throwing the challenge flag there was almost all upside, and minimal downside.  He needs to own that.  Just like he showed have owned "13 seconds."

 

That being said, the team made some real nice adjustments at halftime, and stayed calm and focused even down 21 points.  Kudos to him and the coaching staff for that.

That was a weird one where it really didn’t even look close to not a catch at game speed…I’ve been lookin at it all morning lol  

 

of course fans get the gift of hindsight knowing NE went down and scored a td on the first drive of the game too which factors in to the criticism.  Blowing a challenge on the first drive on just a guess is tough because you only get one more for the remaining 55 minutes or whatever it was.  It’s not really the timeout loss that’s the issue 

Edited 7 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Johnnycage46]

I would say that if we didn't have McD yesterday, that comeback and the 2nd half defensive shut down (minus the 1 cut back run by NE) doesn't happen. Coaching was a huge part of both the 21-0 hole, BUT also a HUGE part of the win and pulling it all together.

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

18 minutes ago, FireChans said:

In real NFL terms, requiring your QB and offense to rip off 5 straight TDs to win a game disqualifies your defensive performance.
 

Allen and co are completely taken for granted. The standards are not the same. McD’s standard is only allow 31 points instead of 35 and we’ll call it a triumphant performance.

 

Allen and the offenses’ standard is “score a TD every time you touch the ball to give us a chance to win the game at the end.”

 

It’s legitimately Stockholm syndrome at this point.

The offense did virtually nothing in the first half again and a ton in the second half despite Ray Davis setting them up well at least once.  The defense did nothing in the first half and a ton in the second half.  If a bad first half is disqualifying for a defense wouldn’t a bad first half also be disqualifying for an offense?  The logic makes zero sense to me there 

 

I really don’t understand this board’s desire to blame one thing/person and absolve everything else.  Both sides of the ball started extremely slow and got hot late in this one 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[The Firebaugh Kid]

He should’ve challenged both of those catches in the beginning of the game. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

4 hours ago, Goin Breakdown said:

Don't we have an ex ref on staff to look at these things and make suggestions in game?

Because the narrative is that the Pats lost, not that the Bills won. Diggs is even acting like it's cool they lost because now it takes pressure off of them and they can do their thing now. 

The pats would’ve lost that game by 30 if we didn’t start like molasses lol that’s just a straight up coping mechanism of a ‘narrative’..  they were hilariously outplayed in the second half. Probably the worst half of football the pats have played against the bills since before the Brady days.  A ridiculous play by Henderson seems to be covering it up a bit 

 

I don’t even think the dpi they’re whining about had any effect on the outcome.  Up 3 on their own 10 yard line with 12 minutes left was not a safe lead in that scenario..  

 

this wasn’t the ‘bills needed every possible minute to come back on the final drive’ type game they are trying to twist it into.  We were down 3 with 4 minutes to go in the third quarter and absolutely steamrolling them on both sides of the ball 😂

Edited 7 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[GoBills808]

27 minutes ago, FireChans said:

In real NFL terms, requiring your QB and offense to rip off 5 straight TDs to win a game disqualifies your defensive performance.
 

Allen and co are completely taken for granted. The standards are not the same. McD’s standard is only allow 31 points instead of 35 and we’ll call it a triumphant performance.

 

Allen and the offenses’ standard is “score a TD every time you touch the ball to give us a chance to win the game at the end.”

 

It’s legitimately Stockholm syndrome at this point.

ill leave mcdermott out of it for simplicity's sake

 

Allen is 100% a victim of his own success. the burden he's required to carry here is pretty much unmatched save for the grace w which he's been able to do it

[Governor]

To be fair, he couldn’t see it. You guys made him stop wearing his glasses. I kinda liked them. 

[zow2]

It's wonderful to have Allen & Co. save the day once again by going 4-0 when the opponent scores 31+ points.  In the playoffs though, a team will not win the Super Bowl or even advance to the Super Bowl if there is not a semblance of a complete team.  

Both units, and special teams can't disappear for a half come playoff time.  You won't pull those games out.