Hapless Bills Fan

I could be wrong, but I think the teams can no longer block a promotion to coordinator with another team. Any other assistant, it can be "you're under contract, Sorry" That's not to say that the Bills wouldn't release someone for a move they perceive as a development opportunity, but my point is it's not like Daboll gets to sit there looking at the Bills assistant coaches like a Chinese menu he can select from for any position. This. Quit pining for Palmer, folks - the man wants to live in a beach house in S. Cali and give Zoom interviews, not work hectic 100-112 hr weeks in less salubrius settings for 5 or (hopefully) 6 months a year with intense scrutiny and accountability every week

Well, let me ask you this - and it's a question I don't know the answer to: How many coaches and coaching assistants at the college and at the pro level today have played the game (beyond a youth league level where there are roughly equivalent opportunities available for women). I know Todd Haley played golf in college 😁 My general impression is that quality recognizes quality, and that if a coach knows their ***** and can help a player to raise their game and help the team to win, they will be recognized as a good coach whether they've played or not. I think it's a barrier to being given the opportunity, but not necessarily a barrier to actually being able to coach. But it comes up right away with women coaching football is mentioned, when I think we don't ask the same question of a male assistant.

Yes. He is twenty freakin' five. He says himself "I've got a lot to learn".

McCarthy was fired. New coach typically means new assistants.

I don't know if there will be a glass ceiling, but there are a number of female coaching assistants now.

We used to say there was no such thing as a bad interview opportunity. If nothing else, it's valuable practice, and it gives the guys interviewed but not hired contacts and an opening to reach out and ask about what experience or preparation would make them stronger candidates for the next round.

Requirements were changed this fall https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/10/27/nfl-updates-rooney-rule-hiring-cycle-timeline/ Unless they were from Dorsey's agent...

Former player - played for Packers and Bears RB coach, then WR coach, then OC for Green Bay for 2 years (2015-2017) Pack offense was 15th, then 4th, then 21st in that time stretch, but that may have more to do with McCarthy than with Bennett Was fired along with McCarthy and hired to coach WR in Las Vegas Bottom line, he has "Offensive Coordinator" on his resume working with a star QB, but it's unclear how much play-calling experience he actually has; from what I can deduce, he was more like the Curtis Modkins type. New rules require two so....

You could be right. Then again, Saban is kind of a "legend of the game" so McDermott might not be the same thing. I thought he was enjoying his Best Life in retirement

He. Gained. 5, Rush. Yards.

It's always a mixed bag when you hire a former HC as a coordinator, just like it's a mixed bag when you hire a former manager or supervisor as a regular worker. Sometimes they're happy at the change - they found their previous role too mentally or emotionally taxing and are happy to go back to a previous role in which they were more comfortable, as you say. Sometimes they aren't happy, and spend their time looking over at you thinking "I could do a better job" (either literally or figuratively). All I know about O'Brien is that his final years with the Texans were tremendously destructive to the organization, and I think O'Brien is generally reported to be all about O'Brien, with a very healthy ego.

What reference point are you trying to give? "Games where Pat Mahomes doesn't run much because his tootsie hurts and he led the whole game so he didn't need to"?

How about we don't be cute, and you just share what you think and why with the conversation? Pat Mahomes had 5 scrambles for 5 yards in last year's AFCCG

This post doesn't make a lick of sense. How are "the Bills trying to act like they're just getting started now looking for a new OC?" In his post-season presser, Beane stated that they had a "short list" of candidates both inside and outside of the organization. All teams are required by the NFL to interview two (2) minority candidates from outside the organization for coordinator positions. This isn't gonna happen during the season; teams have absolutely no obligation to let assistants interview for coordinator positions during the season. I'm sure the Bills coaches or Beane have had informal talks with the candidates "on their short list" to gauge interest, but most reputable companies don't formally interview candidates for positions that aren't yet open, either. Doesn't mean they haven't thought about it.

FWIW, Ryan Fitzpatrick credits Bill O'Brien with his extended career (featuring stints as the starter for 3 additional team), saying something to the effect that his year in Houston with O'Brien (who benched him!) taught him more about Football than his previous 9 years with 4 teams. The thing is - that was 2014, before the Texans went to the playoffs with Hoyer and Osweiler at QB, drafted DeShawn Watson in 2017, and pretty well looked set for a long stretch of contention with Watson throwing to Hopkins and with JJ Watt, Mercilus, Reader and Clowney in the front-7 and Matthieu at safety. And while it's hard to keep a group like that together, O'Brien arguably blew it up with his ego So I don't doubt O'Brien's football acumen and ability to design and coach a winning offense. But I do doubt whether his ego can be reined in and focused, and I don't really want to take that chance. It Worked

I dunno. Stafford and his mad bomber routine into double coverage damn near sent them to their sofas.

Uninja, I understand your point, but I don't believe Mahomes has historically been a great "run up the middle" guy. The sidelines are his thing. And just then, down in the red zone, Mahomes scrambled 2x successively to put them in 3rd and 2. So I'm not sure he had no place to run, certainly not sure on 2nd and 4 from the 4 yd line. Yes, Hubbard sacked him, but that was after Mahomes had been running back and forth behind the line looking for a pass play and the Bengals line left a huge opening. I'm very frank that I have slow eyes and can't see what's going on well enough from the broadcast film. Maybe I'll brave the horrid interface and watch the all-22. But from what I saw, I don't think Mahomes was looking to scramble. He was running around the backfield like a headless chicken, confident (or over confident) that one of his guys would work open and he'd have a throw.

This is a 20-20 hindsight award. If the Bengals sat their starters in the final game and came out stale vs. the Titans and lost, we'd be hearing about how it's stupid to rest starters. The Bengals looked pretty rusty in the first half where they only managed 3 points until just before the half. If Mahomes hadn't had a meltdown and thrown 2 picks not to mention a fumble that cost them 17 yds down at the Cincy 5, we'd be hearing about how their players were stale from the week off and Belichick never rested his starters. The Bills rested starters in the final week before Houston, and lost. The Bills didn't rest starters until the game was out of hand vs. Miami, won 2 playoff games, and went to the AFCCG.

I'm not sure that's a great take. Once the Chiefs got down into the Cincy Red zone, the only play that I think meets your description was a run to McKinnon on 1st down from the 5 yd line. And I think the idea there was to maybe get a few yards, 2nd and 2 or 3 - which open up a different stable of plays. McKinnin had just gained 14 yds on 2nd and 1, so it's not like he'd been getting stuffed for no gain that drive. Prior to that, there were 2 Mahomes scrambles for 4 yds and a 2 yd pass to Kelce. I don't think that was "arrogantly milking the clock", I think Cincy clamped down and Mahomes didn't have good alternatives. Now they were on the 5 yd line (see above), and after the McKinnon run, there were two horrible Mahomes sacks, the second a sack-fumble that gave me "acid flashbacks" of the Bills playoff loss to Houston. I don't think Mahomes was running around like a headless chicken on those 2 sacks because he was "arrogantly milking the clock". I think he was desperately looking for a play. In hindsight, especially on 2nd down, he probably should have pulled it down and scrambled while he still had a lane. He might have scored, or again got it down to 3rd and 1 which opens up a new stable of plays.

Hendrickson is a genuine stud. I wanted the Bills to go after him last off season. Most teams are "full of 4th and 6 round picks", but the starters on the Bengals D have much talent than that implies. Their Safeties are 2nd round picks (one from them, one from the Saints). Eli Apple was a 1st round pick for the Giants who washed out there, but has been good in Cincy. Lot of 3rd round picks. Who are all these 4th through 6th round picks starting on the Bengals D?

The NFL and the media are busy creating a storyline. It's going to be "Joe Cool, Boy Wonderback" vs. the Rams. I'm not sure what cool storyline they'll create for the Rams, but they have Stafford reaching the Superbowl after years on the Lions, his wife as a brain cancer survivor, The Superbowl ratings are driven by Superbowl parties, the true "National Night Out". A lot of people who don't normally watch football tune in from the gatherings, is my understanding. They'll take place in most areas this year. As far as "devoid of talent outside of Burrow and Chase", Cincy also has Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd - Bills fans hate to hear it, but that's a better WR triumverate than we have right now. They have Mixon, who is a better RB than we have. On the defensive side of the ball, they have Hendrickson (14 sacks), Hubbard, and Ogunjobi, who both tied our leading player for sacks. They're a better D than they get credit for.

It's an interesting dissection. I'm not sure it was just Mahomes. On the first series after the half, Mahomes had challenging, but catchable ball to Hill go incomplete, followed by a miracle escape where he recovered an aborted snap and threw a catchable ball to Kelce (who dropped it). The Chiefs punted. Then the Bengals punted. Then Mahomes had 3rd and 6, and threw 2 deep shots instead of just getting the ***** first down. The 2nd shot was pretty much a drop by Pringle. That was Mahomes in "chase mode", looking for the kill shot instead of "taking what the defense gave him". The throw to Robinson that turned into an INT and 6 points (TD) for the Bengals looks like a bad decision to me. It was 2nd and 3. https://www.nfl.com/videos/can-t-miss-play-b-j-hill-looks-like-b-j-raji-on-key-big-man-int-vs-mahomes Looks to me as though Mahomes had Hardman open on the L and someone open on the R, both short of the sticks but could probably have gotten a couple. He chose to throw to Robinson right over the line, and Raji got a hand on it and picked it. There's probably an element of luck there, but I can't think it was the best decision. I can't comment on whether the Bengals contained Mahomes, or whether he was simply overlooking some rush lanes that were there. Myself, I think he was pressing and looking for the "kill shot" pass. I also think he was rattled and his throws were a bit off. I can comment that the Chiefs didn't seem to realize that Burrows has feet.

I would have to watch the game again, but I'm not even so sure that "won up front with 4" is the best description. They either succeeded in taking away rushing lanes for Mahomes, or he wouldn't take them - but as far as I could tell watching the broadcast films, it looked to me as if most of the sacks Mahomes took were coverage sacks. Mahomes was just off, and/or so were his receivers, like they mentally punched their SB tickets at halftime. There were catchable throws that were missed or dropped. Then Mahomes threw a pick in the 3Q that resulted in quick Bengals points, and I think it made him gunshy. The next 3 drives all ended in stupid sacks. Before that, I didn't see much Bengals front-4 winning.

The #1 factor behind who gets looks for OC and DC positions is whether or not they have ties to the HC, not how they're regarded by their peers as an assistant coach. That's the "catch-22" the change in rules where teams can no longer block assistant interviews for OC and DC and where teams are required to interview 2 minority candidates from outside their organization, are designed to "shake up" Whether they will succeed or not remains to to be seen. Coaching in the NFL is a high stakes high pressure job, and HC will continue to try to hedge their bets against conflictions during the season by choosing familiarity. I'm not saying that's the best path - there's a lot of research saying that diverse project teams have more initial conflict but achieve higher levels of results - but it's an understandable path.

Jones threw 24 TD to 12 INT his rookie season, under (oh hey look) Pat Shurmur as HC and Mike Shula as OC