starrymessenger

They draft pretty well too.

McD is a good DC whose worst instincts should be overruled by a better head coach. Then all would be fine.

Deonte Harty is pretty fast and shifty for a guy who many thought was slowing down. What we saw yesterday was what Beane thought he was getting when he signed him. Maybe he could even have a role in the offence. Who would have thought.

Its happened for years and the one constant is McD. This guy is limited. He's a dyed in the wool DC. Has no business being a HC. Except for a few head scratching playcalls Dorsey, a near rookie OC, called a good game. He may never have been the main problem. The team's identity, who they are, how they play, is pulled in different directions. That's why they appear so disfunctional at times. The tension is between the team McD wants and what Josh (and possibly also Dorsey) thinks it is and wants it to be. That is a conflict that can only be resolved with the firing of the HC. I Hope Pegs is paying attention.

Who in the Bills brain trust would want to completely transition the offense from a pass first to a ball control/ground and pound offense? In mid-season no less? Can't imagine anyone would.

Thanks. I guess I misheard what he said. Or maybe I just heard what I wanted to hear.

I think that the ref also actually announced the penalty over the loudspeaker. Weird.

I agree that on paper and personnel wise a true # 2 (a guy like Addison who the Bills targeted) would be a major upgrade to the offence but right now I'm not sure that the Bills would be able to make the best use of this asset or that it would remedy the disfunction that we are seeing.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark but we don't know what it is exactly. OTOH some things are patently obvious. The D yesterday was missing its best players, pretty much all of them lol. I'm not sure that absolves McD from criticism for his approach and some of his playcalls but I'm confident that if the D is healthy (or healthier) the outcome is almost certainly not the same. The problem is with the offense but maybe it's not fair to target Dorsey. I do question the wisdom of hiring a rookie OC to lead a team with Super Bowl aspirations but many of us wanted (and still want) a young and innovative talent and all of those guys had to start somewhere. If Dorsey is not that guy they made a mistake in hiring him. If he is or can be that guy the problem lies elsewhere. Anything I say is pure speculation, so there is that. But I am inclined to lay the blame mostly on McD's shoulders. I think it's fair for the buck to stop with him but not just because he's the HC. I suspect that he has now a suffocating influence on the team, especially the O. We see competing teams every year looking to improve their rosters before the trading deadline. Just look at the two finalists in last years championship game. The Bills don't do that sort of thing but I'm not at all sure that is on Beane. I don't know that McD is inclined to move quickly to integrate new arrivals mid season. Sort of part of what we see when it comes to playing rooks and younger players. Its as though within his system and approach whatever they have to add is less than the risks of letting them play. So maybe Beane is limited in what he can do as a practical matter. Hiring from within (including Carolina) suggests to me a braintrust that is a little insular and without the confidence (or ability/awareness) to move quickly and aggressively. It seems like an entirely conservative mindset and culture fixated on preserving rather than attempting to improve an asset when constant adjustments are required in an ultra competitive environment. Another poster has mentioned how hard it is for coaches to be successful continuously and for the long term. Pete Carroll and Harbaugh are mentioned but Seattle and the Ravens are teams that generally draft very well. I have to wonder whether our scouting department is up to snuff. At least the question is worth asking. Not sure how to go about answering it. Elam to one side they are pretty good at drafting/finding players for the D. Same can't be said for the O (except for Josh and Diggs). This too suggests to me that McD's expertise and contacts, which I'm sure are considerable, are limited to the defensive side of things. I don't think he has much to offer to the offence in the way of play design and the playbook generally. Not sure how all this will play out. Obviously if the team is unable to turn things around, changes will have to be made at years end.

No stone left unturned….in Carolina.

Agreed. Assuming that we know for sure that it was his f'up to begin with. And if it was now he's gone and pretty much done the same thing again only yesterday. With the game on the line and needing a stop in either case he was unable to do it. With time running out Mac Jones leads the league's worst offense the length of the field for the winning score.

Well if McD doesn't know what the problem is how likely is he to know the solution?

That would be like Tounces the Driving Cat and spell disaster.

After actually announcing it

Dorsey freaking out.

He can be a good bell cow now. We will see him all day.

Johnson is a good depth piece. I dont expect any drop off to the Bills run game.

As many have said when he's on there is quite simply nobody better. He's been compared to Favre based on his remarkable skillset and gunslinger mentality. The Bills are trying to manage his aggressiveness by having him execute from the pocket and that remains a work in progress. If he cannot continue to mature and develop above the shoulders within the offence they want him to run it may well be that the Favre comparison winds up being even more accurate. Favre´s career was up and down with incredible highs and quite a few head scratching lows, some mediocre seasons and some gut wrenching turnovers ( even when he was playing well).. Sometimes I get resigned to the opinion that that is what Josh will serve up rather than executing at a high level with consistency. Of course Favre is an all time great and fully deserving of his admission to the HOF. Allen is not less talented than Favre and with any luck he will win a championship. There is every reason to think that Allen can follow the same path as Favre. Of course Josh is a bright guy and while IQ, even football IQ, is not necessarily the same as QB processing speed, there is a chance he can actually get even better. Mahomes is a great player but I'm not sure that with an offensive minded HC like Reid Josh might not have turned out even better than he is or with the Bills that Mahomes would be nearly as successful as he's been in KC. Mind you the Bills have so done a good job developing Allen. They haven't done to him what the Colts did to Luck, a great QB that will never make the Hall.

Caleb is listed at 6'1" and 215, so if that's accurate he's shorter and lighter than Mahomes. I wouldn't be surprised if some GMs have concern about his durability as a dual threat QB at the next level. Maye is also quite capable of helping himself with his legs except he's around 6'5" and 235 LBs. No doubt that Williams's ability to improvise recalls Mahomes but there is plenty of tape of Maye extending plays and making off platform throws. it will be interesting to see how teams will evaluate these guys when decisions have to be made.

Right. We're fantastic. As far as getting to the bottom of things you post reminds me of those that cited the stats showing how Frazier's D was the best ever. Well let's just hope that the playoffs just happen to be "on" days for Dorsey & Co.

Its because the O grossly underperforms at least as frequently as it fires on all cylinders. Dorsey.needs to find some consistently because without that you have no chance of winning a championship.

And a good OC. That's the rub.

McD is a defensive HC and specialist. I really don't think he has much to contribute to the other side of the ball. That's not really a negative criticism. Its an achievement to be one of the best defensive minds in the game. Its really hard to do and that's a major advantage for the Bills. Given a choice I'd rather not lose that. What the Bills and McD need to do is find and fully empower a qualified offensive coordinator and give the offence as much importance as the D in drafting and recruiting players. Maybe Dorsey is that guy, maybe not, but whether he can develop or not hiring an inexperienced guy from within at this time in particular was bound to set the team back. Its just pure speculation on my part but I have to wonder whether relying on a limited coaching talent pool is driven by McD's lack of confidence and desire for control. Hope not because if that's the case then I say he's got to go. Not that I think Terry would go there.

An absolute pss missile. He's ridiculous.

Bills make for an interesting case study: a team that can go out and play like one of the best and next up play like one of the worst. A lot of that can only be coaching.