TheFunPolice

If you're a Ravens fan it's a good thing this wasn't the year you broke through. We were possibly Lamar patting the ball and softly lobbing it into center field and Andrews dropping a ball and fumbling from this being the story of Super Bowl week.

With everyone crammed in so tight and everything happening so fast would the D notice if Allen ran up, lined up under guard, did the cadence and they quick snapped it directly to Cook who would run wide to the right side while Allen QB sneaked to the left but without the ball?

Did either guy mention the potential use of the "simulate to playoffs" option rather than going through the regular season? It feels like preseason lasts until January now.

If Josh broke his throwing hand I'm glad we didn't finally make it to the Super Bowl to see Trubisky at QB

Tomlin went to 2 Super Bowls with Big Ben and won 1. So "Tomlin with a QB" equals 2 SB berths when the AFC has 2 Pat Mahomes to deal with in Brady and Manning. Plus the Ravens defense in the playoffs. McDermott has made the AFC Title Game twice with Allen, winning zero.

I can't think of a single NFL coach with more than 1 year of experience as a HC that wouldn't win 11-12 games with this team as long as Allen is healthy. Having the superstar QB is that impactful. Our defensive scheme is flawed and does not work against great teams. Like hardly ever, unless they royally screw up like the Ravens did. But you need that to happen 2-3 times in a row against the best QBs and teams and coaches in the league.

Nothing is going to change. This is the coach and GM who will get Allen's entire career. It just is. Allen will lead the team to enough wins and playoff berths that "you can't fire those guys!" and "you could do a lot worse..." I remind everyone: Jim Caldwell went 14-2 and took the Colts to a Super Bowl in the AFC when Tom Brady and Big Ben and the Ravens defense were obstacles. they lost (got outcoached by Payton) but they got there and if they recover that onside kick after halftime they almost certainly win. So McDermott will probably get there at some point with this team. And once you're in it you have a chance to win it. Allen will never have a different HC in Buffalo, or a different GM. Beane basically works for McDermott and gets him the undersized defensive players he wants to run his sit back, keep the game in front of you and wait for the offense to make a mistake scheme. It worked against the Ravens because we got lucky. When have you ever seen Lamar just pat the football like he's burping a baby and just lob it nice and soft into centerfield where there's nobody but a Bills DB there for the easiest INT you'll ever see? The guy threw like 4 INT all season. But it worked that day. We need it to work 3-4 times in a row for a playoff run, that's the issue.

good lord no Worse than exhibition ball.

McDermott needs to take the CEO role and be the new Pete Carroll. Hire a top DC to install a more aggressive system on defense and totally delegate that. Otherwise, we are going to see small, slow, character guys on defense who play a flawed scheme. that would be fine BTW. Hire a Saleh or someone like that and let that guy run the D. McDermott could be the CEO head coach and lead and set the culture.

"they said the same things about Andy Reid..." Reid is the GOAT, we just haven't come around to it yet. He was and is an offensive mastermind who always got 100% out of his QBs, but never had the real superstar talent. McNabb was a nice player, but nothing like Allen or Mahomes. Not even close. Belichick got his QB very early on in his HC career. Reid got his much later on. That's the ONLY reason Belichick is seen as the GOAT (for now). Reid will likely pass Belichick for most post season HC wins next year. #1 all-time in HC wins is definitely on the table. Reid is going to turn 67 in March. If eh coaches another 5 seasons he would be 71 at the end of the 5th season, younger than Belichick and Carroll are today. So barring health issues, Reid will retire the winningest HC of all time, with possibly 4 Super Bowl titles (or more), the winningest HC of all time in the playoffs, and the winning HC of all time for 2 different franchises. He's in a totally different class than McDermott, which is no shade on McDermott. Reid is the GOAT, IMO. BTW, Reid is elite at his specialty. Reid's DC is a better DC than our defensive minded HC. All that said, if the refs correctly mark a 1st down we likely win that game. So Yes, McDermott is definitely good enough to get to and win a Super Bowl. But it's mostly because he is a good coach with an all-time great QB. I would bet at least 1/2 of current NFL head coaches could get to the Divisional Round and occasional AFC Title Game with Josh Allen.

I had originally started a new thread about it then figured it belonged here instead. Imo either it was Allen insurance holding on Bills OL or a defensive holding that the ref got talked out of.

Has anyone mentioned that flag/non flag on the 4th down desperation heave to Kincaid? I've been arguing with the "it's rigged" people all day but that one has me stumped. After the play the flag icon came up and Romo was talking about there being a flag. But then it was dropped and no explanation. Was it Allen insurance? If Kincaid catches it they call holding on our OL or something but since it was incomplete no need to open that can of worms about how the refs were going to take that play away if we had made it?

That's my major problem with McDermott. The guy was hired based on his defensive prowess. This is what we should expect from OUR defense.

The "who are you going to replace him with?" argument is silly. I suppose you could get a total dumpster fire of a guy at HC, but EVERY top candidate would want to come here and coach Allen. Jim "1000 yard stare" Caldwell should have had a perfect 16-0 season as HC but chickened out mid-game. Because he had Peyton Manning. Not because he was a great HC, and history has borne that out. He was fine, but (insert competent coach name here) could have done the same thing.

I didn't realize how routine that catch should have been. That's one that the other team catches against us (or a team I want to win) 99.9% of the time.

It's also offensive philosophy and personnel usage. Cook was basically unstoppable yet he's on the sidelines for those crucial end of game plays. That's a miss. Also, in critical situations the coaches trust the run on 1st and 2nd down and leave Josh 1 play to get it done. What did KC do to run out the clock at the end? Run the ball once just to get the clock moving, then 2 big pass plays that were schemed up to where the only way to stop them was the RB/WR dropping the ball.

At the start of the 4th quarter of the Divisional Round, the score was KC 13, Houston 12. Their offense can be stymied, just not by this scheme. We've seen the same movie 4 times now. McDermott is a good enough coach that if things fall the right way he can win a Super Bowl. Like I said, he's going to get Allen's entire career here, for better or worse. Barring injuries, the team will be in the playoffs every year. And if there's injuries, well, you can't hold that against him. Thus he stays. The problem is it all has to go right with this scheme. In the Ravens game, Lamar needed to uncharacteristically lob a nice centerfield INT, Andrews had to drop a ball AND lose a fumble, and every bounce went our way. Last night most bounces went our way too: 5 fumbles in the game and we recovered all 5. Zero turnovers on offense. Still not enough, though. To say "well, it's the Chiefs, what can you do?" is to overlook the fact that this defense seems uniquely bad at defending them. If we fielded Houston's defense last night we win by multiple scores. Plus you're not just competing against KC. Burrow and the Bengals will be back. Lamar isn't going anywhere. Then there's a bunch of 2nd tier teams with good coaches like Denver, Houston and the Chargers that could make things interesting/difficult in the AFC. Nothing is guaranteed.

A defensive HC paired with an all-time great talent at QB is almost always a major disadvantage UNLESS that HC schemes up a defense that comes up huge in big games. It's very hard to do, and almost never actually happens. It can work when a guy is less of an X's and O's type and more of a CEO like Pete Caroll and the Legion of Boom days. He wasn't scheming up those defenses. That was delegated. It can also work when your defensive minded HC truly is a defensive mastermind like Belichick, whose defenses always gave top offenses fits in the playoffs. McDermott is a good defensive coach whose defenses are good (not great). Thus, they feast on bad to good offenses and get shredded by elite ones. Once you hit the playoffs you generally play the elite ones. It's a pattern. This isn't a one off, one year thing. It's consistent. We have a serious scheme and roster philosophy issue on defense. We want small, quick players who are "great guys" and we're playing a passive "let the game come to you" scheme that doesn't work very often against good QBs. This is a roster building philosophy on defense driven by McDermott. They want smaller players. He has a particular scheme. The Houston Texans gave KC a real problem with their defense. the McDermott supporters this morning are saying "guys, KC didn't score a TD on EVERY drive!" as if that's somehow impressive. All that said, McDermott gets Allen's whole career, and we all know it. That's the biggest issue with a defensive minded HC whose defenses are mediocre at best and whose scheme and philosophy are lacking: your superstar QB will win enough games to get you to the playoff every year, and you can't fire a coach who leads his team to the playoffs every season. If you do not support letting McDermott go then you agree: he gets Allen's entire career. If I'm wrong, then what is it going to take? 8 years of Allen's career and no SB appearance? 9 10? now you're going to fire a HC whose made it deep into the playoffs 10 times? It only gets harder.

He will be here Allen's entire career

Literally no difference either way. Go for it. If you punt or don't convert they just need 1 1st down

3 are not going to get it done

TD!

Do we go for 2 after our incoming TD?

That's a first down

We're going to win this game