GunnerBill

But on what basis? Payton has coached 9 seasons with an elite QB since he won his Superbowl. He's had some stacked rosters in that time too. And he has lost some playoff games to clearly inferior football teams with clearly inferior Quarterbacks. McDermott hasn't done that. Maybe some of you are like "year Payton might have lost in the playoffs to Phil Rivers and Mason Rudolph, but one time he'd have found one of his genius gameplans (and he can be a genius gamplanner) and a way to get past the Chiefs with Allen and that's all that counts... so we'd underachieve in other years but we'd get to the top of the mountain that one time." That isn't an unreasonable supposition but it is nothing like a sure bet. With the 2015 roster? Yes. Tomlin and Harbaugh definitely do. Stefanski I'm less sure but possibly.

I think he allows Josh Allen to be exciting though. Justin Herbert for all his flaws used to be exciting. Harbaugh turned him into one of the most boring QBs in football. The Bills are a fun watch. The Chargers made me want to rake my eyes out. But if your point is so far McDermott has proved himself a turn around specialist not a championship winner, of course that is true.

I don't ignore the second part of that, you just omitted to quote it in your reply. The 2015 team was stacked. McDermott wins 10 or 11 games with that roster.

Agree with all three of these. Stefanski is not a top 10 coach IMO. Tomlin I think is top 10 but is ranked too high and the lovefest for Jim Harbaugh is way over the top. If you want someone to turn around a bad team with boring football, he is your man. Otherwise, he ain't. No.

Regular season it is better than "pretty good". No active coach has beaten Andy Reid as many times as McDermott. He is unbeaten vs Kyle Shanahan and has a winning record vs Sean McVay. The one who has gotten the better of him consistently in the regular season is John Harbaugh (3-1 vs McDermott) and ironically McDermott is 2-0 vs him in the playoffs.

He didn't actually. That 2015 Bills team that Rex went 8-8 with was the most loaded Bills roster of my fandom aside from QB. Significant players on that team that were not on the 2017 team: Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods, Percy Harvin, Stefon Gilmore, Ronald Darby, Nigel Bradham, Mario Williams, Marcel Darues (who played 6 games in 2017 and was traded with the Bills at 4-2). I know McDermott and Beane were responsible for some of that talent not being there because they'd traded away for picks or allowed to walk in FA.... but my point is in terms of the talent on the football field the 2017 roster, while not a scrub roster by any means (2018 was much closer to that - at least on offense), was definitely weaker than the 2015 roster. That 2015 Bills team 100% should have made the playoffs, more so than any other team in the drought IMO. Rex then went 7-8 before being fired in 2016, which wasn't quite as strong with Mario and Bradham totally gone and Sammy hurt for a lot of the year (and I think that was the year of cluster injuries at safety wasn't it? Ended up starting total scrubs back there). I take your point about McDermott's 9-7 vs Marrone and Mularkey's 9-7 seasons. Particularly Mularkey's actually. Marrone's was an 8-8 masquerading as a 9-7 by beating the Patriots when the Bills were already eliminated and the Patriots were locked in on playoff seeding. There WAS an element of the Bills getting some breaks their way in 2017 that the tiebreakers favoured them and the Bengals pulled off the comeback in Baltimore. I think that is legit. I less take the argument that McDermott was just one win better than Rex with the same roster. He was 1 or 2 wins better with a definitely weaker roster.

So I think it is easier for Head Coaches to demonstrate where they raise the needle when they don't have a superstar QB. I agree with you totally that Quarterbacks have more impact on wins and losses than coaches. It has always been thus in my time watching the sport. And when you have one of those top of the range elite guys.... it's just harder to see the coaching impact because the QB impact smacks you in the face first. There is also a natural fan bias towards seeing that impact on offense - QBX played better under Y coach than under Z coach ergo Y coach moved the needle. Whereas because defenses do not run through one guy in the same way team X playing better defense under coach Y than coach Z doesn't get the same attention because there are eleven constituent parts and more movement within them year to year than QBs who tend to stay on teams for longer once they are established starters. But it is legitimate for people to hold against McDermott that he has had rosters with Championship calibre talent and not brought home a Championship. And until he does that it will hold him back from being given the benefit of the doubt in the same way as say a Mike Tomlin who has basically been spinning his wheels for years now but has two Superbowl appearances and one Lombardi in his back catalogue. But he took over a dreadful culture. When he arrived it was the Rex Ryan madhouse and Doug Whaley's backroom manipulation. The 2017 roster was not a dumpster fire (though it was not quite as talented as the 2014-2016 rosters) but the locker room was. Only people who have had to do culture change realise how bleeping difficult it is.

Agree with all this. I only really like hot weather when I'm on vacation. Working in the hot weather in London (a city built to keep you warm when it's cold) can be hell. Autumn is the best time of the year and the NFL regular season, especially up to about thanksgiving when every team is trying 100% and you have upsets every week is a big part of that for me.

Nah. He's right. You're wrong.

He is better than guys on that list. There is plenty in his defensive scheme and in his leadership. Would he still be here without Josh? No probably not. But he broke the drought without him and as long as they found league average QB play McDermott would have had a 5 to 6 year run here and made the playoffs a couple more times. They are a contender because of Josh Allen. But give a Sean McDermott team even adequate Quarterbacking and reasonable defensive talent and you will find a way to win 8 to 10 games.

We held Baltimore 5 points under their seasonal average - even if they catch the two pointer we have kept them 3 points below. The Bills are not a defense who mind the "ball being moved on them" that is who they are. They back themselves to take it away and stand up in the redzone team. If your defense takes it away three times in the playoffs and you don't win that isn't on your defense.

The defense hasn't **** the bed that much against good offenses in the regular season (it had a couple of bad games last year mind you). It has really struggled against the Chiefs and the Bengals in the post season.

Yea... TGD.... Two Goals Down. Seems apt.

I'll be the weirdo who says I'm looking forward to pre-season and the backup job/bottom of the roster battles. As someone who is as fascinated by the team building element of the sport as the action on the field I always enjoy that time of the year. And then I'll look forward to seeing the Buffalo Bills take the field in September and win a bunch of football games. Individual player I'm most excited to see? TJ Sanders. Was one of my guys in the draft. Loved him. Delighted to see him in Bills blue.

I'd sell the Sabres if I were him. Laughing stock.

We don't agree a ton but we are in lock step on this. If I had come to the NFL 4 or 5 years later than I did when it started to have its 00s growth in the UK and I didn't have a reason to root for a team I'd be a Saints fan because of Drew Brees.

We will have Cook. The Bills, unless Josh gets hurt, will win 11 minimum and I reckon 13 or 14. I have them in contention for the #1 seed. It's a tricky home slate but the Bills are good at home and while I don't think they will go unbeaten there I'd be surprised of they lost more than 2 home games. Their road schedule is very favourable IMO. I don't see any team as having caught up. I think New England is the one that has taken a step. But if you are honestly looking at that roster and seeing a team that can contend with the Bills in 2025 I don't know what you are seeing.

Yea - it's a combination of his impatience and what @Mikie2times says about the run blitzes - the Bills are good at forcing TFLs in the run game even when they are otherwise getting gashed. It is the result of the type of defense they want to be. And if you can get Miami behind the sticks where they are reluctant to run and can't really rely on any of their window dressing motion or fakes and they just have to drop back and pass they are vulnerable. Tua as we know isn't the same when his first read isn't there and isn't mobile enough to make things happen off schedule.

The thing that sticks most in my mind is Brandon Beane's end of season presser where he (rightly) said he did a "horrible job" putting together an offense for his rookie QB.

Thats a mid 90s PSG shirt.

I forgot Matt Simms the other day. Grading myself a D- must do better.

I don't think he was close to the athlete that Matt is. But he had that gamer instinct in him so I know what you mean.

Yep. UDFA made the squad at linebacker the first Rex year, got on the field at the end of the year I specifically remember him making some plays in that finale where we stopped the Jets making the playoffs. Then he retired after one year in the league because of concussion concerns.

Fairchild might have been more of an Air Coryell guy but Greg Olsen is a pure West Coast Offense coach. I don't pretend to remember the 2006 Rams but it is what Olsen has run everywhere else he has been.

Yea he played a playoff game for the Texans didn't he? He had a summer here but I don't think he was ever on the roster during a season.