Lots of discussion on McDermott and how he coaches. Some observations:
He gets a bad rap about being overly "conservative." Yet, he has gone for it on 4th and 1 a couple of times already in his short career, is quick with the challenge flag in certain instances, and doesn't do anything I consider "gutless."
Yes, McD sometimes plays for FG's and rides the defense. But this defense and kicker deserve that kind of respect, at this point. Similar to how Marrone would play in 2014, ride the defense, go for a few big plays, and rely on your team strengths. That got us to 9 wins, if you recall, and would've been more without absolute trash at QB for 4 games. Now TT is a decent QB, and is capable of making plays all by himself. Coupled with a "conservative," a few big third downs a game means we win.
His attitude is completely different from Marrone's and that's a good thing too. Marrone was sour and a little too much of a hard ass. McD takes a more palatble approach to the same style of coaching.
Bottom line, he's got this team in a great spot a quarter way through the year. And there's even more to come, I'm sure.