HappyDays

Yeah that article if anything looks worse for McDermott IMO. The team is not rallying around him. Everyone interviewed clearly feels awkward and is trying to find the right words to describe such a bizarre event. I don't think the players on the roster outright hate him at this point, but I do think they are just tolerating him.

This is hilarious overly defensive behavior from MVS:

What's the word on Bolton?

If we go 5-0 to close out the season yes I believe he will be one of the top contenders, especially if Miami loses to the Ravens and Cowboys which means we would win the division. MVP voters are desperate to give the award to a top seeded QB and the only one that IMO is really making a case right now is Dak Prescott. I don't believe the MVP voters will actually give the award to Brock Purdy. Personally I think they should give it to Tyreek Hill if for no other reason than to show that MVP isn't just the "QB of a #1 seed" award.

I'm sure it's all true. I think McDermott is wound way too tight and he's socially awkward, and that combination does not make a great coach. It doesn't mean he deserves to be a national laughingstock though. By far my biggest issue with social media is how quickly lynch mobs form. It isn't enough to just point out a mistake, we need a couple million people to completely tear down a person's character. More than ever in history our worst moments are possibly going to be shared with and mocked by the world, and I don't wish that on anyone but the absolute dregs of society.

Man I have criticized McDermott's coaching but he doesn't deserve this. He's a good man.

FWIW: Where I would question Tim's report is - does Pegula feel publicly embarrassed enough to change his thinking? It's less about the incident itself and more about the stink it leaves on an organization that has experienced several other massive failures this season. I'm having trouble deciding which of the many McDermott threads I should be putting new reports in. I'll put this one here since it's a direct response to Tim Graham's report:

It's crazy because before the season I was of the mind that even another disappointing early playoff exit would be enough cause to fire McDermott. But now? The way this season has turned out, and a trending story more embarrassing than anything Rex Ryan ever did? Pegula would be nuts to bring this guy back next year.

Speak it into existence!

Whelp with Adam Schefter tweeting it out, we are now a national laughingstock. Hello darkness my old friend...

One silver lining about these embarrassing past few days is that it may give Pegula the cover he needs to make a change. The national media has turned against McDermott.

No, journalists cannot just make up a story sourced by 7 people. Because if it was denied by several people that would know, Ty Dunne would lose all credibility forever. And yeah that 9/11 story is incredibly bizarre. What the hell was he thinking?

Yeah, it's weird you felt the need to say this.

Kind of off topic, but can we acknowledge how insane it is that Mahomes spent his first four years with Tyreek Hill AND Travis Kelce in their prime, AND Andy Reid calling plays? I mean that is an all time supporting cast. Arguably the greatest speed WR of all time, arguably the greatest pass catching TE of all time, one of the greatest offensive play callers of all time. Even I didn't fully appreciate how absurdly good that situation was until seeing what Tyreek Hill has done in Miami. And that takes nothing away from Mahomes, his otherworldly talent that defenses simply weren't ready for was the engine of the whole thing. The first year Mahomes had that supporting cast, Allen was throwing the ball to Kelvin Benjamin, Andre Holmes, and Charles Clay 🤣

Sure, that's why I don't focus too much on the details. The problem is on defense they have spent resources on starters and depth, whereas on offense they have spent resources mostly just on depth. This is the first offseason in Allen's career where Beane made a concerted effort to address the OL. He has not even attempted to address WR2 the past two offseasons. It is a legitimate failing of this regime.

Here's the way I see it. On defense we have invested enough into every position. The results haven't all been great but I don't think anyone disagrees that we have invested plenty at every level of the defense. On offense we have not invested nearly enough at WR, and IMO not enough at OL either. Using day three picks and paying the likes of Deonte Harty and Trent Sherfield is not true investment. Looking at just premium positions, we have spent a ton of draft picks and cap space on CBs and DEs, and comparatively very little on WRs and OTs. Parse all the minute details out however you want, the top end investment has clearly weighed much more heavily towards the defense.

This is not an excuse for the Bills, but every team in the league would handle this situation the exact same way they have. That's the sad reality.

Chiefs 30 Bills 29 I don't feel good about this prediction at all. On one hand I genuinely believe that we have a talent advantage over the Chiefs, especially with their recent injuries. I could see a scenario where we blow them out, seriously. On the other hand, I have totally lost faith in McDermott. If we don't blow out the Chiefs it's going to be another close game that comes down to the final seconds. Why would I bet on McDermott in that situation? I have to base my prediction on past results. So I believe for us to beat the Chiefs, it will have to be with us leading by 9+ points with 2 minutes or less remaining. I think that is possible. But I have also seen this team off the bye week in the McDermott era and even though the record is perfect, the play on the field historically has been sloppy for the first half or so. So I predict a slow and frustrating start for both offenses. Eventually they will both figure it out in the 2nd half and it will come down to some awful coaching decision in the final minutes that loses the game for us.

This is a huge matchup advantage.

I 100% believe that Beane and his staff control the draft process. But free agency? I can't buy that if Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan were our coach, we would have spent tens of millions of dollars on the likes of Star Lotulelei and Vernon Butler and Jordan Phillips, while punting on a talent like DeAndre Hopkins. I'm sure Beane creates the contracts and manages the cap space, but I'm equally sure McDermott has a big say in the players that we sign. He would have to, right? His philosophy overrules anyone else in the building. He tells Beane what kinds of players he needs to build a successful team and I'm sure his defensive background influences those decisions.