GoFlamesGo

Figured I’d get some fan-boy type responses. I’m definitely not alone in some of these views on the current state of the Bills… and it’s OK to point out any issues ongoing with the team even if it involves the best player in franchise history (I wasn’t around for OJ but I was for Bruce). Again the main point is we are ‘stuck’ with McD so long as he is Allen’s guy, and maybe if you think McD is a good defensive coach, that doesn’t bother you at all. It’s not a crazy take, just not one I personally agree with. Believe what you want, but I am VERY confident Diggs wanted out for reasons other than getting the ball.

To be fair, he said VERY little in that PC of substance. He’s always appropriately careful about how he answers questions. His response on confidence in McDermott was not typical for an employee-boss or player-coach type response. He even prefaced it with something like, “I know this might sound a little odd but..” Yeah I read into that, it was really the only thing of substance. It made clear that McD is now really at most his partner, not necessarily his mentor. Brady never really spoke of Belichick that way. I get that times have changed too, and that Mahomes and Reid do goofy commercials together and players now make so much that it’s impossible to not see that they may have ultimately control. The issue here that’s a little unique is that McD’s defense hasn’t really helped Allen in most if not all of his playoff losses, and it still seems for some reason that Allen ‘allows’ for McD to continue to run his defense. Again I think that’s the issue that Diggs had (that Allen would lobby to keep McD despite his failures), and why I think we’re ultimately stuck with McD. The ultimate control here lies obviously with Pegula, and he is (very reasonably) deferring it to Allen. Final takeaway: it will take a lot for the Bills to fire McDermott.

To be clear, I would absolutely not compare Allen’s personality to Peyton or Rodgers (whom I don’t like) or even Kelly or Burrow or anyone else… I think he’s his own unique person and his heart is generally in the right place. I am more comparing control in an organization and willingness to exert it. I do think the ‘everyone eats’ mantra was something that was very Allen-driven, and that he may have gotten kind of sick of feeling any sort of pressure from his receivers (even if like I said the pressure from Diggs was more to play winning ball than to actually pass it to him). Diggs did a lot during his last couple years I did not agree with, I wouldn’t blame Allen at all for feeling like it was too distracting for him or the team. Someone mentioned that Taylor is only safe in Cincy because of Burrow and perhaps that is true as well, that would be the closest comp I suppose. I just think it would take something really significant for Allen to turn on McD (due to both loyalty and comfort) and in that way, we kind of have to embrace McD even if he is a pretty bad defensive coach, because no one in the organization really has the authority to fire him (because of Allen). That was more my point (and I believe Diggs’ stance), and I personally am over McDermott, but I’m just hoping he changes or perhaps delegates more on defense so we may actually have a chance against other top teams that isn’t dependent on 3-4 lucky turnovers. Meh, these are public figures and it’s all here for entertainment. Even when they are trying to not say anything much they often still let on where they stand. It’s fun to read into, and it also bears relevance on how the team may approach its offseason and future, something being discussed extensively on other threads. Would you rather be dissecting the KC/Philly matchup right now?

I watched Josh Allen’s presser yesterday and it firmed up some of what I thought before: he is now 100% the boss of football operations for this franchise. McDermott coaches at his will and probably has even adjusted his personal approach in part to work well with Allen. Firing Dorsey, drafting Keon… all those things don’t happen without Allen’s OK (and perhaps even his pushing). He’s very loyal but maybe also a little comfortable in that role, and in his day-to-day. There is a fine line between being loyal and comfortable though… it is a potential path into Rodgers or Peyton territory. From the Bills end, I do absolutely get it, he is the franchise. You need to do whatever it takes to keep him happy, particularly while he’s still this good. I think ‘management’ gets it. This also 100% explains the Diggs situation. I thought this before and when I saw Allen’s year end presser last year, I predicted Diggs was done. Diggs was not unhappy because he wasn’t getting the ball… he was unhappy because he wanted to win, and he disagreed that having the QB ‘run’ the organization was the best way to win. He’s a fairly smart and thoughtful guy, and also super competitive. I don’t think he hated Allen, I just don’t think he liked where this was going. They all handled the situation I think as well as they could, but Diggs had a fundamental problem with how the Bills operated, and he wasn’t going to get through to Allen on what he thought the Bills should do, so he was out. I’d guess he was among those who was not happy with McDermott’s abilities as a coach. I’m not saying Allen runs the defense or makes all the signings or anything like that, I’m just saying he’s extremely powerful now in the organization. Like, he’s the most powerful QB right now in any organization (more powerful than his closest peers: Mahomes, Burrow or Lamar). What that will mean in the long term I don’t know… it may keep them from ever winning a Super Bowl with him (in fact if they don’t I would argue it was the biggest reason why they didn’t, I would agree with Diggs). But right now, I do think it’s hard to argue against the Bills’ approach, because what choice do the Bills have? This approach hopefully keeps Allen from being disgruntled, and it keeps the head coach in a job. I don’t think Allen is outwardly power-hungry or anything like that, in fact, I don’t think this necessarily comes from a bad place beyond him not wanting to disrupt a life he currently enjoys. He wants to be the consummate leader, and often will shoulder too much of the load. In fact, my gut is he was satisfied with the defensive performance against Kansas City, and feels like he probably should have scored at the end of the game to win the game (I wouldn’t agree with him… the defense was bad). My hope is given that McDermott has been able to swallow his pride to this degree at this point, he may even be willing to significantly alter his defensive philosophy and priorities in player acquisition to better suit what the team needs when they play top level competition in the playoffs. I think that’s the Bills’ best chance going forward.

I actually don’t live in NY state anymore, and I did not mean to make this a state vs state issue as you might have taken it (was just pointing out Florida as an entity is a total embarrassment). And I’m not proud really of how a substantive proportion of the people in any of our states have behaved through the pandemic. This has truly been an American failure that crosses every state line. The illness and death in Florida was almost entirely avoidable though... they weren’t blindsided like Wuhan or Bergamo.

“I appreciate and respect science,” I’m sorry but you don’t, because it is scientists who make the argument we all need to mask in certain situations, which you have disregarded. Scientists plead with us to do this because they are using information from a number of situations, not the least of which countries with uniform masking like Japan, which a subsequent poster pointed out. ”Luckily I live in a red state,” It is actually people like you who have politicized the virus, making it more about civil liberties and the president or governor you like than the actual human disease toll. You just readily but unknowingly acknowledged and admitted it. You talk about not burying your head in the sand when in fact it is textbook what you are actually doing. Going about your daily life serving ice cream to happy people like it’s 2018 while your state experiences more illness and death than an ENTIRE massive country like Japan can’t be any more burying your head in the sand. Welcome to America in 2020 I guess.

I say this as respectfully as possible: from the perspective of a physician and scientist, it is this type of common thought that has led to legitimately tens of thousands of needless deaths in America. Some degree of disease and death was inescapable with this virus. Your business specifically may or may not have indirectly contributed to the death toll (you actually have no idea), but there is no question that people who have thought just like you are unfortunately responsible for a massive amount of morbidity and mortality.

McD not announcing if his starters will play in week 17 vs jets. The same guy who waited until Saturday to tell you who is playing QB? Have we been watching this guy for 3 years now? And you all think he would show his best defensive game plan in a meaningless game vs the Patriots? Please....

I don’t think he ‘threw’ the game as much as tried to win with a very simple defensive plan. Yes, McD is the type to not show all his cards in a game that wouldn’t have any standings relevance. Brady and the Patriots have been an atrocity for 2 years now vs the blitz, rushing 4 all game just isn’t the way to play them any more. IF they play again this year, you will see a very different defensive formula. And a different defensive outcome. Book it.

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/12/new-england-patriots-cheating-video-bengals-sideline-spygate/amp Hadn’t thought of the connection between McVay and Taylor. I thought what happened at the start of the last Super Bowl was suspicious to say the least.

Unbelievable statement from the team. Reads almost like it was written from a prank account. They were obviously caught RED handed.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2019/09/13/antonio-browns-stepdad-says-nfl-receiver-is-very-abusive-toward-women/amp/ Here’s the cliffnotes version. Looks like there’s a lot of people who probably need to be talked to.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/2298810001 Yikes.

If you appreciate honest, honorable and noble completion, you can't help but find the Patriots to be as lousy as it gets. It would be tough to cheer for them honestly. The cheating scandal in the 2000s can't be overstated. No team had ever been penalized for something so severely, WITHOUT the public ever getting to see what actually happened. It's unfathomable, and makes me question things that have even happened since (for those wondering, Seattle never ran that particular rub pass play in the red zone once all year, yet the Patriots' own 'do your job' video shows them Super Bowl week practicing against it vs scout team IN THE RED ZONE). I personally know someone who I fully trust who was on their inside that confirmed they knew the Rams red zone plans in 2001. There's so much smoke surrounding the Patriots and Belichick that it's virtually impossible to conceive they'll every fight you square. The AB rape thing is actually in my mind less of an indictment on them than the scheme they used to get him in the first place. Almost identical to what they did for Blount (but much higher profile), it's an under-handed, scumbag tactic that's almost impossible to prove tampering against and yet rewards them. For Patriots and their fans, at this point, their only defense is that everyone else cheats or tries to cheat too. They're just the best at it. Or that you are spouting conspiracy theories. But the FACTS of their run again include so much smoke, it's nearly impossible to conclude there isn't/wasn't a serious fire. Draw whatever conclusions you would like, I guess. Nothing and nobodies minds are changing.