BillsVet

McDermott has final say on personnel decisions. This is extremely early given that players have until 1/15 to declare, but I can see McD going DE. He'll justify it because Murphy is in the final year of his deal (if he's retained), and Hughes turns 32 this year. Lawson is likely gone, and then there's nothing behind them. Would rather see a WR, although there will be options in the 2nd given the depth of this class. Still, it's time to invest in the offense after what we see on display this past weekend.

And, as you noted earlier, much of this happened after he got ear-holed by JJ Watt when Cody Ford had another breakdown.

All of this depends on the HC changing his stripes and embracing the offensive game. I don't expect Air Coryell or anything like that, but there is an old-world thinking that needs to change. It starts with establishing a new offensive identity, finding better talent to fit, game-planning, and then in-game changes. They're a long ways off on all counts. Sean McDermott is the key to whether this team languishes as a defensive team that tries to play offense, or makes the leap toward being a contender. It's the difference between being .500 or slightly better versus a first round bye team. Right now, the HC is the main problem. Everything at OBD flows from him.

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2019/02/what-sean-mcdermott-said-about-being-defensive-coach-in-offensive-era-of-nfl.html "We want to be able to score 21 points at least every game - be a threat to score 21,” he said. "Whether that happens or not, you’re going against a defense and weather. ... (You build your roster) to give yourself a legitimate chance to score 21 points. That’s really where the league is."

HBF - McD talks plenty about scoring points, but his actions say more about his coaching strategy. He’s a conventional HC that has resisted where the game has gone offensively. McD is a dinosaur in a 45 year olds body.

Let's go back to the Cleveland loss. That day was another badly managed game where McD was criticized for playing it conservative. And what was the response? Well, the guy who is the one voice of the franchise told the team they needed to play fearless. Miraculously, Chris Brown reported that and it became a catch phrase. Yet, the effect was it took the blame off of McD and Daboll by making it seem the play-calling was good, but the players were not aggressive. Same thing has happened after a much bigger game. McD made some dubious decisions that need to be scrutinized, but you wouldn't know that anything bad happened from a game-management perspective. No, according to McD, Josh was trying to do too much. I like Josh and he does admittedly play reckless, but he's a 2nd year QB and McD has been in the NFL 20 seasons. Daboll isn't far behind in experience. Which people in that situation should have the onus placed on them for blowing a 16 point lead with 21 minutes remaining now? McD is a manipulator, but with every close loss he's showing that he's another in a long line of play-it safe, don't risk much, hope to win a close one type coach. Those guys have a shelf life and it ain't that long.

No one thought they'd be this bad offensively after all the changes in 3 off-seasons. But it happened and must be fixed for this team to take a leap forward in 2020. McD is 3-17 in games against eventual playoff teams and in playoff games combined. In those 20 games, Buffalo averaged 11.6 points while giving up about 25 per game. Some of this is the result of the disastrous 2018 season, but all told, it's a common theme that McD falters against better competition. That's gotta change if this team ever expects to go deep into the playoffs. Meaning, McD needs to change his approach in 2020. All I've see is a coach who talks about playing to win, but doesn't coach that way.

Very few long term injuries to the OL. Morse in the pre-season had concussion issues and Nsekhe missed time, but nothing major for the others. I don't see them re-signing Quinton Spain because he's JAG. Dawkins I think goes into his contract year without a new deal. Morse is here to stay by virtue of his contract and while he's an improvement, he's not top tier either. I like Feliciano at RG, but RT is a mess. Nsekhe is passable, but Ford is incapable of playing the position and requires help. Why they left him alone against a even a wounded Watt is unbelievable. I wouldn't be surprised if he's a backup next season. The OL is still very much a work in progress.

You get out to the start they did and the expectations change. Going 5-1 doesn't justify keeping the same pre-season expectations. McD is the dominant voice at OBD and he has prioritized a defense that he builds with his guys. Beane's role is supporting McD to find those players who fit. That said, yes, the prioritization of defense should not be the case moving forward, especially with a young QB they moved up for. He is their franchise, not McD's defense.

To be ranked in the bottom quarter of the league after their spending last off-season and year 2 of JA is underwhelming at best. Still, if Daboll left either via a new job or was fired, who in their right mind wants to work with McD? I see a HC who de-emphasizes offense and their personnel evaluators don't seem to understand positional value (OT vs WR) or whom to pick.

McD's game roster decisions are head-scratchers. Presumably, putting D. Williams on the 46 man was an admittance of needing a big bodied receiver who could make contested catches against a weakened Houston secondary. Yet, where was that all season long against their weak schedule? Did they only figure out that they needed this element? It's not as if the other WR's were injured and Duke was the last man standing. It reminds me of last year when they went with tall slow receivers who did not separate. By the end of the season those guys were shelved and in came Ray-Ray McCloud and Isaiah McKenzie. McBeane are not forward thinkers on offense and largely react because they can't see where the league is going nor allocate resources to that point. It would have been nice to have DK Metcalf yesterday and not Cody Ford, who rarely meets a DE he can not get his a$$ kicked by.

Here's McD at the Combine talking about offense and then compare to their output this season: https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/2019/02/what-sean-mcdermott-said-about-being-defensive-coach-in-offensive-era-of-nfl.html Cliff notes version: Gotta score 21 points per game. 2019 Bills Reality: Did so in only 6 of 17 games against one of the league's easiest schedules.

I'm sorry reality isn't your thing. Peace out.

What's the point if inept people are spending the money and making the draft pick? Reminds me of when Darcy had all those Pegula dollars or Murray had those draft picks and essentially wasted it all.

Comparing the 1989 Bills situation to the 2019 Bills is like comparing armaments in WWI with WWII. Totally different situation. Heck, there wasn't even full-fledged UFA in 1989. The league has evolved so much that there is no comparison here. And, BTW, the previous season the "unproven" Bills has been 12-4 and reached the AFC Championship.

Check back to the NE game. When your defense is on the field because the offense doesn't score, people get tired. These aren't marathon runners on defense and even McCoach can't have enough players to sub in every other play.

You win the award out of many candidates tonight for best quibbling of the day. Congratulations.

They elected to tear down the roster to the point that in 2019 only 5 players remained from before their tenure. They own it now, while other franchises (see SF) have been able to go from duds to studs in the same time McD has been here. if you can't win a playoff game after 3 full seasons, your team rebuilding plan is stuck in the mud.

People want to point at individual players or coaches, well fine. Who picks those people? Sean McDermott, that's who. He's 25-25 as Bills HC after 3 full seasons of rebuilding, including 0-2 in the playoffs. He's 3-17 against playoff teams since taking the job. His teams don't score and they've invested heavily in defense when so many teams have proven that offense is how you win. McD needs to take a long look in the mirror and acknowledge that his way of coaching and player personnel decisions mean this team tops out like they did this year. Next year, they likely won't have one of the league's easiest schedules either. The HC always has a quip or aphorism ready when confronted with legit criticism. The clock is ticking on him as HC, particularly when your team blows a 16 point lead in the middle of the 2nd half (EDIT: in a playoff game). Then again, maybe he can convince the Pegula's things aren't as bad. I'm sure they'd keep him beyond his due date.

Rooting for the Browns to hire Daboll.

We're talking past each other and I understand your point about offense and defense contributing to point differential. Yes, it's good Buffalo only allowed 69 points in those games, but it's worse that they scored a mere 71. It's an offensive driven league and those with an ability to score tend to advance. Scoring 14 points per and surrendering about the same did not work in the regular season against top opponents. Why would it in the playoffs? Because I doubt the HC and OC are all of a sudden going to depart from this strategy.

I'm sorry, what? We're talking about the offense, which for several reasons has been inadequate this season especially against better teams. We're not talking about the defense, which did limit a largely weak slate of opponents.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28403463/barnwell-guide-2019-nfl-playoffs-how-all-12-teams-win-super-bowl "How they're worse than you think: While the Bills' offense has generally avoided turnovers, it simply hasn't been good against playoff-caliber competition. In five starts against playoff teams this season, Allen completed just 51.6% of his passes and averaged 5.6 yards per attempt. His 72.7 passer rating against those defenses ranked 25th out of the 28 quarterbacks with 100 pass attempts or more against the playoff bracket, and the Bills' offense scored an average of 14 points per game while going 1-4 in those five contests. You could make the argument that the Bills have taken advantage of what FPI pegs as the league's third-easiest schedule."

Significant debate has ensued about Buffalo's (read McD's) preference for building the defense first. It's sort of like how a person chooses to spend their money. How one allocates limited resources will have an effect on something else. Spending money on repairing your broken vehicle may be necessary, but results in having less to spend on other expenses. And to take it a step further, positional value plays into this discussion on offense. A plodding OT drafted in the 2nd round that struggles in pass protection is likely not more valuable than a solid receiving option. It's why I continue to see McD as a very conventional team builder who tries to make people think he's forward thinker. I just see a lot of conservative thinking in offensive personnel and game-planning. Every team is going to play a mix of good, average to mediocre, and plain bad teams. Buffalo was 1-4 against playoff teams and averaged less than 20 points per. I cite that because now the league's bottom-feeders and almost all average teams are at home watching television. I judge the Bills' chances based on their output against better teams. Philadephia was motivated in October and took it to Buffalo's defense. And right now that's all it takes to be one and done as opposed to just losing a regular season game. I sense Buffalo's DL better be ready for a heavy dose of Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson. That said, Houston's defense is among the worst in the playoffs, but get back JJ Watt at an undetermined level.

The Bills' roster has been molded to reflect their coach's priorities. I know there's been a lot of talk about scoring points, but on game-day that's all it is. There's an expectation defense will carry them, but as we saw at NE, that can only go so far when the offense is inept. Sure, some of this on Josh being able to make throws, but they haven't exactly surrounded him with top talent. Brown and Beasley are nice, but more like complementary pieces. No one on the offensive line is top notch, and Singletary is not yet a premier back. His turnovers in NE indicate that. Looking forward to Saturday, yet at the same time expecting to see a replication of the last 3 meaningful games they played in offensive output.