finn

Kromer was OC of the Bears and did very well before Cutler melted down.

Diggs, yes, Von, no. Sorry, signing a 35-year old to a six-year contract made no sense at the time, and it makes less sense in hindsight. A two-year with more as an option, great, even in retrospect, when you're more aware of the injury factor for his age than you might at the moment. So I give him credit for a bold signing and take away the credit for an albatross contract. The Floyd signing was much smarter: low risk, high reward--and it paid off.

It's not Daboll or bust, of course. For example, I'd look at Thomas Brown, passing-game coordinator of the Patriots, who (google tells me) is drawing a lot of interest. Would be great to stick it to the Pats, too. Your choice, Sean: change OC's now or after the season. One brings a chance to go all the way this year, the other gives us a higher draft pick.

A team that loses to the below-average teams and beats the above-average teams, what is up with that? The pattern when they win is the team getting fired up; when they lose, I see a defense that allows big runs but plays well enough for the offense to pull it out (maybe because McDermott shoves Babich aside), and an offense that gets points and yards but fails in the clutch because of the killer combination of injuries, mediocre receivers, and a poor offensive coordinator. If this take is correct, I have hope! If the defensive pattern continues, the injuries abate (both reasonable hopes), and--the big one--McDermott realizes this team simply will not make it without a course adjustment. He did it once before. Can he do it again?

I'd love to see a definitive analysis, but the ones I've seen indicate that both these things are true, but that most of the problems stemming from Brady's schemes and play calling. As many here have observed, he's predictable, limited, slow to adapt, late getting plays in, has not adapted his offense to the receivers he has, and lacks innovation, creativity, and vision. In short, he's just not a good coordinator. I'm encouraged that McDermott fired Dorsey, so maybe he will pull the trigger on this guy. Who would replace him, though? I really doubt he would bring back Daboll. Kromer might be the answer. He was terrific his first year with the Bears, setting franchise records for yards and touchdowns. I don't see how he could be worse than Brady.

My read is that Beane will never fire McDermott because McDermott brought him in, an object lesson for other teams: always hire the GM first. We're stuck with McDermott, which means we're stuck with junior-varsity coordinators for the rest of the Allen era.

Every route in the book except wide receiver screen, half back dive, halfback screen, jet sweep, and mesh routes. With Brady and McDermott, you fit into their scheme or you get cut.

All that talent and nada. Yet it could be that he has poor proprioception: awareness in space. Mine is pretty poor, too. I had to quit ultimate frisbee and basketball because I kept smashing into people. If that's the case, I have far more sympathy for him that Coleman, who seems to have talent but is either stupid, apathetic, or strikingly immature, none of which reflects well on his character.

I've lost count of the number of fans of other teams tell me Allen is easily--easily--the best quarterback in the league who has been criminally paralyzed by a) lack of receivers; and b) Brady. It's glaringly obvious to everyone on the planet except McDermott and Beane.

I think the veterans on this team, led by Allen, Dawkins, and few others, are just bored. They're excited only by what they see as real challenges, like Baltimore, KC, and Tampa Bay, but just cannot find motivation to play against the Dolphin-type teams on the schedule. They've seen the regular-season movie too many times and want to skip right to the playoffs. The coaches might do a great job with a young, up and coming team, but that's not what they have. They're probably helpless. (They're helpless with Coleman's attitude, too, but that's a different matter entirely.) So the season could still come together. We might not be seeing a fundamentally flawed or untalented team exposed by mid-level teams but rather a very dangerous team that frankly can't be bothered anymore, even if it means playing an extra playoff game and on the road to boot. In the playoffs, they might finally get their act together and show us something for more than just a game.

I said elsewhere that Beane might want to trade Dawkins before next season. He still has a few years left and might fetch a second-round pick. Beane has got to do something different. If he sticks to his modus operandi he'll just get the same results, over and over: some hits, some misses, and a not-good-enough team. It's time to rebuild, overdue in fact. Trade Dawkins, Bernard, Knox, Coleman, maybe even Oliver, and cut the washed vets, including Rapp and Dequan. Trade up for and sign three or four impact players and build your team around them and a young, athletic core: Walker, Sanders, Bishop, Hancock, Hairston, Benford, Stone (I hope), Grable, Torrence, SVP, Cook, Hawes. But that's just half of what they need to do. We all know what the other half is. Does Beane have the moxie and vision to pull the trigger?

I feel a bit calmer the morning after, but it's clear this isn't our year. The greatness of Allen is masking an otherwise average (at best) team, coach, and GM. You can point to a few very good Bills players other than Allen, but every team has a few of those. It's a tribute to their quarterback that they have a real shot at the playoffs given the mediocrity that surrounds him. Would this exact team be Super Bowl quality if it had two excellent coordinators and head coach? It would help (a lot), but I don't think it would be enough, not with this roster. They would also need two or three more difference makers in addition to Allen and Cook. The recipe: A new coach (you simply have to pull the plug at this point; his time has passed), two much better coordinators, TWO (not one) elite receivers, an elite linebacker, and an elite pass rusher. Transition to the younger, faster players already on the roster. Trade the players who can't stay healthy, are too expensive, or who are about to hit the wall (Bernard, Kincaid, Dawkins, Knox, Dequan) in order to move up in the draft and free up cap space for free agents. And of course cut the deadwood: Milano, Poyer, White, Taron, Rapp, Samuel). It would require a bold GM to pull all this off, but it can be done. We're four players and a head coach away from the Super Bowl.

Just a reminder that this is a 5-5 team we're playing. Miami, Atlanta, now this team? Of course it's coaching!

The defense is so, so bad that it couldn't be worse if Beane had devoted the first six picks of every draft in the Allen era to offense and fielded a defense comprised only of low draft picks and free agents. That's how bad this defense is. Of course, the way Beane drafts, the offense might not be any better than it is now.

I'm wondering how this exact same set of players would play after a year with the Houston coaches--and how the Houston players would fare under the famous "McDermott scheme." I think I know the answer.