The GAME when you knew the Bills HC wasn't the guy!

[Augie]

3 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Sunday, Game 2 of the 2015 season.  Patriots at Bills.  We had easily won our previous game vs Colts, who were thought pre-season to be contenders.

Hopes were high.  Rex was in full braggadocio mode.

 

We were a wet stinkin' mess.  A hot pile.  37-13 Pats until the 4th quarter.  Gave up 507 yds to the Pats.  Had 14 penalties for 140 yds, many of which were stupid out-of-control hothead shots. 

 

That was the game where I changed from "Hopeful" to "Hapless"

 

I pray that, after this year....you can go back to HOPEFUL! 

[Big Turk]

Dick Jaurons first game.

[HomeskillitMoorman]

When McDermott basically tried to play for a tie against the Colts last season in the snow game, and punted on 4th and 1 from the Colts 40 in OT, and then essentially admitted after the game that he didn't know the implications of what a tie would've done to their playoff chances. 

[Nextmanup]

December 10, 2017.

 

Week 14, Colts at Bills in the crazy snow game.

 

McDermott's decision to punt from the Colts' 41 yard line in OT, in a game where a tie was the equivalent of a loss in a tight playoff race--and McDermott didn't know it.

 

The decision to punt on 4th and 1, based on the available data, was straight up wrong.  On top of that, McDermott burned a timeout before the punt to think about it a little, in a situation where the TO was valuable. 

 

But worst of all, the punt meant that the most likely outcome of the game was a tie.  When pressed on the issue the next day, McDermott said "I was thinking a win is better than a tie, and a tie is better than a loss".  He was clearly thinking about a tie when the punt was made and clearly thinking that was OK, if not the best outcome. 

That was not OK, as we had to play NE in Week 16, and the only intelligent approach was to assume we lose that game.  We did lose that game as it turned out, 37-16.  

Had we tied the Colts game, we would have ended up 8-7-1 at best (assuming the loss to NE) and that was not going to get us into the playoffs.  That has to be your thinking as HC of the Bills in that moment.  A tie had to be viewed as an unacceptable outcome.  It's actually a very easy decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in that situation.  Yet McDermott punted. 

 

Of course, we did win the Colts game as it turned out and in fact made the playoffs!  Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good.  Neither of those outcomes changes how bad McDermott's thinking was in the game, however.

 

The game showed me who McDermott is--an extremely conservative, traditional football guy, who is never going to outsmart Bill B. or any of the smartest coaches in the league. 

 

The premise of this thread was to reference games where we knew the coach would never get us to the playoffs or possibly even a winning record.  That is obviously not my point here.  My point is the Snow Game showed me the caliber of McDermott's thinking and that it's not what I'd like it to be.  We can do better. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2019 by Nextmanup

[loyal2dagame]

January 2, 2004. 

Mike Mularkey couldn't coach this team to beat the Steelers 2nd and 3rd stringers to get into the playoffs.

that was a wrap for him with me........

[BobbyC81]

7 hours ago, Steve Billieve said:

This probably shouldn't count, but Anthony Lynn's game was so bad that I have an exact moment that I knew he wasn't going to remain at head coach.  When we didn't even bother to pick up a kick off. 

 

And now you don’t have to do anything if the ball goes into the end zone.  Did Lynn recommend that rule change?

[BillsFan1988]

6 hours ago, The Wiz said:

I won't point out a game but I will say that the second I heard that they hired Rex Ryan I knew they were f'd. 

This is pretty much how i felt after every head coach we've hired over last 20yrs. Lol. C'mon now who thought Dickie J or Chan was gonna do anything? The Dickie J hire had me sick .

[Doc Brown]

7 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

The punt that started it all........"The Original Preposterous Punt"

 

November 3, 2002

 

Trailing 17-7 and being thoroughly dominated in the third quarter at home against the Patriots.......Greggo Williams punts from the Pats 32 on 4th down and 2.

 

You read that right.........from the 32.......on 4th and 2.

 

The Pats promptly marched the length of the field against Greggo's beleaguered defense and scored another TD on their way to a 38-7 win..........really the first real thrashing of the Pats pending domination of the Bills...........and the sure sign that Gregg Williams did not have what it takes to win.

 

Prior to this ridiculousness it was really pretty common to see hyper conservative decisions "similar" to this......in fact the crowd at the Ralph was hardly phased by it at the moment...........but this one crossed a line.

 

After that absurdity Gregg Easterbrook started tracking preposterous punts............and the punt shaming has really helped push the game forward in my opinion.

 

 

I was going to post this moment and there was booing in the crowd.  I remember ensuring everybody in my section that it was going to be a fake punt.  Of course they punt it and it's a touchback.  Just horrible coaching and one reason I hoped the Browns would make Williams their HC as we play them next year.

1 hour ago, loyal2dagame said:

January 2, 2004. 

Mike Mularkey couldn't coach this team to beat the Steelers 2nd and 3rd stringers to get into the playoffs.

that was a wrap for him with me........

In fairness, the 2nd stringers that burned us were Willie Parker and James Harrison.

[Chandler#81]

Harvey Johnson’s 1st game. BOTH TIMES!!! Hank Bulloughs 1st game. Rex vs Pats* 1st game with national sound meters for possible decibel level record.

[loyal2dagame]

1 hour ago, Doc Brown said:

In fairness, the 2nd stringers that burned us were Willie Parker and James Harrison.

 

can anyone name the 3rd stringers?

i sure as hell can't.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

9 hours ago, LSHMEAB said:

 

 

When we laid an egg AT HOME against a very beatable Giants team, I really felt like Rex was gonna be nothing more than a 500 coach.

 

 

 

That was the game where I learned that Tuhrod was trash at the qb position. Couldn't make the 50 yard line.

[CSBill]

6 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

December 10, 2017.

 

Week 14, Colts at Bills in the crazy snow game.

 

McDermott's decision to punt from the Colts' 41 yard line in OT, in a game where a tie was the equivalent of a loss in a tight playoff race--and McDermott didn't know it.

 

The decision to punt on 4th and 1, based on the available data, was straight up wrong.  On top of that, McDermott burned a timeout before the punt to think about it a little, in a situation where the TO was valuable. 

 

But worst of all, the punt meant that the most likely outcome of the game was a tie.  When pressed on the issue the next day, McDermott said "I was thinking a win is better than a tie, and a tie is better than a loss".  He was clearly thinking about a tie when the punt was made and clearly thinking that was OK, if not the best outcome. 

That was not OK, as we had to play NE in Week 16, and the only intelligent approach was to assume we lose that game.  We did lose that game as it turned out, 37-16.  

Had we tied the Colts game, we would have ended up 8-7-1 at best (assuming the loss to NE) and that was not going to get us into the playoffs.  That has to be your thinking as HC of the Bills in that moment.  A tie had to be viewed as an unacceptable outcome.  It's actually a very easy decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in that situation.  Yet McDermott punted. 

 

Of course, we did win the Colts game as it turned out and in fact made the playoffs!  Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good.  Neither of those outcomes changes how bad McDermott's thinking was in the game, however.

 

The game showed me who McDermott is--an extremely conservative, traditional football guy, who is never going to outsmart Bill B. or any of the smartest coaches in the league. 

 

The premise of this thread was to reference games where we knew the coach would never get us to the playoffs or possibly even a winning record.  That is obviously not my point here.  My point is the Snow Game showed me the caliber of McDermott's thinking and that it's not what I'd like it to be.  We can do better.

4

4

 

You don't get it, Bummer . . . Make it easy on yourself and go be a Chief fan for the next few years. I'm sure you'll love Andy Reid.

 

But, my answer is pretty much just as thoughtless, "any game Rex Ryan coached." And it really got ridiculous when he brought his brother in the second season to fix the top 3 defense Rex had inherited. What is worse than 1 Ryan coaching your defense, 2 Ryan's coaching it. Just awful!!!

Edited January 20, 2019 by CSBill

[eball]

6 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

December 10, 2017.

 

Week 14, Colts at Bills in the crazy snow game.

 

McDermott's decision to punt from the Colts' 41 yard line in OT, in a game where a tie was the equivalent of a loss in a tight playoff race--and McDermott didn't know it.

 

The decision to punt on 4th and 1, based on the available data, was straight up wrong.  On top of that, McDermott burned a timeout before the punt to think about it a little, in a situation where the TO was valuable. 

 

But worst of all, the punt meant that the most likely outcome of the game was a tie.  When pressed on the issue the next day, McDermott said "I was thinking a win is better than a tie, and a tie is better than a loss".  He was clearly thinking about a tie when the punt was made and clearly thinking that was OK, if not the best outcome. 

That was not OK, as we had to play NE in Week 16, and the only intelligent approach was to assume we lose that game.  We did lose that game as it turned out, 37-16.  

Had we tied the Colts game, we would have ended up 8-7-1 at best (assuming the loss to NE) and that was not going to get us into the playoffs.  That has to be your thinking as HC of the Bills in that moment.  A tie had to be viewed as an unacceptable outcome.  It's actually a very easy decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in that situation.  Yet McDermott punted. 

 

Of course, we did win the Colts game as it turned out and in fact made the playoffs!  Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good.  Neither of those outcomes changes how bad McDermott's thinking was in the game, however.

 

The game showed me who McDermott is--an extremely conservative, traditional football guy, who is never going to outsmart Bill B. or any of the smartest coaches in the league. 

 

The premise of this thread was to reference games where we knew the coach would never get us to the playoffs or possibly even a winning record.  That is obviously not my point here.  My point is the Snow Game showed me the caliber of McDermott's thinking and that it's not what I'd like it to be.  We can do better. 

 

 

 

I get what you're saying -- I really do.  I was just as dumbfounded when it happened as you were.  I don't think McD was playing for the tie, however.  I think he made a decision based upon the fact he had a 3rd string QB on the field and believed his D could hold the Colts to a 3-and-out.  If they don't make the 4th-and-1 there is almost NO chance of winning because even if the D holds a punt would have pinned the Bills back deep.  I believe he had absolutely no confidence in the offense.

 

Of course, the next day he's not going to say that (i.e., "I didn't trust our offense") so he stammered around a bit.  As it turns out he got lucky, Deonte Thompson made a big catch, and Shady ended it.

 

All of that said, I still think the "right" call was to go for it on 4th down.  I've seen enough this season to believe that with the right personnel he wouldn't make the same decision.

 

And let's face it, the 2017 Bills had no business being in the playoffs.  That was a gift from the football gods to get the monkey off the franchise's back.

 

[Straight Hucklebuck]

In 2013 Doug Marrone punted from the Pittsburgh 36 yard line on 4th-2 down by two scores in the 4th Quarter with a 3-6 record and defended it in the postgame by citing field position. 

[BuffaloBill]

12 hours ago, BillsRdue said:

Any Bills game vs the Patriots with any coach since the turn of the century.

 

 

 

I really hate to admit it but this is correct.

[billsbackto81]

12 hours ago, The Wiz said:

I won't point out a game but I will say that the second I heard that they hired Rex Ryan I knew they were f'd. 

That's how I felt about Dick Jauron.

[JM57]

10 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

McDermott starting Peterman against the Chargers on the road to keep the media from asking him how his defense gave up over 200 yards rushing at home to the Saints

That three game stretch last year might be the largest swing in emotion I have had with this team in my entire life.

 

November 2, 2017, during the day: Holy sh...this team is 5-2, the Jets are beatable. Get to 6-2 and you only have to go .500 the rest of the way and they're in the playoffs!

 

November 19, 2017: Holy sh...this team is 6-5. Everything is a mirage. Nathan Peterman is a disaster on a proportion I have never seen. McDermott is over his head. I hate this team and being a fan of it.

 

McDermott has had to earn my respect back since then. Still very luke warm on him. He gets them ready to play, I can't argue with that, but man, he's just so old school and I hate it.

[BillsFan130]

7 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

December 10, 2017.

 

Week 14, Colts at Bills in the crazy snow game.

 

McDermott's decision to punt from the Colts' 41 yard line in OT, in a game where a tie was the equivalent of a loss in a tight playoff race--and McDermott didn't know it.

 

The decision to punt on 4th and 1, based on the available data, was straight up wrong.  On top of that, McDermott burned a timeout before the punt to think about it a little, in a situation where the TO was valuable. 

 

But worst of all, the punt meant that the most likely outcome of the game was a tie.  When pressed on the issue the next day, McDermott said "I was thinking a win is better than a tie, and a tie is better than a loss".  He was clearly thinking about a tie when the punt was made and clearly thinking that was OK, if not the best outcome. 

That was not OK, as we had to play NE in Week 16, and the only intelligent approach was to assume we lose that game.  We did lose that game as it turned out, 37-16.  

Had we tied the Colts game, we would have ended up 8-7-1 at best (assuming the loss to NE) and that was not going to get us into the playoffs.  That has to be your thinking as HC of the Bills in that moment.  A tie had to be viewed as an unacceptable outcome.  It's actually a very easy decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in that situation.  Yet McDermott punted. 

 

Of course, we did win the Colts game as it turned out and in fact made the playoffs!  Sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good.  Neither of those outcomes changes how bad McDermott's thinking was in the game, however.

 

The game showed me who McDermott is--an extremely conservative, traditional football guy, who is never going to outsmart Bill B. or any of the smartest coaches in the league. 

 

The premise of this thread was to reference games where we knew the coach would never get us to the playoffs or possibly even a winning record.  That is obviously not my point here.  My point is the Snow Game showed me the caliber of McDermott's thinking and that it's not what I'd like it to be.  We can do better. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty spot on here

[Straight Hucklebuck]

With Jauron it had to be the roll-out pass they tried on 4th-1 against the Jets with JP Losman trying to throw a pass to a rarely used Fullback that got sacked, stripped, and returned by Shaun Ellis. 

[frostbitmic]

13 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

Sunday, Game 2 of the 2015 season.  Patriots at Bills.  We had easily won our previous game vs Colts, who were thought pre-season to be contenders.

Hopes were high.  Rex was in full braggadocio mode.

 

We were a wet stinkin' mess.  A hot pile.  37-13 Pats until the 4th quarter.  Gave up 507 yds to the Pats.  Had 14 penalties for 140 yds, many of which were stupid out-of-control hothead shots. 

 

That was the game where I changed from "Hopeful" to "Hapless"

Same game for me but it was one specific play that I instantly knew Rex was in over his head.

 

It was 3rd and about 10 on our own side of the field. Tyrod got flushed from the pocket and was forced out of bounds after a two yard loss. That would've made it 4th and 12, so what does Rex do ? ... He throws the red flag challenging the call because he thought Tyrod gained two yards instead of losing two yards. I was shaking my head and laughing at the clown even before the refs confirmed the call.

 

Hiring brother Rob was the final straw.