Isaiah McKenzie Show 12/12 - discusses drops, his role, and offensive malaise

[Joe Ferguson]

McKenzie is beginning to have a very punchable face.

[LABILLBACKER]

1 hour ago, dave mcbride said:

No, just no. Cincy and KC do NOT play in bad, cold weather, full stop. They play in cold/chilly occasions (very) occasionally, while the Bills regularly play in precipitation fests with 20+ mph winds and very low windchill temps. The Bills play in hands down the worst conditions in the NFL because of the unique high winds, high precipitation levels, and cold, and it ain’t even close. Regardless of whether the Bills players like playing in these conditions or not, the conditions represent an inarguable home field advantage for the Bills (and when I say inarguable, I mean it). As tough as it might be for them, it’s almost always tougher for opponents not used to it. Outside of the NE game last year — a game the Bills probably should have pulled out at the end — they win virtually all of the rough weather home games. 

I couldn't disagree more.  Bad weather doesn't care if your Chad Pennington or Josh Allen. A wet ball is going to come out poorly regardless.  The wind will blow your pass out of bounds regardless. This organization will regret not spending the extra money on a dome. And this so called advantage no longer exists. Every time Josh plays in weather his numbers are down.  He's just as neutralized as the next guy.

[dave mcbride]

3 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

I couldn't disagree more.  Bad weather doesn't care if your Chad Pennington or Josh Allen. A wet ball is going to come out poorly regardless.  The wind will blow your pass out of bounds regardless. This organization will regret not spending the extra money on a dome. And this so called advantage no longer exists. Every time Josh plays in weather his numbers are down.  He's just as neutralized as the next guy.

Yet the Bills win almost all of these games. Why? The opponents are ven worse in such weather. I could point to 10 games off the top of my head. There’s also a reason the Bills chose the qb with arguably the strongest arm in league history.

[BADOLBILZ]

7 minutes ago, Bruffalo said:

I'm not offended, I just have more tact.  Have a great day though. 

 

 

Passive aggressive is not more tactful, it's more assh*lish, in fact.    You have a great day........your boss says you need one of those........soon.    Word is you are unfocused and it takes you hours to complete simple work tasks online for some reason. 

[dave mcbride]

13 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Bills dont play well in those extreme conditions either.  So whats your point?  

My point is RELATIVE performance. It’s tough for everyone, but it’s less tough for the team that performs in such conditions more than any other. Look at the Kelly era. They DESTROYED teams in bad weather at home for a decade.

 

I feel a lot of people here have an *aesthetic* problem with bad weather games and fixate on that to the point of missing the real advantages it gives to the Bills.

Edited December 13, 2022 by dave mcbride

[JDubya76]

2 hours ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

OK...worse than Maddy Glab interviewing Martin Biron?!? 🤔😵

Good god that would be exhausting

[BADOLBILZ]

6 minutes ago, Joe Ferguson said:

McKenzie is beginning to have a very punchable face.

 

 

But whether he has some great plays on the rest of his self proclaimed 2022 farewell tour or he just bottoms out there will always be some die hard Lil' Dummy fans..........just like there were SJ13 fans despite his idiotic statements and me-first on-field behavior.     Viva irreverance!

[Alphadawg7]

19 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

My point is RELATIVE performance. It’s tough for everyone, but it’s less tough for the team that performs in such conditions more than any other. Look at the Kelly era. They DESTROYED teams in bad weather at home for a decade.

 

I feel a lot of people here have an *aesthetic* problem with bad weather games and fixate on that to the point of missing the real advantages it gives to the Bills.

 

Bills lost to a rookie Mac Jones after he threw just 3 passes last year at home.  

 

Kelly era teams had Thurman Thomas and a gritty OL.  There is no reflection on how this team is built with an unreliable OL and barely existent run game.  We wholeheartedly depend on airing it out.  This current offense is not built for severe weather, it is a finesse offense, and severe weather has not done the offense any favors or shown the offense has any advantage over others.  

 

So, I stand by my point...the severe weather doesn't play into our favor offensively as an advantage, and that Mahomes and Burrow are equally capable of leading their offenses in the same capacity Josh is during bad weather games.   

 

Bills Mafia for sure does...but if we get severe weather, that actually neutralizes some of the home field advantage given our current offense doesn't play well in it.

[BADOLBILZ]

27 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

My point is RELATIVE performance. It’s tough for everyone, but it’s less tough for the team that performs in such conditions more than any other. Look at the Kelly era. They DESTROYED teams in bad weather at home for a decade.

 

I feel a lot of people here have an *aesthetic* problem with bad weather games and fixate on that to the point of missing the real advantages it gives to the Bills.

 

 

In fairness the Kelly era Bills were just dominant over most of the NFL.........they walloped teams on the playoffs on the road as well.........and it was the end of the era when you could horde talent before UFA.

 

Once the talent declined they stopped being so dominant and the era literally ended with a home playoff loss to a Florida team.

 

To me the bigger issue is about player acquisition and retention and long term security of the team in Buffalo.

 

I suspect this will be the last NFL stadium to be built without a dome unless the NFL opens up shop in San Diego again............there is just too much money to be made IN the stadium while the fans are inside when they are comfortable.    When you are wet and freezing you are bundled up and your wallet is under six layers of clothes literally and figuratively.    

[buffalostu2]

He is a $2 million dollar player ($1 million dollars last year) that we put $10 million dollar expectations on.   

 

There is a reason no one else overpaid him.   

 

I know he has drops and the occasional fumble, but does he provide $2 million worth of benefits if measured against peers in his salary range?

[BADOLBILZ]

14 minutes ago, buffalostu2 said:

He is a $2 million dollar player ($1 million dollars last year) that we put $10 million dollar expectations on.   

 

There is a reason no one else overpaid him.   

 

I know he has drops and the occasional fumble, but does he provide $2 million worth of benefits if measured against peers in his salary range?

 

 

Most player criticism from fans is ACTUALLY criticism of management.

 

It's not "we" who put starting slot receiver expectations on McKenzie........it was McBeane.    

 

Don't blame the fans for McKenzie being just an oft-injured $2M flier in Jamison Crowder away from being WR3 in what should be a room of 7 WR's.

[Billz4ever]

4 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Complaining that he’s open all the time about if you watch the film because he’s so fast but doesn’t get the ball 

So he's blaming Josh for not throwing him the ball when Josh doesn't trust him to catch it, lol.

[JGMcD2]

1 hour ago, LeGOATski said:

I already told you what I'd characterize it as.

 

And as far as practical solutions go, you can just turn notifications off... You don't even have to delete the app.

 

Do you know anyone that’s so famous they get thousands of mentions a day? I’m really curious. It’s not that simple to ignore it all. 
 

Honestly, there’s some irony to this whole discord…

 

1) You’re exchanging dialogue

2) With a person whom you don’t know 3) About a subject you both disagree on

4) And it’s taking place on a social media platform

 

You’re so engaged that you keep replying to prove me wrong (or at least prove your point). I haven’t even said anything negative about you to provoke a response. Also, I’d assume you don’t have notifications being sent directly to your phone from TBD… and you’re still responding to me when you see the message. 

[HappyDays]

5 hours ago, NewEra said:

You were SO right about Wilson.

 

I was SO wrong. 
 

He’s going to be an elite WR very soon if his qb play allows it. 

 

I hate to say this but he reminds me of AJ Brown. Smooth route running, physical at the catch point, bodies DBs that get in his way. 🤮

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Bills lost to a rookie Mac Jones after he threw just 3 passes last year at home.  

 

Kelly era teams had Thurman Thomas and a gritty OL.  There is no reflection on how this team is built with an unreliable OL and barely existent run game.  We wholeheartedly depend on airing it out.  This current offense is not built for severe weather, it is a finesse offense, and severe weather has not done the offense any favors or shown the offense has any advantage over others.  

 

So, I stand by my point...the severe weather doesn't play into our favor offensively as an advantage, and that Mahomes and Burrow are equally capable of leading their offenses in the same capacity Josh is during bad weather games.   

 

Bills Mafia for sure does...but if we get severe weather, that actually neutralizes some of the home field advantage given our current offense doesn't play well in it.

I said ALMOST every game, and for the record the Bills passing attack was leagues better than the Pts that night. When they shifted to it late in the game, they clearly appeared to be the better offense. The run game wasn’t good, however, and the Pats ran the ball at will despite the Bills knowing it was coming. I wouldn’t cherry pick the craziest game in a long time at the expense of the 12-15 bad weather home games going back to 2019. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by dave mcbride

[Last Guy on the Bench]

4 hours ago, redtail hawk said:

on rewatching the game, I was surprised he didn't get more out of the reverse.  Watching tyreek hill return that fumble, i wonder what he would have gotten out of that play.  maybe mckenzie is not as fast as he thinks.

I like him a lot as a guy, but I don't think he's ever had a good feel running the ball. He's fast and can find a crease now and then. But he just doesn't have that sense of flow and he gets tackled really easily. Many, many times over the years I've thought he had room to gain a lot more yardage than he ends up gaining on a given play. Can't really put my finger on it. But after five decades of watching good runners flow through traffic, you just get a sense when it's there to be had. And I think he's left a lot of yards on the field over the last few years.

 

[GoBills808]

10 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I hate to say this but he reminds me of AJ Brown. Smooth route running, physical at the catch point, bodies DBs that get in his way. 🤮

Reggie Wayne for me, AJ Brown is physically in a different category imo

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

In fairness the Kelly era Bills were just dominant over most of the NFL.........they walloped teams on the playoffs on the road as well.........and it was the end of the era when you could horde talent before UFA.

 

Once the talent declined they stopped being so dominant and the era literally ended with a home playoff loss to a Florida team.

 

To me the bigger issue is about player acquisition and retention and long term security of the team in Buffalo.

 

I suspect this will be the last NFL stadium to be built without a dome unless the NFL opens up shop in San Diego again............there is just too much money to be made IN the stadium while the fans are inside when they are comfortable.    When you are wet and freezing you are bundled up and your wallet is under six layers of clothes literally and figuratively.    

Not really talking about the fan experience here. I am focusing specifically on the era when the Bills became good with Josh Allen - i.e., the here and now (2019-present). They have been above average in talent/depth all of those years and borderline elite (albeit with flaws like every other team) the past couple of years. In any case, all I am arguing is that whatever negative impact bad weather at home has had on the Bills offense since 2019, it’s been worse for almost all of the opponents they’ve faced. They dominated opponents in adverse conditions repeatedly last year outside of the Pats game: washington game (winds up to 30 mph IIRC), Houston (driving rainstorm and wind), Jets (high winds), Carolina (wintry mix), Falcons (snow/some wind/cold), and they held the Ravens to 3 points in a playoff high-wind game the year before. And they massacred the Pats in frigid weather last January. The Bills might not like the weather, but other teams HATE it. They did lose to the Eagles in 2019 in bad weather. I’ll grant that.

 

Edited December 13, 2022 by dave mcbride

[Beck Water]

4 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

"I actually got the ball that time" referring to Thanksgiving....

 

then the "you were the scapegoat for not stopping Taylor" comment from the host about the Colts game as they were rehashing last season...

 

Seems like there's a "I'm the victim" vibe, although I do still like McKenzie. Can't blame a competitor for being frustrated for not  (in his mind) getting a chance to contribute

 

I think one might want to distinguish a bit from what Ty Dunne says or projects on McKenzie, and what McKenzie says himself.  Ty Dunne definitely "stirs the *****" at times to raise the controversy/interest level.

 

I'm not sure it's good for McKenzie to do that show.

5 hours ago, Bruffalo said:

McKenzie pretty clearly has concentration issues on the field, I'm sure the weather was a factor but any time contact is even threatened he doesn't hold onto the ball.  

 

This is pretty much baloney.  The improvised lateral Josh threw at him was a concentration issue - he wasn't "expecting the unexpected" until the whistle blew.

 

5 hours ago, YoloinOhio said:

Complaining that he’s open all the time about if you watch the film because he’s so fast but doesn’t get the ball 

 

This is true (that he complained about that).  He also said he's open in zone.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Beck Water

[Saxum]

5 hours ago, The Firebaugh Kid said:

Spoiler: he said he drops passes on purpose because the 2BD geeks call him by a different name 🤣

 

Those are putzes not geeks.  Geeks have value although like putzes they have trouble sometimes with social interaction.