Random talking head says something about the Bills

[HappyDays]

17 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

As we see with the Bengals, just having an elite QB doesn’t guarantee that. 

 

An elite QB plus an owner willing to write blank checks is an advantage that no other franchise has. Not even the Chiefs - Beane has more power to give money up front than Veach does. It's an insane once in a generation type advantage and we have one AFCCG appearance to show for it. That's why the frustration has boiled over. It feels like we should have a dynasty and instead we're an also-ran.

[HappyDays]

16 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

That said, what I think you were getting at - which is reasons to be concerned going into the playoffs - I think there is a big one that is more acute than in previous years and that is the defense is not very good

 

I'll add to this by saying my biggest concern is that the defense has been not just bad but abysmal over the last month starting with the Rams game. I've been making fun of the Bengals defense all year but that's about as bad as we've been in recent weeks. I know people will say we basically shut out the Jets but having watched back the all-22 it was a lot worse than the scoreboard. Some truly awful play calls and execution errors in the first few drives and the Jets just ended up making dumb mistakes of their own to let us off the hook, before they finally just ran for the bus. I just don't see playoff offenses making those mistakes. I'm concerned any opponent we face will turn into a shootout, maybe even the Broncos in the wildcard.

 

Is Babich on the hot seat for next year? He hasn't really shown anything that warrants him keeping his job, but is McDermott afraid to fire yet another coordinator after a short lived stint? Even if McDermott stays (which is almost 100% going to happen) I almost want us to blow up the defense completely and take that side of the ball in a new direction. Kind of like what we did with the offense this year which immediately paid dividends. Rousseau and Benford are the only ones that should be here for the long term (and Oliver since he's already been extended) since they are pieces you can build any scheme around. All other positions should be recalibrated IMO. Make big changes even if just for the sake of change because what we've stuck with has gotten very stale and very predictable.

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by HappyDays

[folz]

19 hours ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Why do we have to have this conversation every year. 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023.....it's pointless now. Sean has become an urban legend to a large contingent of Bills fans.  He can do no wrong.  Winning a SB or even getting to one is far less important than the beauty of him digging us out of 17 years of despair. 

 

You are obviously rewriting history a bit here. We have not had this conversation every year of Sean's tenure.

 

2017: New coach, lack of talent, breaks the playoff drought with Tyrod Taylor as his QB. Yes, the playoff game against JAX was sad (offensively), but no one (even you, I would wager) was talking about firing him after that season. We knew we weren't going anywhere in the playoffs with Tyrod and that team.

2018: Beane comes on board and cleans house to get the cap straight. We draft Josh. But, it's a rebuild year. An even worse roster than 2017 (outside of Josh). No money, no cap, very little talent. We all accepted that season as a painful, but necessary step towards the future. Sure, people knock him for starting Peterman...but come on, Peterman played 2 quarters of football before Sean changed his mind. And as raw as Josh was, it wasn't a bad organizational decision to ease him in (just didn't work out because Nathan wasn't up to the task). Again, no calls for him being fired.

2019: The team has 10 wins and makes the playoffs. We lose in the wildcard round to Houston. But no one really questioned his coaching in that game. And if they did, they were foolish. Did McDermott throw the crazy lateral fumble? Did he take 7 points off the board when the refs intervened to forgive a Houston mistake? Did he make the blindside block in OT that was flagged, pushing us out of field goal range (could have been the game winner)? Did he miss the easy sandwich sack and let Watson get away to make a play? We were a team on the rise with a very good, but still raw QB. And our young team made some mistakes on the field to let Houston back in it. It was disappointing, but no one was calling for Sean's head.

2020: Diggs comes on board, Josh becomes Josh, and the offense takes off. The team goes 13-3, winning two playoff games en route to the AFC Championship Game. We lose to a much better, more talented, more veteran/seasoned KC team. And, let's not forget, our two best WRs were playing hobbled and the refs let the KC DBs manhandle our WRs, while the Bills defense was not allowed the same courtesy. Yes, the disappointment was high...and the defense may have been held accountable by some. I'm sure there were some who questioned McDermott at this point, but there were no major conversations about firing him (in the national media or amongst Bills fans).

2021: Here is where the issues began. Expectations were so high (Super Bowl or bust) and then 13 seconds happened. 

2022: Some still can't forgive Sean for 13 seconds, so they ignore everything that happened to the team that year (as if it wouldn't affect the team/players). There are very few teams ever that could have gone through what that team did and still have a 13-3 record and win a playoff game. But rather than Sean getting praise for holding that team together, he is blamed for everything (why? 13 seconds).

2023: It is understandable that there were questions this year with the way the offense played early in the year (and our record at that time). But, Sean did right the ship, fired Dorsey/promoted Brady, the team wins 6 of its last 7, wins the AFC East, makes the playoffs, wins a playoff game...and then with a heavily depleted defense loses to the eventual Super Bowl winner by 3 points. But again, it's all Sean's fault. Why? 13 seconds.

 

Yes, the conversation has been had for the last 3 years (not the last 7 years as you stated). And it really isn't as bad as some of you guys make things out to be...it's just some of you will never forgive him for the 13 seconds game. That's really all that it comes down to. And there is no guarantee that if he made different coaching decisions in that game that things might not have still turned out the same anyhow. 

 

You guys think everything is Josh...but that is so short-sighted. Yes, we have one of the best QBs in the league, but that doesn't guarantee Super Bowl appearances or SB wins every year. Just ask Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees or Peyton Manning or Dan Marino, etc., etc. And some of you guys totally ignore things like culture, motivation, player acquisitions, player development, stability, organizational standards, etc., etc. as if none of that matters...and which Sean has been excellent at (among many other things). Ask the Jets about player development, for one, and how important that is.

 

I mean, how many games have we lost due to bad coaching or massive coaching blunders? Be honest. Very, very few. And how many great, Super Bowl winning coaches could we point out games in their careers (and in the playoffs) where they made calls that were questioned after because they lost the game (every single one I'll bet you).

 

But yeah, it's just because he broke the drought. And obviously us life-long Bills fans who support Sean don't care about ever winning a Super Bowl 🙄. Our support has nothing to do with his 86-44 record, .662 win %, 5 AFC East Titles, playoffs 7 out of 8 years, 5-playoff wins, a perfect playoff game, a great team culture, great interaction between the team and fans, and all of the fun the last 8 years have been. But, I guess none of that matters to some of you guys because of 13 seconds.

[NickelCity]

2 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

I know people will say we basically shut out the Jets but having watched back the all-22 it was a lot worse than the scoreboard. 

 

It reminds me of the infamous "this style of defense is not sustainable" days....

 

We better hope that Milano gets in shape, everyone is available...and that we active Hyde to pair with Rapp (can I just see it please?). Other than that, we need to hope for four games of serious takeaways. 

[BADOLBILZ]

18 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I'll add to this by saying my biggest concern is that the defense has been not just bad but abysmal over the last month starting with the Rams game. I've been making fun of the Bengals defense all year but that's about as bad as we've been in recent weeks. I know people will say we basically shut out the Jets but having watched back the all-22 it was a lot worse than the scoreboard. Some truly awful play calls and execution errors in the first few drives and the Jets just ended up making dumb mistakes of their own to let us off the hook, before they finally just ran for the bus. I just don't see playoff offenses making those mistakes. I'm concerned any opponent we face will turn into a shootout, maybe even the Broncos in the wildcard.

 

Is Babich on the hot seat for next year? He hasn't really shown anything that warrants him keeping his job, but is McDermott afraid to fire yet another coordinator after a short lived stint? Even if McDermott stays (which is almost 100% going to happen) I almost want us to blow up the defense completely and take that side of the ball in a new direction. Rousseau and Benford are the only ones that should be here for the long term (and Oliver since he's already been extended) since they are pieces you can build any scheme around. All other positions should be recalibrated IMO. Make big changes even if just for the sake of change because what we've stuck with has gotten very stale and very predictable.

 

I do wonder if McD takes control of play calling in the playoffs.   Maybe not until the defense struggles in the wild card game or something.   I know that seems a long shot but I think Babich has had such a bad rookie year.   There is no excuse for THIS talent to be worse than last season's.   They are opportunistic but they get caught with their pants down over and over.   Especially on possession downs.   It's almost automatic at this point.

 

McD at least got in a nice rhythm calling the defense down the stretch in 2023 until injuries decimated them in the playoffs.

 

But ultimately,  I also agree it's time for McDermott to change the defense.   In year 8 of this system they shouldn't be regressing they should be building upon what they have.   They should be able to create very opponent specific plans.   But they apparently can't.   I mean the fact that we are surprised when we see Dorian Williams come on the field for Taron Johnson underscores how rigid/predictable they've gotten.  

 

Around the league we are seeing some really creative DC's creating synergy with their game planning and in-game decisions.   And that's stuff that can happen in year one with a good DC.  We saw it here in 2017 when McD fixed a maddeningly leaky Bills D overnight(before he traded Dareus and made them vulnerable again).  

Edited December 31, 2024 by BADOLBILZ

[HappyDays]

35 minutes ago, NickelCity said:

We better hope that Milano gets in shape, everyone is available...and that we active Hyde to pair with Rapp (can I just see it please?). Other than that, we need to hope for four games of serious takeaways.

 

Milano was actually pretty good against the Jets. I'm not expecting him to get back to an all-pro level this year, but if he keeps building on that last game he'll be more than good enough.

 

I know nobody wants to hear this but I don't think the players are as big a problem as the scheme/coaching. Sure with the lack of superstar talent we shouldn't expect a top 3 defense, but we shouldn't expect a bottom 3 defense either. I don't believe that our talent is that awful. Some of the stuff on tape against the Jets early on was mind numbingly bad:

 

-Milano forces a holding penalty which puts them into 2nd and 11. We respond by dropping into soft tampa 2, Bernard drops way back in his zone and Conklin just casually takes four steps and turns around and collects an easy catch for 10 yards.

 

 

Suddenly we're in 3rd and 1 and only escaped with a stop because Rodgers missed a wide open TD pass. Why are we not pressing the advantage on 2nd and 11? Why are we literally inviting them to get all of the penalty yardage back?

 

-On this play Benford was caught somehow covering both Wilson and Adams on his side:

 

 

There are two players to worry about on the Jets and we're letting them play a simple high/low where the defender can't possibly win.

 

-Here's Bernard picking his own teammate:

 

 

I mean this is the kind of stuff we would laugh at Rex Ryan about. And here we are watching it on film two weeks before the playoffs.

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by HappyDays

[Mikie2times]

This is McD’s defense. It’s the system he learned from Jim Johnson and modified during his time in Carolina. He is not flexible in changing the scheme. 

 

If he could truly step back and hire a DC that that plays a different system and mentor him, help him with concepts that he could sprinkle in. So be it, it would probably save his job but that’s not who McD is. 
 

 

[NickelCity]

4 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

 

To an extent I agree. Milano looked better, with a couple weeks (less now) to get quicker.

 

Bernard dropping way too deep on that 2nd and 11 was really annoying during the game. I'm sure he'll be mad at himself on tape. To say nothing of the pick. He'll be better on the playoffs, I think. 

 

 

[HappyDays]

1 minute ago, NickelCity said:

Bernard dropping way too deep on that 2nd and 11 was really annoying during the game.

 

I don't think that was a player execution error. It's the play call. We love to do that "drop back, invite a short pass, rally and tackle." It's bit us in the ass a bunch of times in recent weeks. And opponents know that is our tendency and they come prepared to take full advantage.

[Boatdrinks]

17 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

This is McD’s defense. It’s the system he learned from Jim Johnson and modified during his time in Carolina. He is not flexible in changing the scheme. 

 

If he could truly step back and hire a DC that that plays a different system and mentor him, help him with concepts that he could sprinkle in. So be it, it would probably save his job but that’s not who McD is. 
 

 

In reality , that’s not who any defense oriented HC is. They don’t bring in guys with a completely different system or philosophy. It’s just not how it works. This isn’t unique to McDermott as you are making it out to be. If Pegula decides he wants a totally different defense, then he will have to move on from McD. 

6 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I don't think that was a player execution error. It's the play call. We love to do that "drop back, invite a short pass, rally and tackle." It's bit us in the ass a bunch of times in recent weeks. And opponents know that is our tendency and they come prepared to take full advantage.

Can’t imagine a play call would have one defender picking off another. I don’t love the drop back stuff but someone screwed the pooch in that coverage. 

[NickelCity]

7 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I don't think that was a player execution error. It's the play call. We love to do that "drop back, invite a short pass, rally and tackle." It's bit us in the ass a bunch of times in recent weeks. And opponents know that is our tendency and they come prepared to take full advantage.

 

We do love to do that, for sure, but Bernard looked slow to pull the trigger or confused on his drop back. I could be wrong. Something seemed off.

[HappyDays]

2 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

Can’t imagine a play call would have one defender picking off another. I don’t love the drop back stuff but someone screwed the pooch in that coverage. 

 

Yeah that pick play was definitely Bernard's fault. But I was referring to the 2nd and 11 easy completion to Conklin. That is a play call failure, not a player failure IMO.

[Boatdrinks]

1 minute ago, NickelCity said:

 

We do love to do that, for sure, but Bernard looked slow to pull the trigger or confused on his drop back. I could be wrong. Something seemed off.

The play in the top video looks like a Hamlin gaffe at first blush. The whole drop back thing only works if you have great reactions and sure tackling. Often the Bills D is lacking in these skills. 

[NickelCity]

Just now, Boatdrinks said:

The play in the top video looks like a Hamlin gaffe at first blush. The whole drop back thing only works if you have great reactions and sure tackling. Often the Bills D is lacking in these skills. 

 

Hamlin making gaffes while injured on the bench is so typical.

 

 

(It does look like Bishop is dropping a bit deep which I think is what you're getting at. But watch Taron engage more quickly than Bernard....)

[Boatdrinks]

Just now, NickelCity said:

 

Hamlin making gaffes while injured on the bench is so typical.

 

 

(It does look like Bishop is dropping a bit deep which I think is what you're getting at. But watch Taron engage more quickly than Bernard....)

Yeah sorry man it’s blurry video and my eyes suck anyway lol 

[GASabresIUFan]

32 minutes ago, Mikie2times said:

He is not flexible in changing the scheme. 

You do realize that is no longer true.  McD/Babich have blitzed more than ever before this season and have added 3 LB sets to help on running plays since Milano returned.  

 

It's time to retire that narrative.  

[Buffalo Bills Fan]

43 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Milano was actually pretty good against the Jets. I'm not expecting him to get back to an all-pro level this year, but if he keeps building on that last game he'll be more than good enough.

 

I know nobody wants to hear this but I don't think the players are as big a problem as the scheme/coaching. Sure with the lack of superstar talent we shouldn't expect a top 3 defense, but we shouldn't expect a bottom 3 defense either. I don't believe that our talent is that awful. Some of the stuff on tape against the Jets early on was mind numbingly bad:

 

-Milano forces a holding penalty which puts them into 2nd and 11. We respond by dropping into soft tampa 2, Bernard drops way back in his zone and Conklin just casually takes four steps and turns around and collects an easy catch for 10 yards.

 

 

Suddenly we're in 3rd and 1 and only escaped with a stop because Rodgers missed a wide open TD pass. Why are we not pressing the advantage on 2nd and 11? Why are we literally inviting them to get all of the penalty yardage back?

 

-On this play Benford was caught somehow covering both Wilson and Adams on his side:

 

 

There are two players to worry about on the Jets and we're letting them play a simple high/low where the defender can't possibly win.

 

-Here's Bernard picking his own teammate:

 

 

I mean this is the kind of stuff we would laugh at Rex Ryan about. And here we are watching it on film two weeks before the playoffs.

 

 

Milano biggest issue coming back and also miss tackle rate. 33 % to Dorian 10%. Like this video. It get's detailed later.  Miss tackle rate is a big issue by Milano 

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by Buffalo Bills Fan

[Mikie2times]

45 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

In reality , that’s not who any defense oriented HC is. They don’t bring in guys with a completely different system or philosophy. It’s just not how it works. This isn’t unique to McDermott as you are making it out to be. If Pegula decides he wants a totally different defense, then he will have to move on from McD. 

Can’t imagine a play call would have one defender picking off another. I don’t love the drop back stuff but someone screwed the pooch in that coverage. 

Never said it was unique to him 

32 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

You do realize that is no longer true.  McD/Babich have blitzed more than ever before this season and have added 3 LB sets to help on running plays since Milano returned.  

 

It's time to retire that narrative.  

You do know who Jim Johnson, his mentor was? Perhaps you should put to rest the narrative that he doesn’t blitz and if you’re selling me that he can be forced out of Nickle on occasion let me hold back the applause. That’s like clapping for a 10 years olds first steps. 

[Beck Water]

49 minutes ago, Boatdrinks said:

The play in the top video looks like a Hamlin gaffe at first blush. The whole drop back thing only works if you have great reactions and sure tackling. Often the Bills D is lacking in these skills. 

 

Hamlin was inactive.

Rapp and Bishop played 100% of the snaps at safety.

[Buffalo_Stampede]

3 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

An elite QB plus an owner willing to write blank checks is an advantage that no other franchise has. Not even the Chiefs - Beane has more power to give money up front than Veach does. It's an insane once in a generation type advantage and we have one AFCCG appearance to show for it. That's why the frustration has boiled over. It feels like we should have a dynasty and instead we're an also-ran.

We’re not a dynasty because there’s an actual dynasty beating us and everyone else.

 

You don’t become a dynasty simply by having a top 2-3 QB in the league. We have never had the players on defense. I also believe our best offensive weapon disappeared in the playoffs. You’re not becoming a dynasty without great players around the QB.

Edited December 31, 2024 by Buffalo_Stampede