McDermott weird comments about Josh Allen

[SoonerBillsFan]

5 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

First, I seriously doubt that the OC benched Cook.  I'm sure it was McDermott.  And I know people had trouble with how long the guy was on the bench,; I see their point of view, but it didn't trouble me a whole lot.   McDermott (like all coaches) is very much into the next-man-up philosophy, and he is not going to assume that Cook is the only guy who can execute the plays at running back.  Josh may be the only guy McDermott wouldn't bench.  

 

I would have benched him too.   When I guy fumbles on the first play from scrimmage, it says he wasn't ready to play.   It's his JOB to be ready to play.  In the old days, Jim Brown always made sure he was ready to play, because in those days a lot of players eased themselves into the game, so Brown knew that the first play from scrimmage was an opportunity.  These days, everyone is ready to go on the first play, and Cook showed that he wasn't.   

 

It's the coach's job to send a message to a guy who isn't ready, and the only way to do it is to bench him.  And McDermott's point is correct - Cook hasn't shown he can be trusted.  He hasn't been around long enough, and he hasn't come through for the team in ways that have earned that trust.   Taron Johnson, Micah Hyde, Stefon Diggs make a mistake, they are right back out there.   

 

I'm a Belichick fan.  He takes the same approach.  He regularly benches guys who fumble early in the game.   And McDermott is a student of the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if he learned this from watching Belichick.   Doesn't mean it's right, of course, but it's not like the benching was some kind of bizarre decision the suddenly popped into McDermott's head.  

Shaw, and no one is talking about the fumble late in the game that luckily bounced right back to Cook.  The kid has mental lapses that just can't happen

[Alphadawg7]

2 hours ago, mannc said:

McDermott is acting like a guy who is under a lot of pressure and is not handling it very well.  Not a good look for the franchise.

 

No disrespect, but I don't see that at all, in fact, seems to be quite the opposite.  This statement feels more like a view point of someone who already wants McD gone who will take any and everything in with a negative lens to confirm that negative bias.  

[UKBillFan]

11 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

You are bothering me.  I'll bow out

 

Sorry, very sensitive subject for me. Apologies for responding bluntly.

[Mango]

 

3 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

I didn’t realize we had so many renowned psychologists/psychiatrists on this board. 

 

The amount of outright guessing/assuming/conjecture is pretty funny. 

 

McD has lost the lockeroom! McD only cares about the defense! Josh misses his ex GF! He sits alone! Hilarious.

 

Ya know what fixes this? A couple of W’s. That’s it. Everything sucks right now because they are losing and not meeting expectations.

 

I don’t think you need to look much further than that. But please, keep speculating because it makes for entertaining reading.

 

 

They should get used to it. At least compared to the level of winning they have been used to the last 3-4 years.

 

Even if the Bills win a SB this year, they have a looming low/mid-level reset. We are the oldest team in the league with something like 25 pending FA's and no cap space next year. We have to clear out some a lot of our age and expensive contracts without much depth in the wings. It will likely mean a bit of a step back to retool and reload. Not that I expect us to be bad. We have a QB. But I expect us to be about a 10-7 team in 2024 and maybe 2025. 

Turns out that record may be coming a year sooner than planned. 

[UKBillFan]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

 

 

They should get used to it. At least compared to the level of winning they have been used to the last 3-4 years.

 

Even if the Bills win a SB this year, they have a looming low/mid-level reset. We are the oldest team in the league with something like 25 pending FA's and no cap space next year. We have to clear out some a lot of our age and expensive contracts without much depth in the wings. It will likely mean a bit of a step back to retool and reload. Not that I expect us to be bad. We have a QB. But I expect us to be about a 10-7 team in 2024 and maybe 2025. 

Turns out that record may be coming a year sooner than planned. 

 

If the Bills somehow win the SB this year - which will be a minor miracle - it'll make the reload much easier to handle.

Edited November 17, 2023 by UKBillFan

[Trogdor]

2 hours ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

Says the team that has given Allen Diggs and scrap parts to throw to, a below average offensive line in his time here, and doesn’t allow him to run anymore. 
 

It’s not all on the Bills, I think Allen sounds strange now and looks weird on the sidelines, and has admitted to not working as hard as he can.

 

This team lacks playmakers, and the scheme has not been cutting edge.

 

So Allen is having to play death by 1,000 papercuts offense and getting grilled relentlessly about turnovers from his coach and media. 
 

This franchise has spent their money on defense. 

 

Invest heavily in the offense and I think Allen comes back. 
 

Greg Cosell last night with Farrar - the Bills are not a talented offense. They became predictable on offense. Stefon Diggs is a high level possession receiver. They don’t have a vertical component in their offense. 
 

All this with a strong armed QB that wants to make plays down the field.

 

And we sit here and scratch our head and say why can’t we score 30 every week? 
 

Allen is LeBron in Cleveland the first time around. 
 

Hey Josh here is a 1986 Camaro, now get out there win races. 
 

 

I like Josh Allen, but he is not Lebron. Also, Diggs, Cook, and Kincaid are weapons. Even on the right route Shakir and Davis are dangerous. Josh is making a lot of bad plays, the play calling was bad, but he has also played bad. 

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Shaw….and I mean this will due respect…is there ANYTHING that McD does or can do that you won’t come on here and defend? Benching or not benching isn’t the point. The JOB of the head coach is to coach his players. I saw very little coaching in that move. Just another frustration tantrum by a guy who knows his days are numbered. 

Oh, yeah, there's plenty that I say that criticizes McDermott, but I'll admit that primarily I sound like a homer.   That's because what I generally do when thinking about the Bills is ask myself why Beane or McDermott might have decided to do what they did.   That's what I write about.   So, I look for the logic in the decisions that they make, rather than criticize what they did because I think they should have done something else. 

 

You can see that in what I wrote about the Cook benching.   I don't know whether it was the correct move or not, but I wrote that I could see why it made sense, why McDermott probably did it.   

 

And I don't bother to dwell on the negative.   In the past couple of days, if you go back and look at my posts, you will see that I say I agree with the idea that McDermott's teams have a lot of unsatisfactory game-ending events.  13 seconds, the penalty against Denver, Hail Murray.   There are a lot of them, and they tell me the team isn't properly prepared to win in those circumstances.   But my view about those things also is that everyone makes mistakes, and the measure of how good people are in their jobs is how they learn and respond from mistakes.   I continue to have confidence that McDermott will be a better HC five years from now than he is today.   I get that people disagree with that, some people who just are frustrated and what a change for change's sake, and some people who have some good reasons to believe that he'll always lose big games.   

[LABILLBACKER]

15 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

First, I seriously doubt that the OC benched Cook.  I'm sure it was McDermott.  And I know people had trouble with how long the guy was on the bench,; I see their point of view, but it didn't trouble me a whole lot.   McDermott (like all coaches) is very much into the next-man-up philosophy, and he is not going to assume that Cook is the only guy who can execute the plays at running back.  Josh may be the only guy McDermott wouldn't bench.  

 

I would have benched him too.   When I guy fumbles on the first play from scrimmage, it says he wasn't ready to play.   It's his JOB to be ready to play.  In the old days, Jim Brown always made sure he was ready to play, because in those days a lot of players eased themselves into the game, so Brown knew that the first play from scrimmage was an opportunity.  These days, everyone is ready to go on the first play, and Cook showed that he wasn't.   

 

It's the coach's job to send a message to a guy who isn't ready, and the only way to do it is to bench him.  And McDermott's point is correct - Cook hasn't shown he can be trusted.  He hasn't been around long enough, and he hasn't come through for the team in ways that have earned that trust.   Taron Johnson, Micah Hyde, Stefon Diggs make a mistake, they are right back out there.   

 

I'm a Belichick fan.  He takes the same approach.  He regularly benches guys who fumble early in the game.   And McDermott is a student of the game, and I wouldn't be surprised if he learned this from watching Belichick.   Doesn't mean it's right, of course, but it's not like the benching was some kind of bizarre decision the suddenly popped into McDermott's head.  

Then why didn't he bench Gabe, which literally cost us points. That wasn't Gabe's 1st drop. 

[colin]

36 minutes ago, Nihilarian said:

There were troubling events with the Buffalo offense under Dorsey. Such as Shakir, Cook, and other receivers not getting enough passes their way and Gabe Davis getting more than he should. Josh under the center showed marked improvement in the offensive performance and yet didn't use that often enough for some unknown reason. The run game with Cook disappearing at times. 

 

It is my take that firing Ken Dorsey was the best move McD has made aside from allowing Leslie Frazier to step aside. 

 

I also think that this HC allows his OC to have full autonomy with the offense and he is a "hands-off" Head Coach. This was apparent with Brian Daboll and Dorsey hung himself with his own ineptitude. 

 

I think the Buffalo Bills destroy that NY Jets defense this Sunday and Bills fans will see that this was the right move. 

 

it's just that simple.

 

if our bills rip off two solid wins in the next 9 days, go into the bye 7-5 and driving their own bus of destiny, then it's smiles and laughs and jokes again.  maybe with a more serious backdrop than say 2021 or so, but comfortably loose.

 

if we also beat kc, this team's confidence will be galvanizing.

[DuckyBoys]

1 minute ago, Shaw66 said:

Oh, yeah, there's plenty that I say that criticizes McDermott, but I'll admit that primarily I sound like a homer.   That's because what I generally do when thinking about the Bills is ask myself why Beane or McDermott might have decided to do what they did.   That's what I write about.   So, I look for the logic in the decisions that they make, rather than criticize what they did because I think they should have done something else. 

 

You can see that in what I wrote about the Cook benching.   I don't know whether it was the correct move or not, but I wrote that I could see why it made sense, why McDermott probably did it.   

 

And I don't bother to dwell on the negative.   In the past couple of days, if you go back and look at my posts, you will see that I say I agree with the idea that McDermott's teams have a lot of unsatisfactory game-ending events.  13 seconds, the penalty against Denver, Hail Murray.   There are a lot of them, and they tell me the team isn't properly prepared to win in those circumstances.   But my view about those things also is that everyone makes mistakes, and the measure of how good people are in their jobs is how they learn and respond from mistakes.   I continue to have confidence that McDermott will be a better HC five years from now than he is today.   I get that people disagree with that, some people who just are frustrated and what a change for change's sake, and some people who have some good reasons to believe that he'll always lose big games.   

Shaw we cant wait 5 more years McDermott to figure it out  The window is now with a qb in place 

[LABILLBACKER]

11 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

I’m not upset at all. I think it’s very funny everyone trying to do a deep dive on the psychology when I think it’s as simple as Winning fixes everything.

Winning isn't simple

[DCofNC]

2 hours ago, RiotAct said:

The “I have my own thoughts, but I won’t go there right now” comment seemed off-color and kind of unnecessary.   Otherwise, I agree with you

That’s saying, “the guy spent the off-season being famous, not hungry” without saying it.

[Shaw66]

10 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

Shaw, and no one is talking about the fumble late in the game that luckily bounced right back to Cook.  The kid has mental lapses that just can't happen

A good point.  And I know the other fumble was statistically on Allen, but given that Cook had two other fumbles, I have to wonder whether that wasn't on Cook, too.   Allen wouldn't say that, of course. 

 

After the first fumble and the benching, I would have thought that ball security wasn't going to be a problem with Cook for the rest of the game.  

 

It's be interesting to see the next time Kincaid fumbles.   Will it be next week, or next season?

 

 

[transplantbillsfan]

1 hour ago, Straight Hucklebuck said:

There is no way I believe that McDermott is pushing for Allen to run more. 

 

I bet we see more of an Allen-centric run game than we've seen all season against the Jets

[mannc]

11 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

No disrespect, but I don't see that at all, in fact, seems to be quite the opposite.  This statement feels more like a view point of someone who already wants McD gone who will take any and everything in with a negative lens to confirm that negative bias.  

Guilty and Not Guilty.  Guy looks like a nervous and incoherent wreck at the podium...not that he was ever particularly articulate or interesting as a speaker. 

 

[Alphadawg7]

2 hours ago, HappyDays said:

This all sounds pretty bizarre:

 

Ealier this week McDermott was asked about firing Dorsey and said "OC is a leadership position." Is it possible he felt that Dorsey wasn't getting Allen and the other offensive players into the right mindset and energy? And this more than play calling is what led to the firing?

 

I watched all the press conferences and interviews of McD (including this one), the players, Brady, Frazier, etc all season and especially the last few weeks and through Dorseys firing.  And some things have really stood out for me and these are some of the impressions I cam away with:

1. McD and the team want to see Josh use his legs more and the emphasis on the lack of running seems to be more Dorsey centric.  McD and multiple people have alluded to getting his legs more involved and that threat for the defense to have to account for.  They don't want him to take unnecessary damage, but the threat of him running is a huge part of what makes him special and they know that. 
2. Dorsey led offense just didn't have the same energy and fun which may have to do with the intensity and seriousness of Dorsey.
3. Josh Allen has had the emotion coached out of him in an attempt to tame the turnovers and it has backfired.  Josh himself has talked about this and everyone including McD has talked about getting that fire, intensity, and swagger back for Josh.
4. McD wanted to be an aggressive offense, but Dorsey's attempt to fix the offense was to try and switch up from up tempo to slow it down football through out the games which just wasn't working.  
5. The offense had become predictable and wasn't putting our guys consistently in the best positions for success.

I don't know if Joe Brady is the answer...but I am more than ever convinced he was 100% not the answer and the switch needed to be made.  The last 6 weeks this offense has averaged more than 14 PPG less than it did the first 4 weeks.  Thats an insane drop when there were no injuries involved and the change was inevitable.  Personally, it should have happened sooner, but in season changes are tough decisions so I get the hesitation.  

[Shaw66]

3 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Then why didn't he bench Gabe, which literally cost us points. That wasn't Gabe's 1st drop. 

What is the drop everyone talks about?   The ball that was intercepted, or was there another one?

 

Whatever, drops are different from fumbles.   No player executes correctly on 100% of his plays, and you don't bench players for occasional failures to execute.   Fumbles are different.   Fumbles are game-changing plays.   In the NFL, if you're a fumbler, you don't play.  If you drop enough passes you don't play, either, if you drop one here or there, you don't get benched. 

[billsfan89]

15 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

No disrespect, but I don't see that at all, in fact, seems to be quite the opposite.  This statement feels more like a view point of someone who already wants McD gone who will take any and everything in with a negative lens to confirm that negative bias.  

Fans working backwards from their conclusion to prove their own bias surly isn’t happening?

[LABILLBACKER]

15 minutes ago, RunTheBall said:

I’m not upset at all. I think it’s very funny everyone trying to do a deep dive on the psychology when I think it’s as simple as Winning fixes everything.

So giving an opinion on a subject immediately makes you a psychologist?    We better shut down this board before it becomes a psychiatry convention. 

[Alphadawg7]

Just now, mannc said:

Guilty and Not Guilty.  Guy looks like a nervous and incoherent wreck at the podium...not that he was ever particularly articulate or interesting as a speaker. 

 

 

All good, this is just where I think we see him through different lenses.  I am not a McD apologist, and I do think that his job going into next season should be in question depending on how the rest of this season goes.  But, also, I don't have this underlying disdain for him that other posters do and take things in through that lens.  So I don't at all get these types of impressions from him and I watch just about every press conference and interview with him, other coaches, and our key players every week.