Time to rewrite the Conventional Wisdom on the playoff loss to Bengals--and the new CW on Dorsey too

[Mister Defense]

Last year it quickly became conventional wisdom by many in the media, locally and nationally, that the Bills were simply emotionally and physically spent, and that is why they were dominated by the Bengals in Buffalo, at High Mark Stadium. The story went something like this: the tragedy in Buffalo, the loss of Knox’s brother, the snow storms, and the Hamlin incident all were too much for the Bills, and that is why the Bengals handled them so easily, the reason the Bills were not even in the game.  ‘They look exhausted’, we heard during and after the game. That take became the CW across the country, although I don’t think the Bills thought that was the reason.

 

But I and others didn’t think that was the reason in any way for the Bills performance. That is not because of a lack of empathy, but I thought this was a tough, resilient team, Buffalo Strong, and that if anything, the surprisingly quick recovery of Hamlin was like the weight of the world being lifted off the team’s, and Buffalo’s, shoulders.

 

The problem was that they had an incompetent offensive coordinator, who the league was slowly coming to terms with as the season progressed.  We saw with our own eyes, if we were paying attention, that he was extremely poor at even the most fundamental of OC duties:

 

o   Did not seem to have game plan specific plans prepared for the game that would help to facilitate things against defenses….

o   He did know how to make in game changes to overcome what the defense was doing, seemed to have no  plan for those things…

o   Did not utilize the running game well, using it arbitrarily, with almost no connection to the passing game. As  Gregg Cosell said several times last year: “There is no synchronicity between the Bills' running and passing game”.  This in itself, to me, was a reason Dorsey could not be permitted to return for this season...

o   Did not call plays that made sense, repeatedly, and often was clueless as to what a good rhythm in play calling meant

o   He did not use his personnel effectively, not getting the most out of the players on the offense.

o   And awful use of formations to facilitate things for the offense,  with extremely limited use of motion, and with so little use of Allen under center and play action, despite the fact that the Bills excelled when using those three things…

 

Etcetera--but those are only some of the big, obvious things. Imagine how Dorsey dealt with the equally important smaller details that make an offense work. I cannot imagine how bad those details were if he had no clue related to the big, obvious problems even laymen like us saw.

 

Even one of those defects means that there would be significant obstacles placed in front of the offense—rather than facilitating things, Dorsey was doing the opposite, placing big obstacles in front of his talented players.  But add up all of the obstacles and they became insurmountable. That is what happened this year, clearly.  And the fish then rotted from the head, as the players tried to overcome their grossly incompetent OC.

 

This year, as the offense became Dorsey's alone, and the heavy lift from last year became their identity, of course the play of the players, even of the best Bills, was going to decline. They were operating in a fundamentally flawed offense, one that could often not even move the ball, and one that caused them to fall behind in game after game. Players, already going into the game with Dorsey's huge obstacles in front of them, now were faced with coming back against teams, teams that seemed to know the Bills extremely limited repertoire of plays by heart, causing the Bills to look sloppy, inept, turn the ball over, and causing them to lose their confidence.

 

Our tough, resilient team was not exhausted in the playoff game, and not against the Jaguars this year because of jet lag…. they were UNPREPARED to play well, let alone win-- shocked, defeated before they even walked on the field, as defenses, especially the good ones, like the Bengals, had come to terms with how fundamentally flawed this offense was.  And this year it had become common place, with an offense Dan Orlosvky said was “outrageously predictable” and “the easiest offense in the NFL to defend”.  Our recently great, feared offense now the easiest to defend in the NFL? THAT is why the Bills looked so shocked and confused in that playoff game--and we then saw those same faces this year, over and over and over. This is why Michael Robinson bravely called for a change in the OC position before the Bills' Thursday night game, one of the few to dare speak the truth on national television.

 

Good head coaches and defensive coordinators have been like fat kids in a free candy store, drooling and licking their chops, at how easy this very poorly coached offense would be to stop now, despite several elite players and a history of them dominating defenses. This became clearer and clearer.

 

What happened the next time we saw the starters on the field in the preseason, how did they do?  No points(?)  scored in the entire half of that preseason game. This was yet another canary in the coal mine for all of us understanding how fundamentally poor Dorsey was at his job. Even in a preseason game his players were unprepared, could not get first downs, could not score.  (I kept thinking--what will happen when they play good defenses in the NFL this year--or even mediocre ones?) And the look on the players' faces?--shocked again, and with no answers. Just like they looked against the Bengals in their previous game.

 

The CW at the time? Just a preseason game, meaningless, as this is going to be a great offense, a “wrecking crew”, as Steve Tasker called them. And then, of course, this was what we would see this season, as that became their identity.

 

So let's not accept any longer that CW from last January or now from so many on the Dorsey firing.  The new CW?  Dorsey was a scapegoat, a fall guy, that Allen is to blame, or the other players, and Dorsey should not have been fired, especially in the middle of the season. That this cannot be done now, is almost never the answer, is going to make the Bills worse...  

 

But the CW is wrong again, of course.  The Bills were likely not going to beat any of the good teams they are yet to play this year with Dorsey in charge, as they were the worst coached offense in the NFL, turning our once great offense into a crap heap.  The only hope to save the season was to get Dorsey out of there.

 

Now, hopefully there is time for the Bills to show who they really are.  It may be hard to rebound quickly from the mess Dorsey alone created, but I think they will, and prove the latest CW wrong--and last year's too.   No dominant teams in the AFC this year, and now we may be able to see what the Josh Allen led Bills are really made of...again.

 

 
 

 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Mister Defense

[Utah John]

Essentially Dorsey accomplished what no NFL defensive coordinator was able to do for the past four years:  he stopped the Bills offense.

 

But since it was clear that Dorsey wasn't getting the job done, it fell to the guy in charge, Sean McDermott, to step in and get things right.  And I think McD's repeated failures either to fix problems, or to own up for mistakes or problems, is what's eating out this team from the inside out.  Time and again, something goes wrong with the Bills, and McD NEVER takes the blame publicly.  This is exactly wrong.  

 

The players won't respect a man as a coach if they don't respect the coach as a man.  And when the players see McD continually blaming the coaches on his staff, or the players, each time it happens a little more respect bleeds away.  And now the Bills are bled dry.  All McD had to do to prevent this or to fix it, was to stand up after another botched play, and say, boy that was bad and it's on me.  Thirteen seconds, and 12 men, are now code words for McD's failures, and what happened is he fired the ST coordinator and the offensive coordinator.  

 

At this point I think it's too late even if he starts taking the blame for things, especially things we and the players all know were not his fault.  

 

If the Bills window closes, it'll be because McD is still the HC. He needs to be gone. 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Utah John

[Mister Defense]

1 minute ago, Utah John said:

Essentially Dorsey accomplished what no NFL defensive coordinator was able to do for the past four years:  he stopped the Bills offense.

 

Yes, and I think that all of the offensive players, especially Allen and Diggs, were seeing what so many of us saw.  Listen to Allen's words after the firing, and read between the lions.  For example, Allen said how much he respected Dorsey "as a human being", but never said he was a good offensive coordinator, at least from what I heard.

 

Loved to have been a fly on the wall in that players only meeting, to hear what veterans like Diggs and Murray and Dawkins said about the game planning and play calling.  Maybe we will find out soon.

[pigpen65]

Threw 50 times and ran 11 in a weather game. Guy was an idiot. Next up

[Mister Defense]

5 minutes ago, pigpen65 said:

Threw 50 times and ran 11 in a weather game. Guy was an idiot. Next up

 

And look at the most recent game--same kind of running stats!

 

Then see what their next two opponents, including Ol' Devin, did to that defense on the ground in the two weeks that followed.

 

Two perfect examples that the Bills were not merely dealing with a poor OC, but a grossly incompetent one, the worst in the NFL.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Mister Defense

[LABILLBACKER]

17 minutes ago, Utah John said:

Essentially Dorsey accomplished what no NFL defensive coordinator was able to do for the past four years:  he stopped the Bills offense.

 

But since it was clear that Dorsey wasn't getting the job done, it fell to the guy in charge, Sean McDermott, to step in and get things right.  And I think McD's repeated failures either to fix problems, or to own up for mistakes or problems, is what's eating out this team from the inside out.  Time and again, something goes wrong with the Bills, and McD NEVER takes the blame publicly.  This is exactly wrong.  

 

The players won't respect a man as a coach if they don't respect the coach as a man.  And when the players see McD continually blaming the coaches on his staff, or the players, each time it happens a little more respect bleeds away.  And now the Bills are bled dry.  All McD had to do to prevent this or to fix it, was to stand up after another botched play, and say, boy that was bad and it's on me.  Thirteen seconds, and 12 men, are now code words for McD's failures, and what happened is he fired the ST coordinator and the offensive coordinator.  

 

At this point I think it's too late even if he starts taking the blame for things, especially things we and the players all know were not his fault.  

 

If the Bills window closes, it'll be because McD is still the HC. He needs to be gone. 

This is McDermott's team. He's 100% clearly the alpha male. He hired Beane. He dictates draft selections.  He hires all these guys who have performed bad enough to get fired or politely told to "take a break".  Maybe Brady gives this team a temporary bit of juice. But let's not kid ourselves.  McDermott is the issue.

[Aussie Joe]

Any comment on the D from that game ?

 

they looked like they played on roller skates and just were back pedaling 

 

They showed as much physicality as a 10 week old kitten 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Aussie Joe

[GoBills808]

Ok Sean we got it already

[Mister Defense]

Just now, GoBills808 said:

Ok Sean we got it already

 

In truth, I think he is to blame--he hired someone completely incompetent, who didn't seem to know even the basics of game planning, game changes, formations, at least beyond the very superficial.

 

Was there an extensive interview process involved?  It doesn't seem there was, and that maybe Dorsey was just put into the position.

 

And I definitely blame McDermott for not firing him as soon as the season ended last year--and then again when the team looked almost exactly the same in their first preseason game.

 

The buck stops with the head coach, in my book. 

 

Let's see how this move, too late maybe?, works, but Sean will be held to account, to some degree if this is a lost season.

 

 

[Aussie Joe]

Just now, Mister Defense said:

 

 

 

Was there an extensive interview process involved?  It doesn't seem there was, and that maybe Dorsey was just put into the position.

 

 

 

There was an interview … with Josh about who he wanted for the role

[Mister Defense]

4 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

Any comment on the D from that game 

 

they looked like a they played on roller skates and just back pedaled ..

 

yes, not a good performance, but I feel the Bills still would have won the game if their offense was better prepared before the game and during the game.

 

No complimentary football to speak of, with the offense misfiring on all cylinders.

 

 

[Aussie Joe]

8 minutes ago, Mister Defense said:

 

yes, not a good performance, but I feel the Bills still would have won the game if their offense was better prepared before the game and during the game.

 

No complimentary football to speak of, with the offense misfiring on all cylinders.

 

 

The whole team stunk … but that D wasn’t beating the Bengals 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Aussie Joe

[Mister Defense]

1 minute ago, Aussie Joe said:

The team whole team stunk … but that D wasn’t beating the Bengals 

 

The Bengals offense scored 27 points against an offense that was almost completely inept, so I think if the Bills had an offense that day the Bengals would not even get to that point level--and the Bills could easily outscore them. 

 

But not when they are "outrageously predictable"--even a decent division 3 defensive coordinator could have easily spotted the many fatal flaws in Dorsey's shockingly inept offense.

[billsfan89]

The Bengals loss was not only the result of a depleted team but also a team that got beat on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Bills offensive line last year was not very good and the Bengals defensive line was a very strong unit. The Bengals defense had Josh under pressure all day and no room to run. 
 

The Bills defensive line was banged up (Von obviously out, Daquon was out, and Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips were banged up) and got dominated by a make shift Bengals offensive line. 
 

The rest of the game was academic at that point because losing both lines of scrimmage is massively disruptive to both sides of the ball. 
 

The playcalling didn’t matter as much to be honest.

[Don Otreply]

Dorsey has a college QBs mentality and called plays as if  he were still in college all those years ago, glad he is gone, hope to god that Joe Brady has his OC sh-t together, 

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Aussie Joe]

1 minute ago, Mister Defense said:

 

The Bengals offense scored 27 points against an offense that was almost completely inept, so I think if the Bills had an offense that day the Bengals would not even get to that point level--and the Bills could easily outscore them. 

 

But not when they are "outrageously predictable"--even a decent division 3 defensive coordinator could have easily spotted the many fatal flaws in Dorsey's shockingly inept offense.

They were up by 14 half way through the third quarter and put the cue in the rack 

[DuckyBoys]

Bengals could have dropped 40 on the Bills that day  LOS was lost from play 1  Would have taken lot of miscues by the Bengals and Josh playing at a very high level mistake free

[Mister Defense]

13 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

The Bengals loss was not only the result of a depleted team but also a team that got beat on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Bills offensive line last year was not very good and the Bengals defensive line was a very strong unit. The Bengals defense had Josh under pressure all day and no room to run. 
 

The Bills defensive line was banged up (Von obviously out, Daquon was out, and Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips were banged up) and got dominated by a make shift Bengals offensive line. 
 

The rest of the game was academic at that point because losing both lines of scrimmage is massively disruptive to both sides of the ball. 
 

The playcalling didn’t matter as much to be honest.

 

 

Watch it again--they immediately seemed to have no answers on offense, not how to protect Allen from the blitz, with almost no easy passes for Allen no clue on line protection schemes, almost no runs--and almost no variety in running plays...

 

It was like Dorsey was playing his Madden game for a few months, against someone who had been playing it for years.

 

Just like this year, I think some are not seeing the forest through the trees...

 

Just like Harty, Sherfield, Knox, Davis, Murray...are not likely on actual precipitous declines, but are symptoms of an extremely dysfunctional offense, coordinator.  One of the most important reasons for firing Dorsey now--if not the Bills would likely make some very bad personnel in the off season, as they don't know what their players are capable of now.

 

Hopefully there is time to at least get this aspect right now.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Mister Defense

[zow2]

I didn’t finish the E-book that is the initial post. But the Bills came into the game overconfident, no energy, thinking they could just show up and win.  Meanwhile the Bengals were seething mad that they didn’t have the home game, had a chip on their shoulder, had energy and schemed up a great game. It was lost from the moment the ball was kicked off.

[Mister Defense]

 

1 minute ago, zow2 said:

I didn’t finish the E-book that is the initial post. But the Bills came into the game overconfident, no energy, thinking they could just show up and win.  Meanwhile the Bengals were seething mad that they didn’t have the home game, had a chip on their shoulder, had energy and schemed up a great game. It was lost from the moment the ball was kicked off.

 

 

there you go, some of the other CW from last year, that they were over-confident, etcetera

 

Not seeing the forest through the trees again, not seeing how unprepared they were. So do you think the same thing happened again the next time the starters played in the preseason when they looked the same--and then, again and again and again this year, when they looked so similarly inept? Over confident, no energy?

 

It seemed they had that same look on their faces to me, that they had last year against Cinci--and for the same reason.

 

I guess we will now have 7 weeks to see, although it means they have to make big changes in the coming weeks--but still win the next few games despite this need.