The decision that changed all the momentum

[Rocbillsfan1]

28 minutes ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

Another way to say you want McD fired. Don't be afraid just come out and say it like the others who think that way

I haven’t been afraid, I literally just said I turned on him before we even made our first playoff game. This guy has always been a mediocre coach at best. I get why he hasn’t been fired yet but if the Bills don’t make the playoffs they should 100% be looking for a new coach. 
 

It almost does feel like he never will be able to make a correct decision because he’s not thinking clearly and has severe PTSD from all the bad decisions he’s already made. Also there’s a bit of luck involved and he clearly has 0 of it. 

18 minutes ago, Reks Ryan said:

Can you imagine the outrage if he actually called for a punt from the 31 yard line?   Holy Jesus that woulda been stupid.  
 

This is the thread that jumped the shark on McDermott criticism.  Pretty much shows that some fans are going to be against every decision that doesn’t work out perfectly.

 

Well he makes it pretty easy since he makes so many bad ones that contribute to losses. That’s been the constant theme throughout his tenure.  Just horrible beats with inexplicable decisions. 

[vanislebills44]

48yard field goal attempt or punt?? hahahahaha good 2 end the night with a laugh...

2 use a mcdermott schtick, yah hindsight is 20/20, he missed, most dont...

[PBF81]

Quote

The decision that changed all the momentum

 

I thought that it was Allen's picked off pass to Diggs early in the 4th.  

 

We had recovered from that FGA and scored a TD on a 70-yard drive on the series prior to go up by 10.  

 

Then on that drive, on 2nd-and-8, no need to take any risks, Allen makes one of the dumbest pass decisions of the season.  He forces Diggs who's not only double-covered, but also about 4 yards shy of the marker.  

 

Meanwhile, Davis is wide f'n open for a 1st-down on the left sideline.  

Cook is wide open on the right likely to run for the 1st a few yards shy of it.  

Kincaid and the other WR, I think Shakir, in the 5 WR set took defenders downfield with them.  

 

That set the Eagles up at our 24 for the go-ahead TD.  It was almost all Eagles after that.  

 

After that, in the last 12:46 of the 4th and OT, the Eagles logged 17 points, 130 yards, and 7 1st-downs.  

 

 

[Niagara Dude]

8 hours ago, Rocbillsfan1 said:

I haven’t really seen this discussed anywhere today on the board or on the radio. The single decision I think that changed the nature of the game was McDermott deciding to kick a 48 yard fg in the second half after the Eagles had just gone 3 and out. The Bills already had 1 fg blocked and conditions weren’t great. It only puts them up 13 if it goes in but if he misses puts them in excellent field position and could give the Eagles some life. It was a 50/50 call on making it. Of course Bass misses it and the Eagles jump out and score a TD and the game was never the same. The Bills continued to moe the ball on offense after that but that possession gave the Eagles confidence and a new life. I was angry that McDermott didn’t actually just punt and pin them deep and make them earn it. The Eagles offense has been sputtering to that point and I would have continued to make it hard on them.
 

I think McDermott honestly thought he was being aggressive which he thinks he needs to be. The way the game had been going until that point just didn’t call for it. It’s like he believes the offense needs points on all possessions or it’s a failure. I really wasn’t worried about not getting points there. It was at that moment that my stomached dropped and it was back to here we go again. I also brought up a similar decision in the Giants game when he decided to kick a long field goal late instead of running the ball 3 times and punting and making the Giants go the length of the field with no timeouts and under 60 seconds and was ridiculed by most posters then too. Making the 3 in the Giants game still made it a 1 possession game just like in this instance it’s still a 2 score game. The risk/reward just didn’t add up in either of these situations. No kicker is going to be perfect and I think probably one of the toughest positions to kick a field goal is when it’s a long field goal and you aren’t changing the possession # and potentially giving a big momentum swing to the other team if missed. No one is talking about this but this was the moment for me where it felt like the wheels that McDermott put into motion came off the track.
 

McDermott really shows in almost all situations to have the worst instincts I’ve ever seen. I can think of dozens of times throughout his tenure where I’d basically do the opposite of whatever he is thinking of doing in terms of game/clock mgmt. He’s basically the inverse Cramer of NFL coaches. 

If he does not give Bass a try there then he going to ket called out for it.  I see you point and agree that it gave Philly life because of field position but it's still a kick Bass has to make.  The reality is on that drive Philly made adjustments and started running wide,  again as usual we never adjusted and they ended up scoring 4 second half TD'S. This is why you hire a DC and not name yourself as the DC when your the HC.  How can Mcdermott be the HC which requires full attention and also focus on adjustment on defensive side of the ball.  It was a poor decision and Beane should have never allowed it to happen

 

I thought the Bills play calling on OT drive is not very smart,  we we're running the ball well on the series on go ahead TD drive and Philly adjusted by stacking the box on first downs.  On that OT drive for a FG we had no success running on first down and when they had first down at Philly 26 they needed to put the ball in Allen's hands and not waste downs trying to run which they did on 1st and 10 and got next to nothing.  It should have been pass/run option for Allen on 3 straight plays.  He was cooking and Philly is not vert good in pass coverage ,  again another coaching mistake because they had to know there defence was not stopping Philly the way they were scoring in that second half.  

Edited November 28, 2023 by Niagara Dude

[ProcessTruster]

Remember, if McD goes, the entire staff, including Joe Brady is released by the new HC as well.  This isn't fantasy football, they come in pieces but go out as a group in the vast majority of cases.   

 

McD probably needs to hire a DC and get himself a (new?) clock or game management assistant, that's all.   

 

Must be pretty wild down there in real time on the sidelines on the road in a high pressure situation.   I'd want some advice in my ear.  

[HomeskillitMoorman]

9 hours ago, Rocbillsfan1 said:

Again bass has been shaky on longer kicks. He already had a blocked kick and somehow you all had great confidence that he would make it? That’s crazy sounding to me. Also wasn’t a do or die time to kick one. The Eagles kicker has 0 pressure but that Bass miss led to the whole game changing from that point. 

Not really hindsight if I didn’t want to kick the fg. Just like I disagreed to kick the fg in the Giants game. 

Also I’ve disliked Mcdermott since the Colts snow game when he punted on 4th and 1 at the 36 in OT when the Bills needed to play for the win. It’s not just about being 100% aggressive all the time. It’s about knowing when to pick your spots and Mcdermott has never shown a good instinct for it.

 

The FG in this game was the right call, but I do agree with you that McD's game management issues have been there since the beginning and he hasn't worked on improving himself as a head coach at all in these 7 years. That tells you a lot about him. What he did in that Colts game was an egregious mistake and he's the same exact guy today that he was then. And it's killing us. 

Edited November 28, 2023 by HomeskillitMoorman

[Matt_In_NH]

10 hours ago, Rocbillsfan1 said:

I was angry that McDermott didn’t actually just punt and pin them deep and make them earn it.

Suggesting a punt there is ludicrous.  There is no end to the depths this fan base will go to to criticize every possible decision.

Edited November 28, 2023 by Matt_In_NH

[Never NEVER Give-up]

Horrible post.  Now we should fire the coach because he's not clairvoyant!  He should have known Bass would miss, so punt from the 31.  No one would have 2nd guessed him. OMG, he'd get pitch-forked!!

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

This is a weird take…that’s a pretty high percentage field goal and a comfortable lead if you make it…if you go for it there and get it, you’re still not guaranteed 7 points and might just end up settling for a fg anyway 

 

punting there only nets you a few yards of field position

Edited November 28, 2023 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Jauronimo]

13 hours ago, Reks Ryan said:

Can you imagine the outrage if he actually called for a punt from the 31 yard line?   Holy Jesus that woulda been stupid.  
 

This is the thread that jumped the shark on McDermott criticism.  Pretty much shows that some fans are going to be against every decision that doesn’t work out perfectly.

 

Netting 10 yards would have been pretty sweet though.

[st pete gogolak]

If anyone other than OP agrees with this, you should let him know.  Punting from the 31 yard line with a 10 point lead  would be the worst “Preposterous Punt” (credit to Greg Easterbrook) in Bills’ history. Worse than Gregg Williams punting from Pats’ 30 yard line way back when.

[BillsFooteball]

Well that’s one take from the game I was not expecting 

[Rocbillsfan1]

It’s funny seeing all the negative responses to this take. Yes McDermott made many more obvious errors in this game and others as well. The truth is this was still the biggest momentum swing of the game as the Eagles looked dead in the water and after the moss their offense found a rhythm and boom TD and many more after that. I can see why people wouldn’t blame McDermott for this but I think the topic is still worth discussion. 
 

Bass already hit a 48 yarder when they were down. He’s about 60% around 50 yards. Conditions suck, the Eagles had 2 turnovers and 2 3 and outs prior to that. Crazy that people can’t even bring up the discussion of punting and pinning them at the 5 or 10. They could have faked going for it on 4th down if they get 5 yards they could then go for it or kick a closer fg. If not back up 5 yards get a little more room for your punter. Point is they could have tried burying the Eagles there. The Fg even if made wouldn’t have changed the nature of the game(didn’t make it a 3 possesion game). Crazy that people don’t see any potential value of getting a defensive stop getting the ball back and getting fresh downs to try and score with less time. The idea that you always kick the fg I think could be debatable.