The "McDermott Handicap" and hopefully a solution

[Gregg]

2 minutes ago, PBF81 said:

 

Gotta make better halftime adjustments however.  And that four-man rush of theirs made it seem as if they were blitzing a lot but they weren't.  I have to look at the numbers later.  On the offensive side anyway, "complimentary football" kept popping up in my head.  

 

 

 

Especially with the Cowboys up next. Dallas can bring bigtime pressure without blitzing. The Bills OL will have their hands full next Sunday.

[Dopey]

48 minutes ago, peterpan said:

The McDermott Handicap - thats what I call it now.  Its the number of points McDermott will cost the team with about 4 mins left at half and the end of the game.  I really think its -5.5 or-6.5 points!!!!  Its becoming ridiculous how awkward this team plays in those situations.  We tend to leave points on the board before every half, or gift the other team an opportunity to score!  We blow two minute drills constantly, cant ever get a stop etc.

 

If you were an odds maker what would your McDermott Handicap be?

 

Against the Eagles we played so conservative, using 2 TOs on defense, then taking a knee with 20 seconds and one (but could have been 3) timeouts left.  All you need is a FG but you chose overtime?!?!?!

 

Then against the chiefs - completely different situation.  We get a 1st down due to penalty, with 2:13 left in the game on the 25ish yard line.  RUN THE BALL is the obvious choice......  No, 3 straight pass!!  Huh!?!  We have this defensive coach who lost the game being too conservative last week.  He should be wetting his pants for the opportunity to run it 3 times and kick the FG.  But then its all passes!?!?!  And before you say the swing pass is like a long handoff blah blah blah - the chiefs blew that play up 3-4 times that game.  It didn't work once.  and was super awkward, our staff has no feel for the game.  No inclination of whats working, whats not, and no situational awareness of any kind..  

 

On defense, again no feel.  Its either full out prevent defense, or all out blitz.  Over and over and over again.  Dude, find a happy medium.  Maybe, i don't know, don't call the same all out blitz ON EVERY SINGLE PLAY?!?!?  The show all out bitz and then all out blitz.  Eventually these teams beat the all out blitz and score - We lost the Broncos game with that one.  We could try, maybe, disguising a blitz?  Or Blitzing every other play??  

 

Which leads me to....

 

McDermott has no feel for these situations.  He is like that super socially awkward guy, who never knows what to say in a group.  Everyone knows someone like that....and that's the football equivalent to McDermott.  Post game McD said he watched every single 2 minute drill in every nfl game in the last 6 years, trying to find tendencies.  Wow man, love the dedication, but that's sad.  Thats like an awkward guy watching every episode of Friends trying to get less socially awkward.  Just sad.

 

 

Watching Michigan this year gave me an idea.  Harbaugh is their head coach, but was suspended for a number of games.  Harbaugh was allowed to coach during the week, but couldnt be on the sidelines for gameday.  So one of their assistants was "Acting" head coach for those games.  Thats what we need - we need to hire a "Game Day" coach who would relive McD of Head Coach decisions on gameday.  Someone who has a feel for the game, situational football and what's working that day at that moment.   Someone who wont abandon the run for 2-3 quarters at a time.  Someone who knows when to play conservative and when to be aggressive.  I think McDermott would benefit A LOT from a guy like that. 

That first pass was a short screen pass right in the hands of Diggs. He just dropped it. Blame him, if anyone. He catches a short screen pass and we get to the 2 minute warning. After a while some of you HAVE to realize players are making mistakes. It’s so lazy to keep blaming coaches and give players a pass. 

[Teddy KGB]

38 minutes ago, section122 said:

Even when he wins....

 

bailed out by Toney’s small brain **

[BillsFan130]

46 minutes ago, McBean said:

The muppets are salivating and out in full force because of the “win.”

 

Reality is, McClap scratched a lotto ticket last night and won.

 

bailed out by toney and the refs for once again, more crappy coaching decisions.

 

The facts are still this:

 

1. he’s a horrible HC who continues to show he can’t make proper in game decisions.

 

2. Has this team still outside looking in in regards to the playoffs. Still a stretch we get in and besides, we have to go on the road if we do. You trust McDermott to help us win 3 road games? I sure as heck don’t.

 

3. Lost draft position 

 

4. The win today insured he is coming back next year.

 

This isn’t good folks. Some of us were willing to sacrifice a few games this year for long term success. 
 

too many “want it now” short term thinkers.

 

Sad!

I want McDermott gone at the end of the year but he deserves credit for this win.

 

Bills got a break by the refs which helped them for sure.

But How many times have the bills been on the wrong side of a bad call Which resulted in a loss?

Has to go both ways here

[Freak-O]

10 minutes ago, RiotAct said:

hated the three consecutive passes before the go-ahead FG.  Other than that, didn’t have any problems with yesterday’s situational coaching specifically.

I didn’t hate the first one since it was not much more than a hand off to Diggs (really bad drop) and the third they kind of had to pass. But he second one I really couldn’t understand though. 
 

The game could have been over in the first half but Josh threw the interception when we were driving for 21-0. Very bad timing to do that. 

[DrDawkinstein]

1 hour ago, peterpan said:

Watching Michigan this year gave me an idea.  Harbaugh is their head coach, but was suspended for a number of games.  Harbaugh was allowed to coach during the week, but couldnt be on the sidelines for gameday.  So one of their assistants was "Acting" head coach for those games.  Thats what we need - we need to hire a "Game Day" coach who would relive McD of Head Coach decisions on gameday.  Someone who has a feel for the game, situational football and what's working that day at that moment.   Someone who wont abandon the run for 2-3 quarters at a time.  Someone who knows when to play conservative and when to be aggressive.  I think McDermott would benefit A LOT from a guy like that. 

 

I dont disagree with this, but it really means demoting McDermott to DC and hiring a real Head Coach. Which I would also agree with. Isn't ever going to happen, but I agree with the idea.

[Riverboat Ritchie]

Super excited we won and glad we get to keep playing meaningful football. Winning in Arrowhead against a still dangerous team is impressive. With that being said, unless we get to Super Bowl, McD should be let go. I have to think that Beane and hopefully Pegula see that his game management is so bad that it costs us games. 

[pigpen65]

The Chiefs have one good receiving target. It's crazy that with 1 minute left 8n in the game Kelce was left so wide open that he was able to catch a 30 yard pass and still have time to then throw a 20 yard pass to another receiver. You would think in that situation the Bills would have at least a couple of guys draped on him.

[Don Otreply]

1 hour ago, section122 said:

Even when he wins....

 

Everyone including you knows why the D got a second chance to succeed, and they took full advantage of the opportunity and stopped KC, which is exactly what was needed to secure the win, it was all within the rules of the game, so it’s all good, now let’s win the next one!!! 
 

GO BILLS!!!

25 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

I want McDermott gone at the end of the year but he deserves credit for this win.

 

Bills got a break by the refs which helped them for sure.

But How many times have the bills been on the wrong side of a bad call Which resulted in a loss?

Has to go both ways here

This time it went our way, 😁👍

[Dopey]

30 minutes ago, pigpen65 said:

The Chiefs have one good receiving target. It's crazy that with 1 minute left 8n in the game Kelce was left so wide open that he was able to catch a 30 yard pass and still have time to then throw a 20 yard pass to another receiver. You would think in that situation the Bills would have at least a couple of guys draped on him.

They tried to double him. Problem is it looked like the wr lined up next to Kelce picked 2 to 3 dbs at the beginning of his route. Wasn’t even a “rub” play. 

[section122]

46 minutes ago, pigpen65 said:

The Chiefs have one good receiving target. It's crazy that with 1 minute left 8n in the game Kelce was left so wide open that he was able to catch a 30 yard pass and still have time to then throw a 20 yard pass to another receiver. You would think in that situation the Bills would have at least a couple of guys draped on him.

 

Watching the replay and toney commits serious opi.  He ran straight into 2 defenders and that's what caused Kelce to be so open.

 

33 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

Everyone including you knows why the D got a second chance to succeed, and they took full advantage of the opportunity and stopped KC, which is exactly what was needed to secure the win, it was all within the rules of the game, so it’s all good, now let’s win the next one!!! 
 

GO BILLS!!!

This time it went our way, 😁👍

 

I know that Toney committed a penalty.  Are you suggesting there is another reason?  My post was meant to convey that McD cant even catch a break even when he wins.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, entropyrules said:

a bit off topic but didn't want to start another thread. The OP mentioned those swing pass failures. It seems like they never work Has one worked this season?) - can someone explain why they keep trying them game after game? is there something just wrong about the way the play is set-up/executed or is the way the Bills set up the O so its obvious to the D a swong pass is coming. Seems like a consitent fail-would rather them run straight into the line for 2 yard gain.

 

Actually they have worked a lot...how can you have watched Bills games and not seen them picking up a bunch of first downs using them or gaining 7-8 yards on first downs or even moving the chains with like a 12-15 yard gain? It's the "free access" part of the ARPO plays they run.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Big Turk

[nuiwek]

2 hours ago, peterpan said:

The McDermott Handicap - thats what I call it now.  Its the number of points McDermott will cost the team with about 4 mins left at half and the end of the game.  I really think its -5.5 or-6.5 points!!!!  Its becoming ridiculous how awkward this team plays in those situations.  We tend to leave points on the board before every half, or gift the other team an opportunity to score!  We blow two minute drills constantly, cant ever get a stop etc.

 

If you were an odds maker what would your McDermott Handicap be?

 

Against the Eagles we played so conservative, using 2 TOs on defense, then taking a knee with 20 seconds and one (but could have been 3) timeouts left.  All you need is a FG but you chose overtime?!?!?!

 

Then against the chiefs - completely different situation.  We get a 1st down due to penalty, with 2:13 left in the game on the 25ish yard line.  RUN THE BALL is the obvious choice......  No, 3 straight pass!!  Huh!?!  We have this defensive coach who lost the game being too conservative last week.  He should be wetting his pants for the opportunity to run it 3 times and kick the FG.  But then its all passes!?!?!  And before you say the swing pass is like a long handoff blah blah blah - the chiefs blew that play up 3-4 times that game.  It didn't work once.  and was super awkward, our staff has no feel for the game.  No inclination of whats working, whats not, and no situational awareness of any kind..  

 

On defense, again no feel.  Its either full out prevent defense, or all out blitz.  Over and over and over again.  Dude, find a happy medium.  Maybe, i don't know, don't call the same all out blitz ON EVERY SINGLE PLAY?!?!?  The show all out bitz and then all out blitz.  Eventually these teams beat the all out blitz and score - We lost the Broncos game with that one.  We could try, maybe, disguising a blitz?  Or Blitzing every other play??  

 

Which leads me to....

 

McDermott has no feel for these situations.  He is like that super socially awkward guy, who never knows what to say in a group.  Everyone knows someone like that....and that's the football equivalent to McDermott.  Post game McD said he watched every single 2 minute drill in every nfl game in the last 6 years, trying to find tendencies.  Wow man, love the dedication, but that's sad.  Thats like an awkward guy watching every episode of Friends trying to get less socially awkward.  Just sad.

 

 

Watching Michigan this year gave me an idea.  Harbaugh is their head coach, but was suspended for a number of games.  Harbaugh was allowed to coach during the week, but couldnt be on the sidelines for gameday.  So one of their assistants was "Acting" head coach for those games.  Thats what we need - we need to hire a "Game Day" coach who would relive McD of Head Coach decisions on gameday.  Someone who has a feel for the game, situational football and what's working that day at that moment.   Someone who wont abandon the run for 2-3 quarters at a time.  Someone who knows when to play conservative and when to be aggressive.  I think McDermott would benefit A LOT from a guy like that. 

Yeah but like, you're Peter Pan, what do you know about football?

[PBF81]

1 hour ago, Gregg said:

 

Especially with the Cowboys up next. Dallas can bring bigtime pressure without blitzing. The Bills OL will have their hands full next Sunday.

 

Dallas and San Fran are the most well-rounded teams in the league at the moment.  O to D, Pass-to-Run, etc.  

 

I don't see them hitting a trap game.  We have to come back from KC also, them from Dallas, same trip, ... different days I suppose.  

 

Philly has a much easier schedule with the Giants twice and Arizona after @ Seattle, so Dallas knows that they may have to win out to win their division.  

 

We'll need to play much better than we did yesterday if we want to win that one, even at home.  Yesterday in the 2nd-half we didn't even average 3 yards-per-play.  

 

 

[peterpan]

1 hour ago, Dopey said:

That first pass was a short screen pass right in the hands of Diggs. He just dropped it. Blame him, if anyone. He catches a short screen pass and we get to the 2 minute warning. After a while some of you HAVE to realize players are making mistakes. It’s so lazy to keep blaming coaches and give players a pass. 

But that was not the only time they ran that play.  they ran it 2 or 3 times before, and the Chiefs had it scouted and defended well.  Its the type of play you give up on because it wasnt working all game.  I don't blame Diggs honestly.  I could see blaming Allen bc he should have known better than to take that option by then.

[JerseyBills]

2 hours ago, Slack_in_MA said:

I heard we won.

We could win the sb and ppl will still complain and want McD fired.. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, peterpan said:

The McDermott Handicap - thats what I call it now.  Its the number of points McDermott will cost the team with about 4 mins left at half and the end of the game.  I really think its -5.5 or-6.5 points!!!!  Its becoming ridiculous how awkward this team plays in those situations.  We tend to leave points on the board before every half, or gift the other team an opportunity to score!  We blow two minute drills constantly, cant ever get a stop etc.

 

If you were an odds maker what would your McDermott Handicap be?

 

Against the Eagles we played so conservative, using 2 TOs on defense, then taking a knee with 20 seconds and one (but could have been 3) timeouts left.  All you need is a FG but you chose overtime?!?!?!

 

Then against the chiefs - completely different situation.  We get a 1st down due to penalty, with 2:13 left in the game on the 25ish yard line.  RUN THE BALL is the obvious choice......  No, 3 straight pass!!  Huh!?!  We have this defensive coach who lost the game being too conservative last week.  He should be wetting his pants for the opportunity to run it 3 times and kick the FG.  But then its all passes!?!?!  And before you say the swing pass is like a long handoff blah blah blah - the chiefs blew that play up 3-4 times that game.  It didn't work once.  and was super awkward, our staff has no feel for the game.  No inclination of whats working, whats not, and no situational awareness of any kind..  

 

On defense, again no feel.  Its either full out prevent defense, or all out blitz.  Over and over and over again.  Dude, find a happy medium.  Maybe, i don't know, don't call the same all out blitz ON EVERY SINGLE PLAY?!?!?  The show all out bitz and then all out blitz.  Eventually these teams beat the all out blitz and score - We lost the Broncos game with that one.  We could try, maybe, disguising a blitz?  Or Blitzing every other play??  

 

Which leads me to....

 

McDermott has no feel for these situations.  He is like that super socially awkward guy, who never knows what to say in a group.  Everyone knows someone like that....and that's the football equivalent to McDermott.  Post game McD said he watched every single 2 minute drill in every nfl game in the last 6 years, trying to find tendencies.  Wow man, love the dedication, but that's sad.  Thats like an awkward guy watching every episode of Friends trying to get less socially awkward.  Just sad.

 

 

Watching Michigan this year gave me an idea.  Harbaugh is their head coach, but was suspended for a number of games.  Harbaugh was allowed to coach during the week, but couldnt be on the sidelines for gameday.  So one of their assistants was "Acting" head coach for those games.  Thats what we need - we need to hire a "Game Day" coach who would relive McD of Head Coach decisions on gameday.  Someone who has a feel for the game, situational football and what's working that day at that moment.   Someone who wont abandon the run for 2-3 quarters at a time.  Someone who knows when to play conservative and when to be aggressive.  I think McDermott would benefit A LOT from a guy like that. 

 

Absolutely worked multiple times - Shakir and Sherfield both had first downs from that.  We also had a fake drawn up perfectly if Allen can get that ball to davis over the top before pressure got there.  It's also an RPO so... if terms dictated a run play we probably do run it there.  

 

After the incompletion i don't like running it into a heavy front knowing you probably wont gain yards to set yourself up for 3rd and 10.  After the drop you have to pass since the first down there does a lot for your chances of winning.  

[Warriorspikes51]

he got lucky that his timeout usage didn't cost us again.
 

I like Sean a lot, but he can't seem to change some critical gameday issues 

[Brand J]

1 hour ago, Drew21PA said:

All season it’s vern

 

josh Allen lost because of Sean mcdermott

 

last night it was

josh Allen won despite Sean mcdermott

 

i think we ALL KNEW aggressive was out the window - the winning formula in the first quarter and a half - going up 14-0

 

i was livid watching as we played - again - 10 yards off of Kelce - no chip and gave their recievers - who absolutely suck - a wide open lane and no contention on throws 

 

its mind boggling - your foe and you won’t jus throw punching them in the mouth.

 

 

My biggest gripe about this defense is that receivers aren’t challenged at the LoS. Doesn’t matter if Sean is playing zone, man, or blitzing like a kamikazee, there’s always someone open 2-3 yards after the snap with his closest defender 7 yards off. Get up and challenge the receiver! What good is a blitz if you give the opposing offense an immediate outlet? It was illustrated perfectly in that post last week where Dan Orlovsky said “the Bills never forced Hurts to make the tough throw.”
That’s McD’s defense and it’s infuriating.

[Livinginthepast]

1 hour ago, peterpan said:

Why so serious?  Im not even being hard on McD.  Im just saying he costs us points repeatedly and a solution might be to hire a game day coach to help him out. 

I dont disagree with the handicap point. I think that's very accurate. McD has cost us at least 4 games this year with bad play calling and decisions in games in the last 5 mins of the half. There's no excuse that his situational awareness in those moments hasn't improved 6 years into his tenure.  Your solution of a game day manager though is the best advertisement to replace him with a new HC who can think on his feet. The only solution I can think of to actually fix McD issues other than that is for the offense to perform flawlessly and be up 21pts so that the inevitable screw ups by McD will be mitigated by a big lead. Not exactly a realistic solution in a competitive league and its bizarre thats what it has come to.