McDermott is feeling the pressure

[HappyDays]

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I don't think the offense played well enough to win at Houston. It threw up on itself second half of that game, turned the ball over and opened the door for Houston. It did play well enough vs Minnesota.... but the defense had stopped them and the game was done if Mitch and Josh could execute a snap. 

 

But that was a team built through its defense. I mean Duke freaking Williams was our #1 pass catching target in that game. We had 3 below average starters on the line in Ford, Feliciano, and Spain.

 

On defense the entire starting roster was on the field. White, Milano, Edmunds, Oliver, Lotulelei, Hyde, Poyer, Johnson. Many of those players in their prime. That was supposed to be the unit that led us to victory, not a still learning Josh Allen and his below average supporting cast.

 

And you say teams can't win playoff games scoring 16 points and getting shut out in the 2nd half. The Chiefs just won the AFCCG scoring 17 points and getting shut out in the 2nd half. Against a better offense than what the Texans fielded in 2019. Their team like our 2019 Bills was built through the defense, with a deficit of talent on the offensive side (although still vastly superior to what we fielded in 2019).

 

Why was Spagnuolo able to make that formula work and McDermott wasn't?

[uticaclub]

3 hours ago, eball said:

I believe that every man who has ever coached in the NFL has at one time or another said “it’s hard to win in the NFL.”

 

There are well over 20 NFL clubs right now who would kill to have McD as their head coach.

 

And 12 with Super Bowl expectations that wouldn’t

Edited March 26 by uticaclub

[Mister Defense]

15 hours ago, Mike in Horseheads said:

how many I hate McD threads do we need?

 

Like I have said before: when the Bills win the Super Bowl, they will not change their take.  They may go silent for a while, but after the first loss of the next year they will jump right back on their illogical irrational bandwagon--and stay there.  And if the Bills don't follow up the Super Bowl win with another, look out...

 

Does anyone doubt this is what they will see?

 

They are as a irrational a group as I have ever seen on this board, but thankfully are only a tiny percentage of Bills fans.

 

[GunnerBill]

19 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

But that was a team built through its defense. I mean Duke freaking Williams was our #1 pass catching target in that game. We had 3 below average starters on the line in Ford, Feliciano, and Spain.

 

On defense the entire starting roster was on the field. White, Milano, Edmunds, Oliver, Lotulelei, Hyde, Poyer, Johnson. Many of those players in their prime. That was supposed to be the unit that led us to victory, not a still learning Josh Allen and his below average supporting cast.

 

And you say teams can't win playoff games scoring 16 points and getting shut out in the 2nd half. The Chiefs just won the AFCCG scoring 17 points and getting shut out in the 2nd half. Against a better offense than what the Texans fielded in 2019. Their team like our 2019 Bills was built through the defense, with a deficit of talent on the offensive side (although still vastly superior to what we fielded in 2019).

 

Why was Spagnuolo able to make that formula work and McDermott wasn't?

 

Easy - they won the turnover battle 3-0

[Process]

Pressure from who? I doubt there is much pressure being put on him from the Pegulas. He is probably as secure in his job as any hc in the NFL. 

[HappyDays]

19 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Easy - they won the turnover battle 3-0

 

Don't you think coaching plays into turnovers? In six playoff games against division winners we have forced just 4 turnovers since McDermott became the head coach (0.67 per game). Since Spagnuolo became their DC the Chiefs in ten playoff games against division winners have forced 14 in the same time frame (1.4 per game).

 

No way that discrepancy is just because of talent, right? We have had talented defenses. The Chiefs only recently made it a point to invest in the defense and immediately it became the strength of the team, carrying them to a Super Bowl 

[BarleyNY]

12 minutes ago, Process said:

Pressure from who? I doubt there is much pressure being put on him from the Pegulas. He is probably as secure in his job as any hc in the NFL. 

 

Regardless of the Pegulas’ thoughts on McDermott, the job he’s done for them or their support of him, I would be shocked if he was not putting a ton of pressure on himself to bring a championship to Buffalo. That has to grow every season. 

[GunnerBill]

14 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Don't you think coaching plays into turnovers? In six playoff games against division winners we have forced just 4 turnovers since McDermott became the head coach (0.67 per game). Since Spagnuolo became their DC the Chiefs in ten playoff games against division winners have forced 14 in the same time frame (1.4 per game).

 

No way that discrepancy is just because of talent, right? We have had talented defenses. The Chiefs only recently made it a point to invest in the defense and immediately it became the strength of the team, carrying them to a Super Bowl 

 

Do I think it plays a part? Sure. But there is also a good degree of randomness to them. 

[DrBob806]

2 hours ago, Gregg said:

 

The Raiders beat the Vikings in the Super Bowl in 1977. Anyway, McDermott isn't get fired anytime soon. Now Don Granato that might be a different story.

Yes they did. 

 

Prior to that they were kind of snake bit. Couldn't get past Pittsburgh, finally did & Denver was in their way. 

[Sweats]

2 hours ago, Bill from NYC said:

You make sense. McDermott is better than Jauron ever was, no doubt.

 

I will however say this: Jauron, McDermott and yes Levy focused primarily on defensive backs. In 2006, we entered the draft with the #8 pick in rounds 1 and 2, and the nos. 5 and 8 in round 3. We came out of this great situation with S Donte Whitner, DT Josh McCargo, and S Ashton Youboty and to achieve this, Levy/Jauron traded away one of the 3rd rounders in a trade up for the inept McCargo. In the 4th round, these two Ivy League Grads drafted the famous Ko Simpson. You know, the one who asked his arresting police officers "Do you know who I am?" 

 

In 2017, we all know how McDermott traded away the Mahomes pick and drafted a cornerback. At the time, our QB room consisted of Tyrod Taylor, Cardale Jones, and EJ Manuel. McD however did not fully neglect the QB position, whereas he did draft Nathan Peterman in round 5. 😯

 

I think that it is very safe to say that history tells us that McDermott tends to focus more on defense than he does on offense. Despite all this. I do however agree that McDermott is superior to Jauron. I guess that it becomes a question of how much better.  Even Jauron, however painfully awful he was, didn't have Josh Allen, and McDermott does. I hope that his GREAT talent gets us a Super Bowl.

 

 

 

 

And yet, how many times can you focus on the D and just have it completely collapse year in and year out?

 

No lead is safe with this team, as we've seen countless times. I know everybody likes to praise him cause he helped get us out of 18 years with no playoffs, but when does the accountability start? He has only proven that he can get us into the playoffs, nothing more.

 

I am starting to agree with some posters on here that we should have a high-flying caliber O and throw up as much points as possible and let the D fend for themselves.

 

[HappyDays]

30 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Do I think it plays a part? Sure. But there is also a good degree of randomness to them. 

 

Sure there is some luck involved, but when one defense is doubling the production of another there is almost certainly something else going on.

[Just in Atlanta]

17 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

My bias against McDermott is well documented. 

Wondering how others view his post-season PC and recent interview calling critics narrow minded. He also stated its hard to win in the NFL. I recall a prior HC pilloried on this site for saying the exact same words. 

My take on the PC was that he was very defensive. Without even being asked. He launched into a defense of his tenure as coach even dating back to prior seasons. 

And now he calls critics narrow minded for wondering if the Bills will win a SB with him as HC. You have to belive at this point the thought has crossed Beane and Pegula's mind. He's trying to defend at best status quo to perhaps taking a step or two back from 13 seconds. 

Then the most ridiculous statement of all. 

"We're looking for Josh to really be that face of the franchise, like he's been, and continue to evolve." 

I mean WTF. What team has he been coaching? Does he think Hyde and Poyer were the face of the franchise?? Is he trying to lay blame on Allen? Without Allen McDermott might be coaching DBs in Kansas City.  Was Allen on the field when the defense crumbled multiple times against Denver,Philadelphia, and others. KC only stopped themselves in the playoff game. If not for a goal line fumble the Bills are not even close in that game. 

 

It may not seem that I'm open minded but I really try. I've gave McDermott praise many times last year.

 

So what does the board think? 

For those that crucified Jauron how do you take the It’s hard to win in the NFL line?

For those that defend McDermott, what do you all think?

Your (illogical) bias is well documented here, too. 

He didn't say critics were narrow-minded. He said people saying the Bills haven't had success are narrow-minded. Our team has been successful. It just hasn't won the big prize, yet. 

 

When you cherry pick comments and take things out of context to bolster some extreme view, that's where authority and reasonableness go out the window. 

He's not defending the status quo. Do you really think a head coach, who likely works 70 hours a week, doesn't care about winning it all? Quote: "When you talk about the Bills, whether it's Josh, myself, our team, we've had so much success. What's left for Josh and for all of us is to take that one more step that we need to take."

 

He's not blaming Josh for anything. Goodness, man. 

[T master]

The only pressure McD is feeling is the normal pressure that every HC feels each year to put a team together to win the super bowl, his resume speaks for it self there are just some here that want to go back wards instead of forwards .

 

The OP being one of those that most likely wants McD gone which is the reason for this post but i'm thinking that Beane & especially Pegs are much smarter than the fans .

 

Pegs being a billionaire, Beane being the GM of 1 of 32 NFL teams & McD being 1 HC of 32 NFL teams i'll put my money on them and not the fans . JMHO ...

[Sweats]

I think the pressure Mcd is feeling is that he consistently puts a good D on the field every year, however, it consistently fails every year......for a D minded HC, that has to be rough.

 

The D fails year after year, and he seemingly has very little answers.

[Buffalo Boy]

2 hours ago, nedboy7 said:

What a ***** dumb thread. Same crap we discuss endlessly.  Your crusade against McD is borderline mental with the same ***** coming out of you every day.  He is the coach. What satisfaction do you all get from endlessly bashing him.  9 pages of unoriginal garbage. 

   Your rose colored glasses fanboy routine is equally dumb.

   Reality vs wishful thinking.

[SoonerBillsFan]

McDermott feels no pressure.  After surviving this last season and 13 seconds he knows he's Terry's boy.

 

Fans need to finally wake up,Terry had a gold mine getting paid millions in profit each year from the TV contracts, and he knows the fans will come no matter what.

 

They will pay the PSL's and say " thank you may I have another" and he knows it.  He knows he has a national draw in Josh Allen and McBeane keeps getting us in the playoffs.

 

Terry isn't changing a damn thing.  Better get used to it. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

3 hours ago, mjt328 said:

Bills fans need to step back, and get some perspective of what it takes to win in the NFL.

 

Super Bowl is the goal.  

But a Super Bowl cannot be the ONLY measure of success.

 

It's OK to be frustrated, upset and even angry that our team hasn't reached the ultimate goal.  It's OK not to be satisfied with just winning Division Championships and Wild Card games.  I would imagine that every Buffalo Bills fan will not be happy until we take home a Lombardi Trophy.  But that doesn't mean we need to constantly tear-down the leaders of this organization (whether it be Brandon Beane, Sean McDermott or Josh Allen) and classify them as failures for coming up short.

 

The NFL postseason is a SINGLE-GAME elimination series.  Once you get into the middle rounds of the playoffs, those teams are usually very evenly matched.  60 minute games are often decided by a play or two, one fateful decision or even a coinflip in overtime.  There could be a dozen reasons for why a game turned out the way it did.  But once a team/coach/player ends up on the losing end 2-3 times... a narrative starts to emerge that they CAN'T do it, and the fans or media start turning on them.  History should tell us this is completely untrue.

• Bill Belichick was a head coach for 6 mostly losing seasons before winning his first Super Bowl.  Now he has more than anybody.
• Andy Reid coached 21 years before getting a title.  Constantly falling short in the Conference Championship

Then you have coaches like Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Doug Pederson and Sean McVay who all managed a single Super Bowl win early, but now continually fall short year after year.  Did these legends somehow lose the magic aura?  Or is winning a Super Bowl something that is just really really hard and requires a significant amount of luck?

 

It's pretty obvious the Kansas City Chiefs are the measuring stick in the NFL.  Here are the facts:

Over the last four seasons, the Bills have a 3-4 record against them.  The last four contests were all decided by less than a touchdown. 

Brandon Beane has built a team capable of beating the Chiefs.  Sean McDermott has coached his team to victory over Andy Reid multiple times now.  And Josh Allen has proven the ability to defeat Mahomes.  The fact that our wins keep coming in the regular season and theirs keep coming in the postseason is just stupid dumb luck.  

 

 

I'm sorry but a SuperBowl win with a HOF QB for a franchise that has never won a SuperBowl is the only thing I am interested in.  There is no other measure of success. 

Now enjoyment or entertainment is different. I can enjoy the wins and making the playoffs but without a Lombardi it is not successful. 

And you can't have it both ways. Did Marino and the Dolphins have successful seasons losing in the playoffs all those years? Im sure no Dolphin fan would say they were successful. 

I would trade one SuperBowl win for a decade of not making the playoffs 

 

18 minutes ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

McDermott feels no pressure.  After surviving this last season and 13 seconds he knows he's Terry's boy.

 

Fans need to finally wake up,Terry had a gold mine getting paid millions in profit each year from the TV contracts, and he knows the fans will come no matter what.

 

They will pay the PSL's and say " thank you may I have another" and he knows it.  He knows he has a national draw in Josh Allen and McBeane keeps getting us in the playoffs.

 

Terry isn't changing a damn thing.  Better get used to it. 

You may be correct. Hope McD proves me wrong or your are wrong about Pegula.

[Beck Water]

55 minutes ago, Sweats said:

I think the pressure Mcd is feeling is that he consistently puts a good D on the field every year, however, it consistently fails every year......for a D minded HC, that has to be rough.

 

The D fails year after year, and he seemingly has very little answers.

 

This is just my personal opinion.  I think McDermott is a fine defensive coach.  However, I don't think he wants to have a "stars and guys" build on D.  I think McDermott's defensive philosophy is primarily "guys and guys", and "Everyone Do Your Job", making the whole  greater than the sum of its parts.  It's how McDermott was able to achieve 9 wins his first season here with Preston Brown and and Ramon Humber at LB, with Shaq Lawson at LDE, and with EJ Gaines across from rookie Tre at CB.

 

Think about it - why have the Bills have spent boatloads on DL up until 2022, without one real star to show for it, because McDermott insists on dividing the dollars between so much depth on his DL rotation?  Guys and Guys.  And in the secondary, we had Tre White until he tore his ACL, that's it.  Levi Wallace and Dane Jackson across from him were JAGs.  Hyde and Poyer had a synergy which made them greater as a pairing than they were individually.

Year after year, the Bills have a top D during the regular season and win a lot, but have no or very few pro-bowlers and all-pros, because the D is really built of "guys and guys".   It's how McDermott was able to have a 6th round CB jump a 1st round pick on the depth chart, lose Tre' White, Da'Quan Jones, and Matt Milano and still have an 11-6 season playing their backups plus a mid-season trade.

 

Here's the problem with that philosophy - it's great at shutting down lesser offenses so it wins in the regular season.  But when it comes up against the Best of the Best, another championship team, then all it takes is one guy losing focus and not doing his proper check and the opposing offense will see and exploit it.

 

I think the Bills "Brain Trust" is aware of this, which is why we saw Beane "shoot his shot" at bringing in a top-drawer pass rushing talent in Von Miller after the 2021 "13 seconds" debacle.  Von had contributed 50 tackles, 17 QB hits, 9.5 sacks in 2021, so I see the logic.  The problem is, Miller has only appeared in 23 out of 34 games since arriving in Buffalo, and was relatively ineffective in the 12 games, 32% of defensive snaps he played this season (3 tackles, 3 QB hits, 0 sacks).

It's also why the Bills drafted Kaiir Elam in the 1st round, to bookend with another 1st rounder in Tre - only for whatever reason, Elam hasn't worked out.

 

I think Beane and McDermott have ideas what they need as answers, but those ideas need players.  When you go from scheming a backup ST LBer and a 32 yr old safety as a replacement for an all-pro grade LB to starting a MLB literally off the sofa and a one-armed ST LBer in a brace next to him plus a backup CB for your best secondary man, you're just out of players.

There's a saying "it's better to be lucky than good".  There's some of that.

 

There's a saying "people make their own luck sometimes", and when the shot you shoot is 32 years old, there's some of that too.

 

 

Edited March 26 by Beck Water

[Nihilarian]

15 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Half those QBs you listed played in the SuperBowl and two won SuperBowls so I fail to see the point.

Fair point regarding Fouts and Coryell who was ahead of his time but could not win the big game.

My point was that many of those superstar elite QBs eventually went to an SB and won only ONE SB. My point is that Aaron Rodgers an 11-time pro bowler, all pro-NFL league 4 times MVP played 18 seasons and only one SB. Oh Wait, he is still playing. Brett Favre played 16 seasons with many accolades while only winning ONE SB.

 

IT...IS...A...TEAM...SPORT! Andrew Luck was a generational talent and the best record he ever saw in his 7-year career was 11-5. Never sniffed an SB. 

 

Bill Cowher? He was stuck with super scrubs at QB and still made the SB, didn't win one until he drafted Big Ben...and even then he needed the Bus to help him. 

 

It is challenging to even get to an SB much less win one. Just ask Jim Kelly and Co, et al. Buffalo was very talented, and very lucky in the early 90's with that hurry-up offense and Bruce Smith, Biscuit rushing the passer. They had flaws, which is why they lost all four tho.

 

You need to understand that the very best team in the NFL and the very best HC has been in the Buffalo Bill's way these last four seasons. The ONLY team that has won more games in the entire NFL in the last 5 years than the Buffalo Bills has been the Kansas City Chiefs. 83-63 vs 82-58

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/most-total-nfl-wins-last-5-years

 

Sean McDermott is not a scrub HC and in fact, has been one of the very best over the last 5 years. The only HC better has been the offensive genius Andy Reid. 

 

Besides, it's not the HC's fault with so many defensive injuries these last few years. Losing the star defensive players like all-pro Matt Milano and Tre White and the team still finished #2 overall defensively in 2022! #6 in points allowed, #4 in yards allowed in 2023, yeah that's right, top 5 last season with McD calling the plays. 

 

What lost that Buffalo, Chiefs playoff game in Buffalo was a missed FG...despite half the defense on crutches that game. The starting 3rd string LBer who they got off the street two weeks previous was forced to leave the game due to injuries... and because they had nobody else to play...he went back in.

 

[AZSanta]

19 hours ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

My bias against McDermott is well documented. 

Wondering how others view his post-season PC and recent interview calling critics narrow minded. He also stated its hard to win in the NFL. I recall a prior HC pilloried on this site for saying the exact same words. 

My take on the PC was that he was very defensive. Without even being asked. He launched into a defense of his tenure as coach even dating back to prior seasons. 

And now he calls critics narrow minded for wondering if the Bills will win a SB with him as HC. You have to belive at this point the thought has crossed Beane and Pegula's mind. He's trying to defend at best status quo to perhaps taking a step or two back from 13 seconds. 

Then the most ridiculous statement of all. 

"We're looking for Josh to really be that face of the franchise, like he's been, and continue to evolve." 

I mean WTF. What team has he been coaching? Does he think Hyde and Poyer were the face of the franchise?? Is he trying to lay blame on Allen? Without Allen McDermott might be coaching DBs in Kansas City.  Was Allen on the field when the defense crumbled multiple times against Denver,Philadelphia, and others. KC only stopped themselves in the playoff game. If not for a goal line fumble the Bills are not even close in that game. 

 

It may not seem that I'm open minded but I really try. I've gave McDermott praise many times last year.

 

So what does the board think? 

For those that crucified Jauron how do you take the It’s hard to win in the NFL line?

For those that defend McDermott, what do you all think?

I agree with you on everything. McDermott has proven time and time again he is not a good in game coach. He panics when its crunch  time. He gets outcoached in just about every playoff loss they have in his tenure. It is hard to win in this league and its even harder to win in this league with the Reid/ Mahommes duo in KC. If i was Pegula i'd hire Belichik in a heartbeat. He would be a giant improvement over McD. At least we know the tam would be prepared every Sunday and not implode when the game is on the line.