Bobby Babich to call Bills' Defense

[Mr. WEO]

17 minutes ago, NewEra said:

Who’s defending mcd’s defensive play calls in 13 seconds?  He blew it.  💯 -  I would’ve been fine if we had fired him after the last 2 seasons (as long as we had hired Ben Johnson as HC).  I just don’t think every coaching hire he makes is to make the scapegoats in order to keep his job….like some do

 

I don’t know who was to blame for the kickoff.  That’s why I said what I said.  You apparently think that “a number of players off the record” is the gospel.  You should know better.  
 

which article did you take the quotes from?  I thought we were supposed to post links when taking such large excepts.  Sure looks like an anti-mcd article.  
 

 

 

You're too easily distracted. 

 

The kickoff obviously wasn't "one of the biggest boneheaded gaffes in coaching history".  It was the Defense he called after not one but 2 TOs he took to figure things out.  13 seconds with a team playing from their own 25 and playing way off  two of best receivers in the NFL was just stupid.  Mahomes and Kelce could not believe the coverage they were seeing and even shouted to each other before the snap.  They had to be laughing at what they were seeing after TWO TO's. 

[Don Otreply]

21 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

@Don Otreply, this is a cogent response and I'm not trying to be argumentative.  But let me ask...  What changes in scheme do you think McD needs to make?  What effective concepts are other teams making use of that McD isn't?

 

You make a good point about the benefits of hiring from the outside.  The benefit to internal promotes is that you know them, can guess their likelihood of success, know if they're good culture fits, know their work habits and interpersonal skills, etc.  The advantage of external hires is, as you say, they sometimes bring in fresh ideas. 

 

I think perhaps the best course is to mix up it up: use both internal promotes and external hires.  Though if I had to pick one, I'd pick internal promotes because in my experience, the success rate is higher.

 

But because they don't necessarily bring in fresh ideas as you say, I always encourage internal promotes to be curious, explore, talk to peers outside of the organization, and otherwise find ways to learn & develop new ideas.  I don't know how insular the Bills coaching staff is but I suspect they study other teams in detail and there aren't a lot of innnovative concepts in the NFL that they're not aware of and understand.  But I may be wrong.  

 

 

  Not being a professional football strategist, I can only say what appears to be happening, and that is, our Defensive scheme/ concepts / play calling/  execution, etc, during the playoffs hasn’t been consistent or good, at crucial moments during those games, granted there have been injuries, but the failing has been an annual thing unfortunately.
  I get a bit whiny 🤣because the brain trust hasn’t been able to break through the post season plateau, speaking from my position of limited knowledge of the particulars, the defense continues to roll out the same strategy/ plan every year during the playoffs with no tweaks or attempts to change, it’s a bit frustrating to say the least, in simple terms they never have an implementable plan B when what they are doing isn’t working,  in my eyes I see a soft zone that allows repeated easy yardage gains by or opponents, at crucial points in those games, arrrrgh!!! Frustrating arrrgh again 😂 that’s all I got right now,

 

 

GO BILLS!!!

[hondo in seattle]

46 minutes ago, Don Otreply said:

  Not being a professional football strategist, I can only say what appears to be happening, and that is, our Defensive scheme/ concepts / play calling/  execution, etc, during the playoffs hasn’t been consistent or good, at crucial moments during those games, granted there have been injuries, but the failing has been an annual thing unfortunately.
  I get a bit whiny 🤣because the brain trust hasn’t been able to break through the post season plateau, speaking from my position of limited knowledge of the particulars, the defense continues to roll out the same strategy/ plan every year during the playoffs with no tweaks or attempts to change, it’s a bit frustrating to say the least, in simple terms they never have an implementable plan B when what they are doing isn’t working,  in my eyes I see a soft zone that allows repeated easy yardage gains by or opponents, at crucial points in those games, arrrrgh!!! Frustrating arrrgh again 😂 that’s all I got right now,

 

 

GO BILLS!!!

 

I'm just as frustrated as you over the playoff losses as you are.  But also not being a professional football strategist either, I look at them a little differently.

 

I think McD schemes and calls plays for playoff games for the playoffs much like he does for the regular season.  And based on regular season results, he's pretty good at it.  Where things go wrong in the playoffs...

 

• Injuries.  I think injuries to key defensive players, as you mentioned, have been critical the past two seasons.
• Athleticism.  I think there have been games where our defensive scheme was as good as the other team's offensive scheme.  They just had better athletes and won the one-on-one battles.  
• Luck.  Bass makes most of his field goals.  Diggs usually catches well-thrown balls.  But sometimes the Gridiron Gods and laws of probability just don't work out in our favor.  The ball bounces the other way. The ref makes a borderline judgment call against us.  Bass misses.  Diggs drops.  
• The Big Three.   Few teams in the modern era have been blessed with a HC/DC/QB combo as talented as Reid/Spags/Mahomes.  We're cursed to have them around when we have a team that's almost as good as theirs.  I think we'd have a Lombardi by now if not for that trio.  

[ganesh]

49 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I'm just as frustrated as you over the playoff losses as you are.  But also not being a professional football strategist either, I look at them a little differently.

 

I think McD schemes and calls plays for playoff games for the playoffs much like he does for the regular season.  And based on regular season results, he's pretty good at it.  Where things go wrong in the playoffs...

 

• Injuries.  I think injuries to key defensive players, as you mentioned, have been critical the past two seasons.
• Athleticism.  I think there have been games where our defensive scheme was as good as the other team's offensive scheme.  They just had better athletes and won the one-on-one battles.  
• Luck.  Bass makes most of his field goals.  Diggs usually catches well-thrown balls.  But sometimes the Gridiron Gods and laws of probability just don't work out in our favor.  The ball bounces the other way. The ref makes a borderline judgment call against us.  Bass misses.  Diggs drops.  
• The Big Three.   Few teams in the modern era have been blessed with a HC/DC/QB combo as talented as Reid/Spags/Mahomes.  We're cursed to have them around when we have a team that's almost as good as theirs.  I think we'd have a Lombardi by now if not for that trio.  

why is Spags not getting any HC opportunities?

[NewEra]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

You're too easily distracted. 

 

The kickoff obviously wasn't "one of the biggest boneheaded gaffes in coaching history".  It was the Defense he called after not one but 2 TOs he took to figure things out.  13 seconds with a team playing from their own 25 and playing way off  two of best receivers in the NFL was just stupid.  Mahomes and Kelce could not believe the coverage they were seeing and even shouted to each other before the snap.  They had to be laughing at what they were seeing after TWO TO's. 

The kickoff was the biggest bonehead play of them all.  Kickoff in bounds and they only have one play.  

[HomeskillitMoorman]

Anything to phase out McD is fine with me

[Doc]

2 hours ago, Mr. WEO said:

Based on....what?

 

"He fired special teams coach Heath Farwell, inferring he called for a deep kickoff in the notorious “13 seconds” game which helped the Chiefs tie it in regulation before winning in OT. However, a number of players “off the record” claimed it was McDermott who made the ill-fated call. Farwell was immediately hired to the same position in Jacksonville"

 

 

"The decision to kick it out of the end zone is what it is. The truth is that the Bills still had more than a 90% win probability, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, as the Chiefs began their drive at their own 25-yard line with 13 seconds left."

 

"Adversity reveals character in any field. Not only did McDermott insult the public by writing off 13 Seconds as an “execution” error. He never owned the defeat privately. He allowed it to linger, and that’s the danger with any trauma. There’s no way for anyone involved to move on unless it’s dealt with head-on. Unless the guilty party takes accountability. McDermott, as Go Long detailed, was the culprit. Yet when his decision to kick a touchback and his defense doomed Buffalo against the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs, there was zero accountability. To delusional proportions. One assistant coach remembers McDermott saying in the locker room that the offense scored too fast and left the Chiefs too much time."

 

"McDermott used a time out before both of the Chiefs’ plays that set up the field goal. He said he wanted to get a look at what formation Andy Reid was using so he could better set up the defense. Whether you blame Frazier or McDermott, neither did a good enough job explaining to the players what they needed to do to avoid the big plays that followed.

The first play was a short pass to Hill. Taron Johnson, Tremaine Edmunds, and Matt Milano gave the scariest player on the field a 15-yard cushion. Romo basically freaked out on the broadcast and circled all three players. The play call couldn’t have been worse."

 

"Hill caught the ball at the 30 and wasn’t touched until he got to the 40-yard line. That’s 15 yards the Bills just gave to him, knowing the Chiefs had to operate their offense as quickly as possible after the snap. He was tackled after 19 total yards, setting up arguably the most perplexing play of the drive.

McDermott said he used the second timeout for the same reason he used the first: To get information about how the Chiefs would line up. Travis Kelce was lined up next to left tackle Orlando Brown. Milano and Wallace gave him about an 8-yard cushion this time. Nobody touched Kelce coming off the line and he split the defenders on a seam route, and Mahomes delivered the biggest throw of the game. It went all the way down to the Bills’ 31-yard line."

 

(lol--2 timeouts to see "how they would line up", two massive plays given up after McD's idiotic assessment of how the Chiefs "lined up"--but, yeah, it was the ST coach that blew that game!)

 

Throw in Frazier's "year off" to rest, McD on his 4th OC, 3rd ST coordinator.....

 

Based on the fact that Bass kicked it off deep and the rest of the ST's unit was expecting a squib.  I believe McD called for the deep kickoff initially (which is why the "off the record" players said what they did), that was relayed to Bass, but then changed it to a squib and that was relayed to everyone but Bass.  That's why Farwell was fired.  So what if he got hired by the Jags in the same capacity?  That happens a lot.  ST's coaches get recycled constantly.

 

As for the 13 seconds, I still say it was Frazier calling the plays.  McD gets blame for not calling the plays himself.  

 

The people McD has fired had it coming and weren't scapegoats for him.  If anything, he should fired Frazier after 13 seconds, but Farwell was the scapegoat for him.

 

[hondo in seattle]

54 minutes ago, ganesh said:

why is Spags not getting any HC opportunities?

 

Partly age discrimination.  He's 64.

 

And partly a head coaching record of 10-38.

 

But as Reid's defensive sidekick, he excels.  

[Mr. WEO]

51 minutes ago, NewEra said:

The kickoff was the biggest bonehead play of them all.  Kickoff in bounds and they only have one play.  

Again.  Common sense play calling ends the game in regulation. The quotes about tell you explicitly how this game was lost. 

Josh Allen deserves far better.  Without him, McDermott is Brian Daboll… or Leslie Frazier 

 

 

49 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

Based on the fact that Bass kicked it off deep and the rest of the ST's unit was expecting a squib.  I believe McD called for the deep kickoff initially (which is why the "off the record" players said what they did), that was relayed to Bass, but then changed it to a squib and that was relayed to everyone but Bass.  That's why Farwell was fired.  So what if he got hired by the Jags in the same capacity?  That happens a lot.  ST's coaches get recycled constantly.

 

As for the 13 seconds, I still say it was Frazier calling the plays.  McD gets blame for not calling the plays himself.  

 

The people McD has fired had it coming and weren't scapegoats for him.  If anything, he should fired Frazier after 13 seconds, but Farwell was the scapegoat for him.

 

you can “say” it was Frazier’s fault (McD put him out to pasture) like you can say it was Farwwll (right under the bus as well)…but it’s really only you convincing yourself these things are true. 

I understand why you have to believe all that is true.  Some HCs just go through a lot of coordinators…right?? Completely normal. 

[Doc]

1 hour ago, Mr. WEO said:

you can “say” it was Frazier’s fault (McD put him out to pasture) like you can say it was Farwwll (right under the bus as well)…but it’s really only you convincing yourself these things are true. 

I understand why you have to believe all that is true.  Some HCs just go through a lot of coordinators…right?? Completely normal. 

 

McD has fired 2 OCs and 2 STs coaches.  Outside of Farwell, who you've convinced yourself wasn't at fault for the Chiefs game, and Frazier who left a year after 13 seconds, would you say any of the other 3 didn't deserve to be fired?  Do you think McD should have been fired after 13 seconds?

Edited September 3 by Doc

[Mr. WEO]

9 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

McD has fired 2 OCs and 2 STs coaches.  Outside of Farwell, who you've convinced yourself wasn't at fault for the Chiefs game, and Frazier who left a year after 13 seconds, would you say any of the other 3 didn't deserve to be fired?  Do you think McD should have been fired after 13 seconds?

McD has to go because the team has gone stale on him

[GoBills808]

14 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

McD has fired 2 OCs and 2 STs coaches.  Outside of Farwell, who you've convinced yourself wasn't at fault for the Chiefs game, and Frazier who left a year after 13 seconds, would you say any of the other 3 didn't deserve to be fired?  Do you think McD should have been fired after 13 seconds?

unequivocally

 

that was the moment laid bare

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said:

McD has to go because the team has gone stale on him

 

The way the team turned the season around after the firing of Dorsey suggests otherwise.  They could have easily packed-it-in if they wanted him gone.

 

5 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

unequivocally

 

that was the moment laid bare

 

Even if the deep kickoff was on Farwell and/or play-calling had been on Frazier? 

[Fan in San Diego]

33 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

McD has fired 2 OCs and 2 STs coaches.  Outside of Farwell, who you've convinced yourself wasn't at fault for the Chiefs game, and Frazier who left a year after 13 seconds, would you say any of the other 3 didn't deserve to be fired?  Do you think McD should have been fired after 13 seconds?

McD has to fire Bass, he is going to cost us 2 or 3 games and that is on McD. He knows better than to trust Bass.

[GoBills808]

4 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The way the team turned the season around after the firing of Dorsey suggests otherwise.  They could have easily packed-it-in if they wanted him gone.

 

 

Even if the deep kickoff was on Farwell and/or play-calling had been on Frazier? 

our willingness to blame coordinators knows no bounds

[Doc]

1 minute ago, Fan in San Diego said:

McD has to fire Bass, he is going to cost us 2 or 3 games and that is on McD. He knows better than to trust Bass.

 

That is possible.

[Mr. WEO]

20 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

The way the team turned the season around after the firing of Dorsey suggests otherwise.  They could have easily packed-it-in if they wanted him gone.

 

 

Even if the deep kickoff was on Farwell and/or play-calling had been on Frazier? 

 

tell us how you know this was the case.

 

what else is Josh to do as he watches the D pizz away another playoff game?   What is McD really good at?

[Doc]

 

Just now, GoBills808 said:

our willingness to blame coordinators knows no bounds

 

Again, McD has fired just 4 coordinators in 8 seasons.  The only ones were blaming are Frazier and Dorsey, for 13 seconds.  I don't think anyone's shedding any tears over losing Dennison, Crossman or Dorsey. 

[Doc]

3 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

tell us how you know this was the case.

 

what else is Josh to do as he watches the D pizz away another playoff game?   What is McD really good at?

 

I don't know for sure about Frazier, but I can see McD trying to give him his moment to shine so as to get another head coaching gig.  Farwell I'm sure was responsible for not informing Bass of the change in kickoff strategy, and if so he deserved to be fired.  I don't think McD fired him for no reason.

 

And as for Josh seeing his D pizz away another playoff game, that was the only game they pizzed away.  No one came to play against the Bengals the following year and last year the Bills were starting their backup LB's and a backup CB against the Chefs, and Bass blew the game-tying kick.  Meanwhile some have said he could have won the game had he thrown the ball to Diggs on that final drive when they were in the redzone, to at least chew up clock so as to not see the defense pizz the game away.

 

And hey, I'm all for getting a stud HC who is great at something.  I'm open to suggestions.  But I've never been a change for change sake kind of person when things are successful and I think it's going to have to wait until the Bills sorely under perform.  And who knows?  That could be this season.

[FireChans]

31 minutes ago, Doc said:

 

 

Again, McD has fired just 4 coordinators in 8 seasons.  The only ones were blaming are Frazier and Dorsey, for 13 seconds.  I don't think anyone's shedding any tears over losing Dennison, Crossman or Dorsey. 

Firing a coordinator every other season is pretty stark lol.