Why is McD not being talked about as coach of the year?

[foreboding]

I am hearing the talking heads puffing up his moves. Don't be surprised if he gets mentioned soon, if they keep it up.

[Mr. WEO]

1 hour ago, nedboy7 said:

How many wins were you predicting before the season started. 

 

why would any sane person guess less than 11-12?  There's 6 in the division right off the bat.  The AFCE stinks.  Indy stinks, Tennessee stinks--all predictably bad.  KC is usually good for a regular season W.  that's 9 right there.

 

[HappyDays]

Much like MVP, coach of the year is ultimately an award about narratives. It is too difficult for a long-time head coach with expected success to win that narrative battle. Let's be honest, Belichick should have been coach of the year for two straight decades but that's not how it works.

 

I think for McDermott to have a shot we would have to go undefeated the rest of the way. Then the narrative would be that everyone predicted a downturn for the Bills but instead they had their best regular season ever under his leadership, and he would beat another candidate in Dan Campbell along the way. If that happens we are the #1 seed, Allen is unanimous MVP, and McDermott probably has good odds of getting coach of the year.

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, klos63 said:

Who says Allen is a draft bust? Seriously. I've never heard that. 

 

It was a thing. 

[Beck Water]

13 hours ago, Antonio said:

 

Its not like he benched Fields for a career backup, he benched him for a very good veteran in Wilson who even was considered the starter before his injury. 

 

The team was 4-2.  That projects out to an 11-6 season.

Wilson was a brilliant, HOF-trajectory QB once upon a time.  But last year, he was rocking a mighty 205 ypg.  Took 45 sacks, ANY/A of 6.  TL;DR it's been a couple years since Wilson has played like a very good QB.

 

So yeah, it was a controversial, somewhat ballsy move

[klos63]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

It was a thing. 

It was not. Ever. 

10 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

The team was 4-2.  That projects out to an 11-6 season.

Wilson was a brilliant, HOF-trajectory QB once upon a time.  But last year, he was rocking a mighty 205 ypg.  Took 45 sacks, ANY/A of 6.  TL;DR it's been a couple years since Wilson has played like a very good QB.

 

So yeah, it was a controversial, somewhat ballsy move

Not interested in the qb discussion,  just wanted to say that projections like that are useless. They don't mean anything. 

[Comebackkid]

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/buffalo-bills/news/sean-mcdermott-nfl-coach-year-buffalo-bills-kansas-city-chiefs-stefon-diggs/32e8f39636589bcd89f8f599

 

not sure why that wont show as a link but u can copy and paste.

for the most part it said

The Buffalo Bills are off to their best start through 11 games since 1992. They sit at 9-2 going into their bye week, and now own the tiebreaker over the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC for the No. 1 seed should both teams finish with the same record. 

This wasn't supposed to be the year for the Bills, though, They said goodbye to the likes of Jordan Poyer, Micah Hyde, Mitch Morse, Gabe Davis, and Stefon Diggs. They completely re-did their wide receivers room with Khalil Shakir being the only player at the position on the roster that was on the team in 2023. They have dealt with the vast majority of their star players being injured at one point or another. And yet, here they are. With that in mind, is it time for Sean McDermott to get some Coach of the Year consideration? Peter Schrager of Good Morning Football says it's time to give McDermott his well-earned praise.

[Kirby Jackson]

I have been a McDermott detractor for the last 4-5 years. With that being said, this is, by far, his best coaching job yet. He’s been really good all year. They’ve overcome a roster turnover, and injuries. The record is the best that it’s been in 30+ years. He absolutely belongs in the COY conversation.
 

I’m not sure where I’d have him but certainly top 5. I think, for me, Tomlin is 1. I don’t think that team is particularly talented, and, he made the controversial QB switch that worked. He deserves it. Campbell has been a popular name and he deserves consideration as well. His roster however is elite. He’s winning a lot but should with that talent. He’s in the mix. McDermott, Gannon, Payton and Jim Harbaugh would be the others for me. I’d have Tomlin 1 and the other group in whatever order you wanted. 

[FireChans]

10 hours ago, HappyDays said:

Much like MVP, coach of the year is ultimately an award about narratives. It is too difficult for a long-time head coach with expected success to win that narrative battle. Let's be honest, Belichick should have been coach of the year for two straight decades but that's not how it works.

 

I think for McDermott to have a shot we would have to go undefeated the rest of the way. Then the narrative would be that everyone predicted a downturn for the Bills but instead they had their best regular season ever under his leadership, and he would beat another candidate in Dan Campbell along the way. If that happens we are the #1 seed, Allen is unanimous MVP, and McDermott probably has good odds of getting coach of the year.

Funnily enough, narrative-wise, Josh Allen being MVP hurts McD’s chances for COTY.

[GASabresIUFan]

McD has done a great job this year, but he isn’t going to win the COTY.  Here’s why.

 

The roster turnover was mostly getting rid of diminished players except Morse.  Even Diggs and Davis production fell considerably last season as the year progressed.  This was a media mantra stemming from trading the diminished Diggs.

 

8 starters returned on offense and 9 on defense.  Basically the depth got younger, but the core of the team that went 7-2 down the stretch last year returned nearly intact.

 

Besides KC who have the Bills beaten? Only one other opponent so far except KC has a winning record and that’s AZ at 6-4.  Of all the top teams our opponents win% is the worst.  Our only remaining opponent with a winning record is Det.  If we lose to them we’ll have lost all 3 road games against good teams this season.  

Edited November 21 by GASabresIUFan

[BillsVet]

1 hour ago, Kirby Jackson said:

I have been a McDermott detractor for the last 4-5 years. With that being said, this is, by far, his best coaching job yet. He’s been really good all year. They’ve overcome a roster turnover, and injuries. The record is the best that it’s been in 30+ years. He absolutely belongs in the COY conversation.
 

I’m not sure where I’d have him but certainly top 5. I think, for me, Tomlin is 1. I don’t think that team is particularly talented, and, he made the controversial QB switch that worked. He deserves it. Campbell has been a popular name and he deserves consideration as well. His roster however is elite. He’s winning a lot but should with that talent. He’s in the mix. McDermott, Gannon, Payton and Jim Harbaugh would be the others for me. I’d have Tomlin 1 and the other group in whatever order you wanted. 

 

They haven't had the mid-season downturn either this year.  SOS is light currently, but after those BAL and HOU losses and acquiring Cooper they've been steady.  

 

As in, no 6-8 week stretches where they don't play to expectations like they had in from 2021-23.  Seems like players are more focused this season.

[Kirby Jackson]

1 minute ago, BillsVet said:

 

They haven't had the mid-season downturn either this year.  SOS is light currently, but after those BAL and HOU losses and acquiring Cooper they've been steady.  

 

As in, no 6-8 week stretches where they don't play to expectations like they had in from 2021-23.  Seems like players are more focused this season.

That’s a great point. They were bad for Baltimore and horrible at Houston. In hindsight, they still had a very good chance to win that game. The bad stretches have been fewer than any team in the league with the exception of Detroit. By contrast, the New Orleans Saints have spent more time with the lead this year than the Kansas City Chiefs.

[The Jokeman]

18 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

think you forgot Tomlin.  As much as I think the Steelers should have fired him a couple years back, no one expected him to be doing what he is doing and in probably the toughest division in the AFC

I suppose but he's got the best defender on his roster and to me they made significant strides in getting better QBs than they had last season etc. Toss in think most expected Steelers to be in the playoff discussion this year, maybe their out performing by a win or 2 more than most think but to me the jobs by guys in Washington and Minny far more impressive. 

[Beck Water]

10 hours ago, klos63 said:

It was not. Ever. 

Not interested in the qb discussion,  just wanted to say that projections like that are useless. They don't mean anything. 

 

What's Your Point?  

 

Mine is in the context of benching Fields.  It is that the team was winning, and winning at a pace that would have given the Steelers their best record since 2020.

I think it's pretty straightforward to understand why that's controversial.

No one is asserting that projecting a team's record from the start of the season means much, especially this Bills fan who remembers the 5-2 start to 2011 quite well, but it seems kinda silly to waltz in, take something completely out of its context, and declare it meaningless.

 

If you don't care about the context (the QB discussion, or the discussion of COTY to which QB is relevant) why respond at all?

[klos63]

5 minutes ago, Beck Water said:

 

What's Your Point?  

 

Mine is in the context of benching Fields.  It is that the team was winning, and winning at a pace that would have given the Steelers their best record since 2020.

I think it's pretty straightforward to understand why that's controversial.

No one is asserting that projecting a team's record from the start of the season means much, especially this Bills fan who remembers the 5-2 start to 2011 quite well, but it seems kinda silly to waltz in, take something completely out of its context, and declare it meaningless.

 

If you don't care about the context (the QB discussion, or the discussion of COTY to which QB is relevant) why respond at all?

Because that's what this site is about.  Having discussions.

Projections mean nothing, so if you start your point using a meaningless stat, in my opinion, it can hurt the credibility of the rest of your post. It's worth pointing out.

 

 

[HappyDays]

2 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

That’s a great point. They were bad for Baltimore and horrible at Houston. In hindsight, they still had a very good chance to win that game. The bad stretches have been fewer than any team in the league with the exception of Detroit. By contrast, the New Orleans Saints have spent more time with the lead this year than the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

I'll admit the stretch of Baltimore, Houston, and NYJ fed into some of my worst fears about McDermott. My biggest lingering concern with him is how he and his staff perform in critical high-leverage moments. Each of those games featured bizarre decisions that directly led to us losing or letting an inferior team back into the game. You have to execute a few of those moments during a deep playoff run and historically those are the moments that have kicked us out of the tournament. Since the Jets game we've done a much better job in those moments so I have some hope that McDermott has finally figured it out, but the lingering concern is still there and won't be fully excised from my mind until I see it happen when it counts.