McD will be the scapegoat to hide the real issue this week

[streetkings01]

28 minutes ago, Fleezoid said:

The defense was gashed all day by a 6-6 team. That's coaching. Or a crappy roster. One of those is true. 

 

A hot  7-6 team that was missing its top 2 reciever targets for the early part of the season!

[ProcessImproverMan]

Just now, atlbillsfan1975 said:

Better hope we don’t see the Rams again. This is the exact team which destroys McD’s defense. Vet QB with enough talent left, excellent possession WR’s, and a mastermind offensive coaching staff. They will score 30+ every time. 

Why I hope the Bengals keep losing and don't go on a run ..Ravens too because of Henry.

 

Give us the Chargers who often drop passes or Colts or someone. 

[transient]

12 minutes ago, strive_for_five_guy said:

This was all just practice for the playoffs.  McD told the D to not show up, and force Josh to try and win this one all by himself.  This way, Josh is ready for that come playoff time.

[boyst]

6 minutes ago, Sabres 2025 said:

 

Stafford was throwing against a McDermott bend but don't break defense that just broke all day long.   Defense is ridiculously overrated. First the Ravens and now this. 

 That it looked exactly like a Leslie Frazier defense must be a coincidence, right?   ....right?

 

Frazier was a scapegoat.

[Rigotz]

37 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Fans are already piling on McD for his end of game decisions (accepting the penalty with 5 minutes left and the TO after the sneak).  I think there is fair criticism to both plays, however those two decisions are NOT why we lost the game. 

 

Defense today:

11-15 on third down conversions (was 11-12 with about 5 minutes left in the game

1-1 on fourth down

0 sacks

38:30 time of possession for the Rams

457 total yards allowed

 

The game wasn't lost in the last 5 minutes, it was the poor playcalling by Babich and execution in the first 55 that really hurt us.

I don’t know how anyone could blame the defensive coordinator for operating poorly out of a base Nickel, zone scheme that is clearly ineffective against elite offenses.

 

How do you allow McDermott to wash away any guilt and pin it on the coordinator?

[oldmanfan]

39 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Fans are already piling on McD for his end of game decisions (accepting the penalty with 5 minutes left and the TO after the sneak).  I think there is fair criticism to both plays, however those two decisions are NOT why we lost the game. 

 

Defense today:

11-15 on third down conversions (was 11-12 with about 5 minutes left in the game

1-1 on fourth down

0 sacks

38:30 time of possession for the Rams

457 total yards allowed

 

The game wasn't lost in the last 5 minutes, it was the poor playcalling by Babich and execution in the first 55 that really hurt us.

Exactly.  We were dominated.  As was their D.

[Buffalo03]

11 minutes ago, Billever76 said:

I'd say accepting the holding penalty on 4th down and then wasting a Timeout was much more of a reason for the loss 

I'd say if the Rams didn't have the points from the blocked punt, it wouldn't have mattered

Edited December 9 by Buffalo03

[Brandon]

This is still McDermott's defense. 

 

It doesn't help that these late season defensive collapses happen every year in the playoffs. 

[Roundybout]

1 minute ago, boyst said:

 That it looked exactly like a Leslie Frazier defense must be a coincidence, right?   ....right?

 

Frazier was a scapegoat.

Not like we gave up 21 points or less to four of our last five opponents headed into today or nothing. Nope. None of that matters.

[BananaB]

McDs D sucks whenever we play a team that has multiple weapons. Look at what happens when they play the Bengals, they get sliced and diced. Odd thing is, next week we are gonna see the same type play when they go up against the Lions. 

[BADOLBILZ]

15 minutes ago, DuckyBoys said:

might be time to acknowledge the lack of talent on the defense  Small linebackers , no impact d line and slow dbs   Dragging along overpaid Von doesn't help Most talented guy on defense been on McDermott's sh1t list since being drafted  and doesn't even play

 

 

They are talented enough on D everywhere except DT.   The current DT's undermine the entire scheme on days like this.   They can't be trusted to hold their ground and force the run outside or collapse or penetrate the pocket consistently.   So the ends and back 7 can't just go out and play their games.   It's the #1 need going into the offseason, whenever that begins.

[FieldGeneral]

Zone will win you games against 41 year old QBs or Tua, but it won't against a career accurate QB with 2 very good WRs who are very good at finding and sitting in zones that you can't cover forever if your defensive line cannot get pressure.

[transient]

1 minute ago, Buffalo03 said:

I'd say if the Rams didn't have the points from the blocked punt, it wouldn't have mattered

^^This.

 

The way the defense was playing, or not playing, at that point it just takes a little longer for the Rams to score and leaves less time for the Bills to make it close at the end of the game.

[plenzmd1]

27 minutes ago, Nelius said:

I’m sorry but nothing is going to memory hole that time out and Josh’s reaction to that timeout, certainly not this quickly.

 

Josh Allen, cyborg unicorn, knew immediately that McD ripped that win from him the moment he called that TO. 
 

And then they had a little impromptu sideline chat. This board isn’t imagining things. McD can’t match Allen’s brilliance. 

I am shocked that more posters are not acknowledging this point. It's not the loss; it's his inability to give his team the best chance to win situationally that is so concerning.

 

Losing this game is not that big a deal, but losing your player's confidence as a head coach could be.

 

and he has proven time and again, he is a mental midget in crunch time in a close game, and when pressure is high.

 

Playoff game are rarely blowouts 

[Eastport bills]

The defense was exposed today and Sean and Babich had no answers. We have a problem that starts with our front four not being able to get pressure against good O-lines.  Then throw in our zone defense can be abused by good QBs.. We don’t stop the run well enough That unfortunately describes the Lions, Eagles, and Baltimore.

 

[zow2]

Bills D was clearly exposed.  some of us said a few weeks ago if the D doesn’t  force turnovers the other team will drive on us to death.  Thats the Bills secret sauce, bending, forcing a TO or two and capitalizing on offense. 

[DrBob806]

4 minutes ago, Sabres 2025 said:

 

Stafford was throwing against a McDermott bend but don't break defense that just broke all day long.   Defense is ridiculously overrated. First the Ravens and now this. 

I agree, the D is most certainly over rated. 

 

You play what your schedule gives you- I think it's unfortunate the AFC East is basically horrible now. It's a lot like when the Patriots had their run...no competition.

 

Playoff time will be interesting. I'd actually be concerned facing teams like Denver & Pittsburgh because of the veteran coach angle with Payton & Tomlin. The Bills are more talented, sure, but I'm concerned. We would match up better with Baltimore, it would probably be a game like today with little D. 

 

They'll end up a 2 or 3 seed, but IMHO the AFC is a lot more wide open. We really want the SB but it's going to be tougher than ever to get there. 

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Only thing that really bugs me is it’s a movie we’ve seen before: Coaching blunder late and a defense that took the night off. 
 

That said, if we had to drop a game I think we’d all sign up for:

- NFC

- Away

- Division locked up

 

Not sweating this game. 
 

Next week is McDermott’s “say my name” game. 

[oldmanfan]

4 minutes ago, BananaB said:

McDs D sucks whenever we play a team that has multiple weapons. Look at what happens when they play the Bengals, they get sliced and diced. Odd thing is, next week we are gonna see the same type play when they go up against the Lions. 

Kind of like what happened to the Rams D today.  Really good offenses tend to beat defenses.

[<bills4life>]

44 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

Fans are already piling on McD for his end of game decisions (accepting the penalty with 5 minutes left and the TO after the sneak).  I think there is fair criticism to both plays, however those two decisions are NOT why we lost the game. 

 

Defense today:

11-15 on third down conversions (was 11-12 with about 5 minutes left in the game

1-1 on fourth down

0 sacks

38:30 time of possession for the Rams

457 total yards allowed

 

The game wasn't lost in the last 5 minutes, it was the poor playcalling by Babich and execution in the first 55 that really hurt us.

His clock management at the end of the game costed us the opportunity to at least have a better chance of winning. 7 percent chance of onside recovery or 15 percent chance our defense stops them. Should have played the odds. I’m not saying the d would have stopped them. But McDermott is the head coach and highly vaulted as a defensive guru. The buck starts and stops with him. No scapegoat needed.