McDermott Coached his A$$ off Before and During the Ravens Game

[Buffalo Boy]

I’ve clearly been less than enthused with McD.

He absolutely gets an Atta Boy for yesterday. 
I said in the beginning of the game thread that we needed the D to get us a turnover or three….. and they did. 
On to KC

[T.E.]

He was on the precipice of another playoff choke job until that dropped 2PT conversion. Went insanely conservative in the 2nd half, showed zero trust in his best player, and, of course, his vaunted zone defense once again gave up a huge TD drive when we had to have a stop. Sorry, but he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

[Big Turk]

50 minutes ago, leonbus23 said:

Not a huge deal, but the Bills were called for two penalties. One was declined.

 

And the accepted one was a phantom penalty that never happened.

[JerseyBills]

4 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

I have read about the incredible preparation Sean McDermott did for the Ravens game(studied every play by the Ravens this season). Going so far as to sign former Baltimore QB Anthony Brown to the practice squad to help the Bills prepare a defense for Lamar Jackson.  

The way the Bills countered the Ravens showed that they made some worthwhile corrections and that they were the most prepared team on the field.  The Bills were called for only one penalty for a total of 10 yards.  He also made the critical call to go for the three points when they were 4th and a long two yards from scoring after Josh lost yards on the 3rd down play.  Clock management was excellent and even the coin toss worked out well.  

Well done coach McD ! 

And the lone penalty was BS and probably cost at least 3 points 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

5 hours ago, T.E. said:

He was on the precipice of another playoff choke job until that dropped 2PT conversion. Went insanely conservative in the 2nd half, showed zero trust in his best player, and, of course, his vaunted zone defense once again gave up a huge TD drive when we had to have a stop. Sorry, but he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

I keep hearing this insanely conservative/no trust thing about the offense and I don’t really see it personally.  Half the drives in the second half (not counting the final clincher) were killed by Josh himself or Josh/kincaid…there were only 4 total.  He threw a pretty bad ball to Kincaid on that first drive out of halftime, Kincaid probably could’ve bailed him out but Josh definitely could’ve thrown a better ball. 
 

the TE screen Josh definitely audibled into.  That leaves the back to back misses to cooper and shakir drive that looked like throwaways  so I’m not gonna count that against either the qb or coach.  I thought Shakir got held but that’s playoff football I guess.  the goal line sequence yea maybe you sneak twice if you’re cool with a butthole clencher 4th and long 1 sneak situation 😂. I think it’s fair to question that though sure.  
 

feels like tbd thinks we ran the ball every play or something in that second half and that’s definitely not the case, it was the same balance as always we just made a funky 3rd down audible decision and missed a huge second down throw that we needed to have.  I’ve gotta fact check myself on this but I don’t believe we ran twice on a series of downs all game. 

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Generic_Bills_Fan

[Buffalo03]

2 hours ago, T.E. said:

He was on the precipice of another playoff choke job until that dropped 2PT conversion. Went insanely conservative in the 2nd half, showed zero trust in his best player, and, of course, his vaunted zone defense once again gave up a huge TD drive when we had to have a stop. Sorry, but he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

I do agree that we were very conservative and it almost killed us but after rewatching on the NFL network just a little bit ago, the playcalling wasn't as bad as I thought, though it still could have been better. It was pretty much like a "kill them with a thousand papercuts" game plan. That offensive drive after Bernard knocked the ball loose from Andrews was very methodical. It died inside the 5 because it got way too conservative. But until the 5 yard line, it was actually executed quite well. We got yards in very small chunks. But it worked

 

Edited 23 hours ago by Buffalo03

[Mister Defense]

6 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

I have read about the incredible preparation Sean McDermott did for the Ravens game(studied every play by the Ravens this season). Going so far as to sign former Baltimore QB Anthony Brown to the practice squad to help the Bills prepare a defense for Lamar Jackson.  

The way the Bills countered the Ravens showed that they made some worthwhile corrections and that they were the most prepared team on the field.  The Bills were called for only one penalty for a total of 10 yards.  He also made the critical call to go for the three points when they were 4th and a long two yards from scoring after Josh lost yards on the 3rd down play.  Clock management was excellent and even the coin toss worked out well.  

Well done coach McD ! 

 

Great take, i had not heard about McD looking at every play of the Ravens, for example.

 

The Bills do not have the defensive talent of most of the top teams in the playoffs, such as Phili and KC, but they have a coach who can overcome the current shortcomings--and an offense that can do more than almost any in the league.

 

I cannot wait to see what happens when they re-load on defensive players in the off season, and prepare for another run at a (2nd?) championship.  If McD can do what he has been doing without great defensive talent, imagine what he can do when the Bills are fully loaded..

 

 

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

I believe that reviewing every play of every team every week should be SOP.  Hire 31 scouts whose only job is to specialize on 1 team and deeply scout every player, every unit, every coach, and every play.  Build that knowledge and maintain it every week and you'll have it available instantly in the format you want it.

Edited 14 hours ago by JÂy RÛßeÒ

[Cray51]

12 hours ago, Gugny said:

The third quarter was crap. 
 

We need four quarters of great football. 

I mean... us winning proved that you dont NEED four quarters of great football.  Three was enough

[Sweats]

12 hours ago, T.E. said:

He was on the precipice of another playoff choke job until that dropped 2PT conversion. Went insanely conservative in the 2nd half, showed zero trust in his best player, and, of course, his vaunted zone defense once again gave up a huge TD drive when we had to have a stop. Sorry, but he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again. 

 

 

 

On two of the Ravens TD drives, our D was out of position and gave up the long balls. I don't blame that on McD, our D was just out of position and played too light and never really looked around at what the Ravens WR's were up to and never speculated on the routes.

 

The 3rd quarter was unforgivable. We had the opportunity to close the door on Baltimore and put them down 3 scores coming out of halftime and failed to do so, letting the Ravens hang around.

They had their opportunity at that moment to put their stamp on that game and change the narrative but played too soft and allowed the Ravens to make a game of it.

 

I guarantee you that if we don't come out swinging and punch KC in the mouth early and often, we are going home.

[GETTOTHE50]

But did he clap his ass off?

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

15 hours ago, jethro_tull said:

I have read about the incredible preparation Sean McDermott did for the Ravens game(studied every play by the Ravens this season). Going so far as to sign former Baltimore QB Anthony Brown to the practice squad to help the Bills prepare a defense for Lamar Jackson.  

The way the Bills countered the Ravens showed that they made some worthwhile corrections and that they were the most prepared team on the field.  The Bills were called for only one penalty for a total of 10 yards.  He also made the critical call to go for the three points when they were 4th and a long two yards from scoring after Josh lost yards on the 3rd down play.  Clock management was excellent and even the coin toss worked out well.  

Well done coach McD ! 

The only gaffs McD made was okaying the shotgun option play instead of putting Josh right behind center and powering it in. Otherwise, he coached an immaculate game. I thought the Ravens game was intense, the AFC Championship is going to take literal years off of my life. I kind of figured Buffalo would lose the last time we went there, but this is the most confident I’ve ever been as a Bills fan. I wasn’t alive during the first ones. For us young (ish) Bills fans, this is it. All the losses, all the heartbreak, and here we are on the brink of glory. It will either be the best moment of my life or the worst. I am not mentally prepared for the latter. All my chips are in for a win. 

[ganesh]

17 minutes ago, Sweats said:

 

 

 

On two of the Ravens TD drives, our D was out of position and gave up the long balls. I don't blame that on McD, our D was just out of position and played too light and never really looked around at what the Ravens WR's were up to and never speculated on the routes.

 

The 3rd quarter was unforgivable. We had the opportunity to close the door on Baltimore and put them down 3 scores coming out of halftime and failed to do so, letting the Ravens hang around.

They had their opportunity at that moment to put their stamp on that game and change the narrative but played too soft and allowed the Ravens to make a game of it.

 

I guarantee you that if we don't come out swinging and punch KC in the mouth early and often, we are going home.

the other team is good too....All teams in the playoffs are equally good and can close the gap

[GerstAusGosheim]

13 hours ago, Gugny said:

The third quarter was crap. 
 

We need four quarters of great football. 

This board (and Twitter) was absolutely roasting Sean for the team's play in the 3rd quarter. And rightfully so. Almost cost us the game. There will be no room for coaching blunders vs Chiefs. 

[todd]

I see the McDermott haters are slowly crawling from under their rocks, determined to ignore success and make themselves miserable, while trying to drag everyone else to that same spot. 
 

mcdermott’s coaching job this year has been excellent, whether you like it or not.

[machine gun kelly]

Well, everyone on the planet nationally and even people at the wing place I like on Sundays were so confident the Ravens would win.

 

I kept saying it’s a pickem game and was true.  McD coached his butt off and proud of the whole team.  I’m less concerned for the Chiefs.  
 

it’s not preset we win it all, but  very good chance we get there.  Whether its the Eagles or Redskins, it’s no push over of a game.

 

Today I finally allowed myself to think about this Sunday.  Yesterday was a victory Monday.  There was no reason to move into the Chiefs yesterday, but just be excited we made it back to the AFCCG.

[dorquemada]

14 hours ago, boyst said:

Not that this isn't true, but the Ravens also have two issues

They're flawed. When down they don't do well, they lost games they should have won.

 

Lamar is a deck chair in the playoffs. 

 

HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT REGULAR SEASON ACTION JACKSON

[Gugny]

49 minutes ago, Cray51 said:

I mean... us winning proved that you dont NEED four quarters of great football.  Three was enough

Three was enough for a +3 turnover differential to go down to the wire. 
 

I certainly don’t expect the Chiefs to be sloppy. 

20 minutes ago, todd said:

I see the McDermott haters are slowly crawling from under their rocks, determined to ignore success and make themselves miserable, while trying to drag everyone else to that same spot. 
 

mcdermott’s coaching job this year has been excellent, whether you like it or not.

I will only speak for myself and will tell you that it’s possible to be happy with McDermott, yet still criticize him. 
 

His coaching has been excellent this season. 
 

But … like with any coach … he hasn’t been perfect. 
 

Pointing out mistakes or areas of concern doesn’t mean someone is a “hater.”

 

It only means they’re not a “homer.”

[hondo in seattle]

14 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

His game plan was definitely "bend not break"...

 

👏👏👏👏

 

I seriously doubt if McD met with Babich and said, "This week for the Ravens, we're going with bend-don't-break."  

 

I'll go out on a limb and guess that McD wanted 3 and outs and even game planned for it.  But their offense is better than our defense and we had trouble forcing punts.  In any case, this wasn't an example of a bend-not-break defense.  We bent and broke on some drives, got turnovers on the others.  

 

The thing that impresses me is that we went up against a team with a solid coaching staff and a better roster than we have, and we won.   That says something positive about our coaches.

 

38 minutes ago, GerstAusGosheim said:

This board (and Twitter) was absolutely roasting Sean for the team's play in the 3rd quarter. And rightfully so. Almost cost us the game. There will be no room for coaching blunders vs Chiefs. 

 

What about Harbaugh's coaching in the 2nd Quarter?  

 

Two excellent coaching staffs went against in each other in a win-or-go-home game.  The Ravens had the better players.  The Bills won.  Maybe our coaches did just fine.  

 

Edited 12 hours ago by hondo in seattle

[Magox]

I agree, if you look at the on-the-surface yardage stats of the Ravens getting over 400 yards you could make an assumption that the Bills didn't play well.  Obviously that isn't the reality.

 

The team stuffed Henry early and often and got the Ravens out of what they wanted to do which led to more drop back passes.   Those drop backs led to two forced turnovers that led to either a 10 or 14 point swing.    The Bills also played well situationally at times, after the big pass play they had a 1st down at the 2 yard line and against their vaunted seven 300 pound players with 6 OL 1 TE and 2 RB's that we've been hearing about all week the Bills stuffed Henry for a 1 yard loss which then led them to try to pass the ball.   And on one of those pass attempts, the Ravens deployed 6 OL again and the guy they brought in initially blocked Epenesa and then he ran out to the flat thinking that he'd be open for an easy TD, but Epenesa didn't take the bait, which led to indecision on Lamar's drop back which then Rousseau came up big with the sack.     

 

Forcing turnovers and protecting the ball is what the Bills did best this year, better than anything else they did was protecting the ball and forcing turnovers and so far in the playoffs that hasn't changed.   With a +27 TO advantage which is by far the best in the league and it is because of this ongoing dynamic that the Bills won the game.

 

Hats off to the coaches for preparing the players and for the players playing their hearts out against a team that matches up well against the Bills.