Hot Take: Does Bobby Babich Lose His Job?

[BillsFan130]

First off... If I were to bet, I would bet saying no he doesn't get fired because it was his 1st year

 

BUT... I think it is at least a discussion worth having, and that he will be on thin ice next season.

 

Some stats that are pretty alarming:

 

29th on 3rd downs

Let up the 4th most first downs in the league. 

23rd in passing yards allowed and 8th most passing TDS allowed. (Insane compared to years in the past)

 

And in the biggest game of the year against KC with two starters out in the secondary, I believe Joe Marino stated they played man around 44 percent of the time...

 

I am trying not to make this a Sean Mcdermott discussion, as we get it as it is his scheme.

 

But inarguably, the Bills defence outside of turnovers? Was pretty much a disaster this season and Bobby B didn't have many answers.

 

What do you think about Babich going forward?

[Augie]

No. 

 

But we need a few fixes. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

No.

They didn't have enough talent up front and injuries in secondary were a legit excuse. 

We knew it from day 1. The minute Beane signed Epenesa to an extension we knew the DL was screwed. The surprise was the drop off in DQ play. That hurt.

Rousseau is just far too inconsistent and that really hurt them against KC.

Bishop had better get much better next year or it will add to long list of 2nd round busts for Beane. 

 

[LABILLBACKER]

2 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

First off... If I were to bet, I would bet saying no he doesn't get fired because it was his 1st year

 

BUT... I think it is at least a discussion worth having, and that he will be on thin ice next season.

 

Some stats that are pretty alarming:

 

29th on 3rd downs

Let up the 4th most first downs in the league. 

23rd in passing yards allowed and 8th most passing TDS allowed. (Insane compared to years in the past)

 

And in the biggest game of the year against KC with two starters out in the secondary, I believe Joe Marino stated they played man around 44 percent of the time...

 

I am trying not to make this a Sean Mcdermott discussion, as we get it as it is his scheme.

 

But inarguably, the Bills defence outside of turnovers? Was pretty much a disaster this season and Bobby B didn't have many answers.

 

What do you think about Babich going forward?

Without the takeaways the Bills would be dead last in the NFL on Defense.  Blaming Babich is lazy. Blaming Frazier is lazy.  This is Sean McDermott's team and 100% his scheme and hand picked players. He runs the show.  Now prepare for Smiley to be fired so Sean can survive another season.  What a deal....

[BillsFan130]

Just now, LABILLBACKER said:

Without the takeaways the Bills would be dead last in the NFL on Defense.  Blaming Babich is lazy. Blaming Frazier is lazy.  This is Sean McDermott's team and 100% his scheme and hand picked players. He runs the show.  Now prepare for Smiley to be fired so Sean can survive another season.  What a deal....

Haha I know, but like I said, I was trying to keep Mcdermott out of it as theres more to it.

 

Babich does call the plays on defence and deserves critcism- Especially with their 3rd down and pass defence falling off a cliff

[Yobogoya!]

It’s so hard to know the true dynamics of that side of the ball. It was hard to figure out with Frazier and now with Babich.. I mean we can be certain Bobby wasn’t given free rein to design his own scheme, but is he simply calling McDermott’s hand crafted playbook? To what extent is he putting any kind of his own stamp on things? 
 

Ultimately he wouldn’t be let go unless him and McDermott are secretly butting heads behind the scenes. If Babich has concerns or things he wants to implement and is getting shut down, can’t imagine he’d want to continue just being the figurehead for McDermott’s scheme. 

[Sojourner]

Players are the problem. You can have all the perfect plays, drills and practices put in place that in theory will work 100%, but if the execution isn’t there in the moment you have nothing. 
 

[notpolian]

No.  Give him at least one more year, and if it don't improve get rid of everybody (which I doubt will happen).

 

The safety situation was shaky at best though Rapp was ok most of the time.  CBs can't really play man, that's not Babich's fault.  And it's the way to play KC. 

LBs are quick but undersized and both starters were out of position too much most of the year pre-Milano.  I don't think that's all coaching.

 

DL needs size and talent upgrade.

 

Need a great defense heavy draft and some luck with FA signings.

[BillsFan2313]

McD should forget his scheme and go find his Spags. He can just focus on running the team. 

[BillsFan130]

2 minutes ago, notpolian said:

No.  Give him at least one more year, and if it don't improve get rid of everybody (which I doubt will happen).

 

The safety situation was shaky at best though Rapp was ok most of the time.  CBs can't really play man, that's not Babich's fault.  And it's the way to play KC. 

LBs are quick but undersized and both starters were out of position too much most of the year pre-Milano.  I don't think that's all coaching.

 

DL needs size and talent upgrade.

 

Need a great defense heavy draft and some luck with FA signings.

For sure- To be clear, I am not blaming everything on Babich.

 

But I think a lot of the times we like to choose one side:- Like: "It's the players fault". Or "It's the coaches fault"

 

In reality? Usually it is a combination of both

Just now, BillsFan2313 said:

McD should forget his scheme and go find his Spags. He can just focus on running the team. 

That is exactly what I have been calling for as well.

 

I think this defence needs an identity shake up

[Sojourner]

2 minutes ago, BillsFan2313 said:

McD should forget his scheme and go find his Spags. He can just focus on running the team. 

Babich was supposed to his Spagnolo is essence, hence the superseding of play duties. In reality, he’s no different than Frazier; a mouthpiece for his execution.  

[klos63]

Not enough talent on defense. 

Average safety position, Average dline, below average pass rush , linebackers probably pretty solid with a strong line. 

It's a personnel issue,  mostly. 

[JakeFrommStateFarm]

24 minutes ago, BillsFan2313 said:

McD should forget his scheme and go find his Spags. He can just focus on running the team. 

[BillsFan130]

4 minutes ago, klos63 said:

Not enough talent on defense. 

Average safety position, Average dline, below average pass rush , linebackers probably pretty solid with a strong line. 

It's a personnel issue,  mostly. 

That's fair- But do you think it was that much worse than last year?

 

D line- Slightly worse this year Cause the loss of Floyd. (But Von had a bit more of an impact)

 

Linebackers- I would say better this year with the return of Milano and Dorian taking a step

 

Corners- Call it a wash. Douglas was worse this year, but benford was better

 

Safeties- slightly worse this year or a wash I would say. Rapp is better than 2023 Hyde/poyer. But 2023 Hyde and poyer were better than Hamlin IMO.

 

You could argue the talent is slightly worse this year than last- But a lot of the numbers this year are way worse, which has to speak to somewhat coaching as well

[GETTOTHE50]

No hes done his best with McDermotts polished turd of a defense 

[Charles Romes]

3.5 stops v ravens (3 Turnovers), 2.5 v chiefs (no credit for the mahomes giveaway).  1 forced punt in drives where the O did not reach FG range over 2 games.  Pretty much the same as what Frazier and McD were rolling out there against the elite teams in the playoffs…So keep him!

Edited 14 hours ago by Charles Romes

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

He still hasn't fired Smiley after several debacles it's doubtful Babich gets the axe and really shouldn't, give him some better personal before making rash decisions. 

[TFBillsfan]

I realize everything is under the microscope with how we lost in the AFCC. However, when we step and reflect, the overall talent on the defensive side of the ball is significantly lacking. It’s amazing how the Bills were able to have the second best record in the AFC all things considered. Our DL and Secondary are woeful. There is NO ONE on the DL that is a disruptor and our secondary as a whole lacks the athleticism and speed. I don’t recall any INT by our secondary that wasn’t a result of an overthrow. Our Safeties played 15 yards off the LOS as they were vulnerable to getting beat deep. With zero pass rush and soft coverage, our defensive stats aren’t surprising. Josh and the offense have masked so many deficiencies and unfortunately those deficiencies are exploited in the playoffs. I believe the offense has averaged 27 points in the five playoffs losses with Josh as the QB.

 

All things considered, Babich didn’t have much to work with. So no I don’t put the onus on Babich, but Beane, McDermott and Babich better hit on some instant impactful players in the draft and FA. IMO, the D is the primary reason why they can’t get over the hump. 

[BillsFan130]

3 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

No hes done his best with McDermotts polished turd of a defense 

Why do you feel like he's done the best?

 

If you summarize the Bills Defence as a whole, by all accounts they were probably in the 17-20 range

 

Where in years past they have been top 5, and if I'm not mistaken I think we're number 1 in one season. 

[GETTOTHE50]

6 minutes ago, BillsFan130 said:

Why do you feel like he's done the best?

 

If you summarize the Bills Defence as a whole, by all accounts they were probably in the 17-20 range

 

Where in years past they have been top 5, and if I'm not mistaken I think we're number 1 in one season. 

Bc the starting secondary did not have many games together due to injury. Plus rasul is older, damar is a second stringer, and Cole is a rookie.

 

Milano didn’t come back till later. 
 

and the defensive line in general is not very good.

 

the defense got turnovers largely bc opposing teams had to play aggressive in order to keep up with JA17 and the offense. 
 

they really weren’t good. 

Edited 14 hours ago by GETTOTHE50