Buffalo Bills Season's End: The Off-Seasons Starts Now

[My Cozen Dylan]

Don't assume that McD is gone at the end of the year. You'll only be set up for disappointment.

I can't imagine that Beane's seat is hot in any way shape or form.

Oh I wasn't assuming that. Just saying assuming he was gone for purposes of evaluating Beane.

 

[zenthusiast]

A special night indeed

Lol

 

[Zman5778]

A special night indeed

Let's also have a little perspective here: This isn't the loss to the Pats or to the Broncos. This was a loss to a legitimate Super Bowl favorite and MVP favorite.

The Eagles are a damned good team. We needed to be perfect today to beat them, and we weren't.

 

[Zman5778]

McDermott won’t be fired this year. He could lose out and he won’t be fired. These failures will finally put him on the hot seat next year. Then all bets are off.

Yeah, totally agreed. If this happens next year, I can't imagine he survives.

 

[Ace]

Beane should survive McDermott and get to pick a coach.

Praying for an offensive minded one. Even if it’s another season away. We’re just wasting time until then anyway

 

[SabresFan26]

McDermott won’t be fired this year. He could lose out and he won’t be fired. These failures will finally put him on the hot seat next year. Then all bets are off.

I agree. The Pegulas love him. He’s everything they hope Granato would be.

They’ll say this was a fluke year and then next year he will be hotter but they’ll play an easier schedule and make the playoffs still he will be safe but then lose to a better coach in the playoffs

 

[DapperCam]

I think it can be simultaneously true that people have taken joy in the last 3 seasons while also realizing that we've left a LOT of meat on the bone.

6 one score losses this year (versus 1 win)
All 3 losses last year were by one score (versus 6 wins)
5 one score losses in 2021 (versus 0 wins)

I'm very much starting to wonder if McDermott is akin to Granato -- a great coach to lead us out of the void and to help develop talent.....but ultimately not the guy to get us over the hump.

Am I willing to give him another year? Yeah, probably....hopefully with better health (especially Milano -- his absence killed us today).

But it's hard not to be extraordinarily disappointed with *gestures wildly*

3 times we’ve gotten the go ahead score with less than 2 minutes left and lost this year. Very similar loss should have happened vs the Tyrod Giants but we got lucky.

It is a coaching problem.

 

[misterchainsaw]

I think it can be simultaneously true that people have taken joy in the last 3 seasons while also realizing that we've left a LOT of meat on the bone.

6 one score losses this year (versus 1 win)
All 3 losses last year were by one score (versus 6 wins)
5 one score losses in 2021 (versus 0 wins)

I'm very much starting to wonder if McDermott is akin to Granato -- a great coach to lead us out of the void and to help develop talent.....but ultimately not the guy to get us over the hump.

Am I willing to give him another year? Yeah, probably....hopefully with better health (especially Milano -- his absence killed us today).

But it's hard not to be extraordinarily disappointed with *gestures wildly*

I understand the frustation, certainly. I was throwing shit and slamming stuff around myself. And at some level I understand the need to direct it somewhere. But I think it's misguided at best. At worst are the people who wasted no time criticizing him for being too agressive for Denver and are now ripping him for playing too soft.

I don't even think playing too soft was the problem today. One of the big conversions was a play call where they attacked Taron Johnson's zone both deep and short. Understandably he didn't want to give up the big play so he gave up the short pass. The reality is that a good offense got its footing late in the game and starting finding the holes that we all know the Bills defense has without Milano in the lineup. We couldn't even trust Dodson to spy Hurts FFS. It's not like Philly only moved the ball at the end - they were on the front foot for the entire 2nd half.

Ignored, of course, in all this are the times when the defense DID come up with stops to win games. They intercepted Mahomes in the two minute drill to preserve last year's win in arrowhead, for example. You don't get to 37-12 without stops in key times, and shrugging that off with "well it's all just Allen" is just wrong - not only because the defense has been very good overall during his tenure, but because the culture and team and atmosphere was put in place for Josh to succeed where no one picked ahead of him has. And only Jackson in the entire draft class has come close to him (again, look at the infrastructure there).

 

[Ace]

Imagine how much worse these D stats would be if the Giants had just called a run at the end of either half.

 

[Husko]

I want to win. Harbaugh wins. I don't really care how he gets it done.

He never won a super bowl either, only got to one, and quit on his team.

 

[stokes84]

Imagine how much worse these D stats would be if the Giants had just called a run at the end of either half.

And if we are all being honest, Johnson should’ve been flagged and they should’ve lost that game too.

 

[Dirty Dog]

I overall didn't like the time management in the 4th quarter. They should have gone fast on their TD drive instead of slow - they weren't in the position to run the clock down to where Philly would feel huge time pressure to kick a field goal. Leave time to answer...and then that spiraled into the timeout on the FG which was just wrong (unless there was a penalty-related reason for it).

But probably 80% of a coaches' work is done during the week. f*** if I'm going to want to dump one of the most successful coaches in Bills history (believe he still has the best winning % of any coach) because of it. It's not like they didn't have plenty of chances to still win the game.

Good franchises don't fire coaches over one bad year. Period. ESPECIALLY when the underlying stats are so good and losses have been historically assigned to more luck than anything else by analysts. IF we miss the playoffs we'll come back next year with a 2nd place schedule and I am fully confident we'll be right back in the hunt, as long as the fanbase doesn't stir up any stupid ass drama over Diggs/Allen/et al.

I have gotten tempted, but I’m not a fan of moving on from McDermott. This season has been bizarre and weird. I’m not moving on after a single year like this.

But he does deserve some blame. And his defenses have a history of performing their worst when it matters. Healthy or unhealthy

 

[stokes84]

I have gotten tempted, but I’m not a fan of moving on from McDermott. This season has been bizarre and weird. I’m not moving on after a single year like this.

But he does deserve some blame. And his defenses have a history of performing their worst when it matters. Healthy or unhealthy

But it’s not a single year. Turtling in close games is his signature quality as a coach.

 

[misterchainsaw]

I have gotten tempted, but I’m not a fan of moving on from McDermott. This season has been bizarre and weird. I’m not moving on after a single year like this.

But he does deserve some blame. And his defenses have a history of performing their worst when it matters. Healthy or unhealthy

I don't know if I agree with the 2nd part. Does the 17-3 playoff win over Baltimore where a defensive TD provided the winning margin just not count? They should have beaten Minnesota last year if not for the offense choking it back, and I don't think there was any other 2022 games they lost in the last minute (and they preserved the aformentioned KC game at Arrowhead). 2021 I don't think there was any games requiring a stop except for 13 seconds. 2020 was the aformentioned Ravens playoff game, but they also stopped the Colts final drive in the playoffs to win by 3 the week before. Arizona's Hail Mary was nothing but a fluke and they also turned away New England on a potential winning/tying drive up 3.

It's been a rough stretch for sure. But to my point they got burned on aggresiveness in one of the 3 games they've "blown" this year. Today required a 59 yard field goal in a driving rain storm (should I bring up the "Not close to FG range" argument again?) to send it to overtime against an offense that had their number for much of the 2nd half.

The too soft narrative over time is almost as ridiculous as the Allen turns it over too much and can't win you the big game national narrative. Except it's worse because it's our own f***ing "fans" doing it

 

[truthbluth]

So, I missed the 2nd half and overtime to be at band practice. Good call.

 

[Mike McDermott]

I think any of you that say you want Harbaugh either (a) have wildly different ideas of what kind of offense you want than me; or (b) don't know much about Harbaugh's offensive philosophies.

I’m a Michigan fan and I don’t want Harbaugh for this reason. His offense works in the smash mouth Big 10 but it isn’t what our offense or an NFL offense should be.

Edit to add: as much as some want it (I’m on the fence) McD isn’t going anywhere and neither is Beane over this. Beane isn’t going to fire McD and Beane isn’t getting fired by Pegula.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

 

[stokes84]

I’m a Michigan fan and I don’t want Harbaugh for this reason. His offense works in the smash mouth Big 10 but it isn’t what our offense or an NFL offense should be.

Edit to add: as much as some want it (I’m on the fence) McD isn’t going anywhere and neither is Beane over this. Beane isn’t going to fire McD and Beane isn’t getting fired by Pegula.

I’ll be apoplectic if McDermott is not canned. It would be indefensible.

 

[TehDoak]

Well that was a very entertaining game to see live. Philly is a great place to see a football game.

Would have been nice to get the W.

That's 5 games that have realistically come down to the last play this season. We've lost 4 of them, 2 in OT, one on two bad penalties, and one by letting mac f***ing jones drive down the field on us. This one is fully on the defense. They needed one stop over two drives and couldn't get it done. The only reason we didn't lose in regulation was the two false start calls that pushed them to long ass 3rd down.

It's crystal clear that the head coaching and defensive playcalling is too much for McDermott. He's a great defensive coordinator. But...he needs to focus fully on head coaching and let someone else take the reigns full time.

 

[Ace]

Being prepared and knowing what you’re doing is better than 20/20 hindsight. Especially when you are incapable of f***ing learning. Not only did KC famously do it to you…YOU DID IT LAST YEAR AGAINST THE LIONS.

Guess the Lions game wasn’t important enough to go full idiot

And it is not the life we live. It’s the life you, idiot coward, live. Everyone else on the planet WAS MOCKING YOU

 

[Mike McDermott]

I’ll be apoplectic if McDermott is not canned. It would be indefensible.

I can see both sides of the be needs to go vs doesn’t argument which is why I’m in the fence on it. I just don’t see either of the tops guys being fired after this year. Until I see otherwise this organization is going to continue as is.

 

[Dreakon13]

The reffing didn't cost us the game or anything... but is Philly paying the bills or something? How the hell does a game, the first half at least, get called that badly and blatantly one sided.

 

[Ace]

Oh he NEEDS to go. Another offseason spent shopping for his groceries is a waste that will haunt us after he’s gone. The team is aging out on defense and they can not commit to contracts that fit his scheme when he’s clearly not the long term play.

But he won’t go.

Because Buffalo sports are not serious.

 

[TehDoak]

Now hear me out: what if belicheck is fired….

 

[K8fool]

Oh he NEEDS to go. Another offseason spent shopping for his groceries is a waste that will haunt us after he’s gone. The team is aging out on defense and they can not commit to contracts that fit his scheme when he’s clearly not the long term play.

But he won’t go.

Because Buffalo sports are not serious.

Are you watching we outplayed them completely. Sports is dead.

Now hear me out: what if belicheck is fired….

So you want to cheat and win without honor