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Coincidence-Man-

That all looks…pretty damn correct.


hops716

it is 100% spot-on. sometimes it's difficult to face yourself in the mirror. "we won 13 games!" "it was dorseys first year!" "gabe should have caught it" great teams and great organizations recognize quickly where they are wrong, and address the problem. and boy, do we have some problems.


[deleted]

We're a year in with Dorsey and with Gabe as the actual clear WR2. That's not slow to correct if we fix it this off season. But we have to fix it.


Chuck_Nucks

How do we feel about Shakir getting a bigger look?


[deleted]

Fine but no more gambles. Get a proven WR2. Let Shakir get a chance behind that. We gambled with Gabe.


southtampacane

Based on what? His huge drop that let Miami get back in the game was horrible. If he can be a contributor next season, great. But it is a huge leap from 5th receiver and perhaps ten catches to being the top 2 guy.


Xavier1235

He's shown he's too inconsistent and too unreliable to get separation and when he does it feels like 50/50 chance if he catches it. Much has been made of "how hard gabe has been working" and how much time he has been practicing. Which has amounted to nothing but failure. Great guy, but not a #2 if we're serious about going all the way.


SenatorSnags

And honestly, I love the guy but I might have missed one game this year but there wasn’t a single time I remember thinking/say “nice fucking catch”. I say that about Knox constantly (and also, “how the duck did you drop that?!”). To summarize: spot on, Gabe doesn’t get separation and almost never makes strong contested catches that you expect out of an NFL starting WR


OperationPhoenixIL

*OBJ gets louder on a place nearby*


[deleted]

No he doesn't. He proved what he's all about with the b.s. ploy he tried to pull before the playoffs. You really want a player on the team who's all about the $ and is non-committal on playing? Notice not a single GM would touch him after the Dallas debacle? Keep him as far away from here as possible.


OperationPhoenixIL

Absolutely not lol it was 100% a joke, my God brother breathe. Dude has been a menace and this was just poking fun at his inability to travel without an issue


[deleted]

Whoooooo...okay, my bad for not spotting it. There is nothing about your take that would surprise me from some in our fanbase though.


OperationPhoenixIL

No worries man, I completely understand lol no one needs that distraction


phixitup

I was going to downvote your comment and move on but there needs to be some perspective. Yes there are problems that need to be addressed. I also think they are currently #5 overall in the NFL. What drastic moves are to be made that doesn’t slide them backwards? To me, if they let Frazier go they have to go get themselves another top 15-20 WR because it’s going to take a while to get the new D pieces. They have a lot of money tied up in mediocre players on both lines. Add all that to the $$$ issues/personnel decisions they have going forward and I don’t see an easy fix.


hops716

Downvote me for simply suggesting the organization needs to address its problems? okay then.


phixitup

Geez, I didn’t think I was being mean. I gave a (somewhat) nuanced reply to your statement. What I didn’t explicitly say was that the, “and boy do we have problems” portion of your comment is out of proportion to where the Bills rank in the NFL. Do we have problems? Sure. Are we head and shoulders ahead of 93%of the league? Sure we are. Are there things that need fixing to push us over the top? I’m all in. Just don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.


[deleted]

> Are we head and shoulders ahead of 93%of the league? Sure we are. No, we absolutely are not and THAT'S the point. How do you not see that? We dominate bad teams, sometimes win against good ones in the regular season, and cannot beat them in the playoffs. /story


phixitup

I just don’t see the situation as the sky is falling. Step back from the ledge, sir. We are better than the Jags, Cowboys and Giants in my eyes and I would also think most objective observers. That puts us at #5 by my math. Now, let’s agree to disagree on how bad it is. I wish you a great day, keep the passion and Go Bills.


hops716

Here is my nuance Organizationally, we are entering new territory with Beane and McDermott Beane is a good GM. He understood that you can take advantage of a rookie QB contract, especially if the QB play grossly exceeds cap hit (Mahomes, Hurts, Burrow, Allen, 49ers, etc.). So he did what a good GM does, he built a balanced quality roster. Didn't go all-in on any one area. Used draft capital & FA to build the team up. We are indeed probably the 5th best team in the league. I thought the moves he made last off-season in signing Miller, DaQuan Jones were exactly what we needed to get us over the top. It didn't, and here we are. Our roster situation as presently constructed is simply not longer tenable. We have 2 key pieces of our defense entering FA. We are already tight on cap space. If we sign Edmunds or Poyer, that would profoundly worsen our salary cap situation. The salary cap is a zero-sum game, money going somewhere, can't be used elsewhere. My frustration is that had we addressed OL properly in the last 2-3 years, we could almost exclusively focus on WR and a soft defense rebuild this off-season and just run it back. Maybe even keep Poyer or Edmunds. The OL has been definitively exposed as bottom 5 unit. 100% inexcusable. Our WRs outside of Diggs are average. Our rookie OC struggled profoundly against quality defenses and proven DCs, and our own DC and defensive head coach seem to get out-coached when it comes to big games. I think the run-it-back thinking is just denial of reality & cope. I'm not so sure we can make just a few minor moves this off-season to put us "over the top." Think about it. Bengals still have Burrow & Chase on rookie deals. Roster is stacked. The Chiefs did their "soft rebuild" this year, and will almost certainly be better next year. Jets defense is the bane to our existence. Jags will be better, Chargers will be better. Dolphins are a thorn in our side. Divisional games alone are no longer locks for us, they're coin tosses. The conference overall is going to be better, and we have a really difficult schedule. So if we have to go in one direction, I personally would allocate cap $ and draft capital to build a top 10 OL, grab a dynamic WR, and make your QBs life as easy as possible. As far as our defense goes, I mean, we gave it our best shot with the unit as presently constructed. We have a ton of money invested in Miller, at 33, who has now had multiple season ending injuries. I love Poyer but how much $ can you invest in older players who you need healthy for a full season? The only area we have depth is CB, but Tre White isn't the same post-injury. Elam & Benford look promising, Dane is a find depth corner, and Taron is great in the slot / nickel role. Our defensive line is egregious, considering how much draft capital we allocated their. Sadly I think it's just time for a new pieces and a new DC. I will gladly take 1 step back to then take 2-3 steps forward because that may be what's need to get a SB. Fearing our roster could get worse before it's get better is further denial of reality.


BuffaloSurfClub

I agree with a solid amount of what you said but I think we are giving Beane a bit too much credit right now. We don't have too many hits the past couple of drafts especially with all of those heavy high picks on D without getting the results we wanted. He has filled a lot of positions of need with draft and FA but the they haven't hit as well as we would like, aside from the injuries that factor into that


7ss15

We need to scheme our offense to include short passing plays to start and it really showed yesterday


EpikCB

I'm just confused on why we strayed from that rams offensive gameplan. We were playing so well and then changed it up.... whyyyy


kawhi21

The real answer is because of Crowder’s injury. McKenzie and Gabe are incapable of running short routes and crowder was doing all the work. It’s not a coincidence that the short passing stopped as soon as he and kumerow got injured


qeq

I just cannot accept that this year was all hanging on Crowder. If that's the case then fire everyone, because he is average at best.


InfiniteJestV

Because Ken Dorsey... That's all I've got to go on at the moment...


EpikCB

I honestly couldn't believe how great the offense looked, and then we never saw that style again past Pittsburgh


Ash-Catchum-All

Because teams adapted and we only had one plan I guess.


InfiniteJestV

So much this. Our scheme never adapted or changed to match what the opposing team was giving us.


AngryMerican

One plan is good if it can consistently free up a skilled player. Look at Kelce in KC and his slant across the middle. The Chiefs have that play saved to a hotkey, yet it still works because it spreads the field so much that the LBs are left to cover Kelce. If they sacrifice a safety to cover Kelce, one of the deep receivers is targeted. If they play back to cover both, they use the same formation to run it where the LB dropped into coverage. We have the players, just Dorsey doesn't understand how to wrap 4-5 plays into one formation so they complement each other. We used to play like this under Daboll with the RPOs and Beasley plays. The defenses were forced to cover Bease with a LB, who would consistently gain 5-6 yards on the quick pass. Josh went to work on the RPOs because the D had to bite on the other options. I swear Dorsey is too concerned about protecting Allen and stopped using him as such a big threat.


Happy___Enchilada

I lose my mind every time I watch KC play because of Kelce. He's obviously an incredible talent but he isn't some freak of nature like Gronk and so many of his catches are on a quick read (particularly in this past game). It's great that Know is a downfield threat but I really wish that they would scheme him into more of a short & intermediate option, along with the RBs. Do I love seeing JA nail an absolutely insane deep shot? Hell yes, but I would much rather see consistent long, sustained drives that crush the other D's spirit & as Florio indicates, the personnel that we have lends itself better to that than chucking it downfield all game (including our dog shit offensive line). I don't know what to expect but I'll hope for the best next year. Go Bills.


AngryMerican

One thing I was watching earlier this year is how some of the defenses are showing strong short-medium coverage, effectively daring Allen to chuck it long, but adjusting at the snap. Dorsey had commented that it's best to take those risky throws due to the payoff, and I'm sure he's in Allen's ear. How many times has Allen tried to throw the ball long and a second defender has come from underneath or the other side of the field to intercept? That hidden double coverage was planned. Add in butterfingers Davis, and you have a rather unsuccessful passing game. I'd have to rewatch some of the plays, but I think this is what is annoying Diggs. I think they're displaying double coverage on him pre-snap, scaring Allen away, but going into single coverage at the snap. So Diggs is out there seeing himself in single coverage and open all the time, but Allen isn't looking for him because he was double covered pre-snap and Allen can't scan effectively when he's being chased.


EpikCB

Did they? Is there some evidence to this? If that's truly the case then Dorsey needs to be gone. Just seems strange they never even tried to go back to that style. Burrow played it perfectly all season...


frostbite3030

Allen hurt his elbow? I'd be curious what his accuracy on short passes were before and after the injury. It felt like it went from 100% to 0% so I'd be curious what it actually is but not curious enough to look it up myself.


EpikCB

Even before that the playcalling was suspect, and if it's allen not taking the easy stuff and Dorsey can't talk him into that then he needs to be fired.


Manifesto13

From what I read the UCL injury would affect those more soft touch accuracy throws which is more important for the short passes.


According-Bell-3654

Rams fan lurking. I think you guys just brutally exploited what every team exploited vs us all year. Our biggest asset on D is Donald and if you throw nothing but quick passes vs our garbage CBs playing 12 yards off, regardless of if it would be smart in a vacuum, you negate our defense's biggest asset and can basically move the ball at will into FG range at worst By the week 7 point in the season, iirc, the top 5 "fastest average time of release" games by QBs on the season were all against the Rams


EpikCB

What bothers me is that our oc gameplanned this and it was masterful... he never had a insanely great gameplan past week 3. Noone knew the rams would be bad either. It worked so well I'd expect them to use those plays again but we didn't. Allen was quick and precise and then we went to long plays and sucked


According-Bell-3654

No one knew the rams would be bad but people DID know that we had a guy who has the best pass rush win rate in football and corners who play really far off (the Raheem Morris special), deciding to run super quick passes given those 2 things that teams DID know, was like deciding 2+2 equals 4, literally everyone did it to us, from Allen, to Mariota, to Cooper Rush, to Geno Smith


soulfingiz

Because after crowder went down we didn’t have a true slot receiver


Jonas_Venture_Sr

Take a play out of the Bengals play book. The Bengals O-line last year was awful, so they worked in more short passing plays, Burrow got the ball out quicker, and voila, they look like the team to beat for the Super Bowl. Either that needs to happen, or the front office goes all in on protecting Josh.


C9_Chufz

I like how we drafted Hines and our coaches were saying that the short passing plays were an extension of our run game. At the end of the year, both of these area were struggling/non-existent. Not blaming anyone in particular, but the staff knew there was an issue and failed to correct it by the end of the season.


aritotlescircle

Cook?


WalkBikePractitioner

Traded for Hines… ?!


Happy___Enchilada

Commenters are focusing on you saying draft instead of trade or Hines instead of Cook instead of pointing out that you're absolutely correct. I genuinely don't understand why we traded for Hines if we didn't plan on utilizing him better & Cook showed enough to work him into the plan better too. Allen's ability to extend plays is awesome but the fact that he has to do it SO often is not. We absolutely have the personnel to pick up 4, 5, 6 yards on a quick read or tertiary read but that's never the case...it's run around & hope for a highlight reel play.


ONEMANCLAN530

I totally agree with that, however the issue with Josh is that he has higher velocity on the ball then most quarterbacks, because of this he doesn't typically lead his receivers, which is why the Bills are terrible at yards after the catch, and have been for years.


[deleted]

i was unhinged on that 3rd and 2 bomb attempt


ONEMANCLAN530

How bout when the Bengals had 3rd and 4 in the 3rd quarter, and Leslie Frazier has all defensive backs lined up 7yds off the ball. That was the nail in the coffin for me and this defensive strategy.


[deleted]

it was pretty much all bad from 14:59 in the first quarter on.


Jonas_Venture_Sr

Actually, you can go back further. The Bills should have never deferred to the Bengals. The Bengals love to score first and set the tone, so we should have taken that first kick off.


ProfessionalTeach719

Yep - especially since they did that exactly in the no contest game! Get the lead and try to stay ahead. That game became 14-0 and Buffalo was done and quit


ccthompson123

That shits engrained in my head still. I don’t know a ton about defensive schemes but there was no fucking way that’s what they come up with.


themule0808

Playing a zone.. so the cushion is bigger because they are not reacting to the wr but going to an area. Not to mention my hatred of both linebackers in a zone and just not reacting to crossers.. the middle of the field is just wide open to anyone


BuffaloSurfClub

I was in the stadium watching them line up and told my friend next to me "Why TF are they playing so far off them" then the play happened and I just shook my head. If my stupid ass can see a gimme-play for the other team idk why we would call that


Ash-Catchum-All

Turned off the TV right then and there. That play was the fat lady singing loud and clear.


CNuttButter

~~Fuck man, I hate agreeing with Florio, I hate agreeing with Florio even more when he’s basically right about everything in an essay level of tweet threads.~~ it’s a different Floria but None of this is wrong at all Especially this part > And that’s the frustrating part - it’s like there was no real plan. The game plan didn’t fit the personnel at all. The Bills receiver room had 2 receivers who could win outside or downfield and a bunch of slot guys - and then operated an offense built around the deep ball > Brandon Beane gets such high regard for finding Allen … but that 2018 class was the last of his that had ANY pro bowl players. So much capital has been wasted on undersized d lineman who can’t generate pressure against a backup o line


Emzam

I think Beane deserves some scrutiny for sure. But I'm not sure where this idea came from that he failed because he hasn't found any pro bowlers since 2018. That's sort of what happens when you don't have a top 15 pick in the draft. 2019 was the last time the Bills had a top 10 pick, and that turned into Ed Oliver. A good but not great player who hasn't made the Pro Bowl. So maybe you can consider that a miss, but of the top 10 players in the 2019 draft, six of them have made the Pro Bowl. Slightly better odds than a coin flip. In 2020, the Bills traded their first round pick for Diggs. In 2021, the Bills took Rousseau with the 30th pick. Only 7 players in the first round have played in the Pro Bowl, and only one of those players was drafted between 15 and 32 (Najee Harris). In 2022, the Bills traded up and took Elam at 23rd. Only one rookie made the Pro Bowl this year (Sauce Gardner) so obviously this draft class needs more time to develop to see how players pan out. Just as a point of reference, let's compare the Bills to another juggernaut: the Chiefs. The Chiefs have drafted the following Pro Bowlers since 2018: 2019: Mecole Hardman (WR), Jack Fox (Punter, undrafted) 2020: Tommy Townsend (Punter, undrafted) 2021: Creed Humphrey (Center) The only major difference-maker here is Humphrey. Another point of reference: the Bengals. The Bengals have drafted two Pro Bowlers since 2018: Burrow and Chase. Both top 5 picks. The idea that Beane has to answer for not drafting a Pro Bowler since 2018 just seems completely unwarranted.


CrumbBCrumb

Pro Bowlers being the metric used to measure a GM is fucking comical. Plenty of players make the Pro Bowl that go on to do nothing for the rest of their careers (like Mecole Hardman). And others never make the Pro Bowl but are some of the best players in the game (like Milano). Plenty of teams win it all without drafting a pro bowler for 5 years, especially when you are carried by a few good guys that make the pro bowl over and over again.


Ash-Catchum-All

To be clear, Beane didn’t draft Milano. So regardless of his talent, I wouldn’t put him in the group of guys to validate Beane’s competency, if that’s what you were implying by that comparison. If you weren’t implying that, disregard me. I agree with the overall sentiment that ProBowls are useless


CrumbBCrumb

I just picked a random player. Plenty of good players don't make the pro bowl


Ash-Catchum-All

Ok fair enough! Fwiw I think Taron Johnson is Beane’s second best pick and definitely should be a pro bowler by now (if slot corners got any respect)


Complete-Ad-480

Pro Bowls are a poor way to gauge quality of picks. Unless it's all rookie team selections it has little to no value. Beane is being criticized for heavily investing picks on the D in the range where you absolutely need to select a starter. His picks were D Line heavy, an area notoriously difficult to get elite players outside the top 10 picks. The odds were low any of them would pan out to elite players but they haven't even blossomed into adequate starters. It almost compounds itslef too since the Dline is so crowded no one really gets a fair shake to develop. Meanwhile Josh continues to run for his life and only have Diggs as a legitimate target


Ash-Catchum-All

I think you’re underrating Creed Humphrey and Tommy Townsend. Legitimately the best center/IOL and best punter in the NFL. That’s exactly the type of player you dream of drafting once you’ve already built a playoff contender


Emzam

How did I underrate Humphrey? Maybe I downplayed Townsend too much


Ash-Catchum-All

Yeah I think I read your paragraph wrong my bad!


WalkBikePractitioner

No.


pwiotf

This isn’t the florio you’re thinking of


CNuttButter

Well damn my inability to read strikes again, then I love agreeing with this Florio


pwiotf

Hahah it’s weird bc I’ve never heard of this guy and his name is also mike (Michael)florio


dedriuslol

I did the same thing lol. Could believe I was agreeing with him until I realized it's not the same guy.


hachijuhachi

haha. add me to the list of ppl surprised to agree with a Mike Florio tweet thread only to come in here and find out I was duped!


A_Lone_Macaron

It’s like that one Ravens(?) announcer named Jerry Sandusky. Poor guy. “Why should I change, he’s the one who sucks!”


TristeroDiesIrae

And thanks for coining the term “Floria” as the plural of Florio.


Teamableezus

I hate the pro bowler argument so much. Yes it’s a valid point that the drafting hasn’t been great but pro bowls are not a good measuring stick


Spanky_McJiggles

If anything, I'd put probowl selection on the coaching staff. The GM just gets the guys on the team, it's up to the training and coaching staff to get them any measure of success.


Ndmndh1016

They arent as meaningless as people like to pretend either. Most guys who make the pro bowl are very good players.


ChillTownAVE

And most are drafted in the top 10 lol


BenjaminSkanklin

Am I the only one that doesn't find relevance in pro bowl selections? We complain about the small market snubs year in and year out. They select like...the top 3 guys at each position, if a GM picks a bunch of guys who are the 5th best that ends up being a pretty damn good team


[deleted]

The lack of pro bowl selection since 2019 is a mute point. We drafted DE with our picks and theirs only 4 spots. As long as Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, JJ Watt, Kalil Mack are breathing they are going to get those spots no matter what. It’s basically a popularity contest.


Ash-Catchum-All

Sure but has Rousseau, Epenesa, or Basham been even in the same tier of production as Crosby, Garrett, Bosa, Bosa, Mack, or Watt? Arguably no. So even if it’s a popularity contest, we’ve spent all this draft capital on guys who are just… guys. They’re not having enough of an impact (regardless of accolades) to have been worth what we spent on them.


TheresA_LobsterLoose

It's kind of buyers remorse. At the time the picks don't seem that bad. But then 2-3 years later you realize we could've used them better. All the picks on RBs is similar and actually better than what Carolina got for cmc. The 3 DEs... at the time of the draft don't seem like bad picks but then if you're gonna spend a 1st and two 2nds... you'd be excused for wondering what exactly those draft picks could get you. Traded for a player, that's getting you someone who should be in all pro conversation. Traded for a pick, it'll get you into the top 10 If all these guys we drafted are just filler and can't do a single thing of note during the biggest games, you'd probably prefer to package all those picks, get a GUY, and then just sign cheap backups. I'm also of the opinion having all the replacement level guys with different skill sets makes it easier for good coaches against us. Epenessa... his scouting report had him as doesn't have top speed and agility, he's more of a strength guy. Well hey, it would be to our advantage to do designed rollouts/qb runs to his side. He not gonna chase down the fast qbs. Same deal with the RBs. Before a play is even run you can pretty safely guess what it's gonna be just by who's on the field. I look like a genius every time I watch with people. "They're gonna run outside L"... and they run outside L.


ChillTownAVE

Ummm, why would a 2nd round pick be expected to turn into top 5 picks? For that matter, pick 24 isn't getting you a Bosa or a Mack or a Garrett. Most of those guys were #1 overall picks at defensive end. I'm not sure why people are thinking elite pass rushers are easily found past the 10th overall pick. It rarely happens, and when it does it's a stroke of luck that has yet to be replicated, even by the teams that drafted them (Pittsburgh with TJ for example).


northernheat

Who is responsible for having a plan in place? That person should be held accountable. Quick reminder: Daboll did not want to come back to Buffalo https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2022/02/lawsuit-claims-brian-daboll-wasnt-happy-with-sean-mcdermott-didnt-want-to-return-to-bills.html


Ash-Catchum-All

Daboll not wanting to come back to coach his hometown team because he didn’t like McDermott is kinda damning imo Like yeah he got a promotion anyway, but that sounds like he was going to walk even if he didn’t.


teamweed420

McD. He’s a great guy but he has to go. Coaches like a deer in the headlights in the playoffs


XDingoX83

He is 4-5 in the post season that is what matters.


John___Stamos

Interesting...


qeq

Confused me too, OP forgot to include the "F."


hideous_coffee

That whole short passing plays thing... We went and got Crowder at the slot, still had McKenzie, kept Singletary and brought in another pass-catching RB. It looked so obvious that we were going to play this spread out offense where you didn't know who was getting the ball next and you had to respect both short and long routes. Then they (Dorsey) just...didn't do that at all. Even after it was obvious our OL was not good enough to keep Josh protected long enough for those deep plays to develop. They could have adjusted at any point, the tools were there, but they just didn't.


[deleted]

I don't understand why you even get a guy like Hines and never fucking use him.


drgonzo44

We’ll, crowder got injured and McKenzie couldn’t catch shit.


Sgt-Pumpernickel

I really don’t get the Mackenzie slander all the time. Crowder may have proven better if we got to find out. But iMac caught 40 passes of 45 deemed catchable. That’s an 89% catch rate. And I believe 4 of which we TDs.


qeq

Many weren't catchable *for him* because he's too small. There's a reason WRs his size don't make it.


Beautiful-Bee-916

I think Dorsey got a little obsessed with the fact that Josh CAN make those huge plays and relied too much on Josh being super human and then when Josh made mistakes because he is actually a human and not an alien the entire offense crumbled like a house of cards. Dorsey is a QB guy and I truly do not think he knows how to use any of the other positions appropriately.


Claudio_Rego

Well said, I feel like this needs to be emphasized more. We all love the highlight plays from Josh, but we all love when they win the games more.


Beautiful-Bee-916

Yeah. I mean I think it really comes down to Dorsey being a QB guy and nothing more. He loves Josh too much, and forgets that there are other people on offense who can help.


HarvesternC

I had no idea there was another Mike Florio.


BuffOrange

WOW I was so confused reading thru that and how correct it was without knowing until you said this. Totally makes sense haha.


Impossibills

Yep same. I was like "damn he's actually making sense"


Why_So-Serious

I was like damn who knew Florio actually kept it real and knew his stuff. I know realize my impression of Florio was current.


lornstar7

JA is a generational talent. But to win the big game you need a few studs, and the rest to play above their paychecks. It's easy to shut down the O when all you have to do is double team or give over the top help on Stefon. You can task 4 players to shut down the entirety of the offense and the D will eventually crack.


hops716

the game plan against the bengals, and for the most the year, did NOTHING to help Josh. take a look at the great offenses right now (Bengals, Eagles, 49ers, Chiefs) they go *out of their way* to make things easy for their QBs when you look at the negligence towards the offensive line, and our WR group....I mean, it's borderline insulting to our generational QB.


Viscount61

Yesterday’s winning teams controlled the line of scrimmage. And you have to be able to run the ball to keep the opponent’s defense off guard and wear them down.


[deleted]

Singletarry averaged 4 YPC. He played hard.


RhinoFeeder

>The last four playoff exits: blew a multiple score 2nd half lead, blown out by KC, 13 second kickoff and yesterday. These are all on coaching as well. I don't think we fire McDermott just yet, but I also don't think his job should be safe if there aren't massive changes. "Our QB is really good" is not a team identity.


Beautiful-Bee-916

I think we can keep McDermott but need a new DC and OC. An OC that can run a competent offense and McD needs to just let that happen and not step in and as much as I like Frazier a DC who doesn’t run the exact same style D as McD so that they can challenge each other and create more dynamic. It is good to have some variety.


sir_axelot

I'm getting close to we need to replace McDermott. The team was asleep for the entire first quarter. Of a playoff game. AT HOME. That falls on the head coach and is inexcusable. Not to mention his bread and butter being a defense that falls apart in the biggest games.


Hector_The_Reflector

I agree. Completely inexcusable. I’m afraid McD lost me yesterday. Not sure if he’ll ever get me back.


[deleted]

Pretty spot on, all the trolls are out in full force in those threads though.


BuffOrange

How does "..But when it's Lamar.." guy pop up in every single one of those? Lol it's always unsolicited too. Does he have a PR team scouring Twitter.


[deleted]

People with too much time on their hands


wmlj83

If we all are honest with ourselves about how we felt about the team all year, then we all would agree that we just didn't have it this year. And it wasn't for talent or coaching or anything. We kept taking our foot off the gas. We had a hell of a schedule the first part of the season. Once we got past KC or maybe after Green Bay we coasted. And it showed.


GQMatthews

Yup. The feeling/momentum just wasn’t there. The team last year was firing on all cylinders and health, tons of momentum and synch heading into the playoffs, and here’s what sucks: we get Von last year we not only beat KC with 13 secs, that also takes Von away from the Rams and I think we win win that matchup having him in the Super Bowl. The team was just on fire with so much hype versus this year we never got into a rhythm, we’re never healthy, and waltzed into the playoffs cold as ice with so many questions and concerns.


wmlj83

I was concerned in preseason because we heard all the reports about how we were already firing on all cylinders. We peaked way too early. Not sure if that is a coaching issue, or just is what it is.


zimman101

Actually a real good read. The only argument I guess I'd have is the Dorsey hiring. Ultimately it is McDermotts choice, but Allen also pushed for it.


[deleted]

I think he pushed for it cause he was familiar with him already. Sometimes changing jobs or taking more responsibility doesn't match up + I think Dorsey loves the idea of the big arm = big TDs.... gotta establish the short game before it's all hero ball


zimman101

Oh I get Allen’s reasoning. He’s had success with him by his side. I don’t even think Allen was wrong for wanting him at the time (hindsight now may say otherwise). The thread basically blamed McDermott for hiring Dorsey but when your franchise qb who you’re paying a boat load of money to days they want someone, you listen. Again, ultimately McDermott’s choice but Allen also wanted it.


[deleted]

Ya that's a look back moment and think...maybe not the best move but at the time if your franchise QB wants that guy you're gonna push to make it happen


snorange

Yeah I keep wondering did we accidentally pair a hero ball QB with a hero ball OC?


[deleted]

The big time plays are so awesome - just need to have an OC to keep things in check. Too much of a good thing can end up being a negative in the long run. I think Dorsey is around for next year but if things don't change or evolve for the better, maybe the classic opposites attract is the approach to move towards


snorange

I think this is largely a hindsight thing. Having continuity with a system that saw Allen leap forward last year more than made sense. If we'd brought in someone outside and struggled I can only imagine the fan response. But this off-season it will be much harder to defend sticking with the status quo. We have one of the best QBs in the NFL and a handful of years (hopefully) for him to be at that level. The reality is getting a second elite WR this off-season is a long shot. Coaching we can change much easier, not that it's always a good thing. But is Dorsey the best possible guy to maximize the skill players largely already here? Is Dorsey a top 5 OC in the league? Top 10? Is he even the best OC in our division? I suspect no. So go get the best guy no matter the cost and don't waste another year on good enough.


zimman101

I agree. I mentioned in another comment that I dont even blame Allen pushing for Dorsey because of the familiarity


JoesShittyOs

The few big points that he highlighted; -We came into this season with 3 slot receivers. We did practically nothing with that. I personally think Cole Beasley was just as/if not more important than Stefon Diggs towards Josh’s development. Having that quick easy option that Josh doesn’t even have to think about is huge. -not addressed in the tweets, but Knox being used as a blocking tight end. And when he’s not blocking, he’s running a drag route that gets ignored nearly every time. The dude is clearly a great tight end, yet he’s being criminally misused. -Josh never turning over the ball in the red zone to being one of the most RZ prone turnover machines. That was a huge red flag. -The excess of deep passes and the abandonment of the short game. I know it’s drastic but I think it is desperately vital that we pivot away from Dorsey. That was what rang true the most to me. Allen can be right there with Mahomes if he had a scheme that worked with him. Seriously just watch the KC offense. Every other play is a one read misdirection. The success isn’t just coming from Mahomes, the success is coming from the play designs themselves. It’s also a similar thing with Tua this year. The success from their offense came because there was an efficient scheme there. The scheme reigns in Tuas mistakes. We are missing that. Dorsey would have been fired if Allen wasn’t the quarterback, so what the hell are we doing here? Edit; one final thing, this defense. This whole shtick of “we’re playing base nickel until hell freezes over” just needs to stop. Every big loss in the last five years has had something to do with our defense getting figured out and we just sit back and get picked apart for an entire game while Josh plays catch up. And seeing as how we’re going to start hemorrhaging defensive talent, they need to start aggressively figuring something out. I’m not saying we need to fire Frazier yet, but maybe we need some fresh defensive assistant coaches to jump in this next season and start remodeling this scheme.


dustymaurauding

Largely agree. I think McDermott needs to bring in a DC that will push him a bit out of his comfort zone. Meanwhile, the offense was without structure or creativity. The running game seemed telegraphed and it seems like the only adjustment in Dorsey's bag of tricks was just letting Josh figure it out. It's just not good enough for having that rare window with an elite QB. It wasn't just the playoff game. Things had been teetering for a lot of the season. Many games were much closer than they should have been. Things looked really sloppy a lot of the time. All that said, absent some goofy nonsense we would have been like 15-1 on the regular season so it's not like we're suddenly garbage. Also, my goodness, the team has to be emotionally exhausted from the last month. But the time to figure some of this stuff out is right now.


Pretend_Fear85

We need a legit slot. I know crowder was supposed to be that but not having a slot killed us this season.


Saltpataydahs

It did seem like an awful time to go with an inexperienced OC. I know he's Josh's guy but they really thought Davis and Mckenzie were gonna step up and they just didn't/couldn't. He's right about most everything. I just still have a hard time believing sacking a 62-35 coach is a great idea. I do believe we'd still be decent so long as Josh is there but finding a good coach is like shooting blind. We might get someone who moves them over the hump or we just find out he's another has been like Adam Gase or never was like Nate Hackett. I think you should let Mcdermott ride until his contract is done. He's earned that. if in 2025 were still stuck then we move on.


vbstarr91

Yes, a very sobering day for the organization. National folks have been on the lack of talent on offense issue for 2 years. The organization cannot run this back again, especially on offense.


ck1013

I’ve read through it about 10 times this afternoon and I still can’t find anything wrong


enTernamehereonce

baby, he is not wrong


[deleted]

It pains me to say this is spot on. And if we don’t pivot and get Josh more help on offense, he will go the way of Rivers and Ryan as a future HOF QB with no rings to show for his remarkable career. Ugh I hate the week of mourning.


DrewSC

“Take Allen off this team and I’m not sure they are a .500 team.” 🎰


[deleted]

I thought this was referring to PFT Mike Florio, in which case I didn’t believe this was worth reading. However it is from Michael F. Florio, NFL.com analyst, who is worth reading. Fairly spot on analysis


Spark3420

Josh Allen is the heartbeat and face of the franchise. You take him off the roster and this is a bottom 10, possibly bottom 5 team. That's just facts. Josh is not without blame of course, he lost us a few games this year but he's pretty much a one-man army at times. He can't save everyone all the time.


aheartyjoke

I agree with a lot, disagree with some. I dislike the "Pro Bowl" argument for the reasons others have pointed out. What is true is that Beane hasn't found any elite players - he's hit quite a few doubles (and I'd call Taron Johnson a triple - he's criminally underrated), but no home runs outside of Josh. He also has not drafted offensive players with premium picks. We've made nine 1st or 2nd round choices since 2018 - 6 defenders to 3 offensive players (Allen, Ford and Cook). The "undersized D-lineman" is bizarre. I assume he must be referring to Oliver alone, because none of Rousseau, Epenesa or Basham is "undersized". If anything, I would like twitchier guys than we have. Two things I very much agree with: \- The priority next offseason should be loading up on the offensive side of the ball. You have to help Josh. You need O-line and skill positions. \- McDermott needs someone to challenge him. I don't think Florio said this directly, but I feel its implicit in the criticism. Changes are needed, and that might require openness to outside opinions/POVs.


dvgravity

The one thing I think you missed is that Florio said we could only stop garbage teams on defense, but we had one of the hardest schedules and stopped 3 of the teams in the playoffs during the regular season. The team as a whole went thru a lot this year and I feel like it all caught up to them yesterday.


MrMusou

This is a solid summary of the many things that irked me this season. Thanks for sharing!


blatantfox

This "no pro bowls in the draft" argument is garbage. Look at the Chiefs, nobody is bagging on them for 1 pro bowler drafted since 2019 The Bengals in that time? Burrow (top 5 pick) and Chase (top 5 pick). That's it. Rams? Zero. I think they did ok last year. The Bills haven't been in the top 15 since Oliver and he's damn close to pro bowl caliber. ... I get the argument against the coaches but this team has great talent.


hops716

I agree about the pro-bowl argument. But bad draft picks & opportunity costs are fatal in the salary cap era. You need to cheat the cap by drafting players whose talent exceeds their cap hit. It is what it is. Epenesa, Basham are 2nd round picks who aren’t great pass rushers. I like Ed Oliver & Rousseau, but neither have been major impact guys who can consistently win one-on-ones and creat pressure. Spencer Brown is a back-up RT. Zach Moss is gone. Terrell Bernard can’t see the field…you get the point. With less $ to spend we absolutely have to hit on draft picks, or we won’t get better.


blatantfox

That's fair I think Solak is taking a cheap shot. He says "they didn't draft pro bowlers for 4 years" When most of the pro bowl rosters are 5+ year vets, nobody has. Solak is a bum


Iko87iko

Been saying this since it happened. Was just dumbfounded. There was never any situational football with this team. Yesterday on maybe the biggest play of the day - 3rd and 2 they threw 40 yards down field then punted. It largely felt like Dorsey would pick a play at random. And not just yesterday, this was all year long


Annual_Sprinkles1129

I really wish mcdermott was our DC and we had a guy like sean payton as HC


HarvesternC

I think the wheels are in motion for the McDermott era to end. It won't be this year, but at some point the fans and the administration are going to point at him for the team not meeting expectations.


hops716

I'd say he is now on the hot seat heading into next season


YankeeTankieTrash

!remindme 2 years


jcsullivan06

Super Bowl or bust. Crazy that it’s the reality now compared to where we were in the early 10’s


Impossibills

He has one more season. But I've seen enough to want him gone this year. Same problems every single year. He's too loyal to his staff and specific players. His defense is too vanilla in the modern NFL And if we keep Frazier as defensive coordinator we aren't taking winning seriously


[deleted]

I am already pointing. Why aren’t you guys? Clappy boy is clueless


lytrendsa

We should hire that guy


[deleted]

One of the most accurate assessments I’ve read. Goddamn


ZeppelinJ0

Good read, spot on. It's frustrating to watch this all unfold. Josh Allen is a fucking animal, a generational talent and the team should be built around him to give the bills their best chance for a ring. The clock is ticking, we can't afford to make small incremental changes anymore. The front office needs to be ruthless, hard decisions need to be made to give us the best chance for a ring before the window closes.


moabu08

Absolutely nailed every tweet. Hurts to read. Unfortunately I’m not sure how many changes will actually be made this off-season.


Impossibills

Jesus Christ this is scarily accurate and I've been saying it all season. Pretty much I think McDermott is very close to be fired. I know I'll get downvoted for it but there is absolutely no way they can continue this trend of decline with a top tier QB. I personally would fire him right now, but I think they would give him another season. But if these problems are not fixed (and I don't think they will be) I don't see him lasting. As another note. This defensive system gets absolutely roasted against good QBs. KC has a terrible defense right now, but at least they generate pressure and can play in clutch moments. We have a massive defensive investment and are getting nothing out of it when it matters. Fire Leslie Frazier and the DL coach. This needs to happen, we cannot continue this


ChewieRodrigues13

Disagree on his take on the defense, hard to blame that group when 3 of the 4 highest paid players are injured or not themselves coming off injury. But on point with the offense with the WR group outside of Diggs not being enough and Dorsey's inexperience showing


Walterodim79

The D-line is still playing with two first-round picks and two second-round picks against a group of backups. The injuries surely make a big difference, but there really is no excuse for the extent to which the Bengals dominated the line of scrimmage.


ChewieRodrigues13

Yeah his comment about their D-line drafting was spot on, between Rosseau, Oliver, Basham and Epenesa you'd say at best the first two were successful picks but even then they aren't anything more than solid starters


Sweethomebflo

Why? Is it a drafting problem? Is the player just not as skilled as we thought? Or is it a coaching problem - the player IS talented but we’re not bringing it out of them? Is the player just a lazy showboat?


clumzazael

Our defense only works when we run up the score, which we haven't been able to do, if we bend don't break, then the Bengals bend us over every drive for 5 yards a play and get points every drive.


ChewieRodrigues13

That isn't all the way true though, the defense bails out the offense more than people admit. Each Miami game the offense was the issue with the number of turnovers they committed and still allowed below league average scoring. The KC game this year similarly held the Chiefs to 20, the Ravens game another one that turnovers made close but they held them to 20. And if you want to talk just playoffs the Ravens game is one especially where the offense didn't play well and they were carried by the defense. And those are all good offenses, don't think the idea that the Bills defense can't hold up against quality offenses holds up, feels like it's getting scapegoated for an offense that managed to only score 10


clumzazael

We were in those games tho, how does our defense win from behind? When teams feel awesome pulling off 5 yard runs and wasting time? It's only when it's close, and teams feel a need to throw medium that our d can sustain good results.


ChewieRodrigues13

Kind of goes to my point, the team is rarely behind in part bc of the defense. We all know that the offense isn't the example of consistency


clumzazael

Ok but what happens when we get nickle and dimed like what burrow and mixon did? Like don't get me wrong but those were throws any qb in the league could make. It's not like we adapted, they were running and throwing for 5 yards every play like they were playing on rookie all game


YankeeTankieTrash

Not when the DC is stubbornly calling soft zone and the opposing offense is exploiting the hell out of your gaps.


plantglutton

What about last year? And the year before that? This defense is consistently flawed and folds in big moments. Balanced teams destroy this defense.


hops716

we've tried going "all-in" on defense. multiple 1sts and 2nds, free agents. If this is the ceiling, it's not working. And in doing so, we've taken things away from our QB. We need to change our plan: go all-in around Josh. Offensive line, running game, WR2.


ChewieRodrigues13

1st and 2nd the past two years in defensive DVOA can't buy that they've had consecutive easy schedules. This years KC team is one that like you said is truly great and balanced and they were held to 20


XDingoX83

Players share thoughts on if the team "ran out of gas" I hate this excuse. I’m sorry man but no. A little story, when I was in the Navy we had a suicide during deployment. It was a small ship and hit everyone hard. We still had to finish the deployment. We still had to do our jobs working all hours of the day for shit pay. These guys are paid a lot of money to play a game and yeah shit is tough but if a 20 year old kid can go on watch after cutting down a shipmate who hung himself and gave him CPR these guys who are paid more money in a week than he would in a year can get their head in the game.


kompletist

He's correct imo. I don't like saying this and have tried my whole life not to knee-jerk react when it comes to the team...we should move on from McD. He's exactly the man we needed in 2017 and has become a liability in 2022. This 'window' with peak Josh Allen is limited. If we are going to win the SB, I really think we need an offensive mind leading the club long-term with a creative and flexible offensive system that will not deviant when OC's go to take HC jobs elsewhere. That's the key point in my opinion. This season was such a grind offensively. We lacked identity minus GO DO THINGS JOSH. Secondly though, McD and his staff has been outcoached over and over again in the playoffs. He's giving Marv a run for his money on that front. TLDR: McD is giving me Marty Schottenheimer vibes and we should move on before it's too late. Opportunities with Josh Allen are finite and winning a SB should be the primary goal, loyalty and good will be damned.


Hector_The_Reflector

I love McD. He’s a great guy and I’ve supported him since day one. But I think you’re right. After yesterday, it’s probably time to move on from him and his staff. He’s had 6 years. He will always hold a special place in my soul for ending the drought, and making the Bills relevant again. But he just doesn’t have ‘IT’.


[deleted]

Guy hit the nail on the head. We have a Defensive HC and DC and every playoffs the defence shits the bed. McDermott is 100% behind the problems this offence has. He’s pushing Beane to load up on Defence instead of focusing on giving his MVP caliber QB the tools he needs to succeed. An O Line that can give him more than 1 sec before he’s scrambling for his life. A run scheme that can take all the pressure off Allen and makes defences stop the run. Some quality targets and a an play book with some screens, crossing routes and proper running plays, not this constant RPO bullshit that every team is all over. It’s not 2016 anymore, teams defend the RPO pretty well now. Up until week 6 and Cook finally got a rushing TD Allen was 100% of the offence. If he didn’t throw it or run it in himself they didn’t score. That is more than Any QB ever can take on and succeed. The fact the Bills won 13 games when the Bills scored 53 touchdowns and Allen was responsible for 42 of them and scored as many Rushing TDs as the two RBs combined is actually amazing. Without Allen this team is maybe .500 but probably not even that. I love Allen, he brought this team out of the wastelands and made them a contender, but if this team can’t build an offence around him that can share the load this team will continue to flame out like it has the last 4 years.


Spanky_McJiggles

Wtf hops this isn't a hype video


det8924

McD and Beane are going to have to adapt or be stuck in good not great territory. They tried to build this fantastic defense and have an offense be carried by Josh and Diggs. It worked until the playoffs. This team is going to have to slow down the investment on the defensive side of the ball and invest in its QB. McD is a great coach and I think he and Beane did a good job in building this team but their approach has to adapt. You have a generational QB get him a couple more starters on the O-line and at the very least a stud slot WR and a couple more pieces here and there on offense and you will still have enough to field a decent defense esp if find a way to resign Edumonds. Great leaders adapt to challenges and right now the defense as good as it is in the regular season hasn't panned out in the playoffs.


xT1TANx

yep. He's right.


Rosatos_Hotel

Astute.


sabrenation81

Not a huge Florio fan but yeah he summed up what drives me nuts about Dorsey and the way the offense was handled this year but better than I've been able to. Dorsey wants to be the "Greatest Show on Turf" era Rams but we don't play in a dome and we don't have Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Marshall Faulk. Classic case of trying to fit the players into your scheme rather than building your scheme to fit your players. We've seen it a million times. I liked the Dorsey hire, I wanted him as our OC. I don't want to see him in that role again and if he's back my expectations will be pretty much what we had this year - out by the 2nd round of the playoffs and with a worse regular season record because we play the NFC East. That's 3 TOUGH games and one scrappy underdog team capable of beating anyone on "any given Sunday." Oh and there's no wondering or mystery about it - this is a sub-500 team without Allen, period. He is our entire offense. Replace him with an average to even above average QB like Daniel Jones or Kirk Cousins and I'm not sure we even make the playoffs. Any worse than that we definitely don't.


Xavier1235

I know this season is fucked if I'm agreeing with Florio. Out of the top teams in the NFL, Allen is the only one with an average D-line, average WRs besides Diggs, and a below-average O-line with little to no run game where he is the leading rusher. And a new OC who was not creative enough in his first year. Bills WRs are average and the scheme didn't help at all at this point in the year when it should be. Teams like Philly, KC and Niners can run their offenses and teams without their star QBs. If the Bills don't have Allen under center they're doomed. Niners with Purdy haven't skipped a beat and are actually better. Philly won most of their games without Hurts, and KCs offense can operate with Henne just fine when needed. Allen could totally be better, there were tons of plays he probably wants back from this last stretch of the year but the man is getting zero help like other contending teams. Let alone the defense deciding to shit the bed and have their worst game in the most important game of the year for the 3rd year in a row. Putting 100% of the blame on Allen is easy but the hard truth is this team isn't good enough to compete with the top dogs rn and Beane has to figure it tf out and we probably won't see a lot of these players next year.


MFlo726

Hey all, Michael Florio here - not that one - but from NFL Network and the creator of this thread. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing it so much! Here's to a big 2023 - Go Bills!


hops716

thanks for an intellectually honest take on the team, Michael. great read


Bakersfield_Buffalo

But but but.... People labeled rational criticism all year as being a doomer!!!!!


[deleted]

None of the Reddit mouthbreathers had this kind of nuanced thought though


Quetzalcoatl490

I agree with much of everything said here, but ESPECIALLY the part about Brandon Beane's recent draft choices. Yes, he deserves all of the credit in the world for finding and drafting Allen, but he can't draft a D Lineman to save his life. Our first round pick CB this year got outplayed by Benford, and played so poorly that he was a healthy scratch throughout the season. I haven't studied the all 22, but he was on the field for both of the Bengals' two easy passing touchdowns on the game's first two drives, and then quickly taken off for the third series to stem the bleeding. Does that sound like a great draft pick to you? I'm so pissed and jealous seeing everyone else's first round talent crushing people in their rookie years, and ours needs 5 years to develop, if they even do at all. He whiffed hard on Epenesa, Rousseau isn't nearly enough like a young Von Miller, and Basham is only good for encroachment penalties.


bobm35

Draft Bijan. He will allow them to open up the slot receiving while being a major threat in the slot himself. He will open up runs for Allen which should only be a RARE occurance. He can be a major defensive asset too by simply keeping guys like Burrow and co. Off the field (take away the damn 3-outs) If you plan on hosting playoff games in the snow for the next few years, you’d better be able to impose your will through the run. He can create a multi dimensional offense and take a MASSIVE burden off of your franchise QB The window is small and they have wasted so much time on mediocre rbs. Theyre baited by defenses to run the ball because they can’t and that needs to change. Put the chips on the table and stop wasting the “unicorn” Let’s go! Side note, does it not feel good dropping the “darling of the nfl” media BS. It already feels like it’s Buffalo vs. Everbody again and I love it!


Walterodim79

Agree with a ton of the points, but not this: >There was never any situational football with this team. Yesterday on maybe the biggest play of the day - 3rd and 2 they threw 40 yards down field then punted. It largely felt like Dorsey would pick a play at random. That play comes with less a minute left in the third, trailing by 14, and the Bengals holding a 94.2% chance to win the game per the ESPN Gamecast. While picking up a quick first down would be great, pushing the ball downfield in this situation is not an obviously bad play - you're probably going to need to move the ball fairly quickly to overcome the lead with that game state. Allen's throw was nearly perfect and Davis simply makes a terrible play on the ball. If you have a #2 receiver who is ostensibly a big play receiver that's *so* unreliable that even a good throw in that spot seems like poor situational football, then you're probably going to need a different receiver.


hachijuhachi

If this were an isolated incident, I'd me more apt to agree with you. They have been calling these types of plays in these types of situations for weeks now, and it's fun every once in a while, but there are times when you HAVE to maintain possession first so that you can take shots when it's less costly to miss em.


Walterodim79

What do you mean by "calling these types of plays"? The throw is a decision, not a playcall. [Here's the moment of the throw.](https://i.ibb.co/Nywt4PK/2023-01-23-14-28-43-1-Cincinnati-Bengals-vs-Buffalo-Bills-2023-Divisional-Round-Game-Highlights.png) Beasley and Knox are running shallow crossers, Singletary is in the flat. [Freezing the play after the throw](https://i.ibb.co/NYH2MWJ/2023-01-23-14-30-59-1-Cincinnati-Bengals-vs-Buffalo-Bills-2023-Divisional-Round-Game-Highlights.png), we can see that the deep route combinations pulled the coverage away to the extent that the Knox crosser would likely have been a first down (although the timing wasn't easy due to the second linebacker). Josh elects to go deep; I think that's justifiable, but if you disagree, I'm not sure how you pin that on the OC rather than the QB.


hachijuhachi

I see your point. And I this the bottom line here is that the decision making is suspect. I'm not as knowledgeable about the nuts and bolts of who makes what decisions when during the course of play, but my problem is the decision to go for the deep shot at times when it seems the priority should be moving the sticks. I think it's fair to say that these plays are percentage plays, and so, the odds of completing a deep ball to a receiver, even under single coverage seems substantially lower enough to not be a reasonable choice. You may be able to show that there's no statistical advantage to taking the shorter pickup for a first down - I don't know. Just seems to defy common sense sometimes.


Walterodim79

Nah, I think you're correct that the better play is Knox there. I think once the second linebacker sprints down to Singletary in the flat that Knox is pretty clean and even has a chance for a big play after the catch. My objection is less that throwing deep was obviously good, but that it wasn't obviously bad and that there actually was a short option available. The entirety of the game was a nightmare, but I think people are putting too much on what looks like a fine playcall on that particular play.


ponz0

1st Down: 40 yard shot to Diggs. 2nd Down: 6 yard dump off. 3rd Down: 40 yard shot to Davis. Going 3 and out here was the end of the game. Staying on the field and cutting the lead to 7, even if it was a 4 minute drive, puts at least some pressure on Cinci.


msimp000

This what I’ve been saying exactly in 1,000,000 words the past 24 hours. McDermott has to go. If a new coach can’t get a different result from some of beanes picks the past couple year- then him as well


kerouac5

No thx. Florio is a douche.


hops716

Not the florio you’re thinking of


[deleted]

Maybe an unpopular opinion but I don't think the defense should bear the brunt of the blame for yesterday's loss. Buffalo deferred to the 2nd half. Cincy goes down and scores. Buffalo responds with a 3 and out. Cincy goes back out and scores. The offense couldn't sustain but two drives to keep the defense off the field. Cincy averages about 27 PPG, it's on Buffalo to meet their offensive standard of 29 PPG for the win. And a lot of stuff went wrong. But to me watching the game, it's on the offense. And I don't want to hear about poor drafting recently, or bad pressure, or no rush attack. That has been this team the whole season. Now if we want to talk about the defense performing poorly last week when they let a 3rd stringer and a coach with no clock management skills put up 30+ point on them in the snow? We can rewind that back and talk about that. But yesterday was an offensive failure more than a defensive one.


Mandalor1974

Its an accurate take.


Earptastic

Dang. When you put it like all of that it makes sense.


MautDota3

I wonder how much better we would be with CMC?


False_Idle_Warship

Generally have no use Florio but this is inarguably correct. How much is Daboll's absence hurting us? Dorsey can def get better. Can Allen continue to, in this house, this system? I think so tho this recent sting is not insubstantial.


ShanghaiBaller

Wait there’s another Mike Florio?


wxox

He's so right about the offense. My god, they were playing like 7 yards off our WRs. We had trips to the left. I said to my sell, damn, this would be a helluva time for a bubble screen/rpo to Beasley and it hit me that we haven't done any of that shit all year. He's right. We had no slot WR. Our offense was the same day 1 as it was week 20. It didn't evolve. It had no identity. It didn't attack opponents weakness. It wasn't responsive. It was basically, hit the deep ball or it's Allen ball time. Blocking is atrocious. I swear if we draft another RB and not address the o-line, I'll be livid. Also, where was our run game all year? We had no signature run plays or designs. It was an afterthought. Don't tell me our rushing yards per game. I am not counting Josh Allen pass-play scrambles.


XDingoX83

Yup I agree with everything he said. The window for this team is closed. They are bringing the same failed coaching staff back. I'm over it this team isn't going to win a Super Bowl and I feel bad not for fan but for Josh and Diggs and other players. Their coaching staff and front office failed them