1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,600 Welcome back to the Buffalo bread podcast. We are going to wallow in sorrow for a second 2 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:17,400 streak week as the Buffalo bills fell short in the last waning seconds of a game that 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:21,440 they had no business being in at all. Kind of the whole way through against the Houston 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:30,240 Texans in energy stadium in Houston, Texas and the the Stefan digs revenge matchup is 5 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:35,880 complete with with Stefan digs squad coming out on top. Josh Allen looking absolutely 6 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:42,400 pitiful and I I don't know what to do with my hands, Dan. 7 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,440 That's such a good tell a tell a dig a nice reference. I I would have been watching that 8 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:52,440 movie almost nonstop for some reason. It's always on TV when I turn it on. Freakin Ricky 9 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:58,080 Bobby all time great NASCAR driver. What was not all time great JJ was the performance 10 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:04,800 out of the bills in this game. And it's interesting for a lot of reasons. But I think most notably, 11 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:13,400 if you are a believer in that Stefan digs forced his way out of there because he was his relationship 12 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:20,120 with Josh's deteriorated because the coaching the coaching staff didn't seem to value him 13 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:24,560 in the scheme anymore. And because he didn't have confidence that this was the staff that 14 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:30,840 was going to get them over the Kansas City Chiefs home. Everything around digs departure 15 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:39,040 was proven to be on the side of Stefan in this game. Josh had his worst game as a pro worst 16 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:46,040 game as a pro set an NFL low mark for pass passing percentage completion percentage with 17 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:54,840 30 attempts or more over. Stefan digs literally out gained every single wide receivers combined 18 00:01:54,840 --> 00:02:03,720 reception yards total from Josh on the Buffalo Bills offense 82 to 74 and that included a 19 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:11,360 49 yard TD run reception by Keon Coleman. That includes that long run JJ this one came 20 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,520 up all Stefan digs. That's not the part I'm most healthy about. And this is where I want 21 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:22,360 to start with you. This it this feels like or like a season after season a broken record. 22 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,720 It feels like we're caught in the same cycle year after year after year. Bills get off to 23 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:34,720 a hot start. They inexplicably lose a couple of games seem to lose all semblance of what 24 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:40,480 their identity is offensively and defensively an injury here a penalty there. And they're 25 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:45,760 right back to being 500 at some point in the middle of the season needing to win out in 26 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,080 order to even be competitive in the division. We saw it last year. We saw it the year before 27 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:56,680 we saw it in 2021. Like I don't know what it is because they've turned over the roster. 28 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,360 They've turned over the coordinator spots. I am led to believe that we are on this same 29 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,560 roller coaster ride of ebbs and flows because of our head coach eight years in. I want to 30 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,840 start talking about the coaching decisions that were made in this game particularly 31 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,240 at the end of the game with the way that final bills possession regulation was handled when 32 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:18,520 they were backed up into their own territory and chose to pass three times. 33 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:26,600 Yeah. I mean we can start there. It was terribly terribly mishandled. I think that you know 34 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:32,040 it's like the classic Marv Levy quote you know when you call a plane it doesn't work 35 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:36,720 you should have done the other thing is a way that I think that Sean McDermott could 36 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:43,240 have played that off because I guess if I'm going to play Devils advocate this in this 37 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:50,400 regards Sean McDermott is the devil that putting the ball in Josh Allen's hands and saying 38 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,840 we absolutely need to get a first down and the best way to do that is passing the ball. 39 00:03:54,840 --> 00:04:02,840 I get the logic. I get the logic. The part of it that is absolute asinine to me and mismanagement 40 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:08,360 is that to that point in the game Josh Allen and the offense in general the wide receivers 41 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:15,200 in in particular the offensive line in particular and then Josh Allen's actual decision making 42 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:21,120 all it had proven up to that point is that they were not going to get it done and in 43 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:29,040 the gotta have it moments the offensive design was literally having Marquez Valdes Ganttling 44 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:37,040 go one on one with an elite corner in Derek Stingley for like a comeback route deep comeback. 45 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,560 It was trying to feed a ball to Keon Coleman on a slant that he was the only person on 46 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,440 the field who didn't know he was the hot read on. It was it was so disjointed and Josh Allen 47 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:53,080 was making very pissed poor decisions in addition to very poor throws he was inaccurate over 48 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,440 and over and over again. And I think that that's the that's the thing that I want to 49 00:04:56,440 --> 00:05:01,080 like just note here is so much of Bill's mafia is like this is Sean McDermott's fault. This 50 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:06,360 is what and I do think it is. I think that this is the same you know epidemic of issues 51 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,800 and decision making we've seen come up time and again the Broncos game with you know too 52 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:18,160 many men on the field the Philadelphia Eagles game that they lost last year 13 seconds the 53 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,640 playoff game against Houston like various times that the bills have played the wrong 54 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:29,400 exactly the wrong way or with the wrong orientation to win a game because they're kind of scared 55 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:36,800 or cowardly or whatever the decisions are that all being said. I think that in this scenario 56 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:43,240 the lack of management was just not recognizing that at this time in this place in the game 57 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:48,400 Josh Allen wasn't going to get it done for you. And I know again nobody wants to criticize 58 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:53,800 Josh Allen because what he's done for the team the city he is amazing. I you should 59 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:58,200 know if you listen to this pod that I believe in him. But he had a really terrible game 60 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:04,120 he was making bad throws. And if I'm the coach I need to recognize that my quarterback isn't 61 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:11,120 doing it and do something else give it handed off to James Cook handed off to Ray Davis 62 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:17,840 I mean hand off to Ty Johnson like just give the ball do a jet sweep to Curtis Samuel who's 63 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:24,200 been completely ineffective like do something else than just continuously throwing the ball 64 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:29,360 three times take 19 seconds off the clock use none of the opponents timeouts and then 65 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:33,400 give them a chance to go and kick the game winning field goal which of course they end 66 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:34,400 up doing. 67 00:06:34,400 --> 00:06:39,920 I could forgive taking a shot on first down I really could because Josh to your point had 68 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:45,080 not had a good game at that point the minute that they run four seconds off the clock with 69 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:50,120 that play and it's an incomplete pass and they stop the clock you have to be Sean McDermott 70 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,440 being on your headset to Joe Brady and being like yeah we're running it we need to make 71 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,560 them use some of their timeouts we need to put Sam Martin into position where he can 72 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:04,200 punt them way the hell out of field goal range and we need to play for overtime I mean JJ 73 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:11,520 forget forget that passing the ball stopped the clock and for and didn't force Houston 74 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:17,200 use any of its timeouts and put them in very very good field position like there was also 75 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:22,440 the high risk nature of some of those play calls and some of those past poor decisions 76 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:27,840 that Josh made that could have led to a turnover deep in their own territory which also would 77 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,640 have solidified a defeat in regulation as well. 78 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,640 That is the thing that last season you and I were saying this is why we want to see Sean 79 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:41,400 McDermott give up defensive play calling because he is an excellent defensive coordinator 80 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:46,720 but he has not a great game decision manager and being the defensive play caller is an 81 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:52,960 additional distraction lat for him that he needs to give up he's given it up his entire 82 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:58,440 focus should be on managing these decisions and managing these situations and yet still 83 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,120 we see failure after failure and the failure is always a domino effect to me that starts 84 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:09,200 with the coaches Brady is a really a first time brand new offensive coordinator I don't 85 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,920 really count a lot of his stint in Carolina because of the dysfunction there right but 86 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:19,760 he is still a young offensive play caller calling plays largely for the first time as 87 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:26,120 a head coach with game with game situation experience under your belt you've got to get 88 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:30,120 on the headset to your OC after you see that first pass and be like no no no no no no this 89 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,080 is not what we're playing for at this point and it didn't happen and I appreciate Sean 90 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:39,120 McDermott taking accountability for that because he needs to take accountability for that but 91 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:42,920 I'm also sick of hearing that same post game speech over and over where we got to get better 92 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,560 we got to get better JJ they never get better in these situations the Buffalo Bills under 93 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:53,000 Sean McDermott and this includes this year are 11 and 15 and one score games 11 and 94 00:08:53,000 --> 00:09:00,160 15 the Denver game the Minnesota game from two years ago the giant the day ball Giants 95 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:06,320 return game that they won somehow miraculously but was littered with poor coaching decision 96 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:12,520 in conservative and tight coaching all of you can run down the list the Jaguars game 97 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:17,320 from three the herb where they gave urban Meyer one of his only two career wins that he'll 98 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:23,400 ever have in the NFL you can go over and over down the list you are supposed to regress 99 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:29,360 back to the mean season after season on one loss game one score games because it's largely 100 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:34,800 a luck metric the bills have been inherently unlucky in these situations over and over 101 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:40,480 again and approves it in the stats and to me it is because we have a head coach that continually 102 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:45,680 fumbles the bag in these situations like there's a lot of reasons the bills lost that game 103 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:50,800 individually but when you zoom out and you look at the larger trends they continually 104 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:56,680 lose these types of games because the decisions of the coaching staff sure so and I know you 105 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:00,520 have that opinion and you're not alone in that opinion I think the voices about Sean 106 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:05,720 McDermott not having them the metal to get it done in those key moments are absolutely 107 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:13,400 loud and you know maybe I'm just jaded because I don't disagree with those voices I think 108 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:17,280 it's that's absolutely true I think there was that huge hit piece that Tyler Dunn did 109 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,600 against Sean McDermott last year where he named you know anonymous sources which take 110 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:28,880 that for what it's worth talking about being in you know close proximity to Sean McDermott 111 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:34,400 being on the team former employees former players etc saying that Sean McDermott coaches 112 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:39,880 scare that he's always so tight intense and like he grips too hard and then he makes mistakes 113 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:45,480 and I don't know how true the quotes were whatever he referenced in that article but 114 00:10:45,480 --> 00:10:49,720 it's it's observable like it's what we've seen and I think that your points about being 115 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:54,840 so you know poor and one score games is absolutely valid and this is the part that I referenced 116 00:10:54,840 --> 00:11:01,760 about being jaded he has such he's the winningest coach in Bill's history over Marv Leevy over 117 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:10,760 Chuck Knox over championship caliber coaches for the bills he reports to Terry Pugla who 118 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:17,160 has a is not Jerry Jones does not have a super strong voice as far as we know in the room 119 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:22,680 with managing this team and how they how they function how they operate tends to leave things 120 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:29,720 to his to his team to determine on a day by day basis and Sean McDermott through the course 121 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:34,920 of his winning you know winning ways has brought the team to the two you know for consecutive 122 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:41,080 AFC's championships to the playoffs five of the last six years there six the last seven 123 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:47,520 there's all kinds of things you can point to to say that he is one of the most successful 124 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:55,600 coaches in the NFL that is true it can also be true that he absolutely bungles big moments 125 00:11:55,600 --> 00:12:03,000 and critical and makes makes up decisions that result in critical losses the part that 126 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,920 worries me and I think is absolutely true I can I bet money on this is that Sean McDermott 127 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:15,000 is going to remain the Buffalo Bills coach because of his personal relationship with 128 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:21,360 Brandon Bean because Terry Pugla likes winning but you know and is is not doesn't seem to 129 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:27,440 be the kind of owner who's going to just like acts the the leadership if they cannot get 130 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:31,160 over the hump as long as they're continuously winning the AFC's and going to playoffs etc 131 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:36,680 winning a playoff game every year I just think that Sean McDermott is going to work his way 132 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:42,800 through Josh Allen's prime and he will be fired after Josh Allen is no longer an elite 133 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:49,400 quarterback maybe after he retires and can't cover up for his errors and blunders Sean 134 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,760 McDermott is going to have his own coaching tree he's going to produce head coaches like 135 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:59,840 Dabal who go out and coach elsewhere which is going to add to his legacy however tarnished 136 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:05,800 it may be and I just think that's the story of this team and and Sean McDermott is like 137 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:10,520 and he'll probably finish his career in Buffalo as the winningest coach in Buffalo Bills history 138 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:15,680 and you know maybe people look back on time fondly because it was great to have Josh Allen 139 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:20,240 as your quarterback and they did win AFC East over and over and they did win playoff games 140 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:28,240 I just don't think he's got it to win a championship if I'll say this if he is the absolute decider 141 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:33,200 in any moment that results in them winning or losing a Super Bowl they will lose it because 142 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:39,720 of Sean McDermott it will have to be the kind of thing where Doug Peterson his ineptitude 143 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:46,480 as a coach could not overcome the incredible resilience and team spirit of that locker 144 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:51,560 room and Philly when they beat the Patriots to get them that win you know what I mean 145 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:57,880 like it in an event where it comes down to McDermott they'll lose I think and you know 146 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:03,160 I put this takeout into the ether on social media we got some really interesting listener 147 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:09,640 interaction stuff on this and JJ you brought up a point early on about McDermott effectively 148 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,920 raising the floor of this organization with culture and with winning and the production 149 00:14:13,920 --> 00:14:19,920 they've had in the regular season and there listen I got a I got a lot of very awesome 150 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:26,440 and challenging takes that were in opposition to my take that we needed to move on from McDermott 151 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:33,760 McDermott up until this season from 2021 to 2023 has had I'll even include the COVID season 152 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:42,000 of 2020 if you want to he has had top 10 offensive and defensive units by DVOA by efficiency 153 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:49,160 by success rate by EPA pick your metric how many other head coaches in NFL history have 154 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:55,360 had consistently teams performing at that high of a level execution wise that haven't 155 00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:00,520 been able to make at least one Super Bowl right the question you're asking we have to 156 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:06,560 ask ourselves isn't who what who is going to replace the floor McDermott has given 157 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:09,880 us because I think it's valid but I think it's the wrong way to approach it because 158 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,360 there's a lot of high floor setting coaches you could find who is going to raise the 159 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:18,440 ceiling on this team and finally get them over the hump because I think McDermott has 160 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:24,480 hit his ceiling with his decision making and when you really look at the defensive output 161 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:29,280 of this Buffalo Bills team they're good and overall metrics which they should be because 162 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:33,880 this is a defensive at minded head coach that has his fingerprints on the scheme but when 163 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:40,320 you isolate their games in the postseason a regular season against winning QBs like Patrick 164 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:47,800 Mahomes Joe Burrow Lamar Jackson the numbers are far less favorable to me this is a coach 165 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:53,880 that is absolutely hit his ceiling with this squad this is a roster that has hit its ceiling 166 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:58,920 with him guiding at you need someone is going to be able to take it at next level and not 167 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,680 just figure out a way to beat the Trevor Lawrence's and the Daniel Jones of the world well said 168 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:14,400 I don't disagree with any of your points and I still stand Pat on my belief that this the 169 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:22,680 decision will have to be made by Terry Pugla because essentially Sean McDermott hired Brandon 170 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:28,760 Bean and so I don't see Brandon Bean turning on Sean McDermott and so it really is a question 171 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:37,400 of what is Terry Pugla as the owner what is his kind of threshold for failure in the postseason 172 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:42,960 how determined is he to bring a championship to Buffalo because if they go to the playoffs 173 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:50,600 to share an exit at the hands of Baltimore Cincinnati or Kansas City again you know it 174 00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:55,040 will that will that move the needle at all or is it a matter of oh we'll get them next 175 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,840 time and they just go back and recycle the same thing and we as bills fans are stuck 176 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:04,880 in this loop of having a team that like every you know so many fan bases would be so are 177 00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:09,080 so jealous of oh my gosh must be nice to be a bills fan you win the division every year 178 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:11,880 you go to the playoffs you play you know you have something to play for it late in the 179 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:17,160 season it's always exciting Josh Allen's amazing you know the defense has young superstars 180 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:23,200 coming up that's all cool but the real question is you know what's it all matter if they're 181 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:29,200 still one of the four franchises the NFL who's never gotten the championship all right exactly 182 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:35,240 right I mean what what is it all for at that point JJ you're right I don't think anything 183 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,760 changes with McDermott and we have been on this stomach churning roller coaster with 184 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:46,420 the bills before where they string together some inexplicable losses they sink to 500 185 00:17:46,420 --> 00:17:51,040 when really they should be five and one or seven and two they say our backs against 186 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:54,800 their wall we've been here before we know we need to get better and they need to go on 187 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,280 some sort of impossible run to make the post season and win the division we saw it last 188 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:06,840 year we saw it in 2021 we know that this is a QB that is capable of this right I just wish 189 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:11,840 we didn't always have to do it this way you know what I mean because the end result is 190 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:17,520 exhausting to get there and then ultimately deflating when you are taken down by one of 191 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:22,520 these superior teams with superior coaching and superior play like it's just it's the 192 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:27,880 same story over and over again and nothing is going to change unless you change the author 193 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:32,640 of that story and right now that author is Sean McDermott right so I don't want to make 194 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:38,360 it all about Sean because you're right like we we else there's also a lot of poor execution 195 00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:42,400 by the bills on the field in this game I want to get your take a little bit starting with 196 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:47,920 the offensive side of the ball we've talked about Josh not one of his better games it 197 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:53,400 was JJ had felt like watching this game particularly in the first half it was the same calamity 198 00:18:53,400 --> 00:19:00,960 of errors we have seen under day ball at certain points Dorsey and now Brady where a penalty 199 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:08,320 here a hold here a false start there to Dalton K drops here a Keon Coleman drop and all of 200 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:13,680 a sudden Josh is really pressing to get something done and has one of his most inaccurate games 201 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,120 we've seen that script play out before and that's exactly how played out particularly 202 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:21,320 in the first half what were your observations JJ of this offensive performance against the 203 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:28,920 Texans so the Texans play single high safety middle the field closed defense it is the 204 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:34,680 same type of defense that the Ravens proved was effective against the bills when you're 205 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:40,560 playing that defense you're inviting the team to pass outside the numbers against you and 206 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:45,960 so it's really you know as an offense your best tactic to beat that defense is to throw 207 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:51,160 to your outside receivers and count on them to beat one-on-one matchups with outside corners 208 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:56,800 because there tends to be you know not a lot of help outside and safety wise or it's a 209 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:00,920 zone that's dropping into three deep coverage with each corner covering a third of the field 210 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:05,360 and the safety covering the middle third with one of the safeties brought down in the box 211 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:10,440 to kind of help muddy things up there that has proven to be absolute quick kryptonite 212 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:17,480 for Joe Brady and Josh Allen and unless they find a way to beat it I do not see anything 213 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:22,680 changing I think the bills will have a real hard time against the Jets this upcoming week 214 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:28,480 because that team can play whatever coverage they need to and so what I observed is the 215 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:36,000 bills I mean you know this was the Stefan digs revenge game in terms of he proved the 216 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:42,840 bills do not have an outside receiver who can beat one-on-one any corner that's of decent 217 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:50,040 of average or better rate and when they cannot they're kind of neuter as an offense as you 218 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:56,240 mentioned in the open Josh Allen is his worst game as a professional football player you 219 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:05,280 know end of set end of statement and the Buffalo Bills had no answers I think that for me I 220 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:11,640 think that the first thing they need to do is cut Mack Hollins snaps way down I don't 221 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:18,800 care how much of a good blocker he is inexplicable that he is getting his snap crash he is inexplicable 222 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:23,720 he should only be on the field for special team snap based on what he's shown as a wide 223 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,240 receiver he's not on the same page they don't he and Josh Allen do not have any chemistry 224 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:35,560 it seems and he's a cool guy he's a cool story I actually really love his like Mack Hollins 225 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:40,760 maintenance minute videos on Instagram it's time management this it's time management 226 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:45,360 for October it's amazing yeah it's really it's really cool no he's awesome like I think 227 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:50,120 as a person I think he's wonderful as a player I don't think he's a good starting wide receiver 228 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:55,400 I just don't I think that they need to give his snaps to literally anybody else to see 229 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:59,400 if they have better chemistry and rapport with Josh Allen because it's just it's looked 230 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:04,360 painful they do this all the time they do this all the time we've talked about Emmanuel 231 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:09,440 Sanders because they just fell in love with him and it took him two years but they finally 232 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:15,720 got him in and he took valuable development time and snap share away from Gabe Davis 233 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,240 at a point where it looked like Gabe Davis was ready to emerge same thing is happening 234 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:26,280 now they know they need to develop a wide receiver one granted Keon Coleman as a project 235 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:32,840 but he is not going to learn any faster by not playing and seeding snaps to Mack Hollins 236 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:39,160 yep same and I think that's the same too with interestingly enough while Khalil Shakir 237 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:45,000 was was healthy he was giving up snaps to Mack Hollins and Marquez Valdes stance can't 238 00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:50,000 we talked about it yeah we talked about in the preview for this game complete idiocy 239 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,320 like I don't understand how you watch those three individuals play games and don't give 240 00:22:55,320 --> 00:23:00,840 100% of the snap share to Khalil Shakir it's just like it's it's baffling to me and I 241 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:05,680 just doesn't make sense and the kind of thing where like you think I think of it in terms 242 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,240 of does Joe Brady not trust Khalil Shakir as a blocker and he wants to stick to the 243 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,960 run and that's period right like that's it I think and I think that's it I think that 244 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:19,080 that's interesting because I think that has been for the limited amount of time with this 245 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:26,840 time at LSU in Carolina has been the signature of of Joe Brady as a play caller is that he 246 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:32,520 doesn't scheme for a specific guy other than a running back that seems to be like that 247 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:38,960 seems to be his comfort zone and as a result you've got some great concepts that the bills 248 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:44,680 are running but we saw it I mean the broadcast even called it out Keon Coleman's best route 249 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:49,880 that he runs is that button hook that curl that comes right back to the QB where he can 250 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,720 create a little space against the defender and then use his big athletic body to block 251 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,840 out smaller DB's while he makes a contested catch. 252 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,560 Mark has Veldez scantling was getting some of those routes. 253 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,360 Mack Hollins was getting some of those routes and he's not nearly as polished at running 254 00:24:06,360 --> 00:24:12,680 them like Brady seems to have good general pass concepts built into the playbook but 255 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:19,120 he has not yet aligned on what are the strengths of this personnel to execute on those concepts 256 00:24:19,120 --> 00:24:22,880 so he's got everybody doing everything but not everyone in that past catching room is 257 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:24,880 good at everything. 258 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:31,840 Yeah, and I think that that's you know that's really the that's a concern that we had in 259 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,000 the offseason. 260 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:35,680 Will they be able to bring it together. 261 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,840 I don't understand where Curtis Samuel is meant to fit into this offense because they 262 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:45,360 haven't been using him they've been doing like little whip screens and sort of you know 263 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:51,080 flare passes out to the flats that have been largely ineffective. 264 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:56,040 As a player coming into this free agency I think I was really excited about Curtis Samuel 265 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:01,840 because he had the number one separation per route run of all free agent wide receivers 266 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:07,880 available and I'm sure that they bought that they bought into that kind of ability. 267 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,400 I don't know if it's his understanding of the offense I don't know if it's his work 268 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:15,400 ethic his willingness I don't know if he's lost a step because he's he's not an old wide 269 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,080 receiver but he's a little bit later in his career. 270 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:22,480 What is I don't understand what's going on with Curtis Samuel and that he has predominantly 271 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,000 been a slot but he does have separation ability and he does not seem to separate anymore. 272 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:32,360 Yeah it's it is wild how they're using him and they JJ they invested money the precious 273 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:36,600 little free agent seven to eight mil per year for three years. 274 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:41,800 They like the very little free agency cap resources they have they chose to allocate 275 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:48,920 to this guy while they ate Stefan Diggs dead cap hit this season and he has not produced 276 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:52,600 for them at any reasonable level yet. 277 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,200 You can blame Brady for not scheming for him because it doesn't seem like Brady can scheme 278 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,440 for anybody except James Cook. 279 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,960 You can blame his maybe his toe injury he had earlier in the season but it feels the 280 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:08,160 further we get from that the the further off that is is a reasonable excuse. 281 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:14,320 I mean JJ we just we have this con we've potted for a long time we have the same conversation 282 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:19,520 about different players every year like Trent Scherfield is out there somewhere looking 283 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:24,920 at Mack Holland's snap share and was like why couldn't I get that last season like we always 284 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,400 get excited for some of these pieces they bring in and they just never know how to onboard 285 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:30,400 or integrate. 286 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:36,280 It is a continued problem no matter who the OC is no matter what the offensive coaching 287 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:42,160 staff is they just don't know how to onboard new weapons into this offense. 288 00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:46,080 I also you know I think that talking more about the offense I think that you're what 289 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:51,200 you're what you saw was when team stacked the box to shut down the bills rushing attack 290 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:57,280 one you know the bills ran at 19 of 24 first downs which is just not acceptable you cannot 291 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,240 be that predictable super super predictable and efficient. 292 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:01,240 Yeah. 293 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,840 And if you and if you do you know run it that often you know you get stuffed then you're 294 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:10,480 behind you're behind the sticks from there forward and then just like clockwork the team 295 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:15,280 that stuffed you on first down on your first down rushing attempt drops seven or eight 296 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,120 into coverage the next the next snap because they know the pass is coming and sure enough 297 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:25,880 just like clockwork you know Joe Brady falls into that trap over and over again so that's 298 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:31,680 a problem I think that the protection issues the bills saw were not necessarily the one 299 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:37,680 on one issues of bills offensive lineman versus their matchup more often it was a procedural 300 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:43,520 issue with Josh Allen not properly shifting protection or recognizing the the blitz pickup 301 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,200 or replacing the blitz with the ball which is something he he's been so good at through 302 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,800 his career but he just had a real bad game with almost all of that you know he was not 303 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:57,240 managing his own pressure very well and when you couple that with you know a handful of 304 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:02,840 snaps probably five or less snaps where somebody on the bill's offensive line was truly beaten 305 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:09,000 handily and caught causing quick pressure in his face it just it's kind of snowballed 306 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:15,080 from there I think that the offense was ineffective I think that you know the Keon Coleman touchdown 307 00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:19,520 I texted you enthusiastically after that one because I think moments before that I 308 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:26,000 said his ceiling is Mac Hollins career because I just didn't see him be able to do anything 309 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:31,880 I was half right I was half right about my prediction you were half right I'm hopeful 310 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:36,600 his his ceiling is more what we saw in that play and less what we saw every other freaking 311 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:44,880 play yeah I mean listen in summary no one had a good game the coaching staff Josh didn't 312 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:51,120 have a good game past catchers didn't do do a many favors and I think what is so hard 313 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:56,600 for the for Bill's mafia to swallow about this is that everything they said wouldn't 314 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:02,080 go wrong when they undertook this roster retool and got rid of Stefan Diggs did go wrong in 315 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:07,360 this game JJ I want to flip it to the defensive side of the ball which is allegedly the strength 316 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:14,240 of our head coach and back to back weeks he faces a better than average QB and CJ Stroud 317 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:22,280 a really up and coming young QB and CJ Stroud and the defense is absolutely torched and again 318 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,080 part of it you cannot blame on the coaching staff because Stroud and Bobby slow at the 319 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:31,480 offensive coordinator for the Texans seemed very committed to attacking where the bills 320 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:37,120 were the weakest which was Cam Lewis I'm sorry Cam Lewis defending a crossing route and against 321 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:41,600 Stefan Diggs in the middle of the field is going to be a digs win every time and slow 322 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:48,000 because able to find ways to get Lewis on digs on multiple occasions even after Nico Collins 323 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:52,920 went down so props to slow it because that was one of the few bright spots of the game 324 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:58,440 for him as a play caller was the scheming for digs but he generally with the exception 325 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,520 of his preponderance to run on first down and efficiently made it easy for Stroud Stroud 326 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:08,920 faced blitzes he faced pressure and was accurate and gets both organic pressure and he was 327 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,640 incredibly accurate JJ and effective against the Buffalo Bills blitz when they decided 328 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,880 to roll out more to get pressure on him both Josh Allen and CJ Stroud on the scheme faced 329 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:26,240 pressure rates of over 40% but CJ Stroud completed 31 of 38 pass attempts and Josh completed 330 00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:31,560 nine of 30 part of it was Stroud taking advantage of what the bills are giving him in the scheme 331 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:36,320 and part of it was listen JJ their guys just beat our guys are their offense just beat 332 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,360 our offense they were better they were better and I think it's it could be chalked up to 333 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,640 something as simple as that but what did you see on the defensive side of the ball for 334 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:44,640 the bills? 335 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,760 Yeah, I think that you know that certainly they were better there guys beat our guys 336 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:54,240 that's accurate I think that the pressure that the bills tried to bring the biggest 337 00:30:54,240 --> 00:31:00,160 difference I saw between slow it and Joe Brady was that slow it always had a clear and obvious 338 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:07,160 Blitz beater schemed up on in every kind of play call I think that that was the end and 339 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:14,120 the other piece of that was that CJ Stroud was very apt at identifying those blitzes and 340 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:19,600 making sure that his wide receivers knew to trigger down on that Blitz beater in the 341 00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:24,760 event that they saw their their CB vacate or they saw the linebacker vacate the middle 342 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:30,920 of the field they knew where to fill to take advantage of the bills zone defense and I 343 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:32,800 just didn't see that from the bills. 344 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:38,680 Josh Allen didn't you know I mean he was throwing balls that had no business going anywhere 345 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,800 near the players that they're being thrown towards he was missing open receivers who 346 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:48,400 were good Blitz beaters on good routes so I think that there's I think the scheme was 347 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:52,600 probably 30 or 40% of the time but was the problem on offense. 348 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:58,160 Josh Allen was the problem 60% of the time and then penetration on rushing plays and 349 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,840 for talking about the rush rushing offense was probably half of the problem and then 350 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,520 the timing of those rushing plays was the other half of the problem and to why the bills 351 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,920 were so ineffective passing and then also so ineffective running. 352 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:18,520 Yeah, I just think you know the bills defense I got off track there the bills defense. 353 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:25,040 I was gonna say adding up your percentages I think 140% of the problem is what you're 354 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:26,040 saying. 355 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:32,320 I was 100% of passing and then I was 100% of rushing so I did 100% of each you know 356 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:38,920 there's two different phases Dan but the Houston Texans on offense were so much more efficient 357 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:46,160 with their attempts because of the bills inability of personal matchups with Jamarcus Ingram 358 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:52,320 and Cam Lewis and then also Dorian Williams in coverage. 359 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:57,640 I think that we saw Terrell Bernard's return in the interception he had late was an excellent 360 00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:03,160 play and shows what he can do that no other linebacker other than Matt Milano can provide 361 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:12,520 to this defense but largely the bills secondary was toyed with in you know in regards to Jamarcus 362 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:17,800 Ingram and Cam Lewis in the slot and then also having Cole Bishop fill in for Taylor 363 00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:21,600 wrap exposed a vulnerability in the middle of the field. 364 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:25,440 Cole Bishop missed and this is the thing that I think was really disappointing for me was 365 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:27,000 and probably for you as well. 366 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:31,760 Cole Bishop wasn't was it one of the best tackling safeties coming out of this draft 367 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,520 and he was missing tackles left and right that were turning plays that could have been 368 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,520 one or two yard losses into 40 yard gains and that I think that maybe the game's just 369 00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,720 a little too fast for me was taking bad angles to amped up I don't know what it was but if 370 00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:49,520 he's going back in and in any sort of relief for starter duty in future games I hope that 371 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:51,720 he gets his tackling under control. 372 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:55,760 One can only hope although listen bad tackling has really been a hallmark of the McDermott 373 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:01,560 defense since he took over I mean we always run into tackling issues bad angles from our 374 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:06,040 safeties all that other kind of stuff for as good as they are coaching those positions 375 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,560 for whatever reason tackling has not been a part of that package. 376 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:15,560 So JJ here we are we are in another Bill's losing streak this time earlier in the season 377 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,360 than we're normally used to seeing it. 378 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:25,360 There are I don't want to draw too many grand conclusions from this other than how long are 379 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,160 we going to put ourselves through this same cycle over and over and over again. 380 00:34:30,160 --> 00:34:34,720 I don't want to hit the McD point anymore because I think we've hit it pretty thoroughly 381 00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:39,120 but the bills now they're in a place where they have to beat the Jets otherwise it's 382 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:43,000 going to be what we've seen for years which is they're going to drop to three and three 383 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:48,320 the Jets somehow are going to take control of the AFC East if they can eke out a win 384 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,320 against the Bills and the Bills I can get I can already tell you what the post game 385 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,400 press conference is going to be if they lose to the Jets coming up. 386 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,800 We've had our backs against the wall before we know how to do this we know how to rattle 387 00:34:58,800 --> 00:34:59,800 off wins. 388 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:04,360 Yes you knew how to do that when Milano was healthy when you had Jordan Foyer when you 389 00:35:04,360 --> 00:35:09,360 had an available Von Miller when you had Micahyd those guys are not walking through the door 390 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:16,120 anymore this is a different roster and I think for this Bills unit I need to see them come 391 00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:20,040 out and play with some urgency play with some purpose and play with some intentionality 392 00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:25,160 on Monday night against an opponent that they've struggled with recently because if they are 393 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:30,120 foolish enough to think because they've done it before they can do it again I don't think 394 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:34,680 they there's only so many times you can go back to that well JJ and I don't think they've 395 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:41,720 got the horses or right now the coaching staff to get them there. 396 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:49,840 Yeah I mean I think that you know you I would say you're right about the Bills ineffectiveness 397 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:55,800 and the challenges and struggles that they've shown in the past against this this opponent 398 00:35:55,800 --> 00:36:01,280 just looking at the Bills team that came out against Houston it was such a pitiful showing 399 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:05,480 that I think there's a bit of a bump that the Bills are going to have against the Jets 400 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:13,920 in trying to just not be such a miserably poor team and so I actually do see them competing 401 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:18,320 at a much higher rate in the upcoming Monday night game even though it is a more difficult 402 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:25,200 opponent in some regards because I think in other regards this Jets offense is pretty 403 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:31,400 abysmal compared to the Houston Texans offense even with the absence of Joe Mixon that the 404 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:35,520 Bills had the advantage of not having to face him. 405 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:44,080 The Jets are disjointed Aaron Rodgers is sort of a diva monster you know is almost a bride 406 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:49,760 Zilla but it just feels appropriate in this situation and he's just going kind of buck 407 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:55,640 wild with the ego and so I you know I think the Bills actually pull this one out and we'll 408 00:36:55,640 --> 00:37:01,440 certainly get to that in our preview pod later in the week but it's really you know for me 409 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:08,040 it's it's a question of how good are they at washing this loss and and making the bounce 410 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:12,560 back that you mentioned we always experience where the Bills rattle off the six or seven 411 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:15,840 straight wins how good are they making this this week. 412 00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:20,520 Yeah because it's got to start this week for sure they don't want to go back to even with 413 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,840 the Jets and be down a one game advantage heading into the remainder of their schedule 414 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,560 so it'll be interesting to see. 415 00:37:27,560 --> 00:37:33,320 JJ ending things on a positive note I will say this after the Baltimore game I was very 416 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:38,680 clear that's not a team I want to see in January again but Houston for as bad as we played 417 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:43,400 and as good as they played that's a team that feels gettable to me if we see them again. 418 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:48,160 Yeah I'd welcome that that is a first round or second round match up in the playoffs. 419 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:52,480 Absolutely and then if we make the postseason and if we get that match up and when I want 420 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:56,840 Josh to throw the sickest side eye at digs at the end of that. 421 00:37:56,840 --> 00:38:00,360 Oh yeah after dunking on him for four touchdowns. 422 00:38:00,360 --> 00:38:01,360 Yeah absolutely. 423 00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:04,760 All right for all of you listening at home like share and subscribe wherever you get 424 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:08,280 your podcast Google Apple Spotify and as always go Bills. 425 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:15,280 Go Bills.