Sean McDermott is obviously the Bills' biggest problem
People have been wondering what's been wrong with the Buffalo Bills (6-6) all season long. They always look like a great team, but their record, and current playoff non-seeding, says completely otherwise.Many blamed former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey for not fulfilling the expectations with a Josh Allen-led offense, but it's entirely clear that Sean McDermott […]
People have been wondering what's been wrong with the Buffalo Bills (6-6) all season long. They always look like a great team, but their record, and current playoff non-seeding, says completely otherwise.
Many blamed former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey for not fulfilling the expectations with a Josh Allen-led offense, but it's entirely clear that Sean McDermott is the problem after the Bills' back-breaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles (10-1).
McDermott is responsible for the product that is the Bills defense and said defense was completely outcoached and manhandled in the second half and overtime by Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense. They lost this game, plain and simple.
The Bills defense allowed 24 second half points and the game-winning touchdown in overtime through chunk plays both through the air and through the ground. Outside of Hurts' amazing throw and Olamide Zaccheaus' ridiculous catch, the Eagles offense didn't have to "earn every single yard". They just found the mismatches and exploited McDermott's aggressive calls – much like the final blitz on 1st and 10 that the Eagles read like a book and called the perfect QB draw to offset it.
Even Tony Romo admitted the Bills were playing too soft in terms of their coverage on the prior 3rd and 4 that resulted in a DeVonta Smith catch for a first down. McDermott also called soft coverages on the drive that led to Jake Elliot's 59-yard field goal that sent the game to overtime to begin with.
Sure, the Eagles made their fair share of plays, but a good chunk of those plays were anticipated or simply the result of better execution on Philadelphia's part. It's not like the Bills defense was tired or anything: The Bills finished the game with a 40:30 to 23:56 advantage in time of possession.
The Bills head coach made it clear this is his show when he fired Dorsey and the results so far have been a win over a bad New York Jets team and yet another disappointing loss to a good team. An elite team, which the Bills have the talent to be.
Yes, the miscommunication between Allen and Gabe Davis will be talked about a lot and that's a huge miss, but that's on the players – not the coaches. McDermott clearly was outcoached and outmatched in the second half – the results showed that.
The decision to let the clock run out and deny Allen a chance at making a play -or plays- to get into field goal range was the icing on the cake. It was all bad and the overall mismanagement is just another one of many failures over the last seven seasons.
Nothing is going to change until he's gone. And the Bills franchise will continue to suffer.
