Bills’ disastrous end-of-season press conference makes the Bengals look like the standard of decency
Buffalo’s eventful morning is a good reminder of why silence in Cincinnati isn’t so bad.
The Cincinnati Bengals can at least say they’re not the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo’s end-of-season press conference featuring owner Terry Pegula and general manager Brandon Beane resulted in both figureheads throwing recently-fired head coach Sean McDermott under the proverbial bus, and rehashing the process of drafting Keon Coleman in 2023. Pegula also clarified he didn’t talk to quarterback Josh Allen about McDermott’s firing, and the decision was ultimately made based on the Bills’ loss to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round last weekend.
The entire presser went viral for its chaos and frankly crass nature. It certainly didn’t defuse any speculation regarding Beane’s worthiness of staying around as GM, and did more to hurt Pegula’s competence as an owner of a contending franchise.
It’s also a good reminder of why it’s not so bad when the heads of the Bengals don’t speak very often.
Maybe it’s not so bad when the Bengals stay quiet
Cincinnati fans mainly get to hear from head coach Zac Taylor for the majority of the year. The club believes his voice is all that’s needed during the season, and most of the offseason.
“During the season, Zac is our voice, and Zac is somebody who speaks for us,” said director of player personnel Duke Tobin during his end-of-season presser. “We communicate all the time with him, and he understands everything that’s going on, and he is the voice of our team.”
Taylor is good at speaking to the media. He consistently empowers his players, and expresses trust in the organization’s process. It’s why Tobin and Co. operate in the shadows, and only come out when needed at the NFL Scouting Report, owners meetings, and the annual media luncheon right before training camp.
And when they do speak, it doesn’t always prove productive. Tobin’s recent presser was an hour-long reminder of why the franchise is so head-strong. Team president Mike Brown has always maintained his traditional values running the team.
Fans oftentimes want more transparency from those who run the team, but Wednesday morning is a reminder of what the sausage looks like when it’s being made.
For Brown and Tobin’s faults, they’ve never quite put a fired coach on blast and aired out dirty laundry in front of the press quite like Pegula and Beane did. They recognize business is business, but don’t make it personal and say inflammatory remarks about players still on the team. If there’s a decision to fire Taylor, Burrow would very likely be informed beforehand.
McDermott was the Bills’ winningest coach in franchise history, and it looks like he was relinquished by people who would sacrifice class for the image of “winning at all costs.”
The standard of excellence needs to be high, Super Bowl-high, but the Bills did more to damage their reputation than help it by clarifying that standard. They incidentally exposed their true colors, and if things go south from here, this will be the natural inflection point for where things went wrong.
It would be nice for the Bengals to talk more, but honestly, maybe it’s best for NFL owners and executives to stay quiet.
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