RANT ONE: First half. Gutless McDermott. Fails to challenge drop on third and seven and punts twice while in Patriots territory:
Lets do the refusal to challenge first. It’s third and seven from the NE 45 yard line. A deep pass to WR Boutte which, on first look seems to be a great catch. On replay, however, the ball clearly moves when he hits the ground. NE hurries up to the line because THEY KNOW it’s going to be reversed. Watching the game on TV I’m yelling for McDermott to throw the challenge flag. Plenty of time to do so. McCoward freezes and does nothing. Four plays later we are down 7-0. This is exactly what happened in the first Dolphins game earlier this year. Miami had third and six on their opening drive. Pass completed to Hill on the sideline for a first down. Replay show he is clearly bobbling the ball and doesn’t get two feet in. Plenty of time to challenge but McCoward freezes. Five plays later we are down 7-0. Similarly in the Bills opening game win against the Ravens, down 15 points in the second half Josh runs for a clear first down and slides to avoid contact. Ref’s rule him down 1 yard short. Replays clearly show he made the first down. McCoward freezes and doesn’t throw the flag. On third and one Davis loses two yards and Bills punt. Similar situation in last year’s AFC championship game v. Chiefs. 4th quarter, 3rd and three. Josh hits Kincaid who dives for first down. Refs rule him 1/2 yard short. replays show he made first. Instead of challenging spot we hurry-up, with the wrong line-up in for the Tush Push and come up short and season ends. The only time this year that he threw the challenge flag was in the second Dolphins game when replays showed the Miami receiver bobbled the ball. McCoward threw the challenge flag BEHIND the referee while the ball was being snapped. It wasn’t a proper challenge. He seems afraid to throw a challenge flag-WHY? The Bills employ a retired NFL referee to review these things and let McCoward know when he should challenge. I cannot believe that this guy is so inept that on these five clear reversals he wouldn't have told McCoward to challenge the play.
Now let’s get to the fourth down punts. On the Bills 1st possession after NE went up 7-0, Billsget the ball at the NE 49 after a great return by Davis. 1st down pass dropped by Cooks, second down five yard run. Third down incompletion. On fourth and five from the NE 44 McCoward punts. An analytics site I follow had this as a 97% cowardly punt.
Down 14-0 in the second quarter. Our defense has given up two TDs in three possessions. On third and 15 from the NE 48, Brady calls a WR screen which gains 7 yards. I can’t imagine (then again it is Joe Brady’s favorite play in all situations) that this play was called unless Brady assumed they’d go for it on fourth down. This is a play that’s designed to get some of the 15 yards but is clearly not something you’d call if you needed to get the first down on that play. On fourth and 8 the Bills punt. NE gets the ball and promptly scores to make it a 21-0 game. The analytics site had this punt in the 96% most cowardly punt category.
McCoward shows his true self in these situations. On the road, hostile crowd, down points yet he fails to challenge and fails to go for it on a regular occasion. He has Josh Fucking Allen. This cowardice will eventually cost them just like the 13 seconds game and just like last years AFC championship game.
Second Half Rant: Nothing to rant about unless you question the play calling when the Bills were up 35-31 and had the ball with 5 minutes left. They’d scored 35 points in their last five possessions The Patriots were clueless in how to answer Allen and the Bills offense. First down: 5 yard run. Second down 1 yard run. Third down no gain on a third consecutive run and Bills punt and give NE a chance to win. Luckily the Bills defense held here but the conservatism in those three play calls could have easily cost them the game. The Patriots hadn’t stopped the Bills in five consecutive possessions yet we go conservative when we have a chance to ice the game. Had this been KC and Mahomes I’m confident the Bills would have blown the lead. McCoward and his conservatism once again almmost costs the Bills.
As for the rest of the second half it was textbook dominance on both sides of the ball. Brady called a great game and allowed Josh to be Josh. McCoward and Babich made adjustments at half time (why not in the first or second quarter) and the Bills win.
To win in the playoffs McCoward has to rely less on his “gut” and more on analytics. We need to be aggressive on both offense and defense. When the Bills blitzed in the second half it worked. We need this for the rest of the season.
Go Bills.