Wow. A ton of stuff has happened since i sat down to write this season ending Bills blog (Sabres blogs will start soon). From losing again in the playoffs to McDermott being fired to Beane being promoted there is a lot to talk about here. Let’s start with what went wrong and go from there.
Saturday’s loss to the Broncos: So many things went wrong, each of which most likely cost the Bills the game. The old adage “one play doesn’t cost you the game” could never have been more overstated after watching the debacle that we saw Saturday. Let’s go over them in detail.
Larry Ogunjobi’s off sides penalty on Bronco’s 1st drive cost the Bills 3 points. Had he not jumped offsides the Bills would have had the ball as they’d recovered the fumble by the Bronco’s back. 3 plays later and due to the penalty the Bronco’s take a 3 point lead.
James Cook’s fumble cost the Bills at least three and more likely 7 points. Bills were driving. Up 7-3 and just having stopped the Broncos on a three and out. 1st and 10 at Bronco’s 32 and Cook fumbles (league leading 7th fumble this season).
Nix to Humphrey 29 yard TD pass with 22 seconds left in half gave the Broncos a 17-10 lead. Two plays earlier our safety Cam Lewis went out with cramps. In comes backup to a backup to a backup Darnell Savage who gets toasted for the TD. Doubt that happens if Lewis was still in the game.
Josh fumbles at end of have giving Broncos3 more points. This, IMHO, was probably the dumbest play I’ve ever seen Josh Allen do in his career. We have 1st and ten at our own 30 with no time outs and 16 seconds left. Anything other than a pass that’s either incomplete or completed to the sideline so the receiver can get out of bounds is half ending. What does our MVP do? He scrambles and runs. The half will end unless he runs for 70 fucking yards which isn’t happening. Instead of sliding and just ending the half he recklessly runs, ball in one hand and gets stripped. The fact that our offensive lineman Edwards had a clear shot at recovering the ball (but as most linemen do he tried to jump on the ball and it bounced away into the hands of a Bronco defender), the whole play was just stupid. No time outs. Need 30+ yards and clock stoppage. Josh tried to be superman again and this time it cost us 3 points.
Josh misses Shakir on 3rd and 8 from Broncos 12 yard line while up 24-23. Had Josh not thrown the ball into the ground there was a very good reason to believe that Shakir scores (or at least gets the first down). Instead it’s a FG. Four more points wasted.
With 55 seconds left in the game and the Broncos out of time outs they have the ball at the Bills 26 yard line. On the play before Tre’Davius White got injured. In to replace him comes Dane Jackson, a guy who has been in and out of the Bills lineup for years and is only on the roster because of the following; McDermott left Hairston in the game when winning 35-0 in the fourth quarter v the Jets two weeks earlier (and he got injured); We waived Ingram, the backup CB earlier in the year so we could pick up Darius Slay who’d been cut by the eagles and who decided he’d rather retire than come to the Bills; and due to White’s injury. In his only snap at CB the entire game he gives up a 26 yard TD. Maybe, had McDermott understood the importance of having the starter in there (remember what happened a mere hour earlier when Lewis went out), he would have called time out to let White return to the game? Instead it’s a TD.
Missed interference call on Brandon Cooks. With 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter the Bills are down by 3 and have a 1st down at the Broncos 32. Josh throws a great deep ball to Brandon Cooks in the end zone. Cooks is clearly grabbed and interfered with by the Bronco’s DB. No call by refs (as compared to calls against Bills in OT) and ball falls incomplete. had the call been made correctly the Bills would have had the ball on the Bronco’s one yard line with the likelihood of scoring a TD and winning the game.
Josh misses Knox with what would have been a game winning TD two plays later. Yes Josh was rushed. Yes there was a defensive lineman in his face who probably caused Josh to overthrow the pass, but Josh Allen HAS to make that throw.
Brandon Cooks drop/interception/reception in OT. Yes it was a controversial play. I honestly think the referees got the call correct. I don’t believe Cooks had control of the ball when he landed on the ground (as compared to last night’s situation where the rams WR Adams clearly had control of the ball when his knee was down and he was impacted by the Bears defender). The point here is that Cooks needs to catch that ball. He had dropped three balls in the four games he’d played for us, two of which were huge. The ball was thrown perfectly allowing him to slow down and receive the ball in a perfect position. Instead of setting up a game winning FG we had a turnover and lose the game.
Nine plays, each of which had they’d gone the Bills way, would have almost assuredly resulted in a Bills win.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
McDermott’s firing: It’s tough to fire a guy who has the best record in football over the past seven years and who has made the playoffs every season but one in his tenure but sometimes changes need to be made. Its been done before with great results (Gruden and Kubiak hires for example). That said McDermott’s in game decision making has been problematic for years. We all remember 13 seconds and I won’t reiterate what I’ve said countless times over the past few years but, suffice it to say that I honestly don’t believe the Bills would EVER win a Super Bowl with his as head coach. Yesterday’s game and McDermott’s conservatism was on full display. In the fourth quarter and second half we’d neutralized Bo Nix and the Denver offense by blitzing. With 2:37 left in the fourth quarter and with the Bills leading 27-23 the Broncos were faced with a third and 11 at their own 37. A stop here might end the game. Instead of doing what had worked the entire second half McDermott backed out of the pressure scheme and went with his basic two deep zone. Nix hits Sutton on a deep route for a 25 yard gain. Why at that point do you go away from what has worked? McD is stubborn and arrogant in the manner he’s coached the Bills. I’m glad he’s gone.
2. Beane’s promotion to President: This is just a stupid move by the worst owner in professional sports (see my December 6, 2024 Rant). Beane has so screwed up this team over the past four years that promoting him, rather than firing him, seemed implausible this morning. His refusal to surround Josh with NFL wide receivers, his brutal record for drafting in the early rounds, his terrible free agent acquisitions combined with his arrogance should have led to his discharge. Just look where the Bills are under his leadership. They have nine unrestricted free agents, seven draft picks and have $3M in cap space. They will need to replace/sign McGovern and Edwards on the offensive line as well as Bosa, White, Poyer and Milano on Defense. They draft 26th which will most likely prevent them from getting a franchise WR and given their cap they probably won’t be able to go out and get a FA wide receiver. They are in salary cap jail due to contracts he gave out to guys like Rousseau, Knox, Oliver, Samuel, Palmer and the like. He’s had multiple opportunities to get Josh help and has been inept at doing so. He’s way over his head and should also have been released (before McDermott in my opinion).
3. Joe Brady: I’ve been very critical of Brady over the past two years as are reflected my my numerous rants. That said, I honestly thought that for the most part his best game of the season was Saturday against the Broncos-UNTIL IT REALLY MATTERED. Through out the game he kept the Broncos defense on their heels by using a combination of run/pass plays on first down which prevented the second down and long situations which would allow the Broncos to pressure Josh. It is in these tense situations, however, the Brady has been less than effective. Saturday wa s perfect example. After keeping the Bronco’s defense on their heel the entire game we got the ball in OT with a chance to win. On three straight first downs, however, Brady reverted to his old self and ran Cook up the middle for one yard, three yards and minus one yard. In each of these situations Josh was faced with second and long, the exact situation you want to avoid. he first two times Josh worked his magic. The third resulted in the Cooks/reception/interception.
Another situation in which the difference between a great OC and Brady came into play Saturday. As mentioned earlier, as soon as Sean Payton saw the Bills secondary injuries he capitalized immediately by going after the injured starter’s replacement. This lead directly to two touchdowns. Conversely, what did the Bills do when Patrick Surtain, maybe the best cornerback in football, went out for an entire series in the first quarter with an injury? Absolutely nothing. They didn’t go after Surtain’s replacement at all. It was offense as usual and the Bills didn’t capitalize on the injury at all.
Through out the year Brady’s play calling has been criticized by me. From the first down runs to the wide receiver screens that don’t work. The thing, however, that most bothers me about him is his usage (or non-usage) of Cook. In the past two games the Bills have thrown the ball (or attempted to do so) EVERY SINGLE TIME Cook comes off the field. Think about that for a minute. You are n NFL Defensive coordinator. Its second down and six yards to go and Cook goes out and is replaced by Davis. You now know that the Bills are going to pass the ball because the Bills don’t run the ball unless Cook is in the game. How predictable can you get?
4. What I’d like to see is the Bills getting an offensive minded head coach. I honestly believe that Brian Dabol would be a perfect candidate. He and Josh worked great together previously and one would think he learned a ton while coaching a bad Giant’s team the past four years. He’s an offensive minded guy which is what is successful in the NFL today. I’d love to see the Bills pick up a franchise WR and then stock up on offensive linemen and defensive backs in the draft. Let guys like Bosa, Ogunjobi, Edwards, Milano and even McGovern go. They can all be replaced by much less costly draft picks. Get rid of Coleman and replace him with Brian Thomas, Jr from the Jags. Give Josh some weapons. We can’t waste another year.
Go Bills. Next year is the year!!!