First of all, I like Sean McDermott. I think he is a great motivator of men, a great judge of talent and a guy who seems to get the most out of the vast majority of players on his roster. His choice of Beane as GM proved brilliant. The way he and Beane work together to gather talent, make draft pick s and to make trades is tremendous….BUT
I have a serious question about his in-game decision making and worry that it will cost the Bills a chance at winning the Super Bowl as it has the past two years. His use of time-outs (or non-use at times), his inability to choose when it makes sense to challenge a referee’s call and his conservatism in terms of the types of plays his offense astounds me. Most of all, he just doesn’t learn from his prior mistakes. Let’s address each one at a time.
Usage of Time outs: Time and time again we see poor clock management. Yesterday seemed to be the aberration, however, so maybe he is learning. That said, the play calling at the end of the half was abysmal. It was as if they were playing for a 50 yard field goal attempt rather than actually throwing the ball down field. Remember, except for the bad interception on the second play of the game, Josh had a pretty decent 1st half. They had the ball at the Jets 43 with 17 seconds left and a time out. Instead of throwing the ball downfield Josh tried two short passes and a designed run. Nothing stretching the secondary. Nothing downfield (which is how they got to the Jets 43 in the first place). A 55 yard field goal was missed which turned out to be the difference in the game.
Use of challenges: yesterday there was a play where Edmunds clearly intercepted a pass that was deflected. After he had possession, the Jets receiver tried to wrestle the ball away from him. The referees apparently ruled simultaneous catch which goes to the offense. Replay clearly showed that Edmunds had sole possession of the ball when he hit the ground. No challenge made by McDermott.
Learning from mistakes: Everyone will never forget the final 13 seconds of last years playoff game. 13 seconds where the Chiefs moved 40 yards and kicked a game tying FG to send game into OT where Bills lost. Post game excuses were many. “execution”, “making plays” and “take responsibility” pervaded the speaking points. The fact that had the coach merely had his defensive players tackle the Chiefs wide receivers on first down from the 25 (and have 5-7 seconds run off the clock for a five yard gain), the Chiefs wouldn’t have been able to move up the field like they did.
Did McDermott learn from his (or Leslie Frazier’s) mistake? No. four weeks ago we played the same team and had the same situation (12 seconds instead of 13). Did the Bills do anything differently? No. Did they allow the Chiefs to move down the field and kick another field goal which could have cost them the game. Come on!!! Use your head. How do you let a team do that to you twice???
I worry that these types of situations will arise in a game that really matters and McDermott won’t be up to the task. History has a tendency to repeat itself. I hope tat it doesn’t knock Sean and the Bills on their asses.