The Buffalo Bills didn’t score a single point on offense in Green Bay. That has caused Sean McDermott to begin calling his team out.
Buffalo Bills fans have witnessed both highs and lows since Sean McDermott took over as head coach at the start of last season.
The highs have been great. However, fans have been losing their minds during the lows when McDermott will tell the media he needs to look at the tape after a blowout loss.
This is a regular thing for a head coach to do. McDermott doesn’t want to throw his team under the bus right after a loss. Fans can rightfully be upset, yet it is better than McDermott trashing his own players.
Things changed today when McDermott seemed to be speaking with some emotion when meeting with the media.
"When it's not up to our standard, my tolerance isn't very high." -- Sean McDermott is as pointed and critical as I've ever heard him today, speaking about his team and their play.
— Sal Capaccio 🏈 (@SalSports) October 1, 2018
It makes sense for McDermott to be critical of his team, especially the offense, after a shutout loss in Green Bay. But whose fault is this?
One can make a case that the blame falls on McDermott. But is he in charge of his receivers getting open and not dropping passes?
Sean McDermott's overall message on the offense is that it's unacceptable. Seems particularly frustrated that the Bills weren't able to control the line of scrimmage.
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) October 1, 2018
A stronger case can be made that Brandon Beane assembled a team with too many holes. But that was arguably his plan all along as the ultimate goal is to rebuild and build a successful team not in one year, but over several years. Getting to the playoffs a season ago was just a bonus.
But that is the difference between the front office and the actual team when it comes to these processes. The players, who are arguably outmatched, still fight to win and the coaches do the same. Beane may view the three blowout losses this year as part of the 2018 plan.
It is a positive sign to see McDermott being critical of his team. He knows that he took a team in the midst of a rebuild to the postseason a year ago, and has the same expectations again this year. If he didn’t think he could do it again, then he wouldn’t be a good NFL head coach.
The problem may be that no matter how much he gets angry and tries to motivate, the talent may not be there.
#Bills HC Sean McDermott: "We've got to put the best players on the field, and the best players have to play [well]."
— Joe Buscaglia (@JoeBuscaglia) October 1, 2018
Kelvin Benjamin and LeSean McCoy are supposed to be the top skill players on offense and both have been barely showing up in the box scores through the first four weeks. Benjamin can barely hold onto the ball while McCoy barely gets a chance to even hold the ball.
My guess is that Brian Daboll will be under a bigger microscope in the coming weeks. Since McDermott is more of a defensive coach, the problems on offense will not lead to a surprise firing in 2018. So he can continue to call out that group as much as he wants. His job is safe for now.