Reading all of the armchair QBs assessment of our coaches and teams performance from last nights game has been quite surprising to me, so much so I wondered if I had watched the same game as everyone else.
Last nights game could’ve gone either way. One can point to any number of things that had they turned out differently could’ve changed the result for us. For example:
-Our WR’s had a couple of drops that would’ve changed the game. One would’ve probably gone for a touchdown, another was a critical 1st down conversion.
-There were some awful calls that really changed the outcome of the game. Intentional grounding on Josh Allen should’ve been called and several others
-Our defense was not good. We couldn’t stop them when it mattered.
-Josh Allen was the difference, specifically his designed runs.
What about McDaniel? McDaniel has only been the best coach we’ve had here since Don Shula and it’s not even close although I give Jimmy Johnson more respect for the defense he built here so many years ago than many people.
McDaniel made some adjustments in his game plan from last week and we were super successful running it. That is a good defense that our backs + Tua put up 188 yards against. A successful day running the football by any measurement. Raheem Mostert was averaging 8 yards per carry. Everyone was wondering if we could do that in the cold, if McDaniel could make that happen and he did.
The only criticism is did we abandon it too quickly in the 4th Quarter? Maybe. There were a couple of short yardage situations that would have been good to try running. Did the Bills adapt their game plan and put 8/9 guys in the box and sprinkle in some run blitzes in the 4th quarter? Yeah they did, but is that why we lost the game? Mcdaniel‘s coaching is not the reason we lost this game. We put up 29 points and had a very solid Offensive game plan against one of the best teams in the NFL in their home stadium in the cold and in the snow.
McDaniel has really developed our Offensive Line, Tua, our passing game, our running game, and is one of the principal reasons we can still make the playoffs and be a dangerous out no matter who we play. To hear people compare him to Adam freaking Gase? I mean honestly what the hell is wrong with some of you people?
It’s amazing to me to see how fast people turn on him. I get it last week vs the Chargers, that loss I would put squarely on him. Last night? Clearly he adjusted. That game was so close, a couple of balls or calls bounce or go a bit differently and we could’ve easily won that one, it was that close of a game. This season? He has been amazing, and despite being a rookie head coach we are still 8-6, in the playoff hunt, and have one of the most dangerous offenses in the entire NFL. We play the rest of our games like we did last night on Offense at least and we’ll win out because we have one of the most explosive and diverse offenses in the entire NFL. We can beat you passing short, passing deep, running, we can do it all on offense.
When’s that last time you could say that you ungrateful turds? Is he perfect? No, he’s still a rookie NFL head coach, but I see a coach who’s learning and adapting, and who no doubt is respected by the opposite sideline no matter who he’ coaching against. I just had to get that off of my chest…
.
