Sean McDermott turtled when he needed to be aggressive

[Woodman]

https-::www.buffalorumblings.com:202126:22249256:opinion-sean-mcdermott-turtled-when-he-needed-to-be-aggressive


All year long in 2020, the Buffalo Bills and head coach Sean McDermott left hardly anything to complain about for those who monitor things like going for it on fourth down. Earlier in McDermott’s tenure with the Bills he was criticized for punting in situations where analytics vet out going for it, or settling for field goals when pushing for the touchdown statistically led to better outcomes. Not so in 2020.
In fact, the Bills received praise from regular critics like Football Outsiders on their “smart” aggressiveness. It became almost instinct for Bills fans to know whether or not a fourth down was going to be a go-for-it situation. The best parts about it were that it often worked, and it felt good. It felt good to not be afraid of the other team.
There were no such feelings to be had for Bills fans in the AFC Championship game.

• 4th-and-3 on the KC 33-yard line on the opening drive. McDermott kicks a 51-yard field goal over trying to continue the drive.
• 4th-and-goal at the KC 2-yard line down 21-9, McDermott kicks a field goal rather than going for a TD with 11 seconds left in the half.
• 4th-and-3 at the KC 8-yard line down 12-24, McDermott kicks a field goal rather than going for a TD with 5:49 left in the third.

[justasportsfan]

You have Josh who can run for a first down . Go big or go home, McD decided to go home.

[sahlensguy]

Played not to lose...

As if future AFC championship opportunities are a given. Hell no they aren't!

Sieze the day next time mofos!

[feldspar]

This bothered me a lot.

[notacon]

Bad day of coaching. The decisions would probably not have made any difference the way KC played....but hat does not excuse the decisions.

McDermott will learn from the experience.

His trepidation looks mild compared to the total **** up from Green Bay.....both the wimpy HC and Rodgers inexplicable decision to NOT run the ball on that fateful 3rd down and goal when he had tons of green in front of him....instead making a very low percentage pass into double coverage....they both chickened out.

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

In other words ... He is human and made a decision that was wrong in hindsight. Will he learn from it and go in a different direction next time... that would be human growth. We shall see.

[Figster]

In other words ... He is human and made a decision that was wrong in hindsight. Will he learn from it and go in a different direction next time... that would be human growth. We shall see.

Against K C crawling back into his conservative rabbit hole in the AFC Championship was just plan dumb. Learn? Does McD not realize who he's playing?

[Woodman]

Just gotta be aggressive like he was in the very beginning and going for it on 4th down.

[Saratoga Slim]

Last year we weren't quite ready to win a playoff game. This year we won two. This year we weren't quite ready to knock off the defending champs and win the AFC. Next year maybe we will be.

[Night Train]

I posted the same but the D was getting rolled regardless. They were not winning. McDermott admitted as much. Learn the lesson. No more FG's in that position.

[Woodman]

Bills coach Sean McDermott may realize, in hindsight, that he should have been more aggressive on fourth downs in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. But at the time, he thought he had to play it safe.
McDermott said today that he worried about going for it on fourth down and seeing his team get discouraged if they failed. McDermott said “morale” was a big part of his reason for kicking field goals on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard-line and fourth-and-3 from the 8-yard-line.

https-::profootballtalk.nbcsports.com:2021:01:26:sean-mcdermott-was-thinking-about-bills-morale-when-he-kicked-field-goals:

[jimmifli]

Decision making is ultimately tied to emotional management. And so is risk tolerance.

He let the fear of losing the game on one play cloud his judgement. 4th and 2, when your defense has given up 21 straight points, is a tough decision because if you go for it and don't make it the game is essentially over. You go into halftime, losing and with no prospect for turning that around. The problem is that kicking a field goal actually lowers your odds of winning, and it doesn't provide much morale boost.

That play really required him to bet the gam on Josh getting a TD. And his emotions, specifically fear, got the better of him.

In the regular season, when the stakes are lower, he keeps the offense on the field. He's conservative at heart, we saw that in year one. The offense didn't get aggressive until Daboll showed up, suddenly we were the analytics darlings for our 4th down decisions. I'm hopeful he works with his analytics team and corrects those mistakes. A little poker training would probably help too.

[Saratoga Slim]

See, I think it impacts morale if your coach doesn't seem to think you can get a 4th and 3 in a key spot. Hindsight....but Sean is not dumb, he's going to learn.

[Typ0]

Not really understanding why he had to take this lump as it seemed to be contradictory to his decision making all season. I saw it happen and thought he was afraid to win the game. This morale stuff is BS in the AFC Championship game if you haven't built the resolve and resilience by that point in the season you don't have it. There was a chance to beat the Chiefs on the table you have to try and beat them not beat around the bush.

[Figster]

See, I think it impacts morale if your coach doesn't seem to think you can get a 4th and 3 in a key spot. Hindsight....but Sean is not dumb, he's going to learn.

I would like to think it also works the same for the D. McD evidently thought the D would step up like they had the week before which just wasn't the case.

Andy Reid is a brilliant coach and it showed.

[sahlensguy]

Thought he learned about not playing to lose in last year's loss to Houston. We'll have to wait next time (if he even gets this far again) to see how far he's come.

[Forward_Lateral]

You have to remember, this wasn't just a first for the players, it was also McDermott's first AFC title game. The most pressure game there is, IMO. I think you could tell that he was afraid to lose. It's something that he and the entire team can learn from. It's something that hopefully won't happen again in a game like that.

[Mr. Pink]

The 24-12 FG is the only one I have a problem with.

I get the first drive FG as you're still at their 30 and you're not thinking you're going to give up 38.

The FG at half I understand as you want to go into the break with some points after a nice drive.

That third quarter FG was a gutless call to gain points that really didn't matter at that juncture of the game and the way it was going.

[Cntrygal]

In other words ... He is human and made a decision that was wrong in hindsight. Will he learn from it and go in a different direction next time... that would be human growth. We shall see.

From his interview, it sounded like he KNOWS he made a mistake and will learn from it.

Last year we weren't quite ready to win a playoff game. This year we won two. This year we weren't quite ready to knock off the defending champs and win the AFC. Next year maybe we will be.

[Forward_Lateral]

The 24-12 FG is the only one I have a problem with.

I get the first drive FG as you're still at their 30 and you're not thinking you're going to give up 38.

The FG at half I understand as you want to go into the break with some points after a nice drive.

That third quarter FG was a gutless call to gain points that really didn't matter at that juncture of the game and the way it was going.

Agreed. I maybe could see the argument for kicking the extra point when they pulled within 17, but they would’ve had to go for 2 twice anyways, so it really doesn’t matter