Tag: Sean McDermott

Stephen Hauschka says he didn’t feel ‘ideal’ vs. Browns

Stephen Hauschka has been a oft-reliable during his Bills career. Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, he was not. 

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Stephen Hauschka has been a oft-reliable during his Bills career. Against the Cleveland Browns in Week 10, he was not.

Hauschka missed from 34 yards and again from 53 yards, the second of which was a game-tying kick attempt with under a minute left. It missed.

On Wednesday, Hauschka told reporters going into the game he wasn’t feeling 100 percent.

“Physically I feel good… mentally, technically, this job is… you’ve got to be on his every single week. Sometimes you head into a game not feeling, for whatever reason, not feeling ideal, and most of the time you kind of get away with it. Sometimes you don’t… that’s kind of how I feel after last week, so this week I just have to do everything normal and get back into this game and the routine,” Hauschka said.

“If you kick long enough in this league, you’re going to have an off day, you’re going to have an off game,” Hauschka added.

But the 34-year-old hasn’t seemed himself for some time. He’s missed his last five-straight kicks from 50-plus yards.

Still, he insisted he’s still holding his head high.

“You can paint it however you want. They haven’t gone in recently, but I’ve still got plenty of confidence. I make them in practice all the time,” Hauschka said.

In practice is one thing, in a game is another. The Bills won’t potentially lose a spot in the postseason picture thanks to a missed kick at practice. There’s a decent chance the Bills will have to rely on Hauschka at some point down the stretch.

As now, he still have his head coach’s confidence if things come down to his foot.

“Got a lot of confidence in Stephen and obviously it didn’t work out but, we’ll remain confident in Stephen as we move forward here,” Sean McDermott said.

Hauschka is currently hitting 61.5% of his kicks, a career low. He’s missed all three of his attempts from over 50 yards this season.

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Sean McDermot won’t compare Josh Allen, Tyrod Taylor, but we will

Comparing current Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen to Tyrod Taylor and what Sean McDermott said about it.

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As the story goes, the Bills replaced quarterback Tyrod Taylor with current second-year thrower Josh Allen.

Allen is now 20 starts into his NFL career, he’s 11-9 overall in those games. First compared by Jerry Sullivan from 1270: The Fan radio on Wednesday, the Bills have had strikingly similar numbers from one of their other most recent QBs.

That so happens to be Taylor.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was asked to compare those two. He ushered in the exit of Taylor for Allen, after all.

McDermott declined to do so.

“I’m never going to compare or try to compare two players. I know they play the same position but both players are different players. A lot of respect for Tyrod. The player I’m most concerned with right now is Josh Allen, in terms of this question. Josh is focused on working and improving and it’s important that we keep improving around him as well. He takes great ownership and great accountability in that and as we go offensively, it’s important that we work on scoring points, that’s the name of the game. Score points and give yourself a chance to win,” McDermott said.

But here’s your big comparison. Both players have one excused outing in those last 20 games thanks to Nathan Peterman. He started the 2018 opener and then Allen jumped in. In 2017, he shockingly started over Taylor against the Chargers and Taylor replaced him. So in both of those outings, the outcome didn’t factor into the numbers for Allen and Taylor.

Having said that, Taylor was also 11-9 in his last 20 games as the Bills’ starting quarterback.

In addition, in that same time span, Allen has averaged 196 yards passing per game. Taylor lands at 195 in that same category.

 

Looking deeper, as dual-threat QBs, Allen has 34 total touchdowns in that time frame to 18 interceptions. Taylor is at a 34-8 ratio. Taylor has also thrown for 4,652 passing yards with a completion rate of 62 percent. Allen clocks in at 3,919 and 56 percent.

Breaking down this comparison, there’s still two sides of the coin to consider. First, the last 20 starts for Allen are the first 20 of his career. While there are skeptics, Allen is still young and hopefully there’s room for growth.

Having said that, Taylor wasn’t 22 like Allen, he spent a few years on the bench as a backup with the Ravens. But he wasn’t getting any playing time then, either. He was so basically a rookie as well.

Plenty of variables here to compare as well. Talent around the QBs, etc.

So, make what you will with the comparisons, but those are hard numbers.

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Sean McDermott shows frustration, abruptly leaves presser

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott displayed some rare frustrations in front of the camera on Wednesday.

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Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott displayed some rare frustration in front of the camera on Wednesday ahead of his team’s game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 11.

It’s no secret that the Bills have a better defense than offense. The defense is the NFL’s third-best, while the offense ranks No. 23 out of 32 teams.

The Bills’ bench boss was asked about any frustrations he may have with how the offense looks so far. After answering numerous questions about the unit, McDermott abruptly, for his standards, ended his press conference early.

“Am I concerned with… am I concerned with, the success of our offense?” McDermott responded when asked about his level of frustrations with the unit. “Move the ball, score points. If we don’t do that, I’m frustrated… Simply put.”

The press conference was then over at about nine minutes in length. McDermott walked away without fielding another question after this answer when such press conferences tend to last in the 15-20-minute range.

Here’s McDermott shutting things down via WKBW-TV:

While not quite a Herm Edwards’ “you play to win the game,” or Dennis Green’s “they are what we thought they were,” this isn’t usually the calm, cool, and collected public relations wizard the Bills have as their coach. A full video of the interview shows McDermott asking for the question to be more specific.

McDermott also was asked to compare Josh Allen and Tyrod Taylor, who McDermott decided to move on from. The coach wouldn’t do that, and it’s worth noting that Taylor was 11-9 in his last 20 starts with the Bills. Allen is 11-9 in his first 20.

Everyone can have their opinion on Allen or Taylor, but one thing seems for certain: McDermott wasn’t happy with the line of questioning.

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9 things to know about the Bills’ Week 11 opponent, the Dolphins

The Bills and Dolphins will complete their 2019 pair of games on Sunday in Week 11 from South Florida. These aren’t your father’s Dolphins, and they’re not your Dolphins from like a few weeks ago when Buffalo topped Miami in 31-21. Things have …

The Bills and Dolphins will complete their 2019 pair of games on Sunday in Week 11 from South Florida.

These aren’t your father’s Dolphins, and they’re not your Dolphins from like a few weeks ago when Buffalo topped Miami in 31-21. Things have changed in three short games since then.

With that, here are nine things to know about the Bills’ Week 1 opponent, the Dolphins:

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott and Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores meet following the game at New Era Field. Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Red hot Dolphins

The Bills were huge 15.5 opening favorites against the Dolphins in their first meeting. Buffalo took a 31-21 win and didn’t cover that. Actually it was nearly just a three-point win had it not been for a goofy onside kick score from Micah Hyde late.

But since then, it’s been smooth sailing for the Dolphins. After topping the New York Jets for their first win of the season, 26-18, Miami beat the Colts last week 16-12.

Yes, the tanking Dolphins are on a winning streak. Buffalo is still the favorite, but hey, if they’re hot, they’re hot. Along with their winning streak, the Dolphins have led in four-straight games as well, dating back to that loss in Buffalo.

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Brian Daboll discusses late pass vs. Browns: ‘I should’ve given them a better play’

Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll on late pass play vs. Cleveland Browns in Week 10.

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The Bills’ mantra of “culture” dictates there’s no room for finger pointing in Sean McDermott’s house of process.

But the Bills offense did fumble, metaphorically, down the stretch against the Browns during their 19-16 loss in Week 10. It was one step forward and a bunch back.

Quarterback Josh Allen hit rookie running back Devin Singletary with a quick pass just short of the first down near the sideline. The good stopped there. The receiver didn’t get out of bounds.

Buffalo huddled with less than a minute on the clock with that same clock still running thanks to Singletary not getting out of bounds, something head coach Sean McDermott admitted “wasn’t part of the plan.”

What was part of the plan, according to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was what ensured.

After Singletary’s six-yard gain on second down setting up a third-and-4 scenario, Allen tossed a deep pass to wideout John Brown down the right sideline. That pass with Browns defensive back Denzel Ward in coverage fell incomplete and moments later, Stephen Hauschka’s kick from 53 yards missed and the Bills lost.

Replays showed that slot target Cole Beasley was likely open enough over the middle to gain a first down. But Allen opted to go deep.

Daboll broke down everything about the play on Monday.

The coach defended Allen’s decision, but with Beasley in mind, also added that’s a hard play to make, especially when the Browns dialed up a blitz on the play. He also kept in-step with taking some blame himself.

“(Allen) has to make a split-second decision when you have all those people up at the line of scrimmage in there. And the blitz, he has to make a quick read on that. We had a three-man route combination over to the left, and he had a one-on-one with John to the right, and threw it up there, and we just didn’t connect on it,” Daboll said.

“I should’ve given them a better play,” Daboll later added.

But with what Allen had to work with, such as the play called and blitz, Daboll defended that throw to Brown. It appeared to a throw tossed behind Brown, but Daboll indicated that it was an intended back-shoulder throw that didn’t connect, a similar play the Bills have run throughout the season.

“Let’s hit it and win it. We have a one-on-one matchup,” Daboll recalled of his thoughts in the moment. “It wasn’t the same play, but similar to the third down and whatever it was against the Jets, with Smoke on the left hand side, where he caught it and ran into the end zone. You have to have confidence in your guys. You hit some and you don’t.”

Of course, Allen didn’t have a problem with the play after the game, either. He took responsibility as well immediately following th eloss.

“Put the blame on me,” Allen said. “I didn’t play well enough today.”

Buffalo’s second-year quarterback still appears to have some growing pains to go through. The deep pass falling incomplete stung a bit more because of the nature of the pass. According to The Athletic, the Bills QB is 0-for-16 on passes that have traveled more than 30 yards in the air this season. There’s also the decision not to look Beasley’s way, really at all, to consider as well. That’s a concerning trend.

After the way things unfolded, the Bills will hope Allen learns from such a scenario to better prep himself while the game is on the line and that the learning experience didn’t cost them a potential playoff spot in the coming weeks.

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Sean McDermott says ‘plan wasn’t to huddle’ in dying seconds vs. Browns

The Bills had a rookie mistake followed by a rookie mistake, leading to their 19-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns. 

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The Bills had a rookie mistake followed by a rookie mistake, leading to their 19-16 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

After crossing into Browns territory, Bills quarterback Josh Allen tossed a six-yard pass to rookie running back Devin Singletary. It put the Bills in field goal range.

But the first rookie mistake was made by the rookie. He didn’t get out of bounds. The clock kept running with less than a minute left.

The next rookie mistake is perhaps the worst thing you could’ve done from there, not hurry up. Buffalo’s offense huddled instead of moving quickly to the line of scrimmage.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott admitted on Monday that wasn’t what the coaching staff wanted to see unfold.

“The plans weren’t really to huddle at that point. It was to go to the line and get the third-down call off and then save the timeout there,” McDermott said.

The bench boss added it was a mistake that the Bills have tried to focus on in the past, and will keep focusing on in the future. Maybe even more detailed now.

“Those are situations we practice every week. … We didn’t execute well enough, so we’ll go back and look at that again this week,” McDermott said.

The poor clock management eventually bled the clock down to 22 seconds remaining and a fourth down after the Bills failed to connect on third down. It was a 53-yard Stephen Hauschka game-tying kick attempt.

It was no chip shot and Hauschka missed his fifth-straight kick from 50-plus yards. Buffalo didn’t have to kick it there and could have opted to go for it on fourth down. The Bills did go for it twice earlier in the game on fourth down but didn’t there.

McDermott said he believed kicking it was the best chance for the Bills to win.

“We’re going to win it,” he said. “That’s the mindset. At a minimum, trying to put us into overtime in that situation. We had a chance, I thought.”

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What we learned from Bills’ Week 10 loss to Browns

What we learned, Buffalo Bills vs. Cleveland Browns, NFL Week 10

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

Coming into week 10, the Bills had survived several games this season where they did not play well, but found a way to win. Their luck finally ran out in another ugly game Sunday along the banks of Lake Erie.

The Bills faltered on both their final defensive and offensive possessions of the game after coming from behind to take a lead in the fourth quarter. Cleveland went on a 10-play, 82-yard drive to take the lead on a Baker Mayfield to Rashard Higgins seven-yard touchdown pass with 1:44 to go. Josh Allen and the Bills got the ball back with a chance to either drive for a game-winning touchdown or game-tying field goal. Buffalo got to the Cleveland 35, but faltered from there as Allen threw incomplete on a back-shoulder toss on third down. Stephen Hauschka trotted onto the field to attempt a 53-yard field goal that would tie the game, but was both wide and short as Cleveland held on to win, 19-16.

There was a lot to be concerned about following this game for Buffalo, including questions on offense, defense, and with the coaching staff. The Bills offense again failed to deliver enough production to win the game, while the defense again had trouble stopping the run. Sean McDermott and the Bills’ coaching staff also had a rough day as there were game management decisions to question in the final two minutes.

The Bills are now 6-3 and suddenly find themselves falling back toward a gaining pack in the AFC wild card race as Buffalo has now lost two of its last three.

Here are four things we learned from the Bills’ loss Sunday in Cleveland:

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