Bills firing of O.C. Dorsey after loss is just stupid. Teams rarely better themselves.

[TeamProg]

Sitting at 5-5, the Bills' offense has been inconsistent, unable to move the ball for stretches, lacking a reliable ground attack and struggling mightily with turnovers. Too often this season, the Bills' offense looked like an amalgam of plays rather than a cogent plan.

Buffalo's struggles have mostly come due to costly turnovers. The Bills turned the ball over four times (two INTs, two fumbles lost) on Monday night, with three pinned on quarterback Josh Allen. It marked the second game this season for Buffalo with four-plus giveaways. The Bills have 18 turnovers on the season, tied for the second-most in the NFL.

Ultimately, Dorsey, who earned a head-coaching interview during the last cycle in Carolina, took the fall for the struggles. But will the change be enough for a disappointing Buffalo club with a tough schedule down the stretch?

The Bills move forward with Joe Brady as the play-caller for the season's final seven games. The 34-year-old saw his star rise in 2019 as the passing game coordinator for LSU during their run with Joe Burrow to the College Football Playoff national championship. In 2020, he was hired by the Carolina Panthers as offensive coordinator under Matt Rhule. In two seasons in Carolina, the Panthers' offense barely got off the ground, ranking 21st and 24th in yards and points, respectively, in 2020 and 30th and 29th in 2021.

Monday night's loss signaled panic in Western New York, as Buffalo dropped to 10th in the AFC. McDermott moved to fire Dorsey hours later, looking for a spark to jumpstart a meandering Bills club.

[underpants]

1. Interesting stat I heard on Thursday night

Since 1990 teams at 5-5 still have a 30% chance of making the playoffs. Teams at 4-6 only have an 8% chance.

[Xavier Breath]

2. In my nearly five decades of watching football, I've seen a lot of teams lose a lot of different ways

but last night was one for the history books.

Meh, someone has to fall on the sword so the FO can show the fans that they're doing something to fix the problem, even if the 'solution' doesn't actually get near the problem.

[Auggie]

3. Rarely better themselves? Depends on the situation, I'd say.

At least it'll get the attention of the entire team.

[TeamProg]

4. You'll have to refresh my memory of when a team improved after firing a coordinator. nt

[Angleae]

6. The Raiders got better after firing their HC & OC and benching their starting QB.

[TeamProg]

7. Have they? We shall see.

[Auggie]

8. Kicking .. as in Buffalo kicking Dallas ass in Week 15. Teams can improve.

[TeamProg]

9. Except they it was the Bills DEFENSE that stepped up in stopping Dallas

and getting the ball back to the offense so Dallas couldn’t score more points.

See how that works?
😀

[Auggie]

10. Bills could have easily given the ball right back to Dallas ...

They produced these numbers instead:
• Double the amount of first downs
• 266 yards rushing
• An 11 minute advantage in T.O.P.

Oh yeah, Buffalo beat Kansas City in Week 14 and damn near beat Philly in Week 13.

The offense has improved.

[TeamProg]

12. Bills 2022 season record with Ken Dorsey as O.C.

Buffalo finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and a 1-1 mark in the playoffs.

Hmmm, makes you wonder if firing him was he right answer.

[Auggie]

13. So I watched three quarters of the Dallas game

Announcers indicated at the beginning that Joe Brady focused on improving the running game. So look what happened. 4 wins and 2 losses. Buffalo beat Kansas City and nearly beat Philly on the road. Team is peaking.

Right or wrong, Bills are winning. And that's all that matters.

[TeamProg]

14. 13-3 in 2022. I thought you comparing the important thing after the firing

of a assist coach.

[Auggie]

15. 2022/2023 apples/oranges

Personnel, schedule, injuries, adaptation ... stuff changes.

Look, I appreciate the discussion but I'm not changing my opinion. It's possible for teams to improve by replacing assistant coaches midseason.

[TeamProg]

16. Tell Brandon Staley that the win / loss record doesn't matter.. Tell Panthers that firing asst coaches helps teams win.

Of COURSE 'stuff' changes every year, good head coaches find ways to win.

[calguy]

11. They looked pretty good against Dallas yesterday.

[Best_man23]

5. The issue is not chiefly on the offensive side of the ball

The issue is the defense. The Bills are suffering from two issues, the first is injury. Losing Milano and White for the season has really impacted the unit's performance. The other aspect of the defensive performance not spoken much of is age, a number of their defenders (Von Miller, Micah Hyde) are over 30 and are clearly not the players they once were (especially Miller). If the Broncos had a competent OL that gave Russell Wilson time, Denver could have hung 28 points on the Bills in the first half Sunday night.

Frankly, the Bills should be 3-7, as 2 no-calls on what were pretty clear defensive pass interference penalties late in the Bucs and Giants games gave them wins.

On the offensive side, they need to sit Josh Allen down and tell him in no uncertain terms to stop playing YOLO ball. In watching the Bills, I find when they get behind, Allen begins to throw the ball deep (low % passing) in attempts to make big plays, which at times leads to interceptions. Allen did this in the Week 1 loss vs the Jets, and was intercepted 3 times. The first INT Sunday night was on the receiver, but the second one was clearly on Allen. Additionally, Allen takes off and runs on plays that are clearly not designed runs. Granted, his RBs are not helping him in the run game, as it looks like James Cook has an issue with ball protection and Latavius Murray is also another Bills player that has age and miles on him.

If I were a Bills fan, I would be beyond pissed that the Bills coaching staff is allowing Allen to run like he does. Yeah, I get he's a big guy and can run like a deer, but one thing the NFL does eventually is break players who do not protect themselves. If Allen continues to do this, eventually he will take a hit that he does not spring back up from. They should know how hard it is to find a franchise QB, as they looked for more than 20 years for a guy to come close to what they had in Jim Kelly.

I think they have a good shot of winning the Jets game this weekend. The Jets defense and run game are tough but Zach Wilson is a QB in title only. That said, I can easily see the Bills losing this weekend if they play like they did against the Broncos.