Far be it from me to question the decisions of a successful NFL coach, but we can sure flag the optics.
On Tuesday, the Bills fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey after an embarrassing loss to the Broncos on Monday Night Football. This is, unfortunately, part of the business. Coaches who find themselves backed into a corner are often pressured to make moves or feel as if they don’t have a choice. Maybe that’s how Sean McDermott feels now. Buffalo, at 5–5, is trying to reenter the playoff picture and had one-time rising coaching star Joe Brady—the same LSU coordinator who birthed the Joe Burrow offense—sitting as a logical successor to Dorsey. At season’s beginning, Dorsey was certainly mentioned among coordinators who could wind up interviewing for head coaching vacancies in 2024.
But to fire the offensive coordinator the night after the Bills lost primarily because of two actions that trace directly from the head coach’s chair seems callous and a little off the mark. Again, maybe McDermott knows something we don’t. But maybe, just a little bit, he is also allowing someone to take the brunt of an oncoming bus.
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In case you forgot, the Bills had 12 men on the field for the Broncos’ first game-winning field goal attempt—which slid wide right—giving Denver a second chance at the kick. The Bills also zero-blitzed Russell Wilson to back the Broncos out of field goal range, then confoundingly zero-blitzed Wilson again, even though his moon-like deep ball is one of his few remaining, consistent weapons. A downfield throw against a beaten Bills corner drew a pass interference flag, setting Denver up for a chance to win the game easily.
Against the Broncos, Josh Allen struggled with turnovers, but that is not a new development. Allen has led the league in interceptions over the last five years but is also a prolific runner and scorer. The challenge is in reining in Allen’s worst instincts. Former OC Brian Daboll, now the head coach of the Giants, will never get the credit he deserves for taming Allen. But to say that Dorsey was a marked drop-off from Daboll is patently false.
Through nine games of the 2023 season, the Bills were averaging 7.5 yards per passing attempt, converting 50% of their third downs and rushing Allen for only 25 yards per game. Through nine games of Daboll’s final season, the Bills were averaging 7.1 yards per passing attempt, converting 47% of their third downs and rushing Allen for more than 40 yards per game (I’ll admit that these stats are a bit cherry-picked to prove a point, and it’s worth noting that Daboll scored about four more points per game as a play-caller than Dorsey did during that time).
I’m not arguing that one person was a better play-caller than the other. What I am arguing is that Dorsey was doing well despite a different set of circumstances. Allen, for example, is clearly being advised to run the ball less. The Bills are trying to maintain the long-term health of their franchise quarterback and not have him roll into the postseason every year bruised up like an old peach.
That changes the calculus. That changes the way defenses are going to play a team. That necessitates time and understanding as a player and unit are reinventing themselves. Another knock on Dorsey was that he wasn’t a proper steward of the running game, even though one could argue he doesn’t have the resources of other highly sought-after play callers whose offensive lines are deeper, whose running back stable is more dynamic and robust, and whose stockpile of ancillary pieces to help free backs are more diverse.
Even still, the Bills scored a go-ahead touchdown Monday night … due to the running game. James Cook ripped off gains of seven, 42, six and 13 on Buffalo’s final drive.
Again, this is not a one-sided argument, but it is the other side of the argument: how I would imagine some Bills fans feel on a disorienting morning after. Now, headed into the most critical (and by far the most difficult) stretch of the season, the Bills are changing offensive play-callers. Brady, I feel, has a bright future in the NFL and has interviewed well for head coaching positions in the past, but he was also fired in the middle of a season, back in 2021, when he was the offensive coordinator of the Panthers. One has to wonder whether there is any significance to the fact that Brady is steeped in the Sean Payton system that bested McDermott a few hours before this move was made.
Mostly, though, one has to wonder why and why now. It doesn’t look good, especially when Dorsey isn’t the coach most Bills fans want answers from.
