Rob Ninkovich Eviscerates Sean McDermott with an All Time Rant
The only thing rarer than losing an NFL game where your opponent runs the ball on 96% of their snaps is having that loss be pretty much the highlight of your week. But that has been Sean McDermott's reality since his Bills last attempt to pull out that crucial divisional rival game was knocked to the ground by Myles Bryant late Monday night.
It's been all downhill from there for McDermott. From the petty, indignant postgame invective he directed at the coach who just sent his team out to physically impose their will on Buffalo's defense:
… to his star safeties' inability to handle questions from some 140 pound former Journalism major:
… to the national reaction to all of the above? It's fair to say McDermott's week peaked with a turnover on downs in the red zone at the end of a 14-10 game.
And now, it's just continues to get worse:
Via the New York Post - New England had a game plan for the elements, throwing the ball just three times, while Buffalo seemed unprepared and flustered throughout the night.
Rob Ninkovich, a former Patriots linebacker who is now an analyst for ESPN, had some harsh words for Bills coach Sean McDermott following the loss, laying into him in a tirade during Wednesday’s episode of “Get Up.”
“Their mind is gone,” Ninkovich said. “I could say it another way. We all know what that phrase is. You fill it in. Mind is gone. They’re not going to win this next game. It’s over with. What are we doing? What are we doing, head coach? C’mon. What are we paying you – I don’t know. A lot of money. These head coaches, I tell you. …
“Let’s challenge another QB sneak and see if we get the turn. Like, what are we doing?” Ninkovich said. “How about I question your playcalling? How about I question a lot of things that you did? Yeah, let’s challenge a muddle of a first down by the Patriots to see if they didn’t get the first down. That’s a terrible challenge. The head coach messed up. Give Bill the credit. He actually told you what he was going to do all day. OK, we’ll run the ball. Can you stop us? No. Guess what? In Foxboro, one hundred to nothing.”
I'll be the first to admit there's a lot of half-thoughts and disjointed sentences in there. And I'm not entirely sure what phrase he was inferring with "Their mind is gone" but couldn't actually come out and say. But Ninkovich's underlying premise is perfectly clear.
Bill Belichick broke Sean McDermott.
It happens. There are a lot of pelts on that saddle. The complete list of coaches he's destroyed is too long to do justice to here. And it grows with each passing season. Poor Pete Carroll has never been the same since he got Jedi Mind Tricked into throwing the ball on the goal line. Dan Quinn had one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history when he got beaten and never recovered. I respect Sean McVay and all, but his 2018 Rams went from the 11th highest scoring team in history to the 11th highest scoring team of the 2019 season after Belichick showed the world the cheat code for beating them. Then the next year they were 22nd and had to completely retool.
The point I'm getting at is that, while Ninkovich is 100% correct, McDermott isn't the first to get his brain broken by the best coach of all time, and he will by no means be the last. In fact, he's in good company. He was like a sophomore in high school when Belichick was reducing Marv Levy to ashes, and he's been doing it ever since. The only question remains whether McDermott will find some treatment for his deranged rageaholism and rally before this year is over. Or if this condition is permanent and his time at the top of the AFC East standings is over for good. My guess is it's the latter. It's hard to bounce back when your mind is gone.
So does that mean NE: 100, BUF 0 in two weeks in Foxboro? I wouldn't bet against it.
