I’m listening to his postgame right now and the explanations behind the timeout usage is laughable. He’s arguing that he tried to “end the game” by calling a timeout attempt to disrupt the kicker “in the rain, making him think about it a little bit.” That is insane logic. Kickers are routinely hitting from over 50 yards. Elliott has a kick of 60 yards this season. Does the head coach of an NFL team think that 30 seconds is really going to have a discernible effect on his ability to make or miss the kick? What does that say of McDermott’s opinion of the tenacity and confidence of his own players.

We are watching a coach completely regress in real time. It’s quite clear that McDermott blamed their losses of the past on the inability to be multidimensional or too aggressive on offense, rather than on the fact that his decision making becomes far too predictable when the moment becomes larger. It’s time to move on.