My theory is multifaceted. As a disclaimer this is all my opinion.
First, Dorsey is bad at his job. Period. Playcalling is an art, not a science, and he’s not an artist. He doesn’t know how to set up a game flow, his adjustments are scattershot, and the offense lacks any sort of identity as a result. People who know more than me are saying we need more play action and motion, which sounds right. Dorsey is just bad.
Second, McDermott has absolutely meddled in the offense. We all know how much he would run a fullback dive 15 fucking times per game if he could. We know how much he loathes an explosive passing attack (just ask Brian Daboll). In my view, he strong armed Dorsey into running 12 personnel and the “bland” offense we’ve seen. He’s scared Allen shitless about running and has undermined a crucial part of our offense.
Third, as a result of the above, morale has dipped and play has suffered. Josh doesn’t trust his progressions, doesn’t work through them, and instead plays hero ball like 2018 Josh. Players DO NOT trust the coaching and it shows. Throw in the crap like benching Cook but not Gabe (last night) and any remaining trust is gone. And this is all against the backdrop of 13 seconds. The players have no faith in the coaches and it’s boiling over. It started mid last season and culminated in the Diggs sideline fiasco against Cincy.
That’s my theory, what’s yours?
I was stewing about the loss last night in bed and had a realization. In a nutshell, the Bills cut corners when it came to coordinators, and it’s showing. They should have hired an actual OC to replace Daboll, and they should have hired another DC to replace Frazier. I think McDermott is probably stretched too thin being both head coach and DC.
The team has other problems. McDermott’s defense constantly making mistakes late in games and also long third downs, it’s a trend at this point. Allen seems to have regressed some, his biggest problem is consistency. He can have have a perfect game one week, then multiple head scratching rookie-like turnovers the very next.
I think the biggest problem though is that they tried to keep both the OC and DC positions in-house instead of hiring good ones outside of it. Possibly just to save some money. So now you have to wonder if management have any idea what they’re doing, and that’s yet another problem on top of all the others.