The Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane discussed several topics during his one-hour press conference on Tuesday, January 24, but his comments regarding offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey caught the most attention.
Dorsey was slammed by fans and analysts following the Bills’ 27-10 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional round as he seemed to have no creative game plan other than hoping quarterback Josh Allen went into full superhero mode to pull off the win. However, Beane made it clear that he’s not assessing his offensive coordinator based on this one game, but the season as a whole.
The Bills averaged 24.8 points per game during the regular season, which ranked second in the league, and due to Dorsey’s experience as a quarterback at the University of Miami, Beane said there’s room to grow “as he enters year two,” strongly indicating there will be no changes at the position.
Brandon Beane’s evaluation of both Ken Dorsey and Leslie Frazier after this past season #BillsMafia @WKBW
“You got a guy who played the position at a very high level, won national championships on a major college team, and that’s an asset, too,” Beane said. “Knowing what, in this case Josh is going through. So Ken will be very self-critical. We’ll all put our heads together, of hey, these things went well, and these are some areas maybe we want to grow. [Head coach] Sean [McDermott] talks about having the growth mindset, and I believe Ken does have that. And we will continue to look for ways to help him and that’s our job to kind of support him in that as he enters year two.”
Dorsey has been in the hot seat since the Bills’ overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. While Allen admittedly made several costly mistakes, his miscues weren’t unique to this one loss, and it became impossible to ignore Dorsey’s questionable playcalling. Between Weeks 8 and 10, the Bills scored just 12 points in the second half, and Allen hadn’t thrown a passing touchdown in the second half since Week 6.
Another issue was his inability to utilize running back Nyheim Hines after the Bills acquired him at the trade deadline. While his two punt-return touchdowns against the Patriots in Week 18 were incredible, he had a total of 13 touches on offense in 11 game appearances.
“Like any time you go through something the first year, I’m sure he felt at times like he was drinking out of a fire hose,” Beane said of Dorsey. However, when preseason expectations are Super Bowl or bust, patience for a learning curve was non-existent.
Bills Fans Strongly Reacted to Beane’s Continued Endorsement of Dorsey
Bills Mafia strongly reacted to Beane’s comments on Twitter. Perhaps, the frustration of failing to make it to the AFC Championship game for the second consecutive year is still too raw, but learning Dorsey isn’t likely going anywhere, unless maybe the Carolina Panthers hire him as their new head coach, had fans losing hope for next season.
One person tweeted, “Really excited to waste another year rooting for an inept offense,” while another fan lamented, “Beane only assured me through his interview that they don’t plan on changing anything and that the scenario next year is just the exact same as this year. I may not even bother. It’s cool winning 14 games but means nothing with no Lombardi.”
Another Bills fan tweeted, “Cool. Looking forward to 17 more weeks of hero ball on 3rd and short.”
The Athletic‘s Joe Buscaglia mentioned how McDermott cut ties with offensive coordinator Rick Dennison in 2017 after just one year and urged the Bills to take a long hard look at Dorsey this offseason.
“These are precious seasons in Allen’s prime, and they are not guaranteed even two or three years from now,” Buscaglia wrote. “Are the Bills a better offense with Dorsey as their offensive coordinator, or do they have room to grow with a more creative mind? Furthermore, did Dorsey get the most out of Allen with his play-calling? This is not a situation where the Bills are trying to build up to something… They were ready to win now. And they fell short, with a disjointed offense as a prominent feature.”
Allen Defended Dorsey Against Criticism
GettyJosh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills looks to pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Highmark Stadium on January 22, 2023.
In addition Beane, Dorsey has a huge advocate in the team’s $258 million quarterback. Dorsey was Allen’s top pick to take over when Brian Daboll left to become the head coach of the New York Giants and believes it’s way too early to give up on him. When asked if there’s room to grow with Dorsey on Monday, “A lot of room,” Allen said without any hesitation.
“The relationship we have, the faith we have in each other, that’s going to stay high. Recency bias from this last game — I know everyone is going to lose their minds, but we did a lot of good things this year. He works so hard. He works tirelessly. He’s always in the building. He’ll FaceTime me at 11 o’clock at night, still here, and just trying to find a new way to get the ball into certain guys’ hands. I respect the hell out of him. I really do.”
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Bills GM Drops Major Hint on Offensive Coordinator’s Future in Buffalo