off topic Buffalo Bills 2015

[Thwomp!]

I can't believe how many of you are still watching.  Two record-setting weather days in Cbus this weekend and I didn't give the Bills one thought.  I mowed my lawn yesterday (on freaking December 13th!) instead of watching the Bills.  Due to the weather, the lawn has not stopped growing yet.  It looks like I made the right choice.  The Bills have ruined countless beautiful days over the years and years of futility.

[PASabreFan]

Rex yelled at the referees in the tunnel and all I could think of was, well you asshat maybe you should teach your team some discipline.

I think we lead the league in penalties.

That was the idea, no? Build a bully? Rex wasn't sold to this fan base because he was a great coach. It was about attitude. He's a Buffalo guy. Hell, he hates "Bellacheck." Look at ticket sales. That's why he'll return. Fans don't realize how much power they have.

[TrueBlueGED]

It's a relief, frankly, to see the Bills become what they are: A playoff bubble team that wouldn't have had much of a chance at all in a first round WC game.

 

And I can't see them being much better next season. Maybe their schedule will be more favorable? Maybe.

 

Anyway, I'm with those who see Rex as the problem. Between the defense's under-achievements and the many mental lapses, this team's mediocrity is on him.

Respectfully, here's what irks me about the "Rex is the problem" stuff: the team was mediocre last year too, so let's stop pretending otherwise.

I agree. Tyrod needs more control over the offense. I also think Rex meddles with the offense and honestly Rex can't run an offense for ######.

Yes, how dare a coach be involved in half of his team. Meddling!

 

FWIW, his rep from NY is actually the total opposite: that he has nothing to do with the offensive side of the ball.

I can't believe how many of you are still watching. Two record-setting weather days in Cbus this weekend and I didn't give the Bills one thought. I mowed my lawn yesterday (on freaking December 13th!) instead of watching the Bills. Due to the weather, the lawn has not stopped growing yet. It looks like I made the right choice. The Bills have ruined countless beautiful days over the years and years of futility.

Says the Mets fan.

[LGR4GM]

Then he hired an idiot for a OC. Although I will add that the offensive line is awful so that doesn't help.

[That Aud Smell]

Respectfully, here's what irks me about the "Rex is the problem" stuff: the team was mediocre last year too, so let's stop pretending otherwise.

 

This is fair. More than fair.

 

That said, the biggest problems with this team seem to be of his making.

 

I think there's a fair chance that if we had the same coaching staff as last year, this team would be closer to a playoff berth.

[Thwomp!]

Respectfully, here's what irks me about the "Rex is the problem" stuff: the team was mediocre last year too, so let's stop pretending otherwise.

 

Yes, how dare a coach be involved in half of his team. Meddling!

 

FWIW, his rep from NY is actually the total opposite: that he has nothing to do with the offensive side of the ball.

 

Says the Mets fan.

 

Oh I've watched plenty of horrible Mets games and I've given up on them many times before too.  I've got limited time for sports these days, so I'm at the point where teams have to earn my dedicated viewership.  The Mets were able to do that this year.  The Bills were not.  I'm on the fence with the Sabres, but they are actually able to be watched most of the time, in contrast to other recent seasons.

[Eleven]

That was the idea, no? Build a bully? Rex wasn't sold to this fan base because he was a great coach. It was about attitude. He's a Buffalo guy. Hell, he hates "Bellacheck." Look at ticket sales. That's why he'll return. Fans don't realize how much power they have.

 

 

Four encroachment penalties has nothing to do with building a bully and everything to do with lack of discipline.

 

Dropping Mario Williams into pass coverage is just about unforgivable.

 

I'm sure I can think of many, many more reasons why I have not been happy with Ryan this year but I want others to be able to have a turn.

 

I agree that Ryan has put the Bills back on the map, so to speak.  It is nice receiving attention from the national media again.

[That Aud Smell]

I agree that Ryan has put the Bills back on the map, so to speak.  It is nice receiving attention from the national media again.

 

Does this bring value to the team? And what value does it bring to fans?

 

I'm asking.

 

For myself, I don't care at all about the national media's attention; I just want to see them win.

[inkman]

Then he hired an idiot for a OC. Although I will add that the offensive line is awful so that doesn't help.

His run schemes might be all that but every 3rd and 4 turns into a 30 yard incompletion. How about a couple of 5 yard routes?!?!?

[nfreeman]

My 2 cents:

 

-  I'm writing this from the waiting room for jury duty, so this post will likely include an undertone of irritation.

 

-  Much of the fault for this year's performance is certainly on Rex, but not all.  Whaley has assembled a team full of athletic, dumb players who can run around, make the occasional good play, dance, talk trash and swagger, but who also make one stupid play after another and disappear in crunch time.

 

- There is plenty of blame, IMHO, for the players too -- especially on D -- who talk a big game and get paid millions but grievously underperformed this year.

 

- Having said all that, if this were Rex's 3rd year here instead of his 1st, he would absolutely get canned and he would absolutely deserve it.

 

- I don't think Rex will get canned this year, though, primarily because it would look pretty bush league to get rid of him after one year.

 

- Rex needs a good lieutenant, maybe with the "associate head coach" title or something similar, to act as his VP of Common Sense.  Someone needs to step up and be in charge of replay challenges, suspending Jerry Hughes for getting personal fouls in every game, benching someone else for 5 offsides penalties, etc.

 

- The defense turning into a zillion-dollar mediocrity with zero pass rush was the season's biggest disappointment.

 

- On offense, I think the biggest blows were the injuries to TT and Harvin.  TT wasn't the same after he returned, and Harvin was a much bigger threat at #2 WR than Woods.

 

- Someone mentioned it upthread, but my biggest concern at this point is that it's hard to see how the Bills are going to improve next year.  TT will probably be better, which is the most important factor, but McCoy and their good players on D will all be a year older.  I don't think they have much cap space to bring in difference-makers at OL and/or LB, and my understanding is that they are likely to lose Mario and Cordy Glenn (who isn't that great, but LT is a hard position to fill).

 

Yuck. 

[MattPie]

It's a relief, frankly, to see the Bills become what they are: A playoff bubble team that wouldn't have had much of a chance at all in a first round WC game.

 

And I can't see them being much better next season. Maybe their schedule will be more favorable? Maybe.

 

Anyway, I'm with those who see Rex as the problem. Between the defense's under-achievements and the many mental lapses, this team's mediocrity is on him.

 

I can't imagine getting a more beatable division than this year's NFC East. Every team is under .500.

Edited December 14, 2015 by MattPie

[Randall Flagg]

I can't imagine getting a more beatable division than this year's NFC East. Every team is under .500.

NFC West next year, bring on the Cardinals and Seahawks!

 

Bleh.

 

Also get the AFC North, and probably Oakland and Jacksonville off the top of my head?

[That Aud Smell]

I can't imagine getting a more beatable division than this year's NFC East. Every team is under .500.

 

Good point. Next year, we get the AFC North (ugh) and NFC West (also an ugh), plus our like-place finisher from the AFC West (Raiders?) and AFC South (who knows).

Man. It really did line up for the Bills this year. AFC South and a mess of an NFC East.

[tom webster]

I know, I am a Whaley apologist, a kool aid drinker, too optimistic.

 

But what if, what if it wasn't 16 years but say 5 years and in the last three years they got a new owner, a new coach and went 6-10, 9-7, 8-8. In addition, they have an intriguing  QB, a top level RB and an exciting young receiver.

 

Look, I am as disappointed and embarrassed by this year as anyone. I was hoping for a more progressive coach, a more analytical guy and I was sure they would go 11-5 this year.

But it is not all doom and gloom. Rex is like most of the rest of the coaches. McCarthy, Peyton, hell even Belichek make odd choices. The difference is that they have the QB that makes a difference and all the odd calls are forgotten. I have no idea if TT will develop into that type of QB but I think if it weren't for the last 16 years the fanbase would be excited about what he did this year. And if he isn't the answer, every year that goes by increases the likelihood that they stumble upon the guy that is.

[TrueBlueGED]

This is fair. More than fair.

 

That said, the biggest problems with this team seem to be of his making.

 

I think there's a fair chance that if we had the same coaching staff as last year, this team would be closer to a playoff berth.

 

I think this is at least half true. My thing isn't that he should be blameless, but that more blame and complaining than is warranted gets dropped on him (for example, he's gotten killed by fans for not blitzing this year, when in fact we're blitzing a far higher percentage of the time than we did last year). I also think some of the best things about this team (Taylor, McCoy...and yes, I'll throw Roman in there since heading into this game we were 7th in offensive DVOA) are because of him, yet he gets zero credit for them. This combination irritates me.

 

The defense has certainly been disappointing, but until the rash of injuries, it was still ~10th in the league. Disappointing for sure, but not the tire fire it gets portrayed as. What I'm most upset about with Ryan is that he seemed to be unable to find a way to get the semi odd-fitting pieces to work in his scheme--I thought he was good enough defensively to adjust his scheme to the players enough to make it work. Hasn't happened, and it's a pretty big letdown for me. But in a bit of a paradox, this is also where I think he gets too much blame: two years ago Mike Pettine had a very similar system, asked his pass rushers to drop into coverage plenty on elaborate blitzes, and the defense was top-5 in the league. There's a lot of blame to heap on the players who are simply playing much worse than last year, and yet they are getting a free pass while everyone dumps on Ryan (to be totally fair, I think part of the reason Ryan talks so much is to get the attention on him in order to insulate his players from criticism, so he sort of asks for it). Seriously, is it Ryan's fault that Nigel Bradham couldn't tackle freakin' Rashad Jennings? No, but he got blamed for the defense in that Giants loss while Bradham gets mentioned in passing.

 

Without Ryan I don't think this team would be any closer to the playoffs because we'd be putrid offensively. Short of being able to teleport into an alternate reality, I'm as confident as I can be that the Marrone-Hackett duo would have had Cassel as their starter. *Glances in Dallas' direction* yea, probably not close to the playoffs with that level of play.

 

When I was pining to hire Ryan in the offseason I stated on several occasions I knew the game management stuff would happen and infuriate me, but like Tom Webster said, this stuff is rampant even among Super Bowl winners. Seriously, Mike Tomlin makes about 2 horrible game management decisions every single week, but he has Roethlisberger running the show so it usually doesn't cost them. I was hoping Ryan would have improved upon this after being fired, but clearly that isn't the case. In general I think the lack of self-improvement after being fired is the biggest letdown for me. But I still think he's a good coach.

 

Overall I expect a pretty big turnover on defense this offseason (somewhere I think we add 2 LBs, 1-2 D-linemen/OLBs, a S and a CB) and a switch to more of a pure 34 than this hybrid 34/43 mess we've had this year. I didn't think that was going to be necessary, but I think it pretty clearly is, which is unfortunate seeing as even if we cut Mario, the cap is not our ally this offseason. It's going to be really important to get some genuine mid-level value in free agency and get immediate contributions from the draft.

His run schemes might be all that but every ###### 3rd and 4 turns into a 30 yard incompletion. How about a couple of 5 yard routes?!?!?

 

Do you honestly believe the 30 yard routes were the only options on those plays? 

My 2 cents:

 

-  I'm writing this from the waiting room for jury duty, so this post will likely include an undertone of irritation.

 

-  Much of the fault for this year's performance is certainly on Rex, but not all.  Whaley has assembled a team full of athletic, dumb players who can run around, make the occasional good play, dance, talk trash and swagger, but who also make one stupid play after another and disappear in crunch time.

 

- There is plenty of blame, IMHO, for the players too -- especially on D -- who talk a big game and get paid millions but grievously underperformed this year.

 

- Having said all that, if this were Rex's 3rd year here instead of his 1st, he would absolutely get canned and he would absolutely deserve it.

 

- I don't think Rex will get canned this year, though, primarily because it would look pretty bush league to get rid of him after one year.

 

- Rex needs a good lieutenant, maybe with the "associate head coach" title or something similar, to act as his VP of Common Sense.  Someone needs to step up and be in charge of replay challenges, suspending Jerry Hughes for getting personal fouls in every game, benching someone else for 5 offsides penalties, etc.

 

- The defense turning into a zillion-dollar mediocrity with zero pass rush was the season's biggest disappointment.

 

- On offense, I think the biggest blows were the injuries to TT and Harvin.  TT wasn't the same after he returned, and Harvin was a much bigger threat at #2 WR than Woods.

 

- Someone mentioned it upthread, but my biggest concern at this point is that it's hard to see how the Bills are going to improve next year.  TT will probably be better, which is the most important factor, but McCoy and their good players on D will all be a year older.  I don't think they have much cap space to bring in difference-makers at OL and/or LB, and my understanding is that they are likely to lose Mario and Cordy Glenn (who isn't that great, but LT is a hard position to fill).

 

Yuck. 

 

I think might be the most valid knock against Whaley, and may ultimately cost him his job. Outside of the truly great players who have it all, there's always a balancing act between physical talent, smarts, and discipline. There's a very good argument to be made that Whaley's roster construction has tilted too heavily towards physical talent, resulting in a whole that is less than the sum of its parts. 

Edited December 14, 2015 by TrueBlueGED

[That Aud Smell]

I think this is at least half true. 

 

<>

 

Overall I expect a pretty big turnover on defense this offseason (somewhere I think we add 2 LBs, 1-2 D-linemen/OLBs, a S and a CB) and a switch to more of a pure 34 than this hybrid 34/43 mess we've had this year. 

 

<>

 

There's a very good argument to be made that Whaley's roster construction has tilted too heavily towards physical talent, resulting in a whole that is less than the sum of its parts. 

 

good stuff throughout.

 

i had not considered this about whaley. man - the number of knuckleheads doing knucklehead things on that team.

[calti]

It's laughable after everything that has happened with the Sabres (and early in his ownership of the Bills), but at that very first presser with the Sabres Terry quoted one of the Rooneys about how "panic doesn't seem to be working." The Steelers in the early days apparently had a revolving door of coaches. I imagine Terry still believes that. Also, inasmuch as he and Kim (from what I've heard) pushed for Rex over Whaley's choice, I don't think they will pull the plug after one season. Enjoy, Bills fans. Oh yeah, I'll go adjust my tinfoil hat now.

Rex is a lousy coach. Has nothing to do with the steelers and their early revolving door.Whats laughable is your stretch to try and make a point.

[PASabreFan]

Rex is a lousy coach. Has nothing to do with the steelers and their early revolving door.Whats laughable is your stretch to try and make a point.

No stretch. Terry sucks at sports. That should have been obvious on February 22, 2011. Almost five years on, some of you still don't get it.

[WildCard]

What is the average time elapsed from owner -> championship? Does anyone know?

[North Buffalo]

While I like Rex,I have not been impressed with his coaching, especially on D. To many undisciplined penalties. If I was TP, I would consider dumping Rex if I could get Swartz back.

[WildCard]

Shwartz had just as talented a team in Detroit as Rex did in NY, and Shwartz never went anywhere

 

I genuinely can't explain why our defense has been so disappointing, but I expect a rebound next year

[Hoss]

Bills currently hold pick 18... The next three games are must lose. Due to their strength of schedule they have next to no chance of getting much higher.

 

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft-scout/25414166/nfl-draft-updated-draft-order-through-week-14

[Thwomp!]

Bills currently hold pick 18... The next three games are must lose. Due to their strength of schedule they have next to no chance of getting much higher.

 

http://mweb.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/nfl-draft-scout/25414166/nfl-draft-updated-draft-order-through-week-14

 

I was thinking about this earlier and I think the Bills have a good chance to lose all 3.  Two of the teams are clearly playing better than them and Dallas is playing about the same.  I also think the Bills have entered the stretch of the season when reality sets in and many guys that are injured will just pack it in and try to be healthy for next year (Gilmore, Clay, A. Williams, Karlos Williams, etc.)  

 

(Side note: You know you have too many Williams' on the team when K. Williams doesn't even narrow it down to one player  :w00t: )

[tom webster]

I was thinking about this earlier and I think the Bills have a good chance to lose all 3.  Two of the teams are clearly playing better than them and Dallas is playing about the same.  I also think the Bills have entered the stretch of the season when reality sets in and many guys that are injured will just pack it in and try to be healthy for next year (Gilmore, Clay, A. Williams, Karlos Williams, etc.)  

 

(Side note: You know you have too many Williams' on the team when K. Williams doesn't even narrow it down to one player  :w00t: )

The Jets have the fourth lowest strength of schedule in the AFC and the Redskins haven't exactly been beating the elite. I will be shocked if they lose all three and quite frankly see little benefit in doing so. Its one thing to hope top lose in order to acquire a Luck or Newton, quite another in order to move from 19 to 15 in the draft.

[Hoss]

The Jets have the fourth lowest strength of schedule in the AFC and the Redskins haven't exactly been beating the elite. I will be shocked if they lose all three and quite frankly see little benefit in doing so. Its one thing to hope top lose in order to acquire a Luck or Newton, quite another in order to move from 19 to 15 in the draft.

IF they lose out it's more likely they'd move up to somewhere between 9-11. But I doubt they lose all three.

 

I see no benefit to winning games from here on out. They've played 13 games so there's not much left to learn about this group. I don't care about a team that "rallies" after they already screwed the pooch on their playoff chances, and I don't believe much in "momentum," let alone momentum translating from one playoff-less season to the start of the next.