White Linen

Yeah he crushed Taylor on a close call of being out of bounds.

I think Belichick retires.

There's absolutely no way you know.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

This will most likely happen.

This is getting very bizarre. It's not a total lack of respect because many of the comments from the players are putting ownership on themselves too - but these are awfully strange open comments when the coach is still employed.

Isn't it pretty simple? We had a great defense last year - Rex has had great defenses in his career What happened? They couldn't get on the same page and it didn't work. Is it shared blame equally? Is it more Rex or more the players? How in the hell are we to know - but it's pretty clear the person ultimately in charge of making it work and the person that did all the talking is Rex.

If you watched this years Hard Knocks - it's ever clear that the coaches rule and the players don't. If you remember JJ Watt was starting to get aggravated with O'brien riding him - but he found a way on his own to say for the betterment of the team I need to suck this up and gather the players and stay behind the coaches. Well that didn't happen here. The coaches are the Gods and they can make life miserable for you and cost you millions of dollars. The secure players like Dareus and Mario spoke out - it still didn't work. That's on Rex. The players follow the coaches - it's most certainly a dictatorship. Rex's scheme didn't work and he didn't have players support - hence we suck.

Is this mic on? Well it's about to be on. We're building a bully. Clearly it's the players fault they didn't back up his words.

Yeah ever since we lost Searcy our defensive leader we've fallen apart. He's what made us great last year and it isn't Rex's fault. Then again I'm casual as I please.

Just so you know there's no such thing as starting from scratch.

I wouldn't be too hard on most of the defensive players. We look out of position consistently at all positions. This Rex defense is not working for anyone except Gillmore and Darby - who have just played lights out individually. Imagine how many turnovers those guys would create with a front 7 putting pressure on the QB.

We? Oh you're still playing that?

I could not believe he didn't defend that ball in the endzone. Head was turned, good cover, and can't make a play on the ball? So nonathletic.

Even the mods have given up on the Rex coached Bills.

I think some type of protest from the fans in the stands against Rex would be appropriate.

And he's handled that well.

I think the Jets have proven that giving up on Rex and diminishing his power is the correct decision. Taking this out on Whaley is absurd and I don't think he'll re-sign here if he feels that.

I can see your point and I'll add that even if Mario is upset he should still show up to meetings and be a professional. But that's easier said than done - heck I've gotten soured at my employer before and my effort diminished. I'm not right for doing that but it happened. If it's true Mario is frustrated with the scheme - I'd rather he say screw it on the field and I'm doing it my way - and go kill the QB vs skipping meetings.

I don't think it's about give Whaley a one year extension - it's would Whaley do that. I suspect that answer is hell no.

Not totally unexpected from a Rookie QB (essentially). This stat doesn't bother me at all.

Totally legitimate argument. Players are also emotional creatures and football is one of the few games that emotion plays a huge part in performance. I think Rex being called a "players coach" gets misinterpreted a bit - I think he's also bull headed enough to alienate people in general for the sake of his way. I would feel different if he was the only player who's results have dropped off. Rex doesn't like to admit he's wrong - he's a point the finger kind of guy. No doubt that you're right on Ryan has coached legit defenses - there's also no doubt he inherited a legit defense. So this can't be all Mario. I do agree that it appears Mario is pouting and he deserves criticism for sure. I also see effort on the field from Mario as he is in my view clearly trying to push that O lineman back because he's going hard - but that's all he's doing. Could it be that the defensive scheme is dictating him to do that so he can either set the edge and neutralize and be straight up to shed and fill a gap or drop back to defend a short pass?

I think this is the other way around. Whaley is and should be well respected throughout the league. He won't have any trouble finding a job as he'll be courted by several teams. He's not under contract so he's the one with the leverage. The Bills may have an uphill climb to convince him to sign a new contract. Having the head coach not report to him was a bad start.

That's right. When I watch him he's trying to push the lineman straight back - and he's legitimately trying to do that in terms of effort. As we've said there's no other attempt being made - so is that what he's being asked to do and what he's frustrated about or is he playing with a bad attitude? I honestly have no idea what the answer is but it's clear it has zero to do with complexity and dropping in coverage. I disagree. I'd say it more proves that Rex has pissed off his defensive players - or at least most definitely the defensive line. It's not just Mario - you'd have to put Hughes, Dareus and Brown in that group too. I'll concede to the effort of Hughes but he's being underutilized just the same. Imagine if this was Hughes contract year - do you think he'd have a few things to say to the media? Not only did we have one of the most feared defensive teams in the NFL last year but there was clear cohesion and comradery. This year at least on the field it's totally disjointed. If you believe the players - it's on Rex.

I wish I could understand by having all the information why he has totally disappeared in this defense. I'm watching the games and I see him locking horns with the o lineman and making very little attempt to get around him. Is this how he's being asked to play as some type of setting the edge decision? It's so much more than he's being asked to drop back in coverage or the complexity issue that's been brought up. I've seen him in coverage very very little. Is there such a thing that on a passing down an end if not asked to cover anyone - is being told not to go after the QB with every move he's got? Do certain defensive play calls tell an end you can't use the swim move and go outside because we don't want you there - or don't use the spin move and go inside because we don't want you at that spot?