Big C

Regardless of what happens with Rex, we find ourselves at yet another crossroads, several actually. I haven't compiled my overall thoughts on this season yet, but a lot has been on my mind and felt like sharing some thoughts about where we came from and where we are going. First, Rex and the defense. He has been a contentious hire since it was announced. Some stating that Schwartz was getting so much out of the squad as it was, so why blow up our best unit in years? Others were optimistic, saying Rex was a better defensive mind and would be able to maintain or even improve the already dominant unit. But the fact of the matter is that the defense was bound to disappoint from the start. Rex Ryan's system just wasn't built for rosters with the talent we had and the areas we invested top dollar in. Schwartz's defense was predicated on having dominant talent up front that could pressure the QB on their own, and the goal was to get sacks. Rex's defense was about confusing the QB, forcing them to make a mistake. It's a philosophy that goes beyond simply the 4-3. 3-4, whatever scheme. Schwartz imposes his will on you (or at least tries), Ryan sort of tricks you and exploits your mistake. As an allegory, Schwartz's defense is the US in WWII, Rex's is the US in the Revolutionary War. You could say that the Revolutionary War was not won by the US so much as the US allowed the British to lose. That's how Rex runs his defense. It's the kind of defense that allows far lesser talents to seemingly elevate their game, which is what made him a great hire for the Jets. Their only elite talent on defense was at corner, and Rex's system took care of the rest. The problem with the Bills hiring Rex was that his system also neutralizes the dominant talents on the team outside of CB. It thrives on players who are heady, jack-of-all-trades type players like David Harris and Jim Leonhard. Guys like Lorenzo Alexander can be productive where they weren't able to be on other teams. Everyone complained about how sack production declined drastically in 2015. But we all should have seen this coming. Did you know that Rex only had a 10 sack player in ONE season in his tenure at NY. It was actually two players - Mo Wilkerson with 10.5 and Calvin Pace with 10. Furthermore, his defenses only finished top 10 in sacks once, 2014, where his sacker leader, Sheldon Richardson was tied for 26th in the NFL with 8 sacks. In fact, none of Rex's defense featured a player who finished top 10 in the league in this category. This is not a problem in and of itself, but it does tell us not to expect sacks from a Rex Ryan defense, especially not from any one individual. The problem here is not that we aren't generating sacks, it's that we have paid premiums on guys that generate sacks. The Cold Front was legit - the potential to be an all-time great line - and then we blew it up. The only guy who is performing as expected is Kyle, who is the cheapest and has always been the heady, selfless player that would thrive in a Rex Ryan system. Hughes and Dareus are playing fine, but they are not playing dominant, because they are not being allowed to use their skills to yield the best results. These are not guys that a Rex Ryan defense pays for. And yet, both were paid after the hiring of Rex Ryan. Was this a disconnect between the FO and the coach? Did Rex really want to re-write his scheme to fit in shades of Schwartz like he alluded to? It just doesn't make sense. Nevertheless, Rex built his team with the same philosophy as his Jets. The offense was going to ground and pound, and he finally had a QB who wouldn't turn the ball over in Tyrod Taylor. Not only that, he was a QB with elite mobility. No surprise he hired Greg Roman - the guy who was able to turn around Alex Smith's career and turn Colin Kaepernick into a superstar. But we are already seeing issues with TT's play, and it seems very similar to Kap's issues in SF. He was being asked to run the offense like Alex Smith was: safe throws, run if you can, take sacks over interceptions, etc. But with Kap and TT there was a more stretched field on account of their bigger arms and running ability. I can't tell you how mant Niners games I've watched that were just as puzzling as our Bills have been over the last two years. Kap gave you that same big-play ability that Tyrod has, but also held onto the ball too long, couldn't read the field and ultimately failed to move the offense consistently. And the problems with slow playcalling was also a constant courtesy of G-Ro.The biggest difference is that the Niners under Harbaugh were always able to lean on their defense. And somehow on primetime Kap beat Brady in a shootout. I think now we see that was an outlier. But I Digress. The hiring of Roman made sense, and his schemes work for that team that Rex is trying to run. We've seen how our offense can play with a lead. It just never happens. We can see the firing of G-Ro shines some light on his weaknesses, but several weeks later, does anyone feel like anything has really changed? We still can't run a 2-minute offense, we still aren't moving the ball with any consistency, we have puzzling calls coming in. Can Anthony Lynn do anything about that in the offseason? It would be putting a lot of faith in him, but he may deserve a chance to show us what he's got with a whole offseason as OC. So, with all that being said, where do we go from here? It looks like Rex is staying until the end of the season. Are we going to keep him beyond that? What to do about QB? Nothing about Rex in his time here has shown me that he can lead a team long-term. If you're looking for a guy to come in and make a team like the Rams competitive despite having minimal star power, you can bring in Rex. Heck, if he hadn't signed on with the Jets in 2009 I bet we would have looked at him in 2010 and he would have been a good hire for the roster we had at the time. If the FO and/or the players have any doubts about him now, they should cut ties. Our defense, in spite of everything that's happened the past two years, still has all the pieces, less one safety, to be a top squad regardless of scheme. With the right DC choice, we are back to a top 5 unit by next year. However, if we retain Rex, I insist we pay Gilmore. The only position that should get paid premium in Rex's defense is corner. They are the only ones who need to be dominant on their own. I have no idea how we'll budget it, but it's what needs to be done. We can't waste a pick on another corner right now. If we don't pick up Tyrod's option, I think we'll have some wiggle room, but unfortunately it leaves us back with a big ???? at the most important position. And around we go. Sorry this was so long and really doesn't have a conclusion, just felt like rambling a little and maybe start more quality conversation.

Interesting. PFF gave Tyrod a 70.3 grade.

I really don't understand this. EJ brought the team back from certain doom against Jacksonville and Cincy was good last year and it wasn't a blowout. EJ was a boss in preseason last year and it looked to my eye that he was the better QB but TT wouldn't turn the ball over as much and that was the way Rex wanted to play ball.

No doubt. If we blow up the staff EJ could still get a fair shake here, but why would he want to stay? Especially if we don't give him these last three games.

Truth. He definitely has more of a gamer mentality and he could run a halfway decent 2:00 offense.

Cardale will be here next year no matter what. No need to throw him in the fire this year unless they really think he is ready. And I don't think he will be. EJ never got a fair shake with a real coordinator and a coach who believed in him. We might as well give him a few more games to see if we wanna bring him back at least to compete. Our QB situation is an imminent disaster already.

Not just because I'm a Bills fan, I feel bad for TT. He seems like a good dude and he would have been a good leader for us. Too bad he hasn't been able to progress as a passer.

Too bad Moore is better.

Why would they bother asking that question?

Tanny was carted off today.

That was an attempt at a trick kick though. Carp was just kicking it normally.

Officially out of the hunt graphic.

Worst onside kick I've ever seen.

Anthony Lynn needs to get the offense moving here. If he becomes interim HC he needs a lesson in time management.

That's a catch yo

?

Wow what a bad throw.

There he is!

Bring back Donnie!

Lol

Of course we would get a penalty on that

The defense is folding hard.

Groy is good

Shady is getting mauled

Denver is losing. It's up to us.