Billsguy

Under the circumstances, this was the best available option. Taylor would have been signed instantly if he was a free agent. I believe he will do better now that the disastrous Rex Ryan circus has left town. Rex Ryan was a proven QB killer. Under the right coaching and guidance, I believe Taylor can be much better than average. You can win with above average QB play if your defense is good.

And the mystery remains why the Bills are perennial losers. The names change, but the bad decisions just keep on coming!

Ditto What a joke!

Weak

Well, unlike the hiring of Rex Ryan, I don't immediately disagree with the move. I knew instantly that Ryan would fail, but I will clearly reserve judgment on the new hire. My biggest concern will be the quality and experience of his coaching staff he hires. I hope he succeeds. p.s. Why do all these head coaching candidates get (a minimum) 5 year contracts? Pegula can piss away all the money he wants, but I would feel that a three year contract would be a better choice. I know why the candidate wants a long contract, but why would the owner bet on an unproven entity for five years?

Sad, but true. 20 years without a QB? Gee, I wonder if the team has a GM? Whaley was a big part of the decision to draft E.J. Manuel and yet he still has a job. What? Dysfunction at OBD? Say it ain't so!

Let's hope it's not the Bills! He was not good in Minn. Don't be fooled by the completion %. Most of his passes were in the 5-6 yd range.

I presume you are talking about the rest of his career in the NFL?

The fact that this topic was even posted shows how low the Bills have sunk!!!

Again and again, Russ Brandon escapes all responsibility for the sad state of affairs at One Bills Drive. This guy is a either a genius or the ultimate politician. How can he be so secure in his job even though his tenure with the Bills has seen nothing but failure? Why does Pegula love this guy? Is selling tickets the only criterion? The organization is clearly dysfunctional. Why is Russ Brandon not held responsible for any of this mess?

I'm a little bit surprised by the Rex Ryan news. I thought this was the year of the blowhard egotistical narcissistic megalomaniac!!!

If the Bills (according to you) had such a dominating run game, why didn't they win more games? (Irrational thought?) They didn't beat anyone of consequence (except NE with an injured 3rd string QB). If they were so dominant running the ball, why didn't they run it even more? Bad coaching? (Irrational thought?) Everyone plays a mix of good and bad teams (as Captain Obvious points out) but the point is the Bills could only beat the bad teams. Why is that? Dallas managed to run even against good run defenses. They ran for 118 yds against Baltimore in a victory and 127 yds against Pittsburgh in another victory. The Bills lost to both of those teams and only ran for 65 yds and 67 yds. (Irrational thought?) Some have pointed out that Tyrod Taylor is at fault because he had time to throw and still didn't succeed. Did those people consider that Taylor's ability to avoid the rush gave him more time to pass? Did those people consider that even though he might have had more time there were no open receivers? (Irrational thought?) The Bills receiving corps was found lacking all season. Is that the fault of the QB? Maybe the coach and GM should take some responsibility? Why is it irrational to question the possible reasons for the Bills failures? You mentioned a couple times that questioning the Bills OL or rushing game was ridiculous because they lead the league in YPC by .7 "That's insanity!", you said. (BTW, correction: It's Yards per Attempt) Can you guess which team led the league in rushing yards per attempt in the second half of games? With 5.3 yards per attempt ---the winless Cleveland Browns!!! They were .4 YPA greater than the Bills. Insanity?! According to your logic, the Browns fans have no rational right to challenge the efficacy of their OL or running game? Did you ever consider there might be other less obvious factors involved? Apparently not. Did you ever wonder why Cleveland and San Fran both rank in the top 5 in the league in yards per attempt? (note: combined record of 1-27) Is it because of their great offensive lines? Maybe running draw plays on 3rd down and 18 leads to more 11 yard rushes? The yards per attempt statistic for the Bills is the basis of your argument and it is a fallacy. A fallacy "is a failure in reasoning that renders an argument invalid."

Remember the Bills averaged 247 yds per game against some of the leagues worst run defenses (CLE,SF,OAK,CIN) and averaged only 107 yds per game against the better run defenses (BAL,NE,PIT,SEA)

The 7-7 record has the Bills in playoff contention mathematically. (although the odds are only about 2% they make it) Just looking at the wins vs. the losses may give you an idea where the team stands. I am excluding the win in New England without Brady as an exception that doesn't paint an accurate picture. If this bothers you, stop reading now. The six remaining wins came against teams with a combined record of 17-65-1 (.205 W%) Three wins came against the three worst teams in the league (Cle,SF,Jax) the other three came against bad Arizona and Cinci and a horrible LA team. The losses came against teams with a combined record 62-35-1 (.633 W%) All these teams are either in the playoffs or very near except for the Jets. (Yes, the Bills lost to the pathetic Jets - the W% in the losses rises to .690 if you exclude the Jets) So what, if any, conclusions can be drawn from this data? IMO, the Bills are clearly not a playoff team in terms of quality. They appear to be better than the bottom feeders, but not good enough to beat the playoff quality teams. Where do they go from here? My guess is they will continue to reside in NFL purgatory (records between 4-12 and 8-8) until fundamental changes are made to the management and coaching structure of the team. Let's examine the key components. President Russ Brandon's career with the Bills overlaps the futility of the non-playoff Bills with uncanny similarity. Ever since Brandon joined the Bills in 1997, the playoffs have been almost non-existent. I don't blame him for his first couple years, but since 2006 his role with the Bills has been huge and the results on the field have been disastrous. He is a big favorite of Pegula and the owner's faith hasn't been shaken. This doesn't bode well for the franchise turning things around in a meaningful way. Brandon apparently has a huge influence over the GM and coaching choices. How has that gone Mr. Pegula? GM Doug Whaley has made some decent moves and some terrible moves. On the whole, he has failed to produce a playoff team. As a result, the GM has largely failed. The coaching staff was a mistake from the beginning. Rex Ryan is a proven loser. This conclusion is based on a large sample size and his career NFL record as a head coach is still under .500. His "claim to fame" is that he is a defensive specialist, but his tangible on field results do not support this myth. The hiring of his twin brother to help the defense was laughable. His brother's record (which got him fired) in New Orleans was historically bad. Furthermore, Rex Ryans' record developing QB's is downright abysmal. We will never know if Tyrod Taylor is a worthy QB if Ryan is still the head coach. Can you name all the QB's that thrived under Ryan? They don't exist. My feeling is that the 7-7 record (give or take a game or two) is about as good as it is going to get under the current administration. If you're looking for a brighter future for the Bills, then large scale changes need to be made. If you think things will improve significantly with a little tweak here or there, then don't change a thing. I believe the status quo is not good enough.

It's a new era in America where attacks on the media are encouraged in spite of reality or facts. The inmates are running the asylum!

Perfect! Go from one proven loser to another. Rinse and repeat every 2-3 years.

How many QB's have thrived and progressed with Rex Ryan as head coach?

First of all, Pegula won't fire Rex. Secondly, Rex is too good a politician to get fired at this point. He won't get fired until he goes 6-10 next year or 5-11 the year after. Rex is clearly a proven loser, but he is very clever and is a multi-millionaire even with his limited ability. Congrats Rex! Brandon never wants to admit a mistake either, so he will not push for Rex to be fired. Pegula trusts Brandon and Whaley and believes they are top shelf managers so he will listen to them (wrongly) It is too early to talk about a replacement. IMO, hiring Rex was a huge error in football terms, but successful short term as a public relations and ticket selling stunt. As long as Brandon keeps selling tickets, nothing will change.

Jim Schwartz has proven he is a very good defensive coordinator. Rex Ryan and his idiot twin brother have proven they are seriously deficient coaches. It's time to see their fat asses ride off into the sunset with piles of Pegula's money!

Rex is going to sit at home with his giant photo of Terry Pegula over the fireplace. The caption on the photo will be, "This is the billionaire I fleeced out of $25 million dollars and a few more millions for my twin brother!" Who's laughing now?

Help is on the way. Next year with a new head coach. Until a new coaching staff is in place, the suffering will continue.

I've said all along that Greg Roman was grossly overrated based on his record. He needed to be fired for sure. However, the main problem for the Bills is the blowhard con man of a head coach who demonstrates over and over that he is not worthy of being a head coach in the NFL! The defense (aka the REX RYAN defense) was horrible and pathetic against the Jets. Ryan Fitzpatrick was made to look like a Hall of Fame QB. The defensive performance was a direct reflection on Rex Ryan and his idiot twin brother Rob. So what does the blowhard con man do to deflect attention away from the Ryan idiots? He fires the OC Roman! Now Ryan has changed the focus from his massive incompetence to the fired coordinator. Very clever Rex, but not all Bills fans are complete idiots. Rex Ryan is the problem!!!! Until Terry Pegula and his brown nose right hand man Russ Brandon wake up and fire this clown and his staff, the Bills are doomed to more bad to mediocre results. I said it the day Ryan was hired and I'll feel the same way the day he is fired. Ryan is a phony and a fraud and it took a sucker like Pegula to give him $25+ million dollars. BTW, the Jets acquired Brandon Marshall for a 5th round pick. They got Matt Forte for free. This is what a smart GM does. Conversely, the Bills used three 1st round picks to draft Sammy Watkins and EJ Manuel. Charles Clay is one of the highest paid tight ends in the NFL thanks to Doug Whaley. Why? He is a fringe player at best. Doug Whaley doesn't have much to brag about as GM. He needs to get fired also.

It's not a matter of "if Rex Ryan gets fired", but it's a matter of "when Rex Ryan gets fired." He and his idiot brother will never win at the top level. He hires an offensive coordinator who is just as mediocre as he is. What do you expect from poor coaching and leadership? Look at their records and the evidence is clear: these are not winning coaches. Until the coaching improves dramatically, don't expect different results.

Get over it!

Perfectly stated. Rex Ryan has proven he loses more games than he wins as a head coach throughout his NFL career. Why would anyone want a proven loser to remain for the sake of continuity?