Nihilarian

Jeez, the guy took a 9-7 team that every Bills fan thought was a playoff team and went 8-8. Now this year it looks like another 8-8 year and some fans want him as GM? While the man did ask to bring in Tyrod Taylor, Richie Incognito and did chase, wine, and dine Cowboys OG La"el Collins before he became a Dallas player. Rex Ryan built a very precarious team the past two years with a defense doesn't work if the offensive run game gets shut down and the offense doesn't work either if the run game gets shut down. One can easily see why Ryan would want a running QB and to build a much more solid offensive line and yet the run game still gets shut down at times and both the QB and defense flounder because of it. This also should the ineptitude of Doug Whaley in spending two first round draft picks on a glass WR when the team still needed their franchise QB. So meanwhile the team passes on Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr and doesn't see the talent in Dak Prescott. Yes, this team needs a new HC, new GM, just not Rex Ryan.

Doug Marrone wanted to change the culture in Buffalo and he almost succeeded even with his poor choice for OC. That 9-7 record was the best since 2004 and just like in that year the Bills were one game away from the playoffs. It was that Marrone couldn't get anything done past the old guard still with the team! To those fans that believe that Russ Brandon has had no involvement in any "football" decisions during his time in Buffalo need to remember that it was Brandon and Whaley that flew to NYC to hire Mike Pettine. Who hired Doug Marrone, a four-man team led by Brandon? Who gave Marrone that walk away clause in his contract? When Doug Whaley wanted to trade two first round draft picks to move up to draft Sammy Watkins, who told him to be bold? When the Pegula's were thinking of hiring Rex Ryan who told them to not let Rex leave the room. Who is the one that advised these new owners that they had the needed NFL experience, football acumen to hire the next HC? Russ Brandon wanted to keep the status quo under the late owner. Why is the team's president / marketing guy sitting in the teams cut meetings on the phone to free agent players? The team president doesn't have better things to do than something the coaching assistants or GM should be doing? Seems to me like this man has been heavily involved in every football decision. Even if you fully believe that Brandon had no direct involvement in the football decisions even when he was the team's GM after Marv Levy retired and before Buddy Nix. (2007-2010) His presence as managing partner / team president is keeping this franchise from hiring a senior NFL "football" adviser like Bill Polian that the team desperatly needs. "As Tim Graham reported, Marrone ripped the Bills to Polian as he walked out the door, telling the former Bills GM that people inside the building were trashing Polian because they felt threatened by his possible return." Nothing in this franchise will change until the old guard gets swept out or moved over to the non-football side and the new owners decide that they are not qualified to hire the next HC or GM.This team needs to hire an experienced "winning" senior adviser to enable the owners to hire that team president of football operations and then stand back and allow him to do all the football hiring. This man will also be held accountable for the wins, losses.

Rex Ryan's defense only works with a strong run game that can be effective moving the ball all game and the offense only works with a strong defense that can hold the opposing team from scoring so the offense doesn't need to pass to win. Both the current offense and defense are built on schemes that rely on the other far too much. Jim Schwartz's defense worked with an offense that had almost no run game and the passing game was always going three and out, yet was #4 overall. Now imagine if that year's defense had this year's offense. The 2016 Bills would be 10-2 as they would have feasibly beaten the Jets, Dolphins, Seahawks, and Ravens. I say blow up the entire thing up and hire a team president of football operations so it takes the owner and Russ Brandon out of the football decision process.

Sure, bring in Kirk Cousins ...if you also fire this joke of a coaching staff and hire Kirk Cousins OC to be the next Bills HC Then find a way to bring back Jim Schwartz as DC.

It isn't just the QB. The Raiders also have an O-line that has allowed 22 sacks which is about the lowest sack total in the league. They also have some really good receivers and running backs. While the Raider defense might not be in the top 15 stats wise and they are currently ranked 30th. They get the turnovers, stops on third down when needed against even the good teams which is something Buffalo fails to do against good teams. Kinda why the Bills didn't sack Derek Carr. The Raiders have a linebacker that might have been worth two first round picks over a glass WR who can't stay healthy.

The season isn't over.... it's not time to evaluate a player who throws a pass so far out of bounds it hits reporters 40 yards away... What it is time for is to give Tyrod four more chances to show what he can do and should he get hurt than show what EJ can do before he is gone forever.

This is accurate as he is just like the team and that is middling. Bills fans deserve better. I don't put all the blame to the losing on Whaley as he didn't make the decision to hire Rex Ryan. Although it was his on EJ as he went and scouted him and gave his nod of approval to draft him. Then he made the precarious decision to trade two first rounders for an injury prone WR when there are other players that actually would have been worth those two first rounders in Khalil Mack, Mike Evans who is 6'5'' 231 and currently #3 in the NFL in receiving yards. I can recall right after drafting Sammy Watkins word came from the FO that the team still needed that big, tall red zone receiver. The decisions for Tyrod Taylor and Richie Incognito weren't Whaley's and the team would still be looking for a quality LG just like they are still looking for a quality RT. Plus, even most of the fan base was clamoring for a decent replacement for losing Chris Hogan to the Patriots when Watkins needed surgery for his foot this offseason. Not to mention the need for better players at the safety position. This team is 6-6 and the GM should share in the wins and losses. Rex Ryan hired off a 9-7 season should have made the team better and instead, it took a step backward mostly because of HIS defense. If Doug Whaley had even the slightest clue on which college QB to draft he would have drafted Derek Carr or even Dak Prescott. He doesn't and this team needs to find a guy that does.

We all saw this same look on Rex Ryan's face in 2014 2x on the NY Jets sideline as the Bills blew them out. He looked lost then and he looked lost against the Raiders as his team gets blown out after having a 15 point lead. 24-9 and his defensive did a nose dive into the turf by playing a prevent defense for the remainder of the game. The offense suddenly stopped running and forced a running QB to make plays with his arm in the pocket. The worst part of the offense was calling a pass play on first and ten from the Bills own four-yard line. I mean who the eff calls that crap? Any other NFL team no matter how bad they are at least attempts to run it three times to give both the QB or punter room to breathe. If you read the article the owners are "all in" on the excuse train and they just aren't football savvy enough to see that the whole thing needs to be blown up. From the trainers, scouts, doctors, GM and HC. Nothing changes if the owners keep making the choice for the HC.

Vic did nail it! The now 10-2 Oakland Raiders that were 3-13 in 2014! and they weren't afraid to change coaching staffs along the way with 6 different HCes until they finally found a good one in Jack Del Rio who was hired by Oakland the day after Buffalo hired Rex Ryan. The Bills defense held that vaunted Raiders offense to just 3 FG's in the first half and then went into a prevent shell half way through the third quarter and the same with the offense. Buffalo was out coached and out played in that Raiders game pure and simple. This game should be a wake-up call for the owners. It looks like they jumped on the excuse bandwagon, though.

It all starts at the very top of the org in that this team is in desperate need of a team president of football operations. Someone that has enough NFL football acumen to know who to hire as GM, as HC, as trainers and a decent doctor This new owner is more than rich enough to hire the very best NFL advisers / headhunters to advise him as to who to hire as team president of football operations. Then the owner should stand back and let the man fix this franchise! Even if this team traded for one of the elite franchise QB's it isn't going to change the ineptitude of the GM not bringing in equal or better players when the team loses a player. Example, It took three years to replace LG Andy Levitre and even then it was because the new HC vouched for a previously suspended player. Rex Ryan also chased OG La'el Collins who now plays for the Cowboys and that would be a huge upgrade for the line. Another example is losing WR Chris Hogan to the Patriots who already had a very solid receiving corps. Speaking of the Patriots they also traded for star TE Martellus Bennett from the Bears. Plus they drafted a WR in the 4th round who is starting to make an impact. Obtaining an elite franchise QB isn't going to fix the defense or find scouts that can actually properly evaluate college, NFL talent to find those quality draft picks and FA players. A new QB isn't going to fix the injury problems or the team doctors giving the okay to draft injured players.

It was placed in context as to what QB's the Bills had beaten in 2014. There is no question that Schwartz's scheme held the team that went to the SB that year and Tom Brady the second time around to three FG's while beating them in New England! My take is old Bill pulled Brady in that second half so he wouldn't get injured as that vaunted Patriots offense wasn't doing much anyway. Oh, wait! The 2016 Buffalo Bills beat the Patriots in New England too...only they didn't face either Brady or Garoppolo. They faced an injured rookie, 3rd string QB who went on IR after that game. The point remains. Rex Ryan's defense isn't very good and now can't even slow down the better QB's with a winning record. So far this year the only teams the Buffalo Bills have beaten are the bad teams or a good team with an injured rookie QB. Ryan's defensive scheme is outdated and no longer works against a quality opponent. Looks like Rex will be fired after this season unless he pulls off a miracle and manages to beat the Steelers and Dolphins.

Speaking of that 2014 Buffalo Bills Jim Schwartz defense while considering all the freaking excuses for Rex Ryan's defense. Let's look at two factors. That 2014 defense managed to be #4 overall in the NFL with virtually NO RUN GAME for the majority of the season! (579 passing attempts vs 402 rushing attempts) The Bills started with a good run game in the first two weeks of that 2014 season and then went pass happy nearly every game by asking the QB to throw almost 40 times a game. Now imagine if that year the Bills had an effective ground game that could control the clock and keep the opposing defense off balance. It would more than likely have been far better than #4 overall. The next fact to consider is what QB's the Bills faced and beaten the last two years versus that 2014 season. Beaten, Jay Cutler 5-10, Ryan Tannehill 8-8, Matthew Stafford 11-5, Teddy Bridgewater 6-6, Mike Vick 1-2, Geno Smith 3-10 2x, Brian Hoyer 7-6, Aaron Rodgers 12-4, (Rodgers also won the MVP this season passing for 38 TD's with 5 INT's) Buffalo held Rodgers to 17 of 42 for 185 yards, NO TD's, 2 INT's! a 34.3 rate! wow! The Bills lost to the Broncos, but Peyton Manning 12-4 (Manning also threw for 4727 yards and 39 TD's this year) Buffalo held him to 14 of 20 for 173 yards,NO TD's 2 INTs, a 56.9 rate!! The 2014 Buffalo Bills also beat New England in the last game of the season limiting Patriots QB Tom Brady 8 of 16 for 80 yards, no TD's, no INT's in the first half a 64.6 rating! and he was pulled for Garoppolo who went 10 of 17 for 90 yards, no TD's, no INT's. Bottom line here is that Schwartz's defense beat some great QB's and did it with almost no run game,and he did it with McKelvin at CB! Which is something that Ryan's defense can't win without having a strong, effective run game. Ryan's defense also hasn't beaten a QB with a winning record in two years in Buffalo, save Brian Hoyer. Ryan's defense has yet to win a game this year against a QB with a winning record.

Blake Bortles W, Derek Carr, L, so now 6-6. Still awaiting this year's defense to beat a team that has a QB with a winning record. To those that keep wailing on about how one lost to safety to IR in week 7 that ruined the entire defense this year needs to remember what happened in week two this season. That Buffalo Bills defense was dominated by a what we now know is a very crappy 3-9 NY Jets offense to the tune of 493 yards given up. Jets QB Ryan Fitzpasspick threw for an astonishing 374 yards with one TD and no INT's and he was only sacked once. Jets RB Mate Forte rushed for 100 yards and had 3 rushing TD's. To any that claim it was all the Bills offenses fault need to recall that Bills QB's threw for 307 yards, and 3 passing TD's this game. The Bills offense scored 31 points this game. The NY Jets scored on their first four possessions of the game. Granted the team didn't run the ball well in this game and the OC was fired after the game because of it. Now the entire world knows that if the Bills can't run the ball successfully it slows their offense and the defense isn't nearly as effective too. A one-dimensional offense and a one-dimensional defense that if you stop one aspect of the team it holds back the entire team's chances of winning. So, everything is dependent on the run game being effective and then at times the team stops running the ball while calling more passing plays and everyone wonders why the team lost the game. I'd say this style of coaching philosophy isn't working very well...or even very smart.

While I get putting the QB under a microscope helps give fans insight into what the QB is doing in a game. Bills fans need to be reminded that there is far more to it than just the QB play. Football is a game of emotion and all the momentum went to the Raiders starting halfway through that 3rd quarter. They had been dropping passes and making mistakes up until this point and suddenly they became very focused as a team. The Buffalo Bills play calling started to become ineffective as the team went through some very quick three downs and out. That first series after that Raiders 9 play,75-yard drive for a TD in 3:44 that Bills run game just stopped being effective. Look at the series of events that caused the entire offense to stumble. 1st and 10 at Buffalo 14, 1st play, shotgun direct snap to LeSean McCoy for 6 yards and he is injured on the play. 2nd and 4 at Buffalo 20, 2nd play, shotgun direct snap to Mike Gillislee, up the middle for no gain. 3rd and 4 at Buffalo 20, 3rd play, shotgun snap to TT, pass incomplete to Watkins (Raiders #51 in TT's face) My thoughts are, knowing that now the Raiders will be bringing a strong pass rush at Tyrod Taylor at this point why not change the focus off the QB and call a shotgun draw play or screen, anything that will cause misdirection as the Raiders are now hell bent on pass rushing the QB. The next series went three downs and out again for Buffalo. 1st and 10 from Buffalo 25, 1st play, shotgun, McCoy left guard for 2 yards. 2nd and 8 from Buffalo 27, 2nd play, shotgun, Taylor deep right incomplete to Christian 3rd and 8 from the Buffalo 27, 3rd play, shotgun Taylor pass incomplete to O' leary (Mills gives up pressure to Mack) Again, one run play that is ineffective for 2 yards and the OC calls two pass plays. This is a "run first" team! So the Bills OC needs to find a way to get the run game working to make a first down rather than allowing the Raiders to focus pass rushing on the QB. Also, we know that Mills is a turnstile at RT at times so get him some help in chipping on Khalil Mack! This is twice now that Mack has disrupted that third down pass to go three and out. The next series the Bills are at the Buffalo four yard line and taking a snap from shotgun puts the QB four yards deep in their own end zone. This is where I really take exception with the Buffalo Bills play calling as 90% of NFL teams will call a run play that deep in their own end zone to attempt to give the QB some breathing room. I look at this game and see pure coaching failure! I see failure in getting help to block Khalil effectively as if this didn't happen over and over against the Raiders in 2014 too. Henderson was beaten like a salvation army drum that game by Mack and nobody on the team can remember this, even if it was a different coaching staff. I mean this loss did keep the Bills from the playoffs that year. Again, the 2016 Buffalo Bills are a "run first" team so why put the focal point of the offense to win on the shoulders of a QB the entire world knows is a very limited pocket QB!! This with depleted reciving corps. Sammy still hurt, no Robert Woods, no Charles Clay, and the rest are scrubs. Some fans are clamoring for Lynn to be the Bills next HC...I'm not one of those fans.

If Wrex Ryan and Doogie are still here expect the first three picks to be defensive players ...with only the first pick being of any actual use.

Jebus why the Jets cast off again? There was a real reason why Buffalo got rid of Ryan Fitzpasspick. Effing Romo who is a choker in the playoffs and gets injured for half a season two years in a row behind the best line in the league. He wouldn't survive a game throwing to the glass reverivers in Buffalo with a turnstile at RT!! Jay Cutler is a pass happy gunslinger who takes far too many chances and couldn't win with Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, and Martellus Bennett. NO THANKS TO ALL THOSE SCRUBS! Jacksonville is probably going to give up on Blake Bortles and given a real NFL QB coach and real NFL OC he will probably regain his 2015 passing form. Only this time build a power run game and stoutO-line and this kid could be the real deal. Is it any wonder why he sucks so bad this year with Nathanial Hackett as first his QB coach and now OC.

The thing is that not much changes unless this new owner makes changes in the entire org from the top down. Terry Pegula has already proven that he, Brandon and Whaley don't have a clue who to hire as HC. Whaley has no clue who to draft for the QB position and neither do any of the current Bills scouts. The team's doctors and trainers suck big time to keep drafting injured players and keep having long lists of players getting injured during the season. This new owner has more than enough money to hire the best advisers in the NFL to guide him to hire a new team president of football operations with enough acumen to know which GM, scouts, HC, doctors, trainers, players to build a winning franchise.

Thanks for the insight. I don't care what this new owner does with Brandon as long as the guy is moved as far away from any football decisions as possible. This franchise needs a solid experienced NFL man at the top of the org so it stops spinning it's wheels every year. It's time to blow up the whole thing and bring in a new football team president who has enough NFL knowledge and experience to hire the right scouts, GM, HC, trainers, doctors to set this franchise in the right direction. No more excuses as this owner is one of the richest in the league and he can afford to hire the best.

man O man, it looks like the Jets didn't think Luck would play because of his concussion...or they are just that bad. Either way, I'm just happy they don't have a franchise QB just like Buffalo.

Still on the Tyrod crusade I see. Hey, old school, how old are you? Are cataracts blinding you to the other aspects of the game besides the QB position? AFAIK Tyrod wasn't the one to decide to go with a 3 man pass rush while playing in a prevent type defense that the world knows won't stop anyone. It is designed to stop the quick big play and not as a resort to use for a quarter and a half. Particularly when the Raiders offense goes 75 yards in 9 plays in 3:44. The Bills DC should have opted for something else to slow down that offense...like going back to what worked in the first half of the game. What freaking idiot called for a pass play with the Bills offense at their own 4-yard line so the QB takes the shotgun snap in his own endzone? This with a turnstile at RT attempting to block a premier rushing LBer in Khalil Mack! Here is a maverick idea, have the run first team actually run the ball from that point on the field like 99% of the other NFL teams do to give the QB some breathing room. (Lynn for HC of some other team) Those 38 points the Raiders scored are the most they have scored on any defense all season. "Carucci noted that Ryan looked "absolutely dumbfounded" during his postgame press conference, still stunned by a defense that gave up 29 unanswered points over the final 19 minutes of play." http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000751772/article/buffalo-bills-in-shock-after-collapse-in-oakland I remember that look as we all saw it when Ryan was on the sidelines at the end of two blowout losses to the Buffalo Bills in 2014. The 2016 Bills defense is looking decent stat wise because they have beaten only losing QB's and have yet to beat a team with a QB with a winning record. However, I still contend that it was an entire team effort in losing this game as the offense, defense, special teams all stunk it up at the end of the game.

If I'm the owner I'd crap can the entire thing, GM, coaches, and some high priced players along with some scouts. I'd hire that senior adviser, advisers to help find a team president with an actual NFL long term winning background and let him do the hiring and have all the football side accountability. The owner with no prior NFL experience shouldn't be doing the hiring of any sort on the football side. That's even with a GM with limited NFL experience and a baseball guy pretending to be an NFL adviser.

C'mon man, new to football, really? I admitted that the Bills QB had a hand in the loss to the Raiders and I also think the coaches and defense played their stinky parts too. It was the failure of the entire Buffalo Bills team once they lost the momentum of the game halfway through the third quarter. The offense, defense, special team along with the coaches all stunk it up. I don't know which is more comical. The Bills fans that refuse to contain their hate for the QB or the fan that can't contain his love for Rex Ryan.

It should be a death sentence being down 26-9 for a team going against a team with the #2 sacking defense in the league, with the #2 player in getting sacks. Exactly how many times did the Bills sack Derek Carr?

He did those basic things very well up until the middle of the 3rd QTR when the Raiders shut down the run game and started forcing the Bills to throw. I contend the Bills offensive coaches should have found a way to keep moving the chains with the run game. ie, coaches! The offense failed... the QB failed! The defense failed... the pass rush failed! The special teams! The coaches failed! The entire team failed! Those facts won't deter your focus on the QB though!

Very well put! The Rex Ryan fanboys want to blame the offense. The QB haters want to blame the QB too. The reality is this team's defense has only beaten teams with bad QB's. The 2016 Buffalo Bills have yet to beat a QB with a winning record. They still face the Steelers 7-5 and Dolphins 7-5. At 6-6 with 4 games to go against two winners, two losers the end result will probably be 8-8...again.