Virgil

Yeah, you pretty much nailed it. What was interesting in writing them were the weeks when it was the same old problems. That's what really made me feel like Rex had to go because there wasn't any growth happening with the team.

Title

No disrespect sir, but it's hard to read that much without spacing and formatting.

Happy 2017 everyone. Our first football of the new year, or something like that.... 1. Darby - Considering that the Jets didn't have their top 2 WR's and Darby was rarely on their number #3, I was expecting more from him. He seemed so concerned about the deep ball, that the curl route ate him up all day. I don't know what we are going to do with Gilmore, but Darby seems to be suffering from him sophomore slump and I'm nervous about him being our potential #1 next season. 2. EJ - I have to assume that the first drive was fairly scripted. Even though they didn't score, that was his best drive. After that, I honestly don't know how anyone can think he deserve a chance at the starting job here or anywhere. Just from the eye test alone, you can see his lack of command. The only routes he seemed to hit were when the WR's just stopped moving. He missed a wide open TD to Clay. He would check down to the closest WR, when there were others wide open 5-10 yards deep. He threw for less yards than Cardale in 3 quarters than he did in 1. Overall, I like EJ and I wanted him to be the man. The guy just doesn't have it. 3. McCoy - I love that this guy wanted to come back into the game. Granted, I didn't want him in the game, but I was happy he wanted in. This is a guy who we have got to keep happy and is our offensive leader. Running game wasn't there today, mainly because of the lack of respect for our passing game. McCoy is our offensive MVP of the season and I hope age doesn't catch up to him too soon. 4. Keep your head up Try and listen to your heart Be kind always, no matter We all grow up And someday well say goodbye So shine your light while you got one 5. Defense - I don't know if I can remember the last time I've seen our defense just give up, let alone for so many weeks. It's not even a matter of out of position and missed tackles anymore. They are just walking out there, save for the Lorax. They should take the money from everyone else and give it to him. I'm honestly at the point where I would take a little cap hit to make an example out of some of these guys. I don't know who the next DC will be, but I hope they bring a big stick. It's embarrassing as a fan to watch and support them. 6. Rodak - What is it going to take to get this man removed from Bills coverage. Listen, the non-onside, onside kick for a TD was an absolute joke. Kudos to TD-Mike for taking responsibility. But Rodak didn't just tweet about it, he wrote and article immediately about it and had it as a main store on ESPN.com. How can this guy's anti-Bills sentiment be allowed to carry on? I've taken issue with the media in the past week, but he is the worst of the worst. 7. The curse of the Rex - This is probably going to sound insane, and I realize that as I type it. But I wonder if the "player-friendly" approach of Rex is ruining players careers. When I watch the Jets play on defense, I see the same lazy, uncoordinated players moving around out there. They were terrible this year and I wonder if, once you play for Rex and let your guard down because no accountability is coming your way, is it just too hard to turn that switch back on? Rex is gone, these guys should be excited to win again on both the Jets and Bills, but they just keep slugging around out there. 8. Lynn as HC - I, for one, do not believe he should be our head coach. He has no experience on the defensive side of the ball, worked with Rex who kept that entire world to himself, and barely just learned how to address the media. I understand that he can bring in a DC, but we need a HC. Someone who knows the basic checks and balances and can intervene when necessary. I like Lynn and would be okay if he were retained. But ultimately, I'd accept his leaving if that meant we are going to blow it up and bring in a guy who knows how to oversee both sides of the ball, while letting them do their jobs. 9. The guy wearing the paper bag - Not sure if everyone saw the game, but there was a guy wearing the traditional paper bag over his head with #bring back rex written on it. It just goes to show that fans are never going to agree on all things and some of us are straight up nuts. But like I said last week, we just need to remember that we all want the same thing. Maybe it's the fact that I'm apparently made from 90% scar tissue, but I just want to end the playoff drought so we can not keep being talked about as the saddest franchise in all of sports. 10. Time to win the offseason - Going into the offseason, I'm only going to be really watching for two major things. What we do at QB and what we do at HC. I honestly feel like this team has the talent it needs to make the playoffs. I think TT can get us there. If they don't bring him back, I hope they have a good plan B. I hope the HC has an overall plan and can shake things up quickly. Other than that, the draft and FA is all gravy. I know the amount of FA's we have is concerning, but we have our draft picks and I honestly have faith in Whaley. It's been fun guys. Some of these recaps have been harder than others to write. Thank you to BillFromNYC for letting me continue this for him. As always, it's yours again whenever you want it. Everyone else, Go Bills!

True. More about not wanting to play the guy that the GM paid a lot to get

Very Shanahan-esqe with him wanting Cousins over 2nd overall RG3

Jay Glazer reporting the team could decide to part ways with him. Considering what he's done with the talent there, I would absolutely bring him in for an interview. The only way it makes sense to fire him is if he was the main reason behind the Brock signing, but I don't feel like that can be right.

Good post and exactly why I think Lynn won't get the job. I think Whaley will try to get someone that would retain Lynn, but it's not a deal breaker. There's too much riding on this next HC for Whaley as we expect to win now. Lynn will make rookie HC mistakes. It's natural. Whaley doesn't have that kind of time in my opinion.

Absolutely. Think they'll take a 5th?

This is the problem. The HC should be doing this.

No problem. Thank you sir

I think we have too much talent to hand the keys to Lynn. I like him, but we can win now. I would love to see a HC that's defensive minded that's willing to keep him. Coughlin would be great for that

I think a boycott is unlikely. But there are access restricted ways for a bit to send a message

I agree with you about Russ and don't know if I worded it wrong. I'm saying he unqualified in the football world, but does a great job in the business world. Sorry for the confusion.

It's been an interesting week to say the least. I've been doing my best to sit back and just take it all in, read what I can, and then put together my thoughts. I've definitely had a change of opinion about a few things and I'm interested to see how things unfold over the next few months. With that, even though it isn't about a game, here we go. 1. Dareus - It was really interesting to me how quickly he came out and made statements about Rex leaving. Moreso, he didn't give the same cookie cutter answers that many others gave. Dareus was quick to call out how complicated the defense is, how much it relied upon signal callers and what the loss of Aaron Williams did, and just how they lacked an overall identity. This is now two years in a row that Rex's defense has been called out by a major player. Dareus was criticized by many for his inability to get back on the field this season. Between that and these comments, I really do wonder what his commitment level was like this season for us. 2. Buffalo Media - A few weeks back, I remember liking how they went after Rex for some of his game calls and decisions. It wasn't the normal, generic questions where the coach gives a basic answer and they move on. No. They followed up and they pushed the issue. This week has shown me that the Buffalo media is a bunch of entitled, spoiled children. For an organization that gives them a job, indirectly by giving them a topic of conversation, you would think they wouldn't be so quick to absolutely trash the entire organization. Just read and Buffalo media outlet and they are going after the Pegula's, Whaley, Brandon, everyone. We've been called a joke of an organization to everything else you can imagine. Someone posted a link about a reporter who went to Rex's house the day after he got fired. To be clear, this is a football team that plays a football game. They are people who give their opinions on a football game. I get into it as much as the next person. Hell, I'm writing this now. But the Buffalo media crossed a lot of lines for me this week and did so very quickly. 3. The National Media - I'm really curious to see the relevance the Bills have after this next coaching hire. Love Rex or not, he definitely kept us in the national spotlight more than we deserved. If we don't hire Coughlin, I feel like we will go back to the blue collar city with a football team that doesn't get mentioned unless we are playing a team in the spotlight. Also, there have been some tweets by Clayton, Schefter, and Rodak that are coming off as spiteful because they don't have the access and answers to what's going on like they want. 4. The Bills make me want to shout! Kick your heels up and shout! Throw your hands up and shout! Throw your head back and shout! 5. TT - I'm really happy that we are in total control of TT's future because I'd be very afraid to know what he would do if he had all the power. His not wanting to speak to the media yesterday said a lot to me around where his head is at. For me, I'm okay with him being benched this last game. Regardless of my opinion on him as our QB, the decision needs to fall on the next Head Coach. We are all in with that person and have to respect his decision. So, with what happened to Carr and Mariota last week, I'm okay playing it safe and not risking guaranteeing his contract for next year. As for my opinion on TT, I hope he is kept. He is only the 20th highest paid QB in the league and that will probably only drop with the FA contracts. Glennon is projected to get around 15 mil and has done nothing. I don't see a better option at QB in the Free Agent market or draft class. So I hope the Head Coach keeps him as you have to give him the credit for one of our best offensive performances in 20 years. 6. Jets Game - I believe that, as a team and culture, you have to try and win every game. However, I am not going to risk the injury of any players going into next season. I would rest Sammy, Shady, and anyone else with an injury they are playing through. It's just not worth the risk. I don't want to see Cardale play as it serves no purpose. They say he isn't ready, he's said he isn't ready. Playing him only appeases the fans. Let EJ have his game and move onto the offseason, hopefully with a 9 overall pick. 7. Front Office Leaks - There was at least a 50/50 chance of the rumors of Rex's demise being true. If there was a leak or not, who knows. However, there has been quite a bit of smoke in leaks these past few years and I really believe that the Pegula's need to smoke that out and put an end to it. This is one of the bigger signs of organizational dysfunction and needs to be stopped. People don't want to work in an environment where leaks come out, the team doesn't dismiss them, and they end up true sometimes. It's a bad look. 8. Whaley - I'm not going to pretend to know what Whaley's influence was on the last two head coach hires were or when his influence on the draft started. I will only say this. I really do hope that the Pegula's are truly going to let him run this coaching search, make the hire, and run the draft. He's been in role long enough where he needs to make his bed. I do believe that his job should hang in the balance with how this next regime plays out. If they fizzle and it's 18, 19 years and counting. It's time to fully clean house. Brandon too. 9. Pegulas - I want to say thank you to the Pegulas again. They are getting crushed as owners of both the Sabres and Bills. For me, I don't want a meddling owner. I can't stand Jerry Jones and Irsay. I want my owner to be the PR face in the offseason, write the checks, hire and support the GM, and get out of the way. These people saved our team 2 years ago and that gratitude isn't going anywhere. I hope they are addressing how the organization looks and we see some great press conferences on Monday. But other than that, I'm good. 10. Brandon - I don't know what he does honestly. I believed him to run the P&L of the Bills and all of the non-football operational parts of the team. If it's more than that, I would like to know why and what qualifications he has. I have no reason to believe he does more than that. With that, I think he does an amazing job. We had record ticket sales in years 16 and 17 of this drought. If I'm the Pegula's and this is a business, isn't he doing exactly what he should be? Again, if he's meddling and giving unqualified advice and messing with the football side, then that needs to be shut down. I know this season was disappointing but we all have to remember one thing, the members on here, Rex, the Pegula's, and everyone else just wants this team to win. This season hurt because we absolutely should have been in the playoffs. You take some broken plays out of the equation and we beat the Ravens, Dolphins the second time and we are in. We are in with the talent on the team right now. I don't know what I want for hires. I like the idea of Coughlin as HC, Lynn as OC, and Bradley as DC, but I doubt that's going to happen. Either way, just remember why we are all here. I hope Monday's press conferences eases the attack on the FO, and we don't rebuild this offseason, we just plain build. GO BILLS!

I shut them down. The rest for my team is more valuable. At most, I play them the first half

Sad to hear. 2016 is just an !@#$

I like this. The relationship between the GM and HC needs to be strong. As others say, he will live and die by this decision as it should be. So far, so good

You're a joke

Agreed. Everyone wanted him to succeed. Everyone wants everyone to succeed on the team. It's not personal. It just wasn't the answer and many are happy for hope.

I'm not going to root for them to lose. Just can't do it. But I will find the positives and not be upset if we do. Not so much for the draft pick, but the message ownership will hopefully receive when we are 1-5 in the division.

Holy crap, this wasn't a joke? Wow. I have to applaud that it isn't about TT though.

F5

Merry Christmas

And I thought I was going to be bored this morning. Please, carry on.