The Big Cat

True, only because Rex is not technically a coach at the moment.

He's nowhere near those players.

Nothing? They've done NOTHING right?

He has 29 starts. The Bills are 15-14 in those games. Did he play well enough to win 10 games this year? No. If he had we would have.

What I'm hearing you say: All we need is a top 10 WR and top 10 defense to go along with our historically good rush attack and then our QB would be serviceable. If he was somewhere in the middle of the pack then his record in games facing a deficit would be much closer to .500 and not 2-14 (or whatever it's up to now). Sorry, but everything you're pawning above as fact is highly debatable.

And he/she is feeding TBN shifty news about the Bills and their FO? No. Couldn't be.

Bills fans HAVE GOT TO STOP evaluating our QB's relative to the dismal two decades we've had at the position. How does he compare to the rest of the LEAGUE?

The Wednesday after they fire their HC.

OBD is in full on damage control. Jimbo's on the Ps&E payroll. This wasn't a coincidentally timed appearance.

Is Kyle bringing Matt Ryan? Is Bradley bringing the 2012 Seahawks D? No? Pass x 2

Being in NYC and you'd still refer to 2016 Eli as a top shelf QB? Hmmmm. Earlier today I heard a guy on NFLN say that having Odell catch passes from him is like hanging a Van Gough in your garage.

I wasn't getting at any of those things, and tried to communicate that. But since you asked: Rex was rightly let go because he proved incapable of leading men who can't lead themselves. In addition to losing the guy making on the field calls and executing at a much higher level than the guys behind him on the depth chart, we also lost a leader. On top of that, Rex was also rightly let go because his team's will to compete seemed to fade with their playoff chances. With Aaron Williams still in the lineup, there's reason to believe that process would have been delayed or possibly never happen.

He did his best. And he did better than most here could do. And he did better than he normally does. But he got twisted around trying to be vague about the conversation(s) he had with ownership re: Rex. He really did. For him to say that he never thought about it/talked about it before and he hasn't thought about it/talked about it since is either: A lie Completely preposterous Either way, it's negative.

As an English major: yikes on the double up of 'pack,' bro.

No sources, no scoop, no info, no problem.

Corey Graham was a major issue last year, too. Or, from a different perspective: he's not good enough to not be paired with Aaron Williams. I too have complained that not enough was done in the offseason, but the point has been raised: what else was out there/available?

Exactly, and this is a perfect illustration of that. I'd imagine Pete Carroll is pretty high on the list of current NFL HC's who get the most of their players. Yet when just one of them is taken out of the equation, the whole thing falters tremendously. Again, this is not a Rex thread nor is this an argument on his behalf, but during the season he was lambasted for not having the kind of defense that Seattle does when it was plainly obvious that he didn't have the kind of defensive talent that Seattle has. Would our talent have been better under Carroll? Yes, but only marginally. Would his be worse under Rex? May be, but only marginally. In fact, the personalities on that team seem to be the kind that would thrive under Rex, but I digress.

Again, the point here is not about Earl Thomas, or Aaron Williams, or safeties in general. It's about the impact that players make. There is a prevailing sentiment here that coaches make the players. I have been making the case for a decade that the opposite is true. FWIW: Pre Earl Thomas injury record: 7-2-1, pre-injury pass DVOA: 5

No need to be so specific. But, yes.

Since Earl Thomas has been out of the Seahawks lineup, their pass defense has had a 30th ranked DVOA. https://twitter.com/SheilKapadia/status/816689221595439105 Over that span, the team has finished 3-3, with their only wins coming against opponents who finished a combined 12-36 (SF, CAR, LA). Rex Ryan was rightly relieved of his duties. This thread isn't intended to debate that. But it must be said since noting these things will (as always) be misconstrued as a support for him and his defense. Aaron Williams is no Earl Thomas. But he's a very good player. And two straight years, the defense took a nosedive with him out of the lineup. Incredibly, this point will be debated here. Why, I'm not sure. But as we continue to wring our hands about who the next HC is going to be and as so long as the stitch and B word over the GM's mic presence is the topic du jour, let's try and keep perspective on what it is that wins football games. Yes, coaches are responsible for preparing their players and "setting the cultural tone." But once the whistle blows, it's up to the players to play the game. Just your friendly reminder. I thought I'd get ahead of it now, approximately 10 months before a certain fan fringe is calling for the new coach's head.

Whaley's inability to communicate, in a linear way, the same crystal clear process which is/was apparent to everyone and alluded to in your post gave the media an opportunity to pounce at his vaugueries to make it seem like more was going on. Had Whaley directly and honestly communicated everything rather than try and get into verbal gymnastics with reporters (something he's proven to be very poor at) there would continue to be NOTHING to see.

They're flush with anonymous sources but batting .000 when it comes to actual scoops. Hmmmm...

Third sentence of the article is either factually wrong or brand new reporting. Given how out to lunch Leo has been for the latter part of a decade, I'm comfortable assuming which it is.

Or in the case of Rodak's magical tweet from Saturn: they don't give you information, then they can't complain when you make it up.

At least be good at trolling.