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Article: Where did Rex go wrong in his first season in Bflo?


YoloinOhio

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A really good article and as noted above, balanced. I'm not a big Rex fan but think it silly to fire him after one year. If the team craps the bed again next season then there could be a strong case for change IMO.

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where did he go wrong:

 

He promised the playoffs,

promised a bully

promised to be first in defense

bought a bills truck

ate dog biscuits,

put on a clemson helmet at a press conference

didnt challenge properly in a do or die game

and generally sucks big hairy toes!

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i disagree that Rex's plan in Buffalo was to re-create the manufactured pressure he designed for the Jets. i think Rex's primary change to our D was attempting to roll non-traditional defenders into pass coverages as he disguised where he would bring pressure from. it wasn't a lack of understanding of what these guys had accomplished that motivated this transformation.. it was the knowledge that his opponents did too.

 

so, i don't have any problem with what he tried to do. what i have a problem with - is how poorly he miscalculated his ability to install such a sophisticated D with the existing personnel.

 

players who had proven they were effective even when the offense knew how they would attack.. i think that's what frustrated the players, and the fans, the most this season.. that this new D required the players recognize their responsibilities and make the right choices in an instant, and too many times, they made the wrong choice. Rex's new D is a system of moving parts designed to herd plays into areas of the field that are theoretically defended.. but too many of the players and fans (including me) pined for their old system - which allowed them to attack and scatter the play.

 

Rex may have been 100% right about why we needed to adapt what was working - before finding out that it wasn't going to work any longer.. but that was a pretty risky decision - filled with unknowns.

his defense has shown glimpses of what could be accomplished when working in unison, but they've never come close to that well-oiled machine Rex envisioned. he took a system where 'the sum of its parts' were greater than 'the whole' - one which rewarded individual talent and effort - and tried to transform it into a system that emphasized 'the whole', over 'the parts'.

 

he had good intentions, but you know where they lead.

Edited by BackInDaDay
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Thanks Yolo. The most interesting thing to me was the commentary on film analysis of Mario over the last several years.

 

The point about the injuries is valid, but I can't help thinking what the D looked like before the injuries bit deep, and it wasn't pretty.

 

I also wonder if all the injuries had somewhat to do with the different roles being requested. Being a bit off balance or a fraction of a second late to react might be all it takes to be put into a position of strain

Edited by Hopeful
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Maybe Rex was also wrong to tell Whaley "just get me good football players"? It seems clear he needs players that he can fit into his system.

yeah, that was his ego talkin.. he really thinks he can make the bad, good; the good, great; and the great, immortal.. I think he really thought he was gonna build a D for the ages this year

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This is a good article.

 

I know some fans want to say it's the players or it's just Rex and his scheme but the truth is it's both. Some games it was more the players, some games it was more Rex.

 

I agree about the penalties. Love Smith is a hard-nosed disciplinarian type coach. He's definitely not a players coach. Almost the exact opposite of Rex. Still, the Bucs lead the league in penalties. I do think he needs to clean up the personnel fouls penalties although Hughes had 4 last year and has 5 this year, so maybe he's a lost cause.

 

For me, I see a case for continuity and see a case for firing Rex. I think it makes potential coaches wary if a team is quick to get rid of a coach. Look what happened to the Browns, they scrambled to land Pettine after coaches withdrew from their search. Also, whether fans want to admit it or not the offensive side of the ball improved. We gave Marrone credit for hiring good defensive guys and the defense improving, so then Rex should get some credit for the offense.

 

So, the question becomes, for me at least, with the offense improving and on the incline can Rex improve the defense enough?

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Rex didn't go wrong!

 

It's Injuries! Injuries I tell ya!

 

The irony is that last year, as the article noted, Buffalo's starters apparently lost only 13 games to injury. No one then talked about how their success was due to a lack of injuries.

 

Besides, if injuries are to blame for the 2015 season like we're told by the homers, that reflects poorly on the roster depth built by the personnel staff.

 

I can understand blaming injuries if your starting QB is a top player and he's lost for the season in week 2 or most of your offensive line goes down. But those things didn't happen in Buffalo this year. Regardless, some people conveniently people cite injuries when they don't want to admit the team was constructed poorly.

Edited by BillsVet
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Maybe Rex was also wrong to tell Whaley "just get me good football players"? It seems clear he needs players that he can fit into his system.

i think whaley did the best job of that he's done yet. recent acquisitions did well.

 

The irony is that last year, as the article noted, Buffalo's starters apparently lost only 13 games to injury. No one then talked about how their success was due to a lack of injuries.

 

Besides, if injuries are to blame for the 2015 season like we're told by the homers, that reflects poorly on the roster depth built by the personnel staff.

 

I can understand blaming injuries if your starting QB is a top player and he's lost for the season in week 2 or most of your offensive line goes down. But those things didn't happen in Buffalo this year. Regardless, some people conveniently people cite injuries when they don't want to admit the team was constructed poorly.

I DID SAY THIS. not that anyone should care what i think...but i have said this a lot, going back to last season.

 

http://www.mangameslost.com/

 

we got lucky in 2014

 

a bigger surprise is that this year was only a little worse than the league average.

 

what that tells me is that swartz may not be the Lord and Saviour he's been depicted.

 

It also is not flattering to Rex...but it's an indictment of Whaley that we came apart when we started losing guys (even though he appears to have just had his best draft). our depth guys were not good enough.

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