A Few Thoughts About The Game, in no particular order.....

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

please don't confuse a garbage win against a garbage team as an excuse to absolve Rex from his garbage performance as HC of this team.

 

I'm not. I'm saying... what did he do today that was so egregious? I didn't think he had a particularly bad game. Yes Kellen Moore is bad, but so are brooks/butler/Rambo/Meeks/Duke. Then Dareus went down? Yikes.

 

I thought Roman's clock issues arose again, but i thought even he did a pretty good job considering who we have to trot out at WR, TE, and RB.

There will be plenty of time to complain about rex on every thread out here. But with regards to THIS game - what did he do that offended you so much? (The title of the thread is: a few thoughts about the game in no particular order)

[Bill from NYC]

I'm not. I'm saying... what did he do today that was so egregious?

You are supposed to go after a 4th string inexperienced quarterback, not send excellent pass rushers out to cover so-so receivers.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

 

I'm not. I'm saying... what did he do today that was so egregious? I didn't think he had a particularly bad game. Yes Kellen Moore is bad, but so are brooks/butler/Rambo/Meeks/Duke. Then Dareus went down? Yikes.

 

I thought Roman's clock issues arose again, but i thought even he did a pretty good job considering who we have to trot out at WR, TE, and RB.

There will be plenty of time to complain about rex on every thread out here. But with regards to THIS game - what did he do that offended you so much? (The title of the thread is: a few thoughts about the game in no particular order)

Why did we run out the clock on ourselves at the end of the first half? I would not expect to see that kind of incompetence in high school football.

 

Forty seconds left on 3rd and 1 we don't go no huddle and don't call timeout. We could have run the ball into the endzone on multiple tries. Instead they huddle up and take their sweet time while the clock goes from 40 seconds to 8. Tyrod with no time left to operate forces it into the endzone and instead of 7 points we get zero for no reason other than idiotic coaching.

[Kelly the Dog]

People are awful quick to burn $20 million of someone else's money.

He burned 400m of his own money unnecessarily to buy the team. He really does not care.

 

Not that I think that he will fire Rex after one season. But if he felt he should and the team would be a lot better, I think he would have no problem with it. He literally overpaid for the team by 400m for no real good reason except that he didn't want to bother with it anymore.

[simpleman]

People are awful quick to burn $20 million of someone else's money.

A smart businessman would have never signed that contract, and now he has to pay for his poor business decisions.

 

With a net worth of 3.8 billion it is not very much money. Plus you get to use it as a tax write off. I'm sure most business people in his income bracket have written off bad business investments that large before and have survived just fine. I would love to know how much he spent total as the team owner and personally on the Bills trip to London to see the team get embarrassed. And how much more he would spend on getting embarrassed from the damage Ryan will do to the team is if he is not let go.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Why did we run out the clock on ourselves at the end of the first half? I would not expect to see that kind of incompetence in high school football.

 

Forty seconds left on 3rd and 1 we don't go no huddle and don't call timeout. We could have run the ball into the endzone on multiple tries. Instead they huddle up and take their sweet time while the clock goes from 40 seconds to 8. Tyrod with no time left to operate forces it into the endzone and instead of 7 points we get zero for no reason other than idiotic coaching.

 

Thats Roman - he has TEs in motion before every play. I'm sure it helps on pass plays, but if we just hurry up and run a quick read option we'll probably score. If we don't we can just call Timeout.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Everyone keeps saying there is too much money involved in Rex's contract for him to be let go. If Pegula really cares about the Bills as a football team or about the people of Buffalo rather than just as a business investment, he will eat the money. He can definitely afford it and will not suffer for it.

 

There are no cap issues with coaches so it is all about whether Pegula is just another Ralph Wilson and if "Pegula is cheap",LOL!

Not everyone. At this point it would be money well spent. The first few games of the season led to this conclusion.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

You are supposed to go after a 4th string inexperienced quarterback, not send excellent pass rushers out to cover so-so receivers.

 

Eh - they have a strong O-line and running game. I'm fine with making him beat us. Which he didnt do.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

You are supposed to go after a 4th string inexperienced quarterback, not send excellent pass rushers out to cover so-so receivers.

But Rex is a genius.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

But Rex is a genius.

 

Meh - we'll probably have him next year. I've just resigned myself to that fact.

 

My complaining about it won't change it, so try and look at silver linings.

[BobDVA]

Bill, keep on Truckin'

 

I have no use for a coach that cannot scheme to the players he has, instead he tries to make them eat the brussel sprouts!

Mario hates brussel sprouts!

 

#1 pick must be a middle linebacker, cause they will not get rid of Rex.

[Observer]

Everyone keeps saying there is too much money involved in Rex's contract for him to be let go. If Pegula really cares about the Bills as a football team or about the people of Buffalo rather than just as a business investment, he will eat the money. He can definitely afford it and will not suffer for it.

 

There are no cap issues with coaches so it is all about whether Pegula is just another Ralph Wilson and if "Pegula is cheap",LOL!

 

A sure way to fail is to keep changing.

 

I'm not defending Rex but I am noting that it sometimes takes time to build. It did not work this year but next year is his second year with a personnel that he will have had more say in choosing. Let's not jump to change--that's been the Bills formula for the last 16 years. Maybe it's time to go with something different.

 

Think of things another way. Rex has had top defenses wherever he's gone. This year he did not and a lot is his fault. But if he installs a package that works "the rex way," don't you think he can turn the D around?

 

Can he fix the discipline and other issues? I am less sure but one thing I know: The next guy will arrive with zero respect and have to set up his own system on O and D. Nightmare.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Meh - we'll probably have him next year. I've just resigned myself to that fact.

My complaining about it won't change it, so try and look at silver linings.

 

Well, there is a downside to a new owner axeing a coach after 1 year, so fan resignation may be needed

 

I'd love to hear about the silver linings .....tell me about them

[billsfan_34]

I always look forward to your posts after the game. Because you put time, thought, and effort into them they are fun to read and it is typically what I look for first. That doesnt mean I agree with everything but most of the time your on point. I have learned to be tolerant of others even when they can be mean spirited- so dont let some of them on here stop what your doing.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

A sure way to fail is to keep changing.

I'm not defending Rex but I am noting that it sometimes takes time to build. It did not work this year but next year is his second year with a personnel that he will have had more say in choosing. Let's not jump to change--that's been the Bills formula for the last 16 years. Maybe it's time to go with something different.

Think of things another way. Rex has had top defenses wherever he's gone. This year he did not and a lot is his fault. But if he installs a package that works "the rex way," don't you think he can turn the D around?

Can he fix the discipline and other issues? I am less sure but one thing I know: The next guy will arrive with zero respect and have to set up his own system on O and D. Nightmare.

 

People keep saying "Rex has had top defenses wherever he's gone".

 

But is it actually, objectively, true?

 

To the other point: Consistency: it's only a virtue if you're not a screwup. What sold the Pegulas on Rex was the idea that they were getting a "veteran" head coach who would be able to exploit and build upon the defensive success they had in 2014 rather than going with a successful coordinator/newbie HC who might stumble out of the gate and not be able build on 2014's performance. Rex publically and repeatedly praised the D talent and indicated that he thought, with that talent, he could improve on 4th in the NFL D. He said he was a coach who could fit his scheme to the players, not a scheme guy who needed specific pieces to make it work.

 

Instead, the "newbie" HCs including division rival Bowles, have shown steadiness of purpose and significant improvement, in both game-day performance and in W-L record.

 

Will Rex stay? I don't know. He's kind of publically made a fool out of the Pegulas for trusting in him, and that's not a good strategy. On the other hand, he's also a very plausible and likeable guy. Will he come up with some kind of rationale that excuses his performance and plan that will sound good for what they can do next year?

 

Maybe so. He's certainly good at selling.

Edited December 28, 2015 by Hopeful

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

 

Well, there is a downside to a new owner axeing a coach after 1 year, so fan resignation may be needed

 

I'd love to hear about the silver linings .....tell me about them

 

TT looks like he could be legit. The 3 backs we have are better than any of the ones we had before. Some of our depth guys can play - others cant. Watkins looks like hes turning into more of a matchup problem.

[klos63]

I find it hard to believe everyone does not see RT as the number one need in this years FA or draft, probably both. None of the players currently on the team are more than barely good enough to even be backups or depth players.

I agree

[Observer]

I find it hard to believe everyone does not see RT as the number one need in this years FA or draft, probably both. None of the players currently on the team are more than barely good enough to even be backups or depth players.

 

I'd say ILB is a bigger need than RT. The linebackers as a unit totally sucked this year.

 

But if the Bills draft OT, I won't argue. Just as long as it's a tackle or LB, I'll be OK. Even a DE is fine since that group is aging. No skill position players.

 

A lot of bandwidth has been wasted debating the DL play and the issue of them dropping back in coverage. So just for kicks I've watched a few 2014 All-22s. And yeah, there's a striking difference. For starters, there's a #51 on defense who's a rock in the middle which hides alot of mistakes that #52 and #53 tended to make, a lot.

 

There's also the effort thingie. Amazing to watch a #94 take on double teams or push his blocker back into the pocket. Same for #99.

 

Everyone jumped on Mario's comments after this year's Bengals game that he was asked to drop into coverage. Well, I watched that game again, too. Mario wasn't asked to cover anyone until Bengals burned the defense for a 26 yard swing pass where Brown was woefully late in covering, or was it Mario's responsibility to peel off? Don't know, but that was a major breakdown by the D.

 

On the next few plays where Mario dropped back, he actually baited Dalton into an incompletion. So the play worked.

 

But another difference is that opposing QBs are not dropping back as deep or holding the ball as long as they did last year.

 

So it's easy to say that the scheme is to blame. But also don't ignore how big of a role Spikes played last year, and how a few players have decided to take some time off because this scheme won't pad their numbers.

 

I'm not sure if Spikes was the answer, but the LBs are definitely the problem. The Bills linebackers are atrocious. Not a playmaker in the bunch. Whaley came from Pittsburgh so hopefully he can get some LBs in draft or free agency.

Edited December 28, 2015 by Observer

[Luxy312]

My observations of the game and the season:

1. The Bills were #1 at getting after quarterbacks last season and #32 this year. With no major changes in personnel, this comes down to play calling. Rex Ryan's stubborn attitude that his schemes and formations work for any player is astonishing to say the least. In every single game this year, they've dropped Mario and or Marcel into pass coverage. It is beyond ridiculous.
2. Based on his early season play, we knew we had something special in Karlos Williams. Gillislee has now also clearly emerged as a threat. With a healthy McCoy next season, this three headed rushing attack is going to be scary good.
3. It took half the season, but it seems that Tyrod is finally comfortable with Sammy Watkins and Sammy has proven that he can go get the ball in traffic.
4. Speaking of receivers, I'm dumbounded on how little Clay was really utilized during the year. Given how many passes that have been thrown his way, they could have just stuck with Chandler. There really hasn't been a measurable difference in performance.
5. Restricting the Cowboys to merely 307 yards of total offense was actually pretty good. The theme for the year though is that they can stop the teams that are terrible, but not the teams that are good.
6. RT appears like it will need to be a priority in the draft or free agency. Mills, Henderson, Kuandjio just not good enough.
7. Mario Williams is gone. He's said he has no interest in restructuring his deal and will otherwise count $19.9 million against the cap. Cutting him would save $12.9 million of that figure.
8. Kyle Williams turns 33 next year. I can't imagine he has a lot left in the tank. I could see him retiring or perhaps making next year his last. None the less I also like what I've seen from Corbin Bryant.
9. Darby has been a gem in the secondary. That said, the Bills have given up too many big plays over the course of the year. Countless third and long situations where the other team is picking up a first down and keeping the drive alive.
10. Tyrod still looks lost on intermediate passing routes. It should take the least amount of time to go through his reads and yet it doesn't. Part of the offensive line looking bad can be blamed on slow decision making. There is not an offensive line in the NFL that can protect their QB forever.

[Observer]

 

My observations of the game and the season:

1. Speaking of receivers, I'm dumbounded on how little Clay was really utilized during the year. Given how many passes that have been thrown his way, they could have just stuck with Chandler. There really hasn't been a measurable difference in performance.

 

Clay was the leading receiver on the team when he got hurt. Even having said that, I agree that he should have been used even more.

[Dopey]

So the Bills should build their defense around Mario and Kyle Williams next year?

 

Mario is either old and ineffective or an old quitter.

 

Kyle is injured all the time and rapidly approaching the time when he no longer can be counted on.

 

I agree that Rex switching schemes hurt our defense this year. But now people want to switch back to a scheme based on something that peaked last year and might never happen again? And force a scheme change again? Who is going to coach it?

What's this build around Mario and Kyle stuff? The d is already built. Rex even saw all the talent on this d. Why do you think he bragged of being #1? He did a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE job with this defense. Kyle has 2-3 good years left if healthy and Mario is still a baller when motivated. Again, even if Kyle isn't healthy, we still have a good d as is. If you still want Ryan, cool. But he has a d that didn't/ doesn't need rebuilding. It's all there for him and he screwed it up. Most good to great offenses or defenses have 3-4 years to play together, Rex just wasted 1 of those years. As for who will coach it? Thought this clown was a defensive genious? Edited December 29, 2015 by Dopey

[3rdand12]

 

I'd say ILB is a bigger need than RT. The linebackers as a unit totally sucked this year.

 

But if the Bills draft OT, I won't argue. Just as long as it's a tackle or LB, I'll be OK. Even a DE is fine since that group is aging. No skill position players.

 

I'm not sure if Spikes was the answer, but the LBs are definitely the problem. The Bills linebackers are atrocious. Not a playmaker in the bunch. Whaley came from Pittsburgh so hopefully he can get some LBs in draft or free agency.

I might agree with you. has not gone as well as we hoped