Pros and cons of keeping Rex next season

[Bangarang]

The only pro to keeping Rex is having continuity. So far, his defense is nothing to write home about. We've invested pretty heavily on that side of the ball to accommodate Rex's scheme and it looks like it's going to continue when we have to invest even more in another CB once Gilmore leaves and both safety spots.

 

The offense will continue doing what it has been doing and we'll probably be a .500 team under Rex. Always good enough to never have a top pick but bad enough to never make the playoffs.

 

Realistically though, I don't think Rex gets fired after this year. He'll likely get at least 3 years to really prove he's an average at best HC in this league. When it comes to HCs and QBs, we don't have much luck.

[Alphadawg7]

I know the season isn't over, and of course if the bills make the playoffs Rex will probably stay. And on the other end, if the bills go 4-12 he will be for sure gone, but chances are the bills will go 7-9 roughly. So here are some of my pros and cons if the bills end up finishing with a middle of the pack record

 

Pros

 

1. A Lynn/ Tyrod development- I for one am not a Tyrod lover, but i do think he is an average NFL QB who can get better. Since A Lynn came in, the offence has been much better. He makes the o line better, QB better, and WRS better. If Rex is gone, A Lynn surely wouldn;t be back in Buffalo as the new head coach would want to bring his own guy in. Same as Tyrod, as he is owed 27 mil or something next year? There is no guarantee he would be back as well. Keeping Rex means keeping A Lynn and Tyrod, which looks somewhat promising

 

2. Continuity/improvement- I might get blasted for this one, but even though the bills defence is below average this year, they are better than last year . No A Williams, Ragland, Dareus and Lawson for the most part, and sack totals are way up. The biggest problem is obviously the secondary. Is it Rex's fault that Gilmore and Darby can't cover anyone this year? I would say partially because he does put them on a island a lot, but at the end of the day, those guys need to make way more plays. Rex has shown, if you can give him a good secondary, his defence goes to elite level. In saying that, there still looks to be a lot of confusion out there. That is a huge problem

 

Cons

 

1. No Accountability- Pretty obvious that the bills don't have much accountability on the team. Penalties again are ridiculous again. Guys can make stupid plays then will continue to play the rest of the game. I don't think that will ever change for Rex

 

2. History shows him to be mediocre coach- Since 2011 I believe Rex hasn't had made the playoffs? He is a below .500 coach, and chances are if he's back next year, he will hover around that record again

 

- My personal opinion, I don't think Rex is a great coach at all and has obvious flaws. In saying that, if the bills finish with a 7-9 or 8-8 record, I would bring him back as long as Tyrod and A Lynn keep showing signs of improvement. I truly believe Rex can fix the defence when he has playmakers and when healthy. We all know the most important thing is to have a franchise QB, so if there is even a chance Tyrod is like that under A Lynn, bring all 3 of them back next year and rip up the AFC

 

Rex isn't our problem.

 

1. What do people expect from a team missing most of the top players from this team most of the year? Missing our best DL. Missing our best WR. Missing our best S. Missing our young LBs (Shaq if finally back). Missed our top RB 1 week. Missing several other WR's. And now missing our best OL in Wood, and yes I say the best because he has been the most consistent and his loss was immediately felt against Seattle.

 

2. You can argue we are missing our DB's because I dont even recognize Gilmore and Darby. And by the way, all these people through the year have kept saying they love Ed Reed, he's a great coach, he is going to be a great HC, etc. Well he is the defensive backs coach, and the defensive backs have been literally, without debate, the worst performing unit on the entire roster this year and have MASSIVELY regressed from last year. The ONLY thing different, is the DB coach and that is Ed Reed. So what on Earth makes people think he is doing a good job and its Rex fault more than his? Rex didn't change the D, just the DB coach.

 

3. Roman - I can't help but wonder if we get 2 more wins to start the year, at the very least the Balt game, if Lynn had been the OC day 1. The offense is light years better, and even in a game where our DB's made Fitz look like Brady, we still had a chance to win that game. Yes we put up points in that game, but the offense was mostly bad except for a couple long scoring plays.

 

4. Seattle - Cant deny the Refs stole that game for us. I never complain about losses because of Refs, but we were screwed in that game.

 

IMO Rex has done a good job this year...people want to hate Rex because of the defensive struggles, but he can't make the plays on the field. Guys like Gilmore, Darby, our Safeties are not doing THEIR jobs. And I think what its been in the past more than anything, is that the rest of the defense has masked their short comings, and now teams have seen the weakness and attack them constantly. I compare it to when Tyson lost to Douglas...once that happened, he was exposed and no one was worried anymore. Gilmore has this myth about him that we was an Elite shut down corner and teams never attacked him like they are this year. Once he got exposed, they have aggressively gone after him. Even Carrol said he was going to attack the weakness of the Bills D, our 2 starting corners...and not only did he say it, he did it, and it worked.

Every team gets injures we just get bone crushing injuries to our best players.

 

AWill 3gms

Cordy 3gms

Sammy 7gms

Dareus 8gms

Woods 1gm

McCoy 2gms

Lawson 7gms

Ragland IR

 

I challenge anyone to show me a team that's winning with these types of injuries.

 

This times 1000. The issue on this board, is they dont care about facts. The only fact they care about is 16 years. So logic and reason goes out the window. Teams DO NOT continue to win when they lose that many CRITICAL players to a teams success...they just dont. I dont want to hear this factless, pointless, and irrelevant blanket statement of "all teams have injuries" because not all teams are equal, not all teams lose the same important players, etc.

 

Dallas and Balt were supposed to be SB and playoff contenders last year...they lost a couple of key people and combined to win LESS games than we did even though we lost MORE key people.

 

Look at the loss of Wood last week...the offense immediately felt that impact and it dramatically affected us trying to win the game the Refs screwed us on. Its utterly stupid to disregard our injury situation both last year and this year. We aren't losing backups, we are losing our best starters at key positions...and then in some cases losing their backups too.

[May Day 10]

I have seen enough where I can support sticking with him for Year 3.... barring the bottom falling out and them finishing 1-6 or something

[Alphadawg7]

I have seen enough where I can support sticking with him for Year 3.... barring the bottom falling out and them finishing 1-6 or something

 

Yes, agreed...if we go like 1-6 with uninspired football then I think his time will have come. But I really can't see that happening, especially with Sammy (hopefully) coming back, having Shaw back, Dareus back, McCoy healthy, etc over the next couple of weeks.

[BillsFan130]

 

Rex isn't our problem.

 

1. What do people expect from a team missing most of the top players from this team most of the year? Missing our best DL. Missing our best WR. Missing our best S. Missing our young LBs (Shaq if finally back). Missed our top RB 1 week. Missing several other WR's. And now missing our best OL in Wood, and yes I say the best because he has been the most consistent and his loss was immediately felt against Seattle.

 

2. You can argue we are missing our DB's because I dont even recognize Gilmore and Darby. And by the way, all these people through the year have kept saying they love Ed Reed, he's a great coach, he is going to be a great HC, etc. Well he is the defensive backs coach, and the defensive backs have been literally, without debate, the worst performing unit on the entire roster this year and have MASSIVELY regressed from last year. The ONLY thing different, is the DB coach and that is Ed Reed. So what on Earth makes people think he is doing a good job and its Rex fault more than his? Rex didn't change the D, just the DB coach.

 

3. Roman - I can't help but wonder if we get 2 more wins to start the year, at the very least the Balt game, if Lynn had been the OC day 1. The offense is light years better, and even in a game where our DB's made Fitz look like Brady, we still had a chance to win that game. Yes we put up points in that game, but the offense was mostly bad except for a couple long scoring plays.

 

4. Seattle - Cant deny the Refs stole that game for us. I never complain about losses because of Refs, but we were screwed in that game.

 

IMO Rex has done a good job this year...people want to hate Rex because of the defensive struggles, but he can't make the plays on the field. Guys like Gilmore, Darby, our Safeties are not doing THEIR jobs. And I think what its been in the past more than anything, is that the rest of the defense has masked their short comings, and now teams have seen the weakness and attack them constantly. I compare it to when Tyson lost to Douglas...once that happened, he was exposed and no one was worried anymore. Gilmore has this myth about him that we was an Elite shut down corner and teams never attacked him like they are this year. Once he got exposed, they have aggressively gone after him. Even Carrol said he was going to attack the weakness of the Bills D, our 2 starting corners...and not only did he say it, he did it, and it worked.

 

Can't say I disagree too much with you sir. Good post

[Alphadawg7]

Dareus and Williams are losses. Same with Watkins. But outside of Dareus are they unexpected injuries? Did Whaley/Rex do anything for insurance purposes for these injuries? Nope.

 

 

As Ive said many times, I find the scheme asinine if it relies on a fragile, one hit away from retirement safety.

 

Rex needs all stars at every position for his defense to be successful is what you are saying.

 

Are Darby and Gilmore being put in position to make plays? Leaving them on an island with new safety help is a lot to ask of your corners in today's NFL. Get ready for a corner heavy draft to help Rex finally get to the 2014 Shwartz defense when he arrives.

 

First of all, you left off our starting offensive tackles, McCoy, Shaq, Ragland, etc...you think those injuries dont matter to this team? If you say yes, you are not being truthful and just trying to support your theory.

 

You do realize you dont wave a magic wand in the offseason and fill every hole among the starters and also stack the deck with talent behind him them right? Whaley took over a team severely lacking talent all across its roster. He has done a great job of adding a lot of talent to this team. But to expect to upgrade our starters and then stack the depth behind them with quality players to sustain the loss of those starters is completely unrealistic.

 

Going into the off season, LB and pass rush was a big need, and we used the draft to fill it...and it looks like we did a really good job as Shaq looks like the real deal and Rags was having a great camp before the injury. We dont get to add 20 really good players every year, we can't fill every position. Whaley can't build 2 full rosters in case the starting one gets hurt.

 

MOST TEAMS dont have many good players behind their starters, because good players usually go on to start for them or someone else. Again, we have done a LOT BETTER than MOST teams who lose the QUALITY and AMOUNT of starters that we have lost...yet, just like last year, Rex has us holding ground for a potential playoff spot still while weathering the storm while most teams barely win any games.

 

No offense, but you have a very skewed perception of our injury situation and you down play it in almost every thread. You seem to think teams should just magically have #1 WR's sitting there in there 3rd and 4th spots...quality OL sitting there to fill in at a moments notice...good DL and LB's sitting on the bench waiting for someone to get hurt...starting quality safeties sitting on the bench. It just doesnt happen...sure, there are young guys or sleeper guys that emerge every year after injuries, but to expect to have enough to withstand the loss of your best WR's, best RB, best OL, best DT, best S, etc etc is unbelievably unrealistic. But guess what...Whaley has done a great job finding quality guys to fill in off the street, in unhearlded FA signings, mid to low draft picks, after thought veterans, etc. But you can only sustain so many injuries before it becomes unsurmountable.

[Nihilarian]

Every team gets injures we just get bone crushing injuries to our best players.

 

AWill 3gms

Cordy 3gms

Sammy 7gms

Dareus 8gms

Woods 1gm

McCoy 2gms

Lawson 7gms

Ragland IR

 

I challenge anyone to show me a team that's winning with these types of injuries.

Like I stated in an earlier post the Patriots only had three players that started in all 16 games last year and still went to the AFC Championship. Injuries happen to every team and if Bills fans will look at the offseason many fans were saying the biggest problem with the team was depth at several positions. It's like Bills fans can't stop making excuses for bad coaching year after year. Jauron's teams were also always injured and he got to 7-9 with Edwards and JP at QB.

 

 

My post was more about what the heck is up with the defense that failed to fully utilize the all pro D-line last year and this year it's making the secondary look inept. These things are easily understandable as last year the defense ran mostly a two-gap defense to stop the run and is the biggest reason for the lack of sacks. Conversely, this year the team is running more of a one-gap scheme that is more of a quick penetrating style like Denver runs and now we see the team leading the league in sacks. Also, the secondary playing poorly at times can be explained as the team is leaving the CB's in man coverage while the safeties cheat up to help stop the run. This leaves the CB's on an island and not many CB's can play man in coverage all game and survive it.

 

Even if you don't care to believe this is it really doesn't matter as the main point is defense isn't playing anywhere near the level it was playing just two short years ago with mostly the very same players. In actuality that 2014 defense had less talent at the CB position. Now go back to 2014 and look at all the injuries and only 7 starters out of 22 played in all 16 games.

 

 

Coaching is the problem and most Bills fans can't see that because the last time this team had a head coach and coaching staff that made the playoffs was in 1999!

[yungmack]

I don't think there's any doubt he is going to get another year, unless the season goes into a complete tail spin.

Isn't it already? Edited November 11, 2016 by yungmack

[Alphadawg7]

Like I stated in an earlier post the Patriots only had three players that started in all 16 games last year and still went to the AFC Championship. Injuries happen to every team and if Bills fans will look at the offseason many fans were saying the biggest problem with the team was depth at several positions. It's like Bills fans can't stop making excuses for bad coaching year after year. Jauron's teams were also always injured and he got to 7-9 with Edwards and JP at QB.

 

 

My post was more about what the heck is up with the defense that failed to fully utilize the all pro D-line last year and this year it's making the secondary look inept. These things are easily understandable as last year the defense ran mostly a two-gap defense to stop the run and is the biggest reason for the lack of sacks. Conversely, this year the team is running more of a one-gap scheme that is more of a quick penetrating style like Denver runs and now we see the team leading the league in sacks. Also, the secondary playing poorly at times can be explained as the team is leaving the CB's in man coverage while the safeties cheat up to help stop the run. This leaves the CB's on an island and not many CB's can play man in coverage all game and survive it.

 

Even if you don't care to believe this is it really doesn't matter as the main point is defense isn't playing anywhere near the level it was playing just two short years ago with mostly the very same players. In actuality that 2014 defense had less talent at the CB position. Now go back to 2014 and look at all the injuries and only 7 starters out of 22 played in all 16 games.

 

 

Coaching is the problem and most Bills fans can't see that because the last time this team had a head coach and coaching staff that made the playoffs was in 1999!

 

So that means you think if BB was our coach we would have won the SB by your logic. I mean you are basically saying its coaching, then use the Pats as the example as if the only reason they won it was because of better coaching. So do you honestly believe this team with the exact roster, exact injuries, etc would have not only won the SB last year but would also be wining this division this year?

 

And what about Dallas last year? They lost 2 key players and barely won any games. What about Balt last year? They lost a couple of key players (even BEFORE Flacco) and barely won any games last year...both were SB and playoff contenders going in. We WON more games then them COMBINED last year and we had a worse injury situation. So to cherry pick a team with arguably the best coach in history, the best QB in history, and the best TE in history...none of which missed any games last year...is bit of a silly comparison.

 

Which FURTHERS my point...no injury situation is the same and the Pats did NOT lost their very BEST players to injury that make that team win.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Alphadawg7

[Alphadawg7]

No I said the Dareus and now Williams injury have hurt us.

 

Starting Tackles? Glenn missed two games and Sentral was never our starting tackle nor is he any better than Mills.

 

Shaq and Reggie? Two rookies, two unknowns.

 

McCoy missed two games. One that really didn't matter because we got destroyed.

 

Your making excuses and your reaching badly.

 

Lol, how long does it take to build a good team?

 

Your right, you can't wave a wand and fill holes. Look at all the holes Rexs defense is creating for this team.

 

Last year we needed better linebackers and defensive linemen. Now we need safety's and corners.

 

Does anyone remember how many holes the defense had before Rex got here?

 

No offense, but you have a real skewed perception of the job Rex is doing.

 

You dont think losing our top 2 picks was a loss? Shaq is proving his value already in limited reps. Rags was having a great camp. How can you say McCoy not being there didn't matter then follow it up with we got destroyed...whcih is EXACTLY the point, you get destroyed when you dont have your best players, I mean come on.

 

Glenn missed 2 games...so do those 2 games not count in our record? So because its 2 games, those 2 games dont matter?

 

You also left off Watkins, so now I know you are crazy if you think him and the OTHER injuries to WR havent hurt us.

 

The fact you are ONLY willing to acknowledge 2 players, when the others you are ignoring are KEY starters, and some are either our best players or best young players is, for a lack of a better word, absurd. Just because they werent out for the season doesn't mean it didn't impact us in the games they missed, many of which we lost and were mostly winnable despite them being out.

[Nihilarian]

 

So that means you think if BB was our coach we would have won the SB by your logic. I mean you are basically saying its coaching, then use the Pats as the example as if the only reason they won it was because of better coaching. So do you honestly believe this team with the exact roster, exact injuries, etc would have not only won the SB last year but would also be wining this division this year?

 

And what about Dallas last year? They lost 2 key players and barely won any games. What about Balt last year? They lost a couple of key players (even BEFORE Flacco) and barely won any games last year...both were SB and playoff contenders going in. We WON more games then them COMBINED last year and we had a worse injury situation. So to cherry pick a team with arguably the best coach in history, the best QB in history, and the best TE in history...none of which missed any games last year...is bit of a silly comparison.

 

Which FURTHERS my point...no injury situation is the same and the Pats did NOT lost their very BEST players to injury that make that team win.

First off, Dallas lost Tony Romo after four games and they had no adequate backup plan at QB as Matt Cassell went 1-6, Kellen Moore went 0-2, Branden Weeden went 0-3 and only Romo did anything at 3-1. So their problem in its entirety was at quarterback! This year they are starting a rookie at QB after Romo went on IR and because he is winning the team is 7-1!

 

Baltimore lost a couple of players? How about a record setting 19 players on IR and before QB Joe Flacco went on IR he was playing injured for most of the 10 games he played in as the team went 3-7 under him. Alas, this was another team with bad backup QB problems. Ryan Mallett 1-1, Jimmy Clausen 0-2, Matt Schaub 1-1.

 

 

The Buffalo Bills have had QB Tyrod Taylor the entire year and he isn't nursing any injuries. The main problem with Buffalo is that they are a run first team that is primarily dependent on one particular running back to be able to make that run game work or should I say even attempt to make their run game work! When the Buffalo run game isn't working the entire offense and defense don't play as well. The 2016 Buffalo Bills offense is basically one dimensional and run first teams usually don't win many games without a stout defense to help them out.

 

This goes on to point out that if Bill Belichick were the Buffalo Bills head coach he wouldn't even attempt to enter a season as one dimensional as the Bills currently are on offense. The Patriots don't have as much talent on defense as the Bills have and I could see the defense so much better under him because he adapts and schemes his defenses to fit each opponent each week. He doesn't run the same lame scheme week after week while taking away players from one area to bolster another area like the Bills have done the last two seasons.

 

Lastly, the 2015 Patriots lost their starting RB in Dion Lewis after 6 games who was tearing things up at 4.8 YPC while also being a big threat out of the backfield. The Patriots then went to Blount, White, and Boulden to take up the slack. ( it pays to have solid depth) The Patriots also lost their starting star possession receiver in Julian Edelman after 9 games who Brady always looked to for a first down. The Patriots entire offensive line was in disarray most of the season as we all saw in that second game against Buffalo with Brady screaming at his linemen on the sidelines. No Patriots O-linemen went on to play a full 16 games

 

On the defensive side Jerod Mayo only played in 8 games, Jamie Collins played in 12 games as did Dont'a Hightower only played in 12 games. Ryan, Chung and McCourty each played in 14 games.

 

Injuries are just an excuse Bills fans embrace to feed their denial about their 4-5 team. Rex Ryan has 7 games to go to prove he is worth keeping! The 2016 Buffalo Bills could finish 11-5... or what's more likely is 7-9 because Ryan's defense can't seem to slow down even average QB's.

[8-8 Forever?]

And replace him with who?

 

This is as good a team as the Bills have fielded in many years. They are restricted on offense by the limitations of their QB and quality of their WRs and they are figuring out how to manage that -- and they did pretty well last night against a very good defense.

 

On defense their starting CBs have under-performed, their top two draft picks were hurt, and their best player decided to take the year off. Despite that they have held it together.

 

They are not that far away; 7 more yards last night and this morning we're calling this the best win for the franchise since Fitz beat NE. The last thing they need is another big upheaval.

Best post I've seen in weeks. Thank you. Lets just stop posting about starting over again. I can't take another 3 year rebuilding process , new schemes, learning curves, roster upheavals, etc etc. No.

 

They looked great Monday night. Really great. Had the best D in NFL running in circles.

Edited November 11, 2016 by 8and8-->NoMore

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

how many lockdown corners arein the league? How much can we put in to his system? The jets sank a lot of resources in to him an failed.

Where can we get an acceptable cb? Is it CB? Maybe its not coaching to your talent level

rex's schemes with today's no touch rules do kenn themselves to his defense being good on cbs

[EasternOHBillsFan]

Best post I've seen in weeks. Thank you. Lets just stop posting about starting over again. I can't take another 3 year rebuilding process , new schemes, learning curves, roster upheavals, etc etc. No.

 

They looked great Monday night. Really great. Had the best D in NFL running in circles.

 

So essentially we will be a one-sided team who is always up and down, never making the playoffs and a perpetual 6-10 or 7-9 team.

 

RIDICULOUS. Status quo to prevent change for mediocrity is wrong.

[mead107]

Keep Rex.

[Beef Jerky]

Pro our defense might get better...

Con our defense might get worse?...

[Bill from NYC]

No I said the Dareus and now Williams injury have hurt us.

 

Starting Tackles? Glenn missed two games and Sentral was never our starting tackle nor is he any better than Mills.

 

Shaq and Reggie? Two rookies, two unknowns.

 

McCoy missed two games. One that really didn't matter because we got destroyed.

 

Your making excuses and your reaching badly.

 

Lol, how long does it take to build a good team?

 

Your right, you can't wave a wand and fill holes. Look at all the holes Rexs defense is creating for this team.

 

Last year we needed better linebackers and defensive linemen. Now we need safety's and corners.

 

Does anyone remember how many holes the defense had before Rex got here?

 

No offense, but you have a real skewed perception of the job Rex is doing.

You make good points. I think that Rex will be gone unless he makes the playoffs. Whaley also hinders this team from getting better. He doesn't completely suck, but he continues to trade away our draft picks and sign players to huge contracts that don't appear to be worth the resources.

We would be way better off without these guys.

[atlbillsfan1975]

Keep everyone for one more year. The list of player needs is shrinking. Rex will get one more year with Whaley to show they can make the roster deep enough to win with.

[Dr. K]

I don't care. A football team is just a football team. Donald Trump is President.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Dr. K

[Nitro]

Pros: Continuity, solid offense, great running game. Cons: Defense is too passive. being a loud mouth, and .500 record.

[Fixxxer]

You make good points. I think that Rex will be gone unless he makes the playoffs. Whaley also hinders this team from getting better. He doesn't completely suck, but he continues to trade away our draft picks and sign players to huge contracts that don't appear to be worth the resources.

We would be way better off without these guys.

 

What players are those? Dareus is the only guy that I can think of, but not for lack of talent, maybe Clay, but I think he's underutilized at times, IMO

 

Glenn, Hughes, Incognito and Aaron Williams are well paid players that pull their weight every Sunday. McCoy is expensive but he's a star. TT is on a one year rental with a to be detemined tag, he could still get better.

Whaley determined that Gilmore was not an elite corner and offered him solid NFL CB money instead, he's proven right so far.

 

I left Eric Wood and Kyle Williams out of that list because I believe Whaley was not the guy responsible for those contracts, still very productive guys.

 

We're all mad at Dareus, it's understandable, his pay matches his talent though his future might be in jeopardy if he doesn't mature. Overall I think Whaley is good at assesing value to the talent drafted/signed.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

First off, Dallas lost Tony Romo after four games and they had no adequate backup plan at QB as Matt Cassell went 1-6, Kellen Moore went 0-2, Branden Weeden went 0-3 and only Romo did anything at 3-1. So their problem in its entirety was at quarterback! This year they are starting a rookie at QB after Romo went on IR and because he is winning the team is 7-1!

 

Baltimore lost a couple of players? How about a record setting 19 players on IR and before QB Joe Flacco went on IR he was playing injured for most of the 10 games he played in as the team went 3-7 under him. Alas, this was another team with bad backup QB problems. Ryan Mallett 1-1, Jimmy Clausen 0-2, Matt Schaub 1-1.

 

 

The Buffalo Bills have had QB Tyrod Taylor the entire year and he isn't nursing any injuries. The main problem with Buffalo is that they are a run first team that is primarily dependent on one particular running back to be able to make that run game work or should I say even attempt to make their run game work! When the Buffalo run game isn't working the entire offense and defense don't play as well. The 2016 Buffalo Bills offense is basically one dimensional and run first teams usually don't win many games without a stout defense to help them out.

 

This goes on to point out that if Bill Belichick were the Buffalo Bills head coach he wouldn't even attempt to enter a season as one dimensional as the Bills currently are on offense. The Patriots don't have as much talent on defense as the Bills have and I could see the defense so much better under him because he adapts and schemes his defenses to fit each opponent each week. He doesn't run the same lame scheme week after week while taking away players from one area to bolster another area like the Bills have done the last two seasons.

 

Lastly, the 2015 Patriots lost their starting RB in Dion Lewis after 6 games who was tearing things up at 4.8 YPC while also being a big threat out of the backfield. The Patriots then went to Blount, White, and Boulden to take up the slack. ( it pays to have solid depth) The Patriots also lost their starting star possession receiver in Julian Edelman after 9 games who Brady always looked to for a first down. The Patriots entire offensive line was in disarray most of the season as we all saw in that second game against Buffalo with Brady screaming at his linemen on the sidelines. No Patriots O-linemen went on to play a full 16 games

 

On the defensive side Jerod Mayo only played in 8 games, Jamie Collins played in 12 games as did Dont'a Hightower only played in 12 games. Ryan, Chung and McCourty each played in 14 games.

 

Injuries are just an excuse Bills fans embrace to feed their denial about their 4-5 team. Rex Ryan has 7 games to go to prove he is worth keeping! The 2016 Buffalo Bills could finish 11-5... or what's more likely is 7-9 because Ryan's defense can't seem to slow down even average QB's.

People should be kicked off this board for using Patriots as example, lol. Cmon Brady, Brady, Brady and more Brady do we have Brady? Having a true Franchise QB can really mask alot of injures or lack of depth on any team. BTW what happened to the mighty Bill Belicheck when we came into town without his savior playing.. 16-0 that's what happened boy he had his guys ready to go!

[Nihilarian]

People should be kicked off this board for using Patriots as example, lol. Cmon Brady, Brady, Brady and more Brady do we have Brady? Having a true Franchise QB can really mask alot of injures or lack of depth on any team. BTW what happened to the mighty Bill Belicheck when we came into town without his savior playing.. 16-0 that's what happened boy he had his guys ready to go!

Horsehockey!! The Atlanta Falcons currently have one of the hottest franchise QB's in the NFL this year who leads all QB's in yards and might be the NFC team in the SB this year. Yet, in 2013 that same franchise QB was 4-12 due to the Falcons being ravaged by injuries that season.

 

While I agree that Brady is looking like the GOAT at this point. I also saw the Bills defense doing a pretty good number on him in 2015 in that second game and so much so we saw him screaming at his O-linemen in that game. It was the Bills offense that let them down in that game in only scoring 13 points to the Patriots 20 points.

 

This season in their first game against NE the Bills faced the Patriots injured third-string rookie QB who had great difficulty in even completing a pass and is a big reason as to why the Patriots never scored in that game. It was either start that injured QB or WR Julian Edelman at QB that day. Not a great feat to boast of by any means.

 

I merely mentioned the Patriots because they are in the division and I pay attention to that team over most others.

 

 

All NFL teams suffer injuries every year and it's a tribute to the GM and coaching staff to have adequate depth to keep winning games. This year Minnesota lost their franchise QB in Teddy Bridgewater and went out and traded for another QB. They are 5-3 and have nine players on IR. Houston is currently 5-3 and they lost their superstar DE JJ Watt for the year and have 11 players on IR. The Ravens are currently 5-4 and have 14 players on IR! The Lions are 5-4 and have 9 players on IR.

 

 

More to the point is that the 2016 Buffalo Bills are losing games due to some bad play by their defense. This last game against Seattle the team was so worried about the Seahawks run game that they let Russell Wilson move the ball all over the field in that first half.

 

In the Miami game, the were dominated on both sides of the lines and allowed an unknown RB to rush for 214yards!! The Jets game the defense was owned by Fitz and their RB Matt Forte as Fitz threw for 374 and Forte 3 rushing TD's yjr ZJets put up almost 500 yards of offense on Buffalos defense. The Bills win those two division games and they are 6-3 with a real shot at the playoffs this year!!

 

Bottom line here is the defense was supposed to be a strength the last two years under a HC noted to be a defensive genius and it's just not!

[NastyNateSoldiers]

Name me the 9 players on IR for Baltimore. As far as I can see they still have there key guys Flacco, Smith, Wallace , Stanley, Suggs and Yanda even though he missed the last gm. Hou is missing Watt but that's it not to mention those teams schedule is cake compared to what we've seen so far.

Nobody is arguing here that no one has injures but the argument is nobody has suffered injuries to key positions as much as us. We are missing Pro bowl caliber guys for weeks at a time. Cordy, McCoy,Sammy,A Will & Dareus have missed a combined 20gms not only that but we were down to street guys playing wr for us.

Last yr we were missing Kyle, Aaron, Gilmore, McCoy, Karlos, Tyrod, Sammy and many others for multiple games. We haven't had our core guys together since week 3 of last yr.. I'm talking core injuries here not your 4th string special teams player

[GunnerBill]

 

What players are those? Dareus is the only guy that I can think of, but not for lack of talent, maybe Clay, but I think he's underutilized at times, IMO

 

Glenn, Hughes, Incognito and Aaron Williams are well paid players that pull their weight every Sunday. McCoy is expensive but he's a star. TT is on a one year rental with a to be detemined tag, he could still get better.

Whaley determined that Gilmore was not an elite corner and offered him solid NFL CB money instead, he's proven right so far.

 

I left Eric Wood and Kyle Williams out of that list because I believe Whaley was not the guy responsible for those contracts, still very productive guys.

 

We're all mad at Dareus, it's understandable, his pay matches his talent though his future might be in jeopardy if he doesn't mature. Overall I think Whaley is good at assesing value to the talent drafted/signed.

This. Well said Fixxer.

 

The two bad Whaley "big" contracts for me are Clay (good player but paid like a star) and the Harvin deal last year (overrated his whole career).

 

The rest of his big deals he has got right.

 

Bill is very anti-Whaley and has set out his reasons before. I don't think Whaley is perfect but I think he and Nix before him have built pretty talented rosters. Whaley's biggest fault was not putting his foot down when the Pegulas wanted to hire the Salesman as Head Coach.

[nuklz2594]

i think he will coach next year. imo...everyone is waiting for defensive genius of the ryans to finally show up. i remember the entire league saying our defense would be historic. still waiting............

[Nihilarian]

Name me the 9 players on IR for Baltimore. As far as I can see they still have there key guys Flacco, Smith, Wallace , Stanley, Suggs and Yanda even though he missed the last gm. Hou is missing Watt but that's it not to mention those teams schedule is cake compared to what we've seen so far.

Nobody is arguing here that no one has injures but the argument is nobody has suffered injuries to key positions as much as us. We are missing Pro bowl caliber guys for weeks at a time. Cordy, McCoy,Sammy,A Will & Dareus have missed a combined 20gms not only that but we were down to street guys playing wr for us.

Last yr we were missing Kyle, Aaron, Gilmore, McCoy, Karlos, Tyrod, Sammy and many others for multiple games. We haven't had our core guys together since week 3 of last yr.. I'm talking core injuries here not your 4th string special teams player

Again, my key point is it's the defense that has let the team down in several games more than any other factor. The Bills are missing Dareus the entire season so far and Aaron Williams was injured in the Miami game which was three games ago. The Bills are leading the league in sacks this year so missing Dareus isn't as a big a deal as some would believe. Last year the Bills stomped the Colts in the opener without Dareus.

 

The Bills lost to the Ravens in the opener because the couldn't rush for more than 65 yards or pass for more than 111 and this is a big reason as to why the Bills OC was fired after week two. Yes, Cordy Glenn missed this game and the Bills only gave up 2 sacks so his loss wasn't that much of a detriment. Both LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins played in this game so injuries on the offensive side weren't that big a factor!

 

 

However, in week two the Bills offense scored 31 points and it was the defense that let the team down by allowing Ryan Fitzpatrick to pass for 374 yards and Forte to rush for 123 yards. This was an absolute failure of the defense to stop the Jets on the ground or in the air! If the HC is going to fire assistant coaches for failure then what defensive coach should have been fired for allowing that fiasco to happen? The NY Jets currently are a 3-6, 173 PF-235 PA bad team. Aaron Williams played in this game and yet the defense stunk it up. His injury is not an excuse because the defense had played poorly in several games before his injury in week 7.

 

Week 7 against the Dolphins both sides of the Bills lines were manhandled by a 4-4 172 PF-182 PA Dolphins team that had a RB that rushed for 214 yards. Jay Ajayi had just rushed for 252 yards the previous week against that Steelers defense and the Dolphins put up a 30 burger! So someone on the Buffalo Bills coaching staff should have stood up and taken notice so the defense could have prepared for him! The Bills defense only managed one sack on Tannehill and although he didn't put up great numbers in the air he pretty much was successful throwing it against that Bills secondary.

 

Russell Wilson had no passing TD's and only put up 20 points on a crappy New Orleans defense that is ranked 30th in both points and yards the week previous to playing Buffalo. Yet against the Bills, he threw at will that first half. Wilson rushed for one TD and threw for two more before the half.

 

Bad schemes, a lack of preparation and the lack of making adjustments during some games is what's killing this defense this year. We saw this last year too. You can make the excuse for the injuries but it just doesn't fly as the Bills lost two division games this year against scrub teams that they should have beaten!

 

 

Speaking of last years injuries. The Bills beat the Jets soundly in that last regular season game in 2015 by intercepted Fitz 3 times and held him to under 200 yards passing. He was 16 of 37 for 181. And that was without Gilmore, Aaron Williams and Kyle Williams on defense and without LeSean McCoy on offense.

Edited November 13, 2016 by Nihilarian

[Manther]

 

And me. The roster is decent - not perfect but decent - the problem has been using the talent effectively. I don't know where people think all this bursting deep rosters are, because when I look at the league I don't see them. We were down to our 3rd choice NT starter on Monday night and gave up just 33 yards rushing. We have two areas where we are really thin - receiver and safety. As the law of averages would have it we have suffered injuries at both spots.

Agreed!

[8-8 Forever?]

 

So essentially we will be a one-sided team who is always up and down, never making the playoffs and a perpetual 6-10 or 7-9 team.

 

RIDICULOUS. Status quo to prevent change for mediocrity is wrong.

you said that, not me.

 

Defense and Offense both look pretty good to me, considering the injuries at key positions.. Sacks are way up, turnovers are way up. D is great. We gave up, what, 7 rushing yards? R Wilson is a top 5 QB. and we were 7 yds from this entire conversation being completely different. Ripping this up for next year or year after that; now that is RIDICULOUS. The CBA heavily , heavily penalizes teams with new coaches and schemes. Practice time is nearly gone in the offseason. If Rex goes, his ENTIRE staff goes as well and you are starting from Square One with who? No top coach will have anything to do with living in WNY. Rex is the first NFL calibre coach this franchise has had in my lifetime. And you want to toss him out? and replace him with who? who? Cowher? won't come. any other big name? won't come. We'll be back to college guys and Dick Jaurons. Rex made a great call getting rid of Roman. gutsy. and it worked. we have the most talented roster we've had in 15 - 20 years. OK , great , lets blow up the best roster we've had in 15 years to fit some new coaching staffs brand new, gotta-go-learn-em all from scratch with no practice time schemes? RIDICULOUS. now that's RIDICULOUS.

[#34fan]

What's improved??? We currently have a losing record overall, AND within the division.... We're top 5 in penalties league-wide AGAIN... Oh wait, that's right, -The secondary has taken a giant step BACK from last season... If we lose vs MIA Rex should get canned before he hits the tunnel.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

Why make a change? When mediocrity rules, you don't want to rock the boat. Next season, we can have this discussion again, as we seem to every year. It's a Buffalo thing.

[Virgil]

To the whole "who are you going to replace him with crowd"....

 

Usually it's the next up and coming coordinator or whatever head coach got fired for not getting their team over the jump. There's hardly ever a super bowl winning coach just hanging out without a job. It's always a risk.

 

I know he's not looking great right now, but IF they do fire him, here's my number one

 

Jim Schwartz, under the condition of keeping Lynn. I think he would be a good fit and the easiest transition. Has the background and players liked him.

[Nihilarian]

To the whole "who are you going to replace him with crowd"....

 

Usually it's the next up and coming coordinator or whatever head coach got fired for not getting their team over the jump. There's hardly ever a super bowl winning coach just hanging out without a job. It's always a risk.

 

I know he's not looking great right now, but IF they do fire him, here's my number one

 

Jim Schwartz, under the condition of keeping Lynn. I think he would be a good fit and the easiest transition. Has the background and players liked him.

Ryan does have 7 games to get his defense on track and if Tyrod plays like he did against the Hawks, McCoy stays healthy while Sammy returns the Bills could make a run for the playoffs. Lots "O" ifs in there! OTOH, the team could win only the games against the bad QB's like usual and that might mean 4 wins. 8-8

 

At this point, it might be better to hire some scrub HC you know will fail so that the team can finally get a shot at a real franchise QB in the draft after next year. The entire problem has been that the team mired in mediocrity for the last decade and never bottomed out. Enough of this 4-12, 6-10, 7-9, 8-8 or even 9-7 crap! 10 wins might not be enough to get the Bills in a playoff game at this point in the AFC.

[NastyNateSoldiers]

Again, my key point is it's the defense that has let the team down in several games more than any other factor. The Bills are missing Dareus the entire season so far and Aaron Williams was injured in the Miami game which was three games ago. The Bills are leading the league in sacks this year so missing Dareus isn't as a big a deal as some would believe. Last year the Bills stomped the Colts in the opener without Dareus.

 

The Bills lost to the Ravens in the opener because the couldn't rush for more than 65 yards or pass for more than 111 and this is a big reason as to why the Bills OC was fired after week two. Yes, Cordy Glenn missed this game and the Bills only gave up 2 sacks so his loss wasn't that much of a detriment. Both LeSean McCoy and Sammy Watkins played in this game so injuries on the offensive side weren't that big a factor!

 

 

However, in week two the Bills offense scored 31 points and it was the defense that let the team down by allowing Ryan Fitzpatrick to pass for 374 yards and Forte to rush for 123 yards. This was an absolute failure of the defense to stop the Jets on the ground or in the air! If the HC is going to fire assistant coaches for failure then what defensive coach should have been fired for allowing that fiasco to happen? The NY Jets currently are a 3-6, 173 PF-235 PA bad team. Aaron Williams played in this game and yet the defense stunk it up. His injury is not an excuse because the defense had played poorly in several games before his injury in week 7.

 

Week 7 against the Dolphins both sides of the Bills lines were manhandled by a 4-4 172 PF-182 PA Dolphins team that had a RB that rushed for 214 yards. Jay Ajayi had just rushed for 252 yards the previous week against that Steelers defense and the Dolphins put up a 30 burger! So someone on the Buffalo Bills coaching staff should have stood up and taken notice so the defense could have prepared for him! The Bills defense only managed one sack on Tannehill and although he didn't put up great numbers in the air he pretty much was successful throwing it against that Bills secondary.

 

Russell Wilson had no passing TD's and only put up 20 points on a crappy New Orleans defense that is ranked 30th in both points and yards the week previous to playing Buffalo. Yet against the Bills, he threw at will that first half. Wilson rushed for one TD and threw for two more before the half.

 

Bad schemes, a lack of preparation and the lack of making adjustments during some games is what's killing this defense this year. We saw this last year too. You can make the excuse for the injuries but it just doesn't fly as the Bills lost two division games this year against scrub teams that they should have beaten!

 

 

Speaking of last years injuries. The Bills beat the Jets soundly in that last regular season game in 2015 by intercepted Fitz 3 times and held him to under 200 yards passing. He was 16 of 37 for 181. And that was without Gilmore, Aaron Williams and Kyle Williams on defense and without LeSean McCoy on offense.

U can't just pop out stats and say we weren't missing Dareus and Cordy in those gms. Cordy left the Baltimore gm after our only TD of the gm our running gm suffered and we also had to keep Clay in to block.

With Dareus playing we could possibly have 40sks instead of 30 and I guarantee Miami doesn't run all over us with him playing. Losing your franchise left tackle and franchise DT does have an effect on what we can do.

[Nihilarian]

U can't just pop out stats and say we weren't missing Dareus and Cordy in those gms. Cordy left the Baltimore gm after our only TD of the gm our running gm suffered and we also had to keep Clay in to block.

With Dareus playing we could possibly have 40sks instead of 30 and I guarantee Miami doesn't run all over us with him playing. Losing your franchise left tackle and franchise DT does have an effect on what we can do.

What I didn't see was a huge dropoff in play with Kouandjio in there at LT and he is more of a pass protector while Incognito is the pulling guard / run blocker. The Bills offense couldn't run or pass very well that day and I think it had more to do with that Ravens defense that's currently ranked #4 overall than the team missing one player. Tyrod going 15 of 122,0,0 and Shady going 16 for 58, 1

 

Even in his best year Dareus only had 10 sacks all season (2014) So, I highly doubt he would add 10 more this year in 8 games. He only had two sacks in all of last year while playing in 15 games under Rex Ryan.

 

Yes, the Bills miss Dareus and Aaron Williams but just not to the extent that those two players would be the sole reasons for losing a game or why the defense is currently only average. The Bills defense was just as bad last year with him playing and the team lost games with Aaron Williams playing this year. Like I mentioned that near 500 yards of offense to the lowly 3-6 NY Jets with Williams in the secondary.

 

Plus, the Bills just shut down the Seahawks run game who only had 12 rushes for 33 yards with a 2.8 yard per carry without Dareus.

 

NFL teams are always missing players due to injury and the good teams keep winning games. The bad teams make excuses. We could go on like this forever because the team will always be missing players at various positions and when they lose Bills fans will always make excuses for the team. If you care to believe that the Bills aren't winning games due to injuries that's your prerogative. I think it's more of defenses failure in two key games (Miami & Jets) and in my view, it was more lack of preparation and bad game plans. That's all on the defensive coaching staff.

[Bill from NYC]

The two bad Whaley "big" contracts for me are Clay (good player but paid like a star) and the Harvin deal last year (overrated his whole career).

 

The rest of his big deals he has got right.

He paid too much for Shady when he did not have to. And at this point (I readily admit this could hopefully change) I don't like the trade-up for Watkins. I said it when he made this deal that a serious injury would be a huge risk. Sammy is very good but he isn't a quarterback or Von Miller.

Whaley trades away crucial resources and overpays. He also tried to re-sign Byrd and Spiller. I think he lacks discipline.

 

This of course is jmo.

[Augie]

He paid too much for Shady when he did not have to. And at this point (I readily admit this could hopefully change) I don't like the trade-up for Watkins. I said it when he made this deal that a serious injury would be a huge risk. Sammy is very good but he isn't a quarterback or Von Miller.Whaley trades away crucial resources and overpays. He also tried to re-sign Byrd and Spiller. I think he lacks discipline.This of course is jmo.

But he drew the line and didn't cross it in those cases. I thought Watkins was probably worth it, if not for the injuries that were hard to foresee given a basically healthy background. The Shady deal? I can't explain that, but you win some and you lose some...

[C.Biscuit97]

There was a report that the the Jets coach before Bowles used to let the players go to strip clubs/ bars after bedche k before games.

 

So that's a huge pro from the players for Rex.

[Virgil]

He paid too much for Shady when he did not have to. And at this point (I readily admit this could hopefully change) I don't like the trade-up for Watkins. I said it when he made this deal that a serious injury would be a huge risk. Sammy is very good but he isn't a quarterback or Von Miller.

Whaley trades away crucial resources and overpays. He also tried to re-sign Byrd and Spiller. I think he lacks discipline.

 

This of course is jmo.

 

You should say Mack, since we actually passed on him and never had a chance at Von.

 

When we traded up, I was hoping it would be Mack.

[Nihilarian]

He paid too much for Shady when he did not have to. And at this point (I readily admit this could hopefully change) I don't like the trade-up for Watkins. I said it when he made this deal that a serious injury would be a huge risk. Sammy is very good but he isn't a quarterback or Von Miller.

Whaley trades away crucial resources and overpays. He also tried to re-sign Byrd and Spiller. I think he lacks discipline.

 

This of course is jmo.

The Bills paid too much for Shady, Watkins, Clay, Mario because they failed to find that talent in the draft.

 

Shady and older RB with a lot of miles on him and he is still a premier RB in the league when 100% healthy! Cap hit worth it as he makes this run first teams offense work.

 

Watkins is precisely why other teams don't overspend on what they think is a superior talent in the draft. Because an injury will make all those resources seem wasted on one player. It's particularly damning because the team didn't even have their established franchise QB to throw to that elite WR! Not to mention that the team just hired a head coach that had said "we will run Spiller so much he will throw up" in meaning the team's coaches were building a run first offense.

 

Also, just after the draft word came from the Bills FO that after they used 3 picks on a WR the team still needed that big, tall WR red zone threat. this makes me wonder why they didn't draft Mike Evans. This entire scenario was like a bunch of kids in a toy store just wanting the shiniest toy on the shelf without thinking of all the ramifications involved.

 

Clay, the team clearly overpaid for an oft-injured tight end who really isn't as good as his salary suggests. He looked to be a great prospect with 103 receptions in 2013 and 84 in 2014. He did have 77 catches in Buffalo last season but the guy is just not the game changer the team thought they were getting. Currently the 97th best receiver in yards.

 

Mario was good for a time but he never put the defense over the hump until Schwartz took over the defense.

 

The team is also paying huge money for Marcell Dareus and he is looking like he doesn't want to play in Buffalo anymore. The team wouldn't even have Richie Incognito or Tyrod Taylor on the roster if it weren't for Rex. Not to mention that had Spiller signed in Buffalo it would have been an enormous waste of money. The player depth at many positions stinks!

 

If Rex Ryan goes then Whaley deserves to go along with him! I just hope that if that happens the new owners realize that they need to hire some senior NFL advisers to make the choices for them.