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I've seen this asserted a lot. I've never seen a credible source, though. And personally I don't believe it. As soon as Whaley took the title officially, he made some big changes in the personnel department. If he was already the acting GM previously, why didn't he make the changes sooner? Yep, if you didn't actually hear Mike Stratton's "Hit Heard 'Round the World" - or if you never sat in the stands yelling "Lookie, Lookie, Hear Comes Cookie!" - you're just a newbie!

I haven't watched any recent pressers but I've seen the same thing in the past. Amateur hour.

Good fuel for the continuity crowd. Good fuel for a Head-Coach-is-only-as-good-as-his-QB crowd, too.

QBR is indeed flawed. But so is the old-fashioned passer rating system used by NFL.com and other sites. Passer rating doesn't account for plays a QB makes with his legs. Maybe, as a rough estimate, you put the two ratings together. TT is rated 30th in one and 12th in the other. Combine them and he's 21st - that sounds about right. I'd like to see a stat that measures how many yards a QB produces - on average - each time he drops back to throw. This would include completed passes, incomplete passes, sacks, and scrambles/runs.

Interesting idea. Most HCs are either the de facto OC or the de facto DC. A football guy like Toub with reputedly good leadership skills could hold his OC and DC accountable for their results. A typical HC isn't usually good at holding himself accountable in his coordinator role.

I don't like that approach. We don't want a guy who's unlike our current coach. We don't want to a offensive or defensive minded coach. We don't want a coach with prior Buffalo connections. We don't want a coach with a blue-collar sensibility who can understand Buffalonians. We want a coach who will win. It's the only thing that matters and Coughlin didn't do enough of it. So, yeah, I read the article and still don't get the logic of hiring Coughlin.

Hmmm... You say Whaley has done a poor job but you also say this is a 7-9 to 9-7 roster. So, in effect, both Whaley and Rex have been mediocre. Whaley has built a .500 team and so far Rex has led them to a .500 record. Therein lies the problem. Neither is bad enough to fire. Neither is good enough to build a playoff team. I say give them both another year. If we miss the playoffs again, hire a new GM who has the authority to hire a new HC.

Thanks for the map. Living in Seattle, I've long ago given up on seeing the Bills on national TV with any regularity. I stream the online version of NFL Sunday Ticket to catch all the Bills games. It's crazy to spend that much money to get upset at the outcomes - but I do.

Great response.

We could even bring Marv back. If there's any truth the Pegulas talking with Coughlin, maybe it's more along these lines.

He'd be 71 next season. And his win/loss percentage is only marginally above .500. So, why?

Weird career thus far. Had that really good year in 2013 but hasn't been that electric before or since.

I'd like to know, too. Maybe Rex is a simpleton and his plan to field a better D next year is to simply allow some guys to heal. But while it's debatable if Rex is a good HC/DC, I'm pretty sure he's not a simpleton. I think he'll do what coaches do: examine what went right and what went wrong. Then he'll try to reinforce what went right and correct what went wrong. Will he be successful? I'm not sure. I'm certainly not confident. But I don't think it's unreasonable to give a HC three years to make things right.

Sherman is bright and talented, but a real a-hole sometimes.

Good post.

I'm not excited with my vote (kind of like most presidential elections) but I voted to retain Rex. I haven't quite given up on Rex yet, though I'm very close. More importantly, I don't want Buffalo to be viewed as a coaching carousel. I remember when Al Davis had trouble hiring coaches partly because he meddled and partly because he didn't typically allow his coaches much time to build something good. It takes a while for a Head Coach to establish his philosophy, rebuild a culture, implement his system, get the assistant coaches he wants, and get the players from the GM he needs for his scheme. Given all that, what coach wants to work for an owner who fires a .500 coach after two years? Most teams give a coach at least three years to build a winner. If I was a Head Coach, I'd want to know I was getting at least three years. We need Buffalo to be viewed as a place where the Head Coach gets all the resources he needs (including time) to be successful. With that reputation, we'll attract the very best coaches.

It does mean something. The goal of an offense is to score, preferably touchdowns. Sometimes I feel like ALynn is making lemonade with lemons, but he's having some success. Clearly, TT's accuracy problems lead to too many 3 and outs. The Bills average somewhere around 31 yards per drive - about average in the NFL. The Bills O is feast or famine: TD or quick punt. The O could be better. But it's hardly a horror show, even with TT at the reins.

I'm with you, brother! I once read a book by a Vietnam vet and POW. He said that while the pessimists didn't do well in prison, the optimists were the worst. They kept seeing signs that their release was imminent, only to have their hopes dashed. Too many instances of this and their spirits were crushed and they ended up dying. I think something similar is happening here. I'm going to guess you're a realist and didn't have high hopes for this season to begin with. The pessimists already determined Rex sucks and will never get us to the playoffs. So they're pissing and moaning. And the optimists thought we had a real chance to make the playoffs this year, and now they feel disappointed and betrayed. So they're pissing and moaning.

The Pegulas talk to a lot of people. They talk to the players. They talk to the personnel guys. They talk to the coaches. They undoubtedly talk to football people outside the organization. And they talk to fans though we probably have the least influence. We don't know if there's a consensus growing among these different official & unofficial advisory groups that Rex needs to go. We do know that the Pegulas appreciate the importance of continuity. While I wouldn't be shocked if Rex was fired, right now I'm not convinced either.

What chance did 538 give us when we were losing to Houston 35-3?

I think Rex's track record says Rex is an average defensive coach. When he has above average talent, he produces above average results. When he has below average talent, he produces below average results.

Besides the talent issue, QBs tend to perform better when they're comfortable with their receivers. Tyrod never had a chance to get comfortable this season with WR spots being revolving doors. That said, I also believe that we're starting to get a sense of Tyrod's ceiling and it's just not high enough.

None of us know what Russ actually does in his job - whether he's actually accomplishing the goals/priorities that the Pegulas have assigned to him. Yet we're arrogant enough to deem a fellow human being "useless." I'm a dissatisfied Bills fan, too. But when we become classless, judgmental people, we've taken our disgruntled fandom too far.

La Confora reminds me of Edgar Cayce and other charlatans with 'secret' knowledge. They're wrong most of the time and make their careers by broadcasting the few times they were accidentally right.