Nihilarian

I stand corrected as Fletcher Cox was the only one i saw from the 2016 starters roster. Malcolm Jenkins replaced starter Tyrann Mathieu. Perhaps I should have pointed out that the Eagles in 2015 were 28th in points allowed and 30th in yards allowed. Bill Davis was the 2015 Eagles DC and they played in a 3-4 alignment. Schwartz has done a masterful job as the Eagles DC this year and like others have pointed out it didn't take a few games, half a season, a full season or a season and a half for the players to understand the scheme. Anyway you slice it Rex Ryan has so far screwed up a great and talented defensive roster from 2014. It was Ryan and Whaley that made the roster changes by letting Leodis McKelvin, Ron Brooks, Bradham, Searcy, Stephan Charles leave the team. Even Bacarri Rambo leaving in 2015 looks like a bad move as that Bills secondary stinks this year. At this point, I wouldn't hire either Rex Ryan or his brother Rob Ryan to be a DC and if they can't turn this defense leading the league in sacks into a unit that can stop even average QB's they are both done in the league after this year.

What I don't get is why so many Bills fans keep saying that defense was overrated. That defense was #4 overall in yards and points but they were also the #1 team in the NFL in passing TD's allowed, #3 in passing yards allowed. This was with Gilmore and McKelvin at CB. Look at some of the QB's he defeated that season! Cutler, Tannehill, Stafford, Bridgewater, Vick, Geno 2x, Hoyer / Manziel, Aaron Rodgers in his MVP season who went 17 of 42 for 185 yards and 2 INTs! Against Manning in Denver, the Bills didn't win but held Peyton to 14 of 20 for 173 yards, 2 INT's and that year Manning threw for 4827 yards, 39 TD's! Then, in that last game against the Patriots Belichick benched Brady more because he didn't want him hurt for the playoffs and because he was stinking it up against Schwartz's defense! Brady had 48% of the Patriots snaps and he played in the entire first half. Brady's stats 8 of 16 for 80 yards! with a rate of 64.6. When was the last time you saw Tom Brady go 8 for 16 for 80 yards and no TD's! To put that in perspective Brady threw for 27 of 37 for 361, 4 TD's in that first game. I think Buffalo wins that game if Brady played the entire game and it had some meaning for both teams. Sure, that 2014 defense had let downs. That Raiders game in which Derek Carr had a 3rd down and 22 and he completes a 51-yard pass to Andre Holmes! Pure luck! He beat Corey Coleman. If anything let down that 2014 team is was Marrone's-Hackett's offense with virtually no run game the entire year with Orton at QB. In that Raiders game, the Bills ran 13 times for 13 yards and Spiller was tackled behind the LoS every time he touched the ball. How pathetic is that! Now, go take a look at that 2016 Eagle defense and count how many all pro's on it compared to the 2016 Buffalo Bills. It's clear that Jim Schwartz is doing more with less talent. While in Buffalo he not only got the best out of every defender, he also was able to get some to overachieve.

Gee, I wonder who could have photoshopped human face into an animal or creature? Hrmmm... Seems like that same sort of fellow might defend Dick Jauron as the Bills head coach post after post all the way up until he was fired.

Some Bills fans brush over this like it's nothing and yet it means a great deal as exactly what a new head coaches job entails. Think of the job that any new head coach in Cleveland has to go through in regards to all the losing the team has done in the past and now has to change the players, the schemes and the culture of losing. The Lions, like the Bills, hadn't been to the playoffs since 1999. Jim Schwartz took over a 0-16 team with almost no talent save the star WR and a few low round draft picks at various positions. Think about the lack of player talent and lack of good coaching it takes for a team to not win one single game an entire year! Now that's what Schwartz inherited vs a 9-7 Bills team that missed the playoffs due to losing one single game. Schwartz took his Lions team to the playoffs after three short years. One or two more losses this year and the 2016 Buffalo Bills are out of the playoffs...again. Then the Bills will most likely finish this season with even a worse record than last year. http://www.sbnation.com/2015/10/21/9581575/mario-williams-marcell-dareus-rex-ryan-buffalo-bills-defense

I was merely pointing out that Rex Ryan inherited an already winning team at 9-7 and then went 9-7, 11-5 to 8-8, 6-10, 8-8, 4-12. That looks like only two winning seasons to me. Ryan also inherited a 9-7 team in Buffalo that many people had thought had enough talent to make the playoffs in 2015. If anything the offense should have been the weakest part of the team as that Bills defense had led the NFL in sacks in 2013, 2014 and was #4 overall in 2014. Instead, it was the defense that crapped the bed in 2015 going 15th in points allowed and 19th in yards allowed and the worst sack total in the history of the franchise. Schwartz inherited a 0-16 team and built a playoff team in three seasons going 2-14, 6-10, 10-6, 4-12, and finally 7-9 to end his five years in Detroit. I don't follow the Lions that closely so I can't say for certain what happened in Detroit. Although, as I recall his teams did have the very same problems as Ryan's with far too many player penalties. The only other area of concern is that Schwartz should have replaced his DC after that 2012 4-12 season. Inheriting a winning team at 9-7 is a huge difference over inheriting a 0-16 team and getting the players to buy into your system. The lions hadn't seen the playoffs since 2000 before Schwartz. It remains to be seen what Schwartz would do if given another chance at being an NFL HC. We know what Ryan's second chance looks like as he went 8-8 and ruined an already good defense because it didn't fit his scheme in 2015. Now it needs more upgrades for the CB position...among others. Gee, both Darby, and Gilmore looked more than good enough last year when given enough support by the safeties. Now suddenly the team needs two lockdown corners.

This says it all as the Cowboys have the best line in the league and a rookie QB & RB are playing like veteran all pro's because of it!!

Rex Ryan called the defensive plays last season and this year he delegated that responsibility to Dennis Thurman. You are correct that it is his defense! The bigger question is how many years is this team going to need to keep using the first few picks in the draft on defensive players until he finds the players that excel in his defense? He did spend a first round pick for his defense every year in NY for the Jets and they never did get back to that lofty number one status.. or even top 5 after the first few years. Jim Schwartz did manage to take a 0-16 team to 2-14 the first year, to a 6-10 his second year and in his third season, the Lions went to the playoffs at 10-6! That is a pretty darn good run with a team that didn't win a game the year before he took over. The difference being that Schwartz built that Lions team and made it better. While Rex Ryan inherited an already 9-7 team and made it better on defense for three years and then crashed to 4-12 his final year. I wouldn't call Ryan a better head coach than Schwartz because Ryan hasn't built a winning team in Buffalo after a year and a half.

The difference being that Dick LeBeau had fantastic linebackers on his Steelers teams and average defensive linemen so he could drop the scrub linemen into pass coverage in order to rush a linebacker who was usually a pro bowl player. In Ryan's scheme, it really made no sense because he didn't use that linebacker to blitz and usually ended up only rushing with three when he dropped a D-line player into coverage. It was not only stupid, it was very ineffective. Marcell Dareus dropped a few times against the Chiefs and on two occasions it ended up as a passing TD by Alex Smith. Those all pro D-linemen would have been better off just rushing the passer in 2015 instead of working on defending the gaps. Does it make sense to you to have the highly paid all pro pass rushing defensive linemen dropping into pass coverage and sending a scrub linebacker to rush and defending the run rather than rush the passer? Rex Ryan screwed up last years defense and now this year he is letting someone else on his staff screw it up.

Cool, let's blaze one up while we contemplate this.

Dareus started bleating to the media in training camp of how he didn't like the scheme and Mario chimed in around week six because he didn't like dropping into pass coverage so often. The difference between the two players was Dareus was asked to drop into pass coverage around six times and Mario around fourteen. So, he had a point. Let's look at some things here, under Ryan calling the plays the team stayed in mostly a run-stopping scheme and the defensive secondary played great. Alas, the sack total went into the toilet and was the lowest in the team's history during a regular season. 21 sacks total all year. This year with a new defensive play caller the scheme has changed to a much more aggressive style of pass rush that Ryan was noted for in the past. Thus this year the Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in sacks with 30. That is nine more after only 9 games. What changed is now because of that aggressive pass rush the defense is more susceptible to the run so the team has the safeties cheating up to help with the run. This leaves the CB's in man coverage with little or no safety help and they are getting killed in the process despite the pass rush. No matter how you slice it this Rex Ryan defense for two years now is stinking things up from the schemes and tactics they are utilizing!! The Buffalo Bills went from a scheme that put every defender in the best position to help them make plays and in Rex Ryan's scheme that wasn't the case last year or this year for different reasons.

+1000 Once the team owners decide to fire Rex I wonder if they will hire another 4-12 HC and expect miracles?

Should the owners decide to keep Rex Ryan and his staff as I see his being fired the best change the team could make for the better...if not, then yeah, change some players. This team is built on the predication that the run game must work and work very effectively to have both the defense and offense work. It is a very one-dimensional offense and the key components to making that offense work with utmost efficiency is to build a great offensive line like the Cowboys have and find a dominate younger running back that isn't sitting out injured every year. Tyrod Taylor at QB should be just fine long term should he continue to play and develop like he did against Seattle. There are a few teams around the league that are attempting to go forward with a power run first offense and some are successful and some are not for various reasons. The Cowboys have it all with the very best offensive line in the league and are winning because they can protect that rookie QB. They also have the leading rusher in the league and the 18th ranked QB who is winning games because he isn't being asked to carry the offense with his arm every game. The LA Rams have the superstar RB but not an effective offensive line or QB who can challenge defenses with the pass or with the run like Tyrod / Russell Wilson can. Speaking of Wilson, he looks like he turned the corner this season in being able to carry the team with his arm despite a bad offensive line and no star RB's that can carry the offense. Right Tackle Center Find another superstar running back like Shady WR's that are great at receiving and run blocking- Trade Watkins TE's that are good at both receiving and catching-Trade Clay And if the team keeps Ryan & Co the defense will need a premier safety and two CB's who can play in man coverage all game. What good is Dareus if he decides to pick up another blunt! Find a way to trade the guy! http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/Barnwellx161114/the-dallas-cowboys-offensive-line-nfl-mvp-not-close

The teams that keep their head coaches the longest usually have established front offices and scouting departments already in place when they hire a new head coach and thus the success. New England- Bill Belichick-2000 Belichick was hired on the heels of Bill Parcells / Pete Carroll and the former was able to make changes in the scouting dept for the better. Belichick was also given the GM job along with being HC Cincy- Marvin Lewis-2003 Mike Brown / owner / president / GM says it all. Green Bay 2006- Mike McCarty-2006 - GM Ted Thompson hired McCarthy and he has been with the Packers since 2005 New Orleans- Sean Payton-2006-GM Mickey Loomis since 2002 Pittsburgh- Mike Tomlin-2007- VP & GM Kevin Colbert. the bigger picture here is the Rooney family have been involved in all the team's functions and Chairman Dan Rooney since 1969. Baltimore-John Harbaugh-2008- GM & Exec VP Ozzie Newsome is the man Seattle-Pete Carroll-2010- Hired to be both GM & HC along with John Schneider as exec VP-GM. Mike Holmgren also made a lot of changes to the org while HC in his 10 years there. Dallas-Jason Garrett-2010- Jerry Jones owner / president / GM says it all and this team was losing until Jerry's son Stephan helped guide the team's future starting in 2010. Bill Parcells was also there 2003-2006 to help build the scouting dept. The Buffalo Bills have a marketing / baseball guy at the top of the org as team president who helped the old owner and now helps the new owners make team choices. Until that changes and the team hires a team president of football operations or a HC / GM with enough power to make all the football decisions... revel in the mediocrity! At this point in time, the only man I think could fill that HC & GM role is Bill Cowher. (who isn't already working for an NFL team) Mike Holmgren is another. Bill Parcells is too old at 75.

The biggest difference between the two is Tallywhacker threw for 4208 yards last season and he is 6'4'' 220lbs. He was also a first round pick at #8 overall and his wife is magically babelicious!

This is a 4-5 Rex Ryan coached team we are talking about that can only win if all the stars in the universe align to allow the run game to work and the team gets the lead and keeps it. Some Bully...more like a ballerina! This is a team that allowed currently benched, QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to throw for 374 yards and RB Matt Forte to rush for 100 yards and 3 TDs. Yeah, that's right the lowly 3-7 NY Jets 179 PF-244 PA. This is a team that was manhandled on both sides of the line in Miami and allowed a Dolphins RB to rush for 214 yards in one game! @ Cincy 3-4-1 Jacksonville 2-7 @Oakland 7-2 Pittsburgh 4-5 Cleveland 0-10 Miami 5-4 @ NY Jets 3-7 Only two teams have a winning record and yet why do I get the feeling that the Bills will lose to the winless Cleveland Browns? Buffalo is 1-4 in the AFC and 1-3 in the division. It would take a miracle of biblical proportions for this team to run the table and make the playoffs! Oh, BTW. The Steelers just lost to the Cowboys 35-30 with Big Ben throwing for 408 yards and 3 TD's. Looks like the Bills won't face the injured big Ben that Miami faced...

I hate the GOAT!

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.

It shows that Bills fans and the Bills GM who also wanted Hue Jackson don't know anything more than the Pegula's, Brandon who went for Rex. The difference is that the 2015 Buffalo Bills were a playoff team waiting for the right coaching staff last year. Cleveland is a huge work in progress for even the best coaching staff.

and that is this year! Last year the coaches wouldn't let those pro bowl pass rushers actually pass rush. This year the defense is so focused on pass rushing and cheating up with the safeties to help support the run defense that the Bills really good DB's are left in single coverage far too often. We all see the result and it stinks! So, the Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in sacks and and have the leading sacker!! Yet it seems so ineffective because the better QB's are ripping the Bills secondary apart due to that man coverage. What I want to know is when do we Bills fans see that best in the league defense that was promised by Rex Ryan? The 2016 Buffalo Bills are currently 21st in the league in total defense http://www.espn.com/nfl/statistics/team/_/stat/total/position/defense

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.

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.

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.

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!

I do! The 49ers are 1-7 and are easily as bad as Cleveland

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.