Nihilarian

Chuck Knox called Buffalo the "coaches graveyard" and Bill Polian -Marv Levy came along and got themselves, and several players into the pro football hall of fame. This is just one man's opinion, and viable in some issues, and not so much on others. The most poignant point I can make is that Rex Ryan wasn't blitzing crazy at all this year and actually far, far from it because he was asking his defensive line defenders to cover two gaps. Does that make sense to ask a player paid 100 million dollars to rush the passer to control two gaps instead of rushing? Or overly drop into pass coverage as in a zone blitz system where you have great linebackers and average D-linemen. Now this didn't happen all the time in every defensive play but it did happen more then the players themselves wanted or they wouldn't have been as publically vocal about it as they have been. A team doesn't go from 1st in the NFL in sacks to near last at 30th with just overly controlling the gaps, and dropping defensive linemen into coverage. It does when you don't blitz often enough, and blitzing simply means sending more defenders than there are protecting. Rex Ryan was most noted for his "overload" where he was sending extra defenders at the QB to the tune of +50% of the defensive players. I can sure as hell tell you that didn't happen this season except in one singular game and then didn't happen again since. Read some of this twitter feed, and see if you think it's just a bad scheme, injuries or a multitude of problems with the defense. https://twitter.com/YardsPerPass Some excerpts, "You always see this... guys running around, not set, when the ball is snapped" "Poor Rex, damn if he does call a blitz, damned if he doesn't. Next 3rd down, sends the house, nobody covers the out" "Preston Brown says even the slowest offenses have been hurrying to the line because they knew the Bills defense has issues with play calls." Tom Coughlin of the NY Giants told his team before they played Buffalo to play smart and limit the penalties and let the Buffalo Bills beat themselves with penalties. Buffalo 17 penalties for 135 yards and those gave the Giants 7 first downs on offense! Now this was in week four, fast forward to last week to week 15 against a close game to the Eagles and 15 penalties for 101 yards. Remember the last game against the Redskins on the 4th down and one the Redskins where they line up, and sure enough, a Bills defender is called for a penalty. Thus giving the Redskins a first down by penalty.They then went on to score This year this defense has been bad in so many facets and the most damning is taking that defensive line with superstars being paid 250 million and making them look below average.

It did, and no question about it to lose their elite starting QB for most of the season, and then need to trade for the Bills 3rd stringer who went 1-7 because they didn't have a decent backup QB to begin with. That's an apple to oranges argument, though. With Buffalo, we are talking about a season where the defense lost games before they started to lose players. The Bills still had Stephon Gilmore, Alex Carrington in their loss to the Chiefs in week 12. The first six losses were to Patriots 2x, Giants, Bengals, Jags, Chiefs, and still beat the 6-6 Texans in week 13. In Week 11 the defense made Tom Brady scream like a little girl in their second game, and held that high-scoring Patriots offense to its lowest output of the season with just 20 points. The defense managed to do that without Kyle, Mario, Aaron Williams. Did the injuries have an effect, in a word yes! Did it drastically effect the outcome of the defensive ineptitude in the first two-thirds of this season, now way!

I don't believe this for a second as even the bad (Rex) NFL head coaches are 100% convinced of their ability to build a winning team. As for the players, simply pay them enough and they will come, but would you really want to see another year of this undisciplined mess of a defense? Is it wrong of me to want someone in Buffalo that can whup Bill Belicheats arse 2x a year? There are head coaches out there that would give the Patriots a run every year. Pete Carroll, John Harbough (previous to this season) John Fox (Denver), Bruce Arians, Tom Coughlin, Mike Tomlin. We Bills fans deserve the best and I only hope the Pegula's give it to us in 2016.

You asked me to show you the proof that the difference was the lack of Blitzing and that is exactly what I did. If you want proof that the players are dropping far, far to often into pass coverages? well then, why not listen to them. http://www.sbnation.com/2015/10/21/9581575/mario-williams-marcell-dareus-rex-ryan-buffalo-bills-defense "Both Dareus and Williams griped about how much the Bills pass rushing (and highly paid) defensive line was being asked to drop into coverage instead of rushing the passer. It was way too much in their estimation. I had the exact same complaint after watching them lose to the Bengals."

What I took away from that is a lack of team discipline. Bad defensive play calls. All pretty damning stuff to indict a bad defense You always see this... guys running around, not set, when the ball is snapped Poor Rex, damn if he does call a blitz, damned if he doesn't. Next 3rd down, sends the house, nobody covers the out Preston Brown says even the slowest offenses have been hurrying to the line because they knew the Bills defense has issues with play calls. Remember the 4th down and one for the Redskins where they line up, and sure enough, a Bills defender is called for a penalty. Thus giving the Redskins a first down by penalty.They then went on to score

I saw no link, just a twitter feed Oh, and BTW in that second Patriots game in which the Bills were able to get all that pressure on Tom Brady to make him scream like a little girl Mario was out with an injury, Aaron Williams was out with an injury, Kyle Williams was out with an injury. The injury excuse is a lame one!

Show me the link for the all 22 like you posted about! Mario has been injured, and has been ill too. This isn't about one player its about the entire defense!

Show you the proof? Watch the games! But OK! When Ryan has his defense rush the passer and Blitz they have been highly successful i.e. that second Patriots game! When Ryan was able to get pressure on Brady 50% of the drop backs. Then from week two, "Ryan's defensive game plan couldn't put pressure on Tom Brady -- the Bills disrupted (a sack, batted ball, passed defense or interception) only 9.8 percent of Brady's dropbacks, a lower rate than in any of the Bills' 2014 games -- and he never seemed to have an effective plan for stopping either Rob Gronkowski or Julian Edelman." http://espn.go.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/21042/bills-breakdowns-vs-patriots-start-with-rex-ryan-defensive-staff That enough proof? To rush the passer 50%, and have it effectively work to rushing the passer less than 10% and get scorched in the passing game.

It really is and a few Bills fans stalwarts who refuse to see the truth of the situation, and blindly keep defending this head coach. What does it say to everyone when you have the players themselves complaining about the scheme and how they are being utilized in it since training camp. OK don't believe other fans, but at least, listen to what the Players themselves have been saying. This article was written after that week two debacle against the Patriots, http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/10/07/bills-d-line-experiencing-disconnect-with-scheme/ "In another significant change, Kyle Williams often finds himself lining up outside, in a standing position, rather than inside and in a three-point stance as he was last year. He also will move laterally, in an effort to draw blockers from other defenders." “We play better up front when they just let us go,” Dareus said Wednesday. “... Now we have more responsibilities and more things going here and there. It’s just playing inside the defense and playing under control, so that the blitzing schemes and everything fit perfectly. What those two players are talking about is being used for gap control, dropping into pass coverage over being used to simply rush the passer. Really, link the article then!

The entire key difference to what Ryan did with the Jets, and what he did this year in Buffalo was the lack of blitzing. Last year the team was 1st in sacks, the year before was #2 in sacks to now 30th isn't an easy feat to accomplish. Why don't you want to listen to the players themselves calling out their coaches over a bad scheme? Read the article! It will tell you that the Defensive linemen are being asked to drop far, far to often into pass coverage. That the DT's are being asked to control the gaps over rushing the passer. Then there simply enough blitzing being called. Watch the games and you would see the Bills rarely send more than are defending, and when they do blitz itrs very successful.

Fixed!

Seriously, it's almost comical how some posters are so blindly loyal that they simply refute the truth over, and over. Marcell Dareus has been very vocal about how he is being used in Rex Ryan's defensive scheme since training camp. This is a fact! Since that time in week six Mario Williams joined him in publically stating its the scheme. "Mario Williams doesn't like what Rex Ryan did to the Bills defense, and he's right" Read the article! http://www.sbnation.com/2015/10/21/9581575/mario-williams-marcell-dareus-rex-ryan-buffalo-bills-defense He simply changed his defensive play calls and scheme for this one singular game, and it was highly successful. Which leads to a better question in why hasn't he been using that scheme all year, and why not use it for the remaining games? Rex Ryan was able to have his defense get to Brady on 20 of his 40 drop backs which is 50%. The Bills had Brady so flustered that he was literally screaming at his offensive line. The sad truth is Rex Ryan went back to his craptastic scheme he ran in that first Patriots game the rest of the year, and that is the reason the 2015 Buffalo Bills are currently 30th in QB sacks!

Exactly! The injuries are NOT an excuse because the Bills showed that horrible, terrible passive 10-15 yards off the line, no pass rush scheme since week TWO! And everyone was healthy at that point. Rex Ryan apologized and said it was all on him, and he would fix it. He never did! All season we saw that same craptastic defense except for the next Patriots game in which the defense was able to pressure Brady on 20 of his 40 drop backs.

The Dean really hit it out of the park with many great posts! The Dean, "If true, this is my worst nightmare coming true. The Rex hire has put this team into full rebuild mode, which is NOT what this team needed. The Rex hire is tearing the team apart, IMO. I just have to hope it won't end up in a disaster. Waiting a few days, they could have had a shot at Fox, who is CLEARLY a far superior HC than Rex." FearTheLosing, "I just don't get the love for a loud mouthed jerk like Ryan. I loved watching the Bills beat his team 2x this year, and I would have preferred to give Schwartz a shot at HC instead. For the record I would have preferred Pettine as HC over Marrone. Like I said, "Although, I can see the defense being just as good this year without Schwartz, and yet I'm not sure how it helps that 20th ranked offense. You know, the one with the bad line, no first round draft pick or veteran QB. " The Bills lose the HC that took them to 9-7* mostly because of the #3 defense. Then just hired a coach that went 4-12 and gave him a million and a half dollar raise, and with a 5 year contract no less. Only in Buffalo..."

I really like this idea mostly because Schwartz deserves another shot as HC, and Pettine would do so much better as DC with a solid run game offense that would help keep the Bills defense on the bench and fresh. Just remember the Bills were running that hurry up and punt offense in 2013 with Hackett running constantly up the middle with Spiller. What I like better is hiring Bill Cowher to be the next Bills HC, and let him pick his assistants. I'll bet he would keep Greg Roman because he is a run first HC, and who knows for the DC job, perhaps Pettine. Cowher is about the only man I can think of would give Bill Belichick a run for the division.

I think everyone and I mean everyone expected this year's defense to be great and not just a little great but 1985 Bears that Rex's Dad was the DC for - 2000 Ravens great that Rex was the D-line coach of. The Indy game was an anomaly because the Bills didn't really blitz that much and actually got it done with great coverage from the secondary. The Bills Defense only sacked Luck 2x and got two INT's, and one fumble recovery. What we know now is that that Indy team that was supposedly SB bound was instead bound by a bad team around the QB, and it was the first of many bad games for the QB of the decade in Andrew Luck. The smelly stuff from the ceramic convenience really hit the proverbial fan in the next game when Rex Ryan had his DB's playing 10 to 15 yards off the line. His DT's covering the gaps, and at times dropping into coverage along with the DE's so at times the defense only rushed with three players. This was the base defense we saw all season that let every opposing QB the Bills played look like all pro's because they had all day in the pocket to throw. Tom Brady scorched the Bills defense in that game for a record-setting Buffalo Bills franchise worst 466 yards passing allowed by one player. The first of many bad days for the Bills defense. Just a reminder for those that still want to defend Ryan. The entire defense was healthy at this point. Why Rex Ryan has insisted on continuing to run this passive soft cover defense most of the year leaves me thinking he did it on purpose. He would say it was all on him, and he would fix it, then never did. The lack of sacks is a direct result from a lack of blitzing, lack of defensive linemen rotation and having his DT's in gap control rather than rushing the passer, having the defensive linemen dropping into pass coverage far, far to often. For the bad defense alone he should be fired. Then there is being #2 in the NFL in penalties. Poor game, red flag, and clock management at times. which is something you might expect from a first time HC. Meanwhile, the NY Jets have a new HC with Gailey as the OC, and Fitz as the QB. They are currently in the playoff race at 9-5. Think the Jets fans are happy that Rex Ryan is the Buffalo Bills head coach? Or the Patriots fans?

More years of Rex Ryan... Can we ask his clone, Hank Bullough, to coach a few more years too? Some of knew after one year of Jauron, one year of Gailey, one year of Marrone and this hire is even worse then those.

I knew after week two that this team had serious issues on defense in playing that soft cover passive defense against the Patriots, and I also knew then why Dareus was complaining publically about that early. I just didn't think it would end this badly.

You know what, both EJ and Taylor looked bad when they had to throw the ball 30+ times a game. Conversely, both looked good when they didn't need to throw more than 30 times a game and the run game was working to the tune of 30 rushes a game. It looks to me like Greg Roman has the formula on how to develop an inexperienced QB by pounding the rock while letting him find the receiver in single coverage. How long it takes is another question.

If there were rumors of Whaley wanting Hue Jackson I didn't hear / read of them. What I do recall is Russ Brandon telling the new owners that "they" would know who to hire after they spoke with him. My thoughts derived the way they did because of the Mike Pettine hire fresh from Rex Ryan's team to run the Bills 2013 defense. Pettine was on Rex's defensive staff as the DC from 2009-2012, and then why not bring in the master to make the defense even better. If I'm not mistaken both Whaley, and Brandon met with Pettine before the team hired him.

Perhaps my definition of a disaster is different from yours, but going from #2 in 2013, #1 in 2015 to now #30 in sacks is a disaster in my book. Even big stink, no blitz Dave Wannstedt had 37 sacks. The Bills are currently at 20 sacks with two games to go. That was a top 5 defense last year and the supposed defensive guru took it to 21st now. I could see the offense struggling with basically a rookie QB behind center, but the offense was actually the highlight of the season with Shady and Taylor. The defense and lack of team discipline are the reasons this year's team is 6-8 record and out of the playoffs. Bills fan anticipated greatness, and instead we got a sloppy version of Dick Jauron who had no Mario, no Dareus, no Hughes.

I have a difficult time believing that these new owners were so full of themselves that they made the decision to hire solely on who they liked as their new head coach. It's been my contention that either Doug Whaley, Russ Brandon or both gave the new Bills owners the pitch that Rex Ryan was the right guy considering Ryans past history of building great defenses. Clearly those two didn't want any more of George Edwards- Dave Wannstedt type seasons. Yet that is exactly what they got with Ryan, and, of course, the penalties, sloppy play, lack of team discipline. It is my take that both men heard about the near Polian hire and asked for more time to show that they could build a winner in Buffalo. Like I said, that if the Pegula's hire the right NFL experienced man to run the football operations side of the team then the fans should be very happy in the days to come.

Last year even the NFL wanted the new team owners to hire an NFL experienced senior adviser, and they declined for whatever reason. I'm thinking Russ Brandon had a lot to do with that. Just think if this new hire doesn't want to keep Rex Ryan after this year then the Pegula's will have over 24 million in lost money due to Rex's contract, and St Doug's walk away clause.

This is all really good news to me because this org does need some serious NFL experience at the top of the football operations flow chart. I'm hoping for a team president of football operations. If so, then there could be some exciting days ahead on the horizon for Buffalo Bills fans!

My theory may be a bit far-fetched and it will ultimately depend on whether or not Rex Ryan survives this offseason. Meaning either Ryan had a lobotomy and has almost completely forgotten how to blitz this season or has balls the size of twin moons of Titan and took it upon himself to purposely submarine his own defense by not blitzing to achieve another goal. That goal being to see a different GM in Buffalo next year. A winning season would certainly complicate things. "The fact Ryan is the head coach, with four years left on his contract after this season, is not viewed as an impediment in the Bills' ability to attract other people to run the football operation, the source said." http://bills.buffalonews.com/2015/12/20/pegula-listening-to-outside-advice-on-bills-personnel-matters/ Now imagine what a hero Rex Ryan will look like next season when he asks his DT's to actually rush the passer and starts blitzing more than 10% like he has almost all this year. Perhaps up to the 50% in what made those 2009-2010 Jets teams so good on defense. If this year's defensive scheme and other issues aren't contrived to lose games. Those other issues being the lack of team discipline (penalties), the sloppy play with miscommunication, the missed tackles, the poor special teams. Then this HC might just be the worst since Hank Bullough!