Fan in Chicago

Fine, let me stick to facts. In which case, being a successful position coach but a terrible DC makes him qualified for that position with the Bills ? How ?

Color me skeptical but this has a sense of inevitability around it. First there was speculation that Rex would hire him, Unfortunately it came true. Now he is being assigned duties which seem rather innocuous. But I just get the feeling that half way into next season, if the D continues to underperform, Thurman will be shown the door and Rob promoted. There is no way Rex did not lobby hard for this and it just stinks to high heaven. A created position for a guy who has proven to be bad at his previous coaching stints ? What credentials does he bring anyway. Yolo, I know you have been supportive of the FO's motives, but can you describe why this hire is agood thing ? Or even why this position was required ? And why RobR was considered the best fit ?

I had posted this in a thread several weeks back. Check out the Defensive rankings: http://www.pro-footb...hes/RyanRo0.htm (edit - Big Cat beat me to it) Rare to find single digits in any category. Not sure if you are implying this, but I want to see anyone brings stats and solid information to say why this hire is a good thing for the Bills. It is wrong from the football perspective (as shown above). It stinks of nepotism. It send a wrong message to any future coaching candidates. It also raises questions about who made this decision and why.

yesterday's game should help understand why it is better to have players who can play with control and within limitations. I know several who advocate getting players with a mean streak even if they have a penchant for untimely penalties. But here is where it bites a team, you lose games cos of critical mistakes. Another thing is that Marvin Lewis has had the benefit of 'continuity' for quite a long time. He is 0-7 in the playoffs, yesterday's game was mismanaged and the coach is to blame for that. Yes, the players actually committed the mistakes but a coach has to be able to recognize player tendencies and control them. Else, you do a Belicheck and dump Browner, as an example. IMHO, Marvin Lewis should be canned. He has been given enough time & resources but hasn't delivered.

So there is a possibility that LaCanfora is correct?

You have spent a lot of posts over the last several weeks directly and indirectly defending Ryan. I get it, you want to absolve him of blame and deflect it to injuries, players not doing their jobs, not being prepared etc. But you make that singular point about Ryan being above blame. When somebody disagrees with you, you start making tangential arguments, then proceed to make no substantial rebuttals and end up accusing the other poster of reading (in)comprehension or misunderstanding your point. I have resisted getting into these arguments with you because it is really a failed cause trying to make a reasoned argument with you. I happen to think that Ryan's failings are too many for him to ever win more than one or two playoff games (at best) if all the stars align properly. You think otherwise. I get it. But to repeatedly hammer home the same point and then resort to accusing others of not getting your point is getting beyong tiresome. You may choose to put the obligatory smiley/sarcastic emoticon or otherwise try to discredit what I am writing but the fact remains that you should have realized that there is a very good reason why you are getting the resistance for this stand of yours. And it is not for the fact that people disagree with you - it is because of the way you choose to lay your case and try to defend a position.

Cos if you tweet five times as much, you would be right 100% of the time

Obviously we need to do a better job executing

The Browns have had a talented roster?

At what point should an owner demand accountability? And what would those metrics be for measuring performance? After 16 years, the owner does not want to be in the podium next year and having to make excuses for yet another non-playoff year. In the NFL, one of the enduring measures of success is qualifying for the playoffs. Goals of a championship can come later, but for now we should be happy that the owner is putting his foot down. Problem is that we are so used to mediocrity, that many are always ready to make pre emptive excuses. I am beyond that point

One of the clauses is 'Make the playoffs in 2016 it GTFO' . pretty sure that's legally acceptable

'Show me the baby'I am fully on board with this 'ultimatum. Whaley had been in his job for 2-3 years so it's not like he is getting one season to fix the team. Also, RR was not a rookie HC. It is reasonable to demand playoffs next season when the roster was ready in 2015

You may want to rephrase that :-)

Well said. He would have been the face of the NFL if he was a good QB. Great guy!

Great sound bite isnt it ? What has the FO done in the past decade to show they are smarter ? As a group, consensus on this board has been more right than wrong regarding many of the FO moves. In my mind, this quote has lost much of its wisdom due to the team's track record.

I would really like Ryan to concentrate on being a HC and leave the defensive duties to someone else. Ryan should set out the vision and strategy and let the DC go execute it. A couple of problems with this (1) Ryan is not a detail oriented guy so I am not sure him concentrating on head coaching will result in measurable results on the field (2) I am not sure Ryan is a good delegator and he may find it hard to get is paws off the day to day defensive planning. As for Pettine, even if he decides to come back, needs to have a clear plan to stop the run in addition to being good in pass defense. Granted, his overall D may still be better than this year's but that is not a ringing endorsement in itself.

Are you referring to RR or Dennis Thurman ? I would rather see Thurman get the axe and see the results next season. It is evident that the blame deflection game is on in full swing. Last year Idzik was Ryan's scapegoat. This year, Mario and Thurman. Who will it be next season ?

Truth be told, for as much flak as TD takes (and much of it is well deserved), the Bills haven't fared much better in the W-L department after he left. How many years are we going to blame him for the long playoff drought ? The point I am making is that the Bills did well by getting rid of him when they did, but have been unable to replace him with someone who can deliver a consistent winner (yes, I am including Whaley). I don't care about individual players hits or misses, I care about the W-L record.

All we can do is wait. But as for Brandon, no matter how this season turned out, didn't last season's moves result in high season ticket sales ? I think the Bills had a successful financial season, something that Russ continues to deliver year in and year out. Ultimately, IMHO, that is the power he wields. I think this offseason will be marked with one or two eye popping moves (just an example - trade for Brees/Rivers), which will get the fan base excited and buying season tickets again. Trick is to see through those marketing moves and really evaluate whether they will help the team get to the playoffs. Despite Marrone's weird methods, the team seemed to be going in a good direction. It appeared that with the addition of a couple of pieces, we would surely make the playoffs. Yet, here we are. For now, I will not be hopeful but will wish for the best.

Wow !

Probably because it all adds up to him saying 'stay the course' I get what you are saying, but we fans have become so accustomed to failure that we are suckers to buy into the 'wait until next season' syndrome. At what point, do we call BS on these tactics and wait until the results match the words and hype ? Sorry I am a little negative these days but over the last decade, I have gone from being a cheerleader to cautious optimism to cynicism. The words 'show me the baby' make me cringe because they were a great sound bite but meant little. All these statements and positive words from Whaley sound hollow. I don't see how this mess gets fixed. Put this season in perspective, most believed we have enough talent to make the playoffs and sneak a win or two. And now we are left defending how Whaley has a lot of work to do with the roster.

Pay him for what exactly? He says he wants to play but there is no guarantee? If people want incentive laden, I wish the NFL would allow a pay as you go contract. Move on from him and get a more dependable, big, strong, possession WR

Anyone can disagree with anyone. It's the language and style that are important. Disagreements can be polite also

Remains to be seen. Color me skeptical for now.

IMHO, it is in PM's and Ari Fleischer's best interests to keep their traps shut, hire a lawyer and see how it plays out.