JohnC

Regardless of the lamenting Rex is staying on. Is he the long term answer as a HC? Not in my eyes. I'm hoping that Whaley has a good draft and makes some sound mid-range free agent pickups and Rex does a better job of adapting to the talent and the players do a better job of adapting to what he is scheming. That's all you can ask for. I like Whaley as a GM. He has made some moves that gives me pause to benefit the short term over the long term, such as the McCoy pickup. His explanation as told on WGR was that he wants the team to get over the non-playoff barrier sooner rather than later. I'm not going to argue against his reasoning. I'm just hoping that the current coaching situation doesn't jeopardize his status as a GM. In my view we have the right ownership and GM in place to accomplish a lot more than has been accomplished in a long time. For me the current coaching situation is a drag on a lot of positive things happening for this franchise. If I'm wrong about my jaundice assessment of the HC I will be more than happy to admit being wrong. But I'm not confident that it will play out that way because Rex is Rex. We got exactly what we hired.

With respect to the highlighted question the answer is yes if he gets fired.

The NFL of today because of the cap and free agency is about player movement. That is an aspect that no team can avoid.. All teams have to contend with and adjust to the changing roster that occurs every year. Injuries are another reality that is part of the fabric of the environment. That is also inescapable. The HC works with the talent he has on hand, not what he wishes he had on hand. Good coaches prioritize putting the players in the best situation for them to succeed. In my opinion Rex did a poor job adjusting to the talent he had. Dareus, Hughes, Mario and the linebacking corps had major drop-offs under Rex than they did with the previous two defensive coordinators. The defense in general had a major drop-off from the previous two years. What's obvious to me isn't obvious to others. No more excuses.

Was it apparent to you as it was to me that he slacked off? Some people (Nihalarian) are claiming that the scheme was the primary factor in Mario's lack of production. I agree that the defensive approach forced him to play with more control and area responsibility was an important factor in his level of play. But I still contend, especially as the season wore on, that he exhibited his frustration by not playing with a maximum effort and commitment. I thought his body language d was awful and indicated that he didn't care. I don't want to exaggerate his lassitude but for me it was evident.

Assuming that a new stadium is going to be built the next issue is where do you put it. The waterfront area is steadily being developed and the downtown area with open space is being developed. There is some movement on developing the train station but even if that area was targeted for a possible location it is a tight squeeze for such a large facility. As time goes by siting a new facility, especially if it is to be linked to Pegula's canalside projects, beomes more challenging and problematic. I'm not offering any answers so much as presenting questions. From everything I have been reading Pegula and the public authorities are not in a hurry to address the stadium issue. As time goes by options close. After writing my comments I saw this link on a WGRZ site that is relevant to the stadium issue. http://www.wgrz.com/sports/nfl/bills/jeremy-jacobs-voices-interest-in-being-involved-with-new-stadium/30723244

I don't root against the players, the coaches or the team. I want them to succeed. What I can say is that Rex did a poor job of coaching the talent he had on hand this past season. If you want to disagree with that then fine do so. Rex Ryan will never be a coaching genius. He simply isn't that caliber of coach nor will he ever be. So let's get serious. Rex is one of the better coaches when it comes to performances at the podium but as a coach on the sidelines he is mediocre. Rex has been a HC for seven years. He has a losing record. I'm confident I won't ever see his statue in Canton, Ohio. Odds are the defense will improve next season. It can't perform much worse considering the talent already on the roster. If you believe that Rex is going to be the mastermind elevating it to a top tier level then you are much more optimistic than I am.

That's the point.

The spots that don't change are the reality of the stats and outcomes. The defense Rex coached last year took a precipitous drop from the previous year with much of the same roster. There is no basis to argue that his defense was a success when it wasn't. What you are trying to do is rationalize a deterioration in performance when there isn't a good reason for doing so. If you want to believe that Rex did a good job with the defense then go ahead and believe it. I'm not accepting your interpretation of what happened this past season, I trust my eyes and the stats more than I trust what you are advocating. The record for last season is in the books. My position on how Rex coached the defense will not change because the record/performance is established. Go ahead and keep making excuses. Go ahead and keep creating new rationals for what happened. That's your prerogative. I'm not buying what you are peddling and never will.

Rex coached the defense so well last year that it got worse. His approach was to take what works and bend it to what he wanted to do. If it doesn't then blame the dumb players who couldn't absorb your brilliant concepts. Rex Ryan has an MBA in weasel management. He takes credit for the successes and he blames others for the failures. If you want to believe that Rex did a stellar job coaching last year then go ahead and ignore the stats that demonstrably say otherwise. I may be stupid but I am not gullible.

They de-activated a backup qb for a qb who was newly added to the roster. They brought in an outside qb to replace the backup who has been with the team for a couple of years. The maneuver wasn't so much what Johnson could do for the team as it was what the coaching staff thought one of their own qbs couldn't do for the team. It certainly wasn't an expression of confidence for the qb who was already on the roster..Maybe you think it was but I don't. You don't have to read a particular newspaper to come to that conclusion; you just need to exercise some common sense.

They brought in Josh Johnson and had EJ deactivated in one of the games. At the time Johnson was a recent addition who didn't have a full grasp of the offense. What does that tell you about this staff's commitment to EJ?

Being smart in the energy business is different from being smart in the football business, especially as novice pro football owners. If Rex isn't too smart. as you suggest, then all I can say is that he was smart enough to get hired with a guaranteed rich long term contract. A lot of people would love to be that dumb!

There is no one who can doubt that I am not a Rex fan. But the notion some are promoting that he being in Hawaii is a demonstration of him being lazy and not committed to his job is a ludicrous leap. I didn't think that Rex's hiring of his brother was very smart. Some are portraying it as another indication that Rex is going to coast more because his brother will be picking up his intended slack. That to me is another preposterous proposition. The standard false argument construct is being applied here:making a farfetched claim based on nothing more than what one thinks is happening/then challenging others to prove that one is am wrong. Rex will eventually fail in his job because he isn't very competent and lacks discipline as a HC. But that doesn't mean that a trip to the pro all-star game signifies anything other than too many people have vivid imaginations that are running amok.

You are getting carried away here. Your point that adding his brother to the payroll will affect how little or more he works makes little sense, at least to me. My position from the beginning was that he was a bad hire. How hard he works is not the central issue; it is how smart he works. You are doing what Jerry Sullivan is doing: Manufacturing an issue that isn't an issue. There are more than enough things to criticize Rex on. This isn't one of them, or at least it isn't for me.

My theory of Rex's failure has little to do with his effort. It has more to do with what he was trying to do. Most often when you make a fundamentally wrong decision that predictably proves not to work the compounding mistake is to continue on in that path instead of reversing course and undoing what you did. Stubbornness not effort is the source of his troubles. .

I'm not a fan of Rex Ryan and I have never been. I consider him to be a mediocre HC with a propensity for juvenile behavior. However, he's entitled to take a break and get away from the work scene. The players that Whaley and his staff are evaluating are the same ones that he will review and meet during the offseason. I'm a strong believer that temporarily getting away from the work site does refresh the body and spirit. There were stories that there was some friction between Whaley and Rex. Are they true? They better be! If there weren't some very long and pointed discussions between the two during the season then Whaley should be fired for nonfeasance. A defense that was a top tier defense the prior year became a shell of what it was under Rex. Rex needed to explain what he thought was going on and Whaley needed to candidly express his thoughts. Rex may not be the sharpest knife in the kitchen but he is sharp enough to know what happens when the owners' expectations are not met in two consecutive years. He's been in the league long enough to know how things work and what the survival rate is for coaches who fail to live up to the optimistic expressions coming out of their very active mouths. Rex certainly doesn't need to be told what the upcoming season means to him. Sullivan is dramatizing a story that he is manufacturing in the quiet period. The real story is whether Rex can get the defense to rebound. We won't know that until the next season begins. What I know for sure is if Rex's defense starts the season struggling the avalanche of criticisms will get louder. You can then bet that the Pegulas will be making up their minds sooner rather than later regarding his status with the team.

What's the saying?: Publish or perish!

Kelly the Dog would show up for him. If he couldn't he would do it through skype. He would reminisce about how he and the physicist tried to warn the world of the criminality of deflated balls. He would rail against that damn appeals judge who didn't understand the grand conspiracy that the bean towners perpetrated against the rest of the league. He would point out that although most people didn't know what he was talking about that Scully and Molder certainly did.

What;s a former physicist? Once a physicist always a physicist until death do you part. Even then you will be remembered as a physicist at your memorial.

The intention was to play him at RT realizing that there was going to be an adjustment period for him (as you stated). But since Moses has played so well there it has worked out even better because those two big boys make up a formidable right side. With an all-pro at LT, Trent Williams, they are building a powerful OL. The stated strategy is to build a muscular OL and have a good running game so that they can put Kirk Cousins in a good position to succeed. I like their GM, Scot McClellan. He has a plan (focusing on building both lines and working out) and he is implementing it. The owner is not interfering and allowing him to do his job. The much vilified owner is less visible and is more than happy with the positive direction the team is moving in.

Whaley's second round selection of Kujo was a set back for the OL. Washington picked Morgan Moses in the third round. It took him a little time to adjust but now he is anchored as the RT. As a draft prospect he was much more athletic than Kujo was. Moses is progressing so well that the Skins moved their high first round selection G/T Brandon Scherff to the inside. The best way to get TT to get better as a qb is to put a high grade OL in front of him. And since the organization gave McCoy such a rich contract the best way to get a return on him is to have him play in front of a top tier line.

He knows plenty about football. On this one issue we just disagree. On the more encompassing issue on how Rex handled the defense our positions coincide.

Watching a Rex Ryan coached team last year was infuriating enough. If you think that I am foolish enough to go back and review the stupidity displayed on the field to support my point then you are misjudging my tolerance for self-administered pain. I'll respectfully disagree with you and leave it at that. To put things in perspective on the Rex issue you and I are in accord. .

I don't disagree with you that Rex's sometimes hodgepodge scheme inhibited Mario and some of the his mates. That was apparent for everyone to see. The before and after Rex influence is stark. What was evident to me (maybe not to you) was that Mario didn't always go full steam, even in the system that stymied him. Some of his own players anonymously called him out. So on this issue of Mario's lack of consistent effort I am going to respectfully disagree with you. What you demonstrate in your post is that there was a "dumbness" to the way Rex was setting his defense. There also was a sloppiness that was reflected in the undisciplined way the defense played. This season was set up to be a season of taking a step forward. The schedule unexpectedly worked in our favor and with even a more unexpected surprise the qb play was much better than anyone expected prior to the season. Rex's ineptitude squandered a season that was set up for success.

I respectfully but strenuously disagree with your take that Mario did everything he was asked to. I understand Mario's frustration with how he was being used and how the defense was schemed. Clearly, he didn't buy in, and so didn't others. But it was evident to me in a number of games that there was a demonstrable lack of effort. It was as if he was determined to show the loquacious HC that what he was proposing was not going to work. Over the past few years Mario has been a dynamic pass rusher. One of the best rushers in the game (although not the best he consistently performed at an elite level) until the braggart HC arrived on the scene. On this issue I trust my eyes because I know what he was before Rex and how he performed with Rex. Even some of his teammates anonymously acknowledged that the Diva DE didn't always give maximum effort. Mario should be held accountable for how he conducted himself. There should be no excuses for his sometimes listless play.