JohnC

Redskins 31-Bills 17. They have something to play for while we don't. When you have a team strength and your coach makes it a weakness then you are working with a major handicap. When your coach is not smart but believes that he is capable of outsmarting the opposition you can count on him outsmarting himself. Talking big doesn't equate to performing big. Coaching matters!

See Bruce Ariens.

I'm a little confused. When you sell your ticket on the NFL exchange how much of a loss are you taking with the disposal of your tickets, or how much money, if any, are you getting back for your unsold ticket? If you sell your ticket for an unappealing late season game and the exchange can't sell the ticket do you still get a credit for next year's season ticket? If it is a very appealing game and you can sell it above cost do you instead go through Stub Hub or another exchange? As I said in my other post I'm very impressed and intrigued by the out of town fans who make the journey to the homeland!

Thanks for the response. I suspect if a new facility gets built the social dynamic you refer to will change.

There are many difficult personnel decisions to make this offseason. Making a decision on Taylor is one of the easier decisions this organization has on their large plate. If you have a horse in your corral that you can ride you shouldn't leave the gate open so someone else can ride it. Very often out of desperation teams go out and acquire qbs who are on their downside just to get a reasonable level of competency out of that position. With TT there is an upside. Securing him sooner is better than securing him later when the costs dramatically go up. Having him in the fold doesn't preclude the franchise from working on a backup plan, just in case.

I'm just curious. Intrigued by out-of-towners who regularly go to the games and show such commitment to the team. Do you regularly fly in for the games, or do you buy STs and then select a few games to go to and sell your tickets for the games you do not attend? Are the tickets for the games that you can't attend easy to sell? If so do you use sites such as Stub Hub etc to make the transaction? If you feel that I'm being too intrusive just tell me to mind my own business and take a hike! As I said before I'm impressed by the number of people who put such a major effort to go to the games.

Ryan O'Reilly so far is the MVP of the team. He is one of the best two way players in the game. There is little flash to his game. He has a grinder style but is also a talented no frills player who is a finisher. I'm hoping that Evander Kane eventually fits in with his line mates. I'm not sure if it has determined who he best fits with. His individual talents are evident but it hasn't translated into production. I really like Bylsma as a coach. Compare his mature and flexible approach to the game to that huckster who is leading the undisciplined football team located in the same city. Under Bylsma players are held accountable through playing time while under the football coach discipline is enforced through bracelets.

Think positive! It could be worse. This thread could be started in November.

The two top qb prospects in last year's draft were taken #1 and #2. In the Luck year he was the first player drafted. Ideally every team would want to have a great franchise qb. But in reality few teams have an opportunity to select one. If that is the case what do you want us to do? Cry and fall down into the fetal position lamenting our plight? Is TT simply a one read qb? Maybe now he mostly is but that doesn't mean he always will be. Players develop with good coaching and good player work ethic. As I said in the prior post I see a qb prospect who has demonstrated that he can play well enough to be a starter. Next year we should have a better understanding as to whether he can develop into a good starting NFL qb. Most players are not instantly good, especially at that challenging position. They develop into being good players by working hard and learning from experience.

The one positive that can be taken from this disappointing season is that we have a qb who may be a good franchise qb. Do we know for sure? Of course not. But anyone who is fair-minded has to acknowledge that he has most of the attributes (other than height) that a good qb has to have. As a passer he has the arm, touch and accuracy required to be a starter. It is readily apparent that he isn't very proficient in going through his progressions from the pocket but he has gotten better. Next year we should have a better sense as to whether he can master the challenge of making more than one read before throwing the ball. The addition of TT, a four year backup who decided to sign with us, was an unexpected bonus that few of us thought would materialize the way it did. If Rex was instrumental in that acquisition then he should be credited for it. If TT continues to improve, as I believe he will, then this team finally has the essential piece that at the minimum will allow this team to seriously compete. Putting things in perspective it is more important to have a capable qb established as our starting qb than to barely qualify for a wild-card spot this year.

Odds are that he is going to be given a year or two before he will be dispatched. Eventually his record and abilities will catch up to him. My biggest fear is that he will have more say on personnel this offseason. Then this woeful franchise is going to have problems. The problem with a coach such as Rex is that he is not an utter incompetent----he is basically very mediocre. His performance as a HC will not result in a quick jettison but the frustration will steadily build until there is a critical mass of futility. By then we will be approaching two consecutive decades of non-playoff participation in a system designed for parity. How embarrassing is that!!!! Let's face it. The Pegulas" were enamored with the glib coaching candidate when he was interviewed. More emphasis should have been placed on his record than his engaging personality. When you make bad decisions you have to live with the consequences. You get what you deserve to get. Some people are impressed with the Rex vaudeville act, not I.

I'm not slamming anyone because you are entitled to your opinion. But the problem I have with many of your comments is that you are making excuses due to injuries, officiating and repeated bonehead plays by the same players, most notably Hughes. Yes, the Bills have been subjected to a number of injuries but so has every team in the league. The Pats have had their OL nearly completely devastated, the same with their receiver corps and their backfield. By the end of the season most teams are battered. That's the standard, not the exception. The Bills have sustained less injuries than the majority of teams. Please stop with the excuses regarding the officiating. It has been uneven for every team in the league. Yesterday's game was in general reasonably called. Were there some questionable calls that hurt us (pick play)? Absolutely. But if you ask the Eagles they could also make the same complaint. You single out Hughes for his stupid play on the field. If a particular player constantly does stupid things then why is the coaching staff tolerating it? Marrone wasn't afraid to challenge Dareus when he didn't play up to his ability. He wasn't afraid to take him off the field. The problem with this jovial HC is that his players are not taking him seriously. The Bills are one of the most penalized teams in the league. You don't think coaching is a factor? How much undisciplined play would Belichick tolerate compared to our huckster HC? It's not surprising that the Jets are a better team without the brash former HC than they were with him. It's not surprising that their more serious HC has his team playing with more discipline and collective intelligence than they did under the former braggart HC. The Jets team under Tod Bowles is noticeably more mature than under their former sloppy HC. If you don't believe me then compare the before and after records. The bottom line is that Rex took over a team that was markedly better on offense and very similar to what Marrone had to work with on defense. Compare the OL and qb situation that Marrone had to contend with? Compare the number of penalties committed under Rex to the dour Doug? RR inherited a wildcard playoff team. It was far from being an elite team. It certainly had roster flaws as do all teams have. Whether it was a good, bad or mediocre team that isn't the the most substantive issue here. The real issue is that this team under performed compared to its talent level. If you want to make excuses for how this season has unfolded then that is fine. If you consider the very glib Rex a good hire then that is fine. I strenuously disagree with your opinion regarding this obnoxious and undisciplined coach. When the Pegulas hired Rex they got exactly the type of season Rex is capable of delivering. You may find that hiring decision as smart, not I. I find it to be not only bad but also very peculiar. Coaching matters!

The Bills were penalized 15 times in this game. Do you know how many penalties the Jets (the team the rambunctious coach was fired from) were assessed in their game against the Titans? Three times. Which team do you think has more discipline? Which team plays with more team intelligence? Coaching isn't a factor? Where I respectfully but strenuously disagree with you is your static approach toward coaching and systems (schemes). The NFL of today is about constant changes being made to the game and the necessity of adapting. Rules change, interpretation (emphasis) of rules change, personnel constantly changing, injuries, cap departures and additions. There is nothing static about a roster and the game. There can be dramatic changes in personnel due to injuries from the beginning of the season to the end of the season. What a coach wants to do and what a player is capable of doing has to be factored in. When your coach is locked into a scheme and the personnel changes result in an inability to run the scheme the HC has to be able to adjust. You hold to the view that Rex needs to be given time to get his own players to run his stuff. What happens when teams with smarter coaches adjust their schemes to render your installed scheme less effective? What happens when rule changes and interpretations make the system you are so invested in less effective? You have to be adaptable and you have to be flexible. Being married to a system is not a smart approach to take in an environment of constant change. The team that Rex took over was a playoff caliber team. The games against the Chiefs, Giants, Jaguars and this Eagles games were winnable. The margin between winning and losing is very small. I submit that the difference between being a playoff team and not was directly due to the caliber of coaching. Rex is simply being Rex. The organization got exactly what they hired. That is why he is not only a bad hire but a dumb hire. Talking big is not coaching big. Coaching matters!

I'm not looking at a 2-3 game time frame. Of course that would be unfair to judge anyone on that basis. This season is soon coming to a conclusion. The team Rex coaches is one of the most penalized teams in the league. It is also collectively one of the least intelligent teams in the league. When you add in his 6 yr record in NY it is not unfair to conclude that Rex is a very mediocre coach. Or another way of looking at it his record doesn't match his big mouth.

Rex did not make the playoffs his last four years with the team. If you believe that Rex is a good HC that is fine. That's your opinion. I don't. I think he is less than mediocre. That is my opinion. You have assaulted the wrong person! LOL

Rex's record in NY is very ominous. The longer he coached the team the more it declined. The current coach in NY is an upgrade from the glib coach that the organization fired. There is no doubt that the players that the new Jet coach inherited fit the scheme he favored. He demonstrated that he was smart enough to keep the scheme that worked and fit the players he had. Compare that to the talkative Buffalo coach who changed the scheme that didn't fit the players he inherited. The more successful coach in NY was astute; the loud coach in Buffalo was a dumb ass.

Coaching matters!

It was an obvious pick play. It was a damaging non-call. On the other hand I'm sure the Eagles can point out questionable plays that worked against them. In general, compared to the level of officiating in the league I thought this crew did a good job. There are many reasons why the Bills lost this game. The officiating had little to do with it.

You make some excellent points. But the NFL of today is about player movement and annual roster changes. That is part and parcel of the landscape. The roster for the Bills was upgraded from the prior year, especially on offense. The team that Rex inherited on balance was better than the team that Marrone had to work with. Rex Ryan coached the Jets for six year. Their overall record was not very impressive. The longer he coached the team the more it regressed. The team he left was in shambles. You are attempting to make the point that the Jets' roster is currently upgraded compared to the prior years so it is not a fair comparison when he was the HC. That makes no sense because he not only was involved in coaching the players on the roster but he was also involved with the GM in assembling the roster. If you are trying to make the argument that he is a good coach then my question is on what are you basing it on? The record? The team's discipline? The team's collective intelligence? There was nothing in RR's resume as a HC that made him an appealing candidate for the Buffalo job. It was a peculiar hire. The season is coming to a conclusion and the disappointing performance of his team is a reflection of his history as a HC. It was a bad hire and the results shouldn't be a surprise.

If coaches don't have the control and influence as you are suggesting explain to me the obvious contrast how the Jets are currently playing well after RR departed compared to when he was coaching the team? We all are familiar with the Jets qb, Fitz. So we can't attribute the dramatic improvement in record to simply qb play, especially when RR is getting the best qbing in Buffalo from TT that it has had for a very long time and compared to what Marrone had to work with at that position. The dour Marrone had a 9-7 record and then left. If you want to make the claim that it really was an 8-8 record because the Pats conceded the meaningless game for them, then that is okay. Rex took over basically the same defense with the addition of Darby at CB, a serious rookie of the year candidate. Whaley clearly upgraded the offense by adding McCoy, Incognito, Clay and Miller to that unit. The bottom line is that Marrone did better with less compared to what Rex had to work out. My point is simple: this team has regressed under the loquacious RR. Coaching matters!

There are some people in the audience who don't understand how important the HC is in the NFL. It is the coach who sets the tone and creates the environment that allows the players to prosper or struggle. Without wasting time discussing schemes the primary responsibility is to put his players in the best position to succeed. Anyone who believes that RR wasn't instrumental in the dramatic regression of our defense is not being realistic. It is stunning to me to see what happened to this defense. It is like seeing someone wearing a tux with white socks and brown shoes. It's a bad fit that is starkly evident to everyone. What is revealing about the caliber of RR's coaching talent is not how he has mangled his job in his first year with the Bills. The before and after measuring stick is the the team he left in shambles in NY. When he got fired they were a four win team. Now they are 8-5 with a very good probability they will be in the playoffs this year. Oh by the way Ftiz is their starting qb. Rex is going to be the HC next season. That is bad enough. My biggest fear is that this buffoon will have more authority in personnel decisions in order to refashion a roster that better suits him. If you think he has set this franchise back with his coaching approach you will be more demoralized with him being more active in selecting the players.

Were his team noted to be disciplined and smart in NY? Did his team get worse or better the longer he coached it? What was the state of the team when he left? Shambles? How is the team he left doing now with its current coach? How is the team Rex is currently coaching doing? There should be no surprise with this outcome. Usually don't don't know for sure what the outcome is going to be when you hire a coordinator from another team or a college coach to coach your team. But that isn't the case here. Rex Ryan had a six year career as a HC with the Jets. This organization found Rex Ryan to be an appealing coaching candidate. Why? You get what you deserve to get! Do you know what is worse than having the loquacious Rex as your HC? Having the glib HC have more authority in personnel so that his scheme can be better served. Regressing to get better usually turns out to be regressing and then more regressing.

We hired someone who the longer he coached in NY the worse the team got. The concept of "due diligence" isn't too difficult to comprehend. Most often you get what you deserve!

Especially in the second half their DL dominated our OL. That was one of the main reasons, among many, why we lost. In a post prior to the game I predicted that the Eagles would win because their HC was simply a better coach. But that in itself isn't a major compliment because Rex is a very low standard to be compared to. Are the Eagles from a talent standpoint better or worse? You are asking the wrong question. The more substantive question is which coach gets his team to play at the most optimal level. Whether Rex was coaching the Bills, Jets, Eagles his team would reflect his ineptitude and sloppiness. Regardless how talented his team was his team would be less disciplined and play with less intelligence than with a more competent coach.This organization hired someone whose record clearly demonstrated his incompetence. That's what is so infuriating with this odd hiring! With great fanfare this organization touted this loud HC with a bad vaudeville act as someone who was going to lead this woebegone franchise to success. It gave this huckster a rich five year contract. The jokes on the organization. You get what you deserve.

Under Marrone and Schwartz Hughes was a more effective player. Yes, he had a tendency to periodically jump offsides last year but without a doubt he was a more effective player. Under the prior regime Dareus was not only one of our best defensive players on the team but he was one of the best defensive linemen in the league. His play has noticeably dropped off this year. Mario Williams is a shell of what he was. I'm not going to blame his vanishing act on the coaching staff and the change in scheme. I strongly believe that he is playing with an injury to his foot that is severely impairing him. I've never been a Rex Ryan fan. As far as I am concerned he is a self-promoting huckster. He had initial success with the Jets but the longer he coached them the worse the team got. When he left the team was in a shambles. Based on his record with the Jets his hire was not only a bad hire it was a peculiar hire. The Jets are a better team with an upward trajectory without the slick former Jets and the Bills are now a stuck franchise due to their own doing with this ridiculous hire. Coaching matters!