Dr. K

I agree 100% with your post. But Big Cat is all in on Rex. We'll see how he does once he's purged the front seven and gets his own kind of players. I don't see how that is going to remedy the lack of accountability and discipline, and I am skeptical his defense next year is going to rise to the level of the defense he destroyed pretty much single handedly (with some help from injuries, to be sure).

I agree.

Thank you finally for replying. I think what our disagreement comes down to is your statement that "The man knows what he's doing." From the evidence of what has happened on the field (I don't care much about his press conferences--he's great at press conferences, actually--very enjoyable and frank), from the disorganized and undisciplined play, from the number of personal fouls and inability of experienced, intelligent players to succeed in his system, I don't see it. I do want to reiterate that I have never been a fan who wants change for the sake of change--I have felt that, as a fan, I don't know everything and for the most part we ought to leave it to the professionals. But in this case I think the results, and the manner in which those results have come about, cast Ryan's competence into grave question. I'll also point out, as someone did above, that when Schwartz came in and instituted a completely new defensive system (which I was wary about, after Pettine's modicum of success the previous year) the team picked it up and played BETTER under him. He did not have to get rid of a third of the defense to get an improvement. A player like Bradham, who had looked ineffective in Pettine's defense, looked worlds better under Schwartz. Dareus came into his own. Mario looked great and people stopped crying about his salary. Kyle and Hughes had fine years. The rookie Brown looked like a steal in the draft. But now apparently we need to get rid of half to two-thirds of the front seven in order to get competent play. But that's getting down into the weeds, and it's clear at this point we will not agree. So we'll have to agree to disagree. If the Bills make it to 11-5 next season I will gladly come back here and say you were right.

Yes, I pin (most) of the blame on Ryan. I have given reasons why I think it should fall on him. The best argument I have heard from you for keeping him is continuity. I agree that changing coaches and systems every other season is a bad practice and incompatible with winning teams. I also admit that, given what they have invested in him, the Pegulas are unlikely to switch at this point. But there are some things that trump continuity. I have not seen anything in this season and the lead-up to it, in Ryan's ways of dealing with the problems this team has shown and his habitual practices, that tells me we can expect better results from Ryan in the future. Are you simply unwilling to tell us what you have seen from him that causes you to feel otherwise? So again: What do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?

I asked you politely to share "what do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?" Is it unreasonable for me to ask this?

You're probably right that they won't fire him. But I want to ask you honestly, with sincerity and no hostility, what do you like about Rex Ryan? What has he shown this season that makes you confident he will do better next season. Do you believe that the Bills under him will ever be consistently good over a season, let alone five or ten years, the way the Pats or Steelers or Broncos have been?

Rex is on the right track, when he is the one responsible for those schemes and stupidity you complain about? I don't want wholesale change. Keep Roman, for instance. Keep the players who were fine on D the previous year. Let Whaley draft additional players and sign quality free agents, which he has shown he can do. Rex Ryan is the problem, not the solution. I want him out of Buffalo.

Don't fire Whaley. Don't gut the roster of fine players just because they don't fit Rex's scheme. Fire Rex.

If Rex is the coach? Maybe 8, maximum. Probably 6.

My desire to see Rex fired has nothing to do with the 15-year drought. Normally, as you may see from my posts over the years, I am quite a patient fan. I've never been one to say "blow it up" after one bad season. But with Rex it's different. Hiring him, I suspected from the start, meant already blowing up the successful defense that Schwartz had put together with the talented players Whaley had assembled. I could see from the start that he was not Whaley's guy (though Whaley had to sign onto the choice and make the best of it) which was evident from the peculiar organizational structure with Rex and Whaley reporting separately to the Pegulas instead of Rex serving under the general manager as most other teams do. I did not care for his personality, his arrogance, his aggressive blockheadedness, his mediocre record with the Jets. The Bills under Marone blew his team to bits in both games last year. All the orgasms that Bills fans had over his hire left me cold. And Rex proved worse than I feared. I'd thought, well, he has great talent to work with; maybe he can maintain the defense's strength. Nope. He did not put the players into a position to succeed, instead he forced his system onto them even if their talents (like Mario's, and Dareus's, and Bradham's) did not suit the scheme. So now they have to get new players, and Dareus is going to either end up playing mediocre at nose tackle or playing great for some other team. His game management skills are weak at best. The lack of discipline on the team is appalling. The penalties--despite hotheads like Hughes, these same players did not commit anywhere near as many last season. It's left me furious at the Pegulas for hiring this clown, and in despair at the thought they will keep him on (and maybe fire Whaley instead). As I say, I have never had this reaction to any other coach the Bills have hired (and I've been a fan since the mid-1960s) with the possible exception of Gregg Williams, another man who was a legend in his own mind. I don't want to blow up the roster. I want to blow up Sexy Rexy and his freakin' pickup truck and sky diving and teeth whitener so that we can get somebody running this team who has a chance of making it better. Exactly. Continuity was destroyed the minute they hired this clown. Continuity is not a virtue when he's already proven his incompetence, his DETRIMENTAL influence on the team and players, in a single season.

Exactly

Agree about Whaley and Roman; very much disagree about Rex.

You're probably right. That's why, for the first time in my 50 years of being a Bills fan, I actually want them to lose out, badly, in the hope the Pegulas might fire him if the team gets blown out in their last three games--especially the final home game against the Jets.

You say this yet you want to keep Rex, who is solely responsible for putting the players in this situation? Do you imagine that he is going to change the habits of his whole career and let somebody else design the defense? As long as Rex is here he will be forcing his system. If he stays, there will be a fire sale on all the players who "don't fit." For one example, Dareus, who looked great in Schwartz's system, will look like a stiff. Mario will probably be axed. Bradham will be dumped. etc.

I agree completely. The Bills have a number of problems, but Rex is the major problem right now, the problem that makes all the other problems worse. He has to go.

Pegula was not behind the FIRING of Fred. He was behind them KEEPING Fred last spring when Whaley wanted to cut him--when cutting Fred, no matter how much he was beloved, was the right decision. The OP did not phrase his post clearly. The hiring of Rex was the fatal mistake, and this was the thing that the Pegulas made Whaley do. It's pretty clear I think that Wheley would not have hired Rex, and that he has trouble getting on the same page with Rex because the Pegulas give Rex too much power in hiring him, with that crazy system where Rex does not report to the GM but reports directly to the Pegulas. That's why the Bills are in deep trouble now. The Rex-Whaley tandem is unstable. Unfortunately, the likely outcome is that they will fire Whaley when they ought to fire Rex. That's why my fervent hope at this point is for the Bills to lose out the rest of the season, badly, culminating in humiliating blowout loss, at home, to the Jets in the last game of the season. That's the only likely scenario in which they Pegulas might fire Rex. But I'm still afraid they will fire Whaley with him, or worse, INSTEAD of him. Then, count another couple of years of missing the playoffs before they dump Rex.

From first word to the last, this has exactly been my opinion of Ryan. I, also, hated the hire but was willing to wait and see--I've been wrong lots of time and everybody seemed to think he was the man for the job. But everything we've seen bears out your reading of the team. Likewise, I think firing Whaley would be a huge mistake. But given the Pegulas were clearly the ones most enamored of Rex, I think it's more likely they will dump him than Rex, and we will really be in the crapper. Whaley is going to GM a Super Bowl team in his career. Rex will never coach one.

This is moronic. The same players that led the league in sacks last year are dead last this year. The same players that held penalties to a reasonable level are now completely out of control. Bradham and Dareus and Mario looked great in Schwartz's system and now they can't play anymore. Yet you're all on the Rex bandwagon. "Players make plays."

This is also why Schwartz left. Schwartz knew Rex would insist on running his damn system whether it fit the personnel or not.

The only thing I want to see this offseason is the one thing we will not see: FIRE REX. As long as he is the coach of this team, they will be an agony to watch.

So are you related to Rex?

I'm convinced God help us it will be the Patriots again. And looks like the Seahawks from the NFC (I don't believe in the Panthers).

This is exactly why I thought the hire of Rex was idiotic. Plus, he's a blowhard and terrible game manager. It's the same idiocy that happened when the Bills hired Gregg Williams after firing Wade Phillips.

I hated them hiring Rex when it happened and I REALLY HATE IT NOW. The worst thing about it is that he won't be fired and so the incompetence will continue next season.

There is no way this man should be playing football. It's too much of a risk. Think about this, Aaron. The rest of your life is too important.