AP Report: Bills Will Release Mario After the Season

[FireChan]

Film doesn't lie when you do know the play call, too.

 

There was a thread after the Washington game that linked to a Football Outsiders article with gifs to support their assertion that Mario was dogging it. The first gif was of a running play that he could not have played any better; set his corner and turned the play into the pursuit that was slow in getting there. Great play by Mario and pretty easy to ascertain what his keys were pre-snap.

 

The other gifs were damning. As were the All-22 views of every game the last several weeks. He simply chose to disengage. On third and long with an empty backfield, one doesn't need to know the play call to determine what his keys were and that he needed to get up field and apply pressure.

 

I wasn't surprised by the comments revealed by his teammates alluding to taking "two steps and then stopping." We were saying the exact same thing weeks ago. I'm pretty sure his teammates knew the exact play calls, too.

 

The defense of this quitter is amazing around here.

 

GO BILLS!!!

I think that most folks who are "defending" Mario are saying that the situation is more complex than you make it seem.

 

First of all, Mario quitting on his team, his coaches etc etc etc is all on him. No question. It's his life, his career, his effort level. His personal responsibility.

 

But let's be clear, wins and losses aren't dictated by personal responsibility. They are dictated by performance. We've seen malcontents, quitters, folks of both poor football and normal character put out great performances with HC's who rein them in, cultivate their talent, and motivate them. Ask Randy Moss, perhaps the biggest quitter of all, and one of the best receivers of all time, especially with NE.

 

So when you show me a Head Coach in the NFL, whose claim to fame is 50% being a "player's coach" and having "his guys fight for him" whose first season is marred by a perennial ProBowl and All-Pro defensive player, who has no history of quitting, basically torpedoing his own career, I have to raise some eyebrows. I think that's fair. And personal responsibility or no, the Bills will be the losers when Mario is cut. Mario will lose too, but the circumstances that got us here will remain. And that may the worst thing of all.

[3rdand12]

They set him up? So he didn't quit on his own volition?

 

I gotta give you credit for originality.

 

GO BILLS!!!

I was calling him out long ago against the majority calling out Rex and his " scheme"

I thought we all knew what setting and edge meant, along with funnelling the play back to the middle of the field.

But people said noo. It's Rex and Thurman being stupid.

and that might be partially correct !

 

But something happened that pissed Mario off enough to do something this immature and petulant.

 

Did Whaley ask him to take a pay cut so they could bring in more players? something happened.

[HuSeYiN_NYC]

I'm not going to sit here and lie. I been on the "Get rid of Rex" bandwagon but I'm also a student of the game.

 

It doesn't take a genius to see that Mario isn't giving 100% out there on the field. He hasn't even been double teamed for like 5 weeks straight now. I guess opposing offenses watch film and they tell their RT to just handle business by himself. Hughes is getting double teamed more than Mario. Go figure.

 

I'm still not a fan of the Rex defense (at least not with Preston Brown at MLB) but since Terry clearly said he's sticking with Rex, all I xan hope for is that we draft a stud Linebacker, get another edge rusher like Hughes (I actually think Lawson would be perfect opposite side of Hughes) and draft another stud Safety to compliment Aaron Williams.

 

All that would be left to do after that is study the defense like if their life depended on it and get rid of the stupid penalties. Game management and penalties played at least a 40-50% role on most of our losses.

 

On the offensive side of the ball, all I can think of getting better at is WR and maybe a decent RT or RG.

[Mojo44]

Film don't lie; I've seen too many lackadaisical plays from Mario this season to give two schitts about the Bills cutting him loose. Look at how Hughes goes balls out on every play.

 

The Mario F5 ground up in the freezer thread will live in infamy, but it's time to turn the page on that chapter.

 

Rex and Whaley get this offseason to bring in the D players they want/need, and we judge Rex next season.

The excuse that Ryan failed because he didn't have the "right" players is BS! He had the "right" players handed to him on a silver platter. He failed miserably, period. You don't have a Mario Williams covering a WR in any scheme! Rex is the biggest jug of cyanide laced Kool-Aid the Bills have had since the SB years. Not firing Rex just doubles down on the colossal blunder the Pegulas made to begin with. I give Mario the pass, not Rex.

[3rdand12]

 

Agreed. Not his style, if he has something to say he would say it to a guy's face not to a reporter and not anonymously.

 

I think there is also a kind of understanding, that injured players (or inactives) don't call out their teammates. It's one thing to call a guy out if you're standing next to him taking blows and blocks and fighting your own battles. It's another to call him out if you're standing on the sidelines in street clothes.

corey graham

[dave mcbride]

corey graham

Ya know, graham played with ray lewis for a while, and lewis called out mario williams on national tv after the second pats game. He's a seasoned try-hard vet too who presumably cares about buffalo ...

 

Could well be Graham.

[BobChalmers]

Everyone pile on Mario because Rex was a complete disaster of a coach this year.

 

This thread is about Mario and the impact of his loss.

 

I've got plenty of issues with Rex too.

Edited January 1, 2016 by BobChalmers

[boyst]

An escape goat to me is someone on whom blame is placed even though they are actually blameless. Mario is not blameless. If you watch he games you know this, he is part, maybe a big part, of the problem. His effort has been lacking, and this is not a recent phenomenon, it's been going on pretty much all season. The only reason he hasn't been benched is because the HC can't bring himself to drop the hammer. The HC may be problem #1, but Mario isn't far behind.

 

For Rex to have any chance at success, IMO, he has to be made to bring in someone to be the hammer. He also needs this someone to be a stickler for the "mundane" details of day to day business, and also be a strong game manager because Rex isn't these things. You might ask "then why keep Rex?" My answer would be that he isn't going anywhere so let's make the very best of his tenure that we can.

I agree with all of this.

 

Scapegoat may not be the best choice of words but I do not know if what a better choice would be; two wrongs do not make anything right. Both are wrong, both have let down their constituents.

 

Why is FO a joke? What problem, *specifically*, do you have with their DVOA method of ranking defenses and production? Their method is easily accessible on their site. (Btw, I don't take seriously criticism that amounts to hand waving claims that stat analysis is bs/useless. It's like saying Bill James's work is a joke because he didn't play the game and is just a nerd.) I also don't think that the gifs referred to were from FO, btw, but I could be wrong ...

I understand what you are saying but I do not believe football is by the numbers. My problem with FO is that it does not take in to account what it cannot know. What schemes were called, responsibilities, and what transgresses beyond the football level.

 

FO can judge all day on stats and metrics but it does not always hold true on the eye test. Look at Spiller, Romo, many other players with amazing stats that get revered by statists.

 

Manny Lawson? Smartest player on the team, a true vet, and has known Mario since college ...

Before, actually. They went to a lot of the same camps, competed in high school against each other for Track, actually. They grew up an hour and a half away from each other.

 

The excuse that Ryan failed because he didn't have the "right" players is BS! He had the "right" players handed to him on a silver platter. He failed miserably, period. You don't have a Mario Williams covering a WR in any scheme! Rex is the biggest jug of cyanide laced Kool-Aid the Bills have had since the SB years. Not firing Rex just doubles down on the colossal blunder the Pegulas made to begin with. I give Mario the pass, not Rex.

Giving Mario a full pass is hard to do, but I give him slack. Rex, I do not.

[Mojo44]

This thread is about Mario and the impact of his loss.

 

I've got plenty of issues with Rex too.

 

 

The thread is about the season long process that led to the loss of Mario. That process was Rex and his abject inability to be a HC. If it was just Mario it would be one thing. But this season Huges, Dareus, PB, Graham, Bradahm, K. Williams, etc. all had bad years after being part of the great 2014 defense. This all points to the HC!

[chris heff]

I think that most folks who are "defending" Mario are saying that the situation is more complex than you make it seem.

 

First of all, Mario quitting on his team, his coaches etc etc etc is all on him. No question. It's his life, his career, his effort level. His personal responsibility.

 

But let's be clear, wins and losses aren't dictated by personal responsibility. They are dictated by performance. We've seen malcontents, quitters, folks of both poor football and normal character put out great performances with HC's who rein them in, cultivate their talent, and motivate them. Ask Randy Moss, perhaps the biggest quitter of all, and one of the best receivers of all time, especially with NE.

 

So when you show me a Head Coach in the NFL, whose claim to fame is 50% being a "player's coach" and having "his guys fight for him" whose first season is marred by a perennial ProBowl and All-Pro defensive player, who has no history of quitting, basically torpedoing his own career, I have to raise some eyebrows. I think that's fair. And personal responsibility or no, the Bills will be the losers when Mario is cut. Mario will lose too, but the circumstances that got us here will remain. And that may the worst thing of all.

Couldn't agree more, and we rarely agree. How did Dareus, Brown, Bradham all become bad?

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I really wonder who the anonymous Ty Dunne source is.

I agree with all of this.

 

Scapegoat may not be the best choice of words but I do not know if what a better choice would be; two wrongs do not make anything right. Both are wrong, both have let down their constituents.

 

I understand what you are saying but I do not believe football is by the numbers. My problem with FO is that it does not take in to account what it cannot know. What schemes were called, responsibilities, and what transgresses beyond the football level.

 

FO can judge all day on stats and metrics but it does not always hold true on the eye test. Look at Spiller, Romo, many other players with amazing stats that get revered by statists.

 

Before, actually. They went to a lot of the same camps, competed in high school against each other for Track, actually. They grew up an hour and a half away from each other.

 

Giving Mario a full pass is hard to do, but I give him slack. Rex, I do not.

Lack of effort can never be excused.

Couldn't agree more, and we rarely agree. How did Dareus, Brown, Bradham all become bad?

Rex's scheme is co-dependent on group success. I wouldn't be surprised if a lack of DL production is because the stunts and blitzes aren't being executed properly. Brown has moved positions, which can result in declined play but there is no excuse for his poor angles and missed tackles. Bradham will walk, he did not show up this season. I want to see more players with the effort of Hughes to execute Rex's defense. There are huge problems, but any company or business that relies on teamwork becomes difficult to succeed when a link in the chain is broken.

[boyst]

I really wonder who the anonymous Ty Dunne source is.

 

Lack of effort can never be excused.

it doesn't have to be excused to be understood.

 

this guy is a professional football player. we are professionals and would likely behave the same way if our boss expected such ridiculous things from us. except we could quit/resign. mario cannot. otherwise, i'm sure he would to save face.

 

so would you rather have mario go to rex ryan and say bench me, i'm done?

or do you not think rex should have recognized his supposed lack of effort and benched him?

 

i'm with the latter, as it is the responsibility of the coach and ryan has shown to be a kitty with such business decisions.

[The Big Cat]

Lol couldn't stop GB.

 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

The excuse that Ryan failed because he didn't have the "right" players is BS! He had the "right" players handed to him on a silver platter. He failed miserably, period. You don't have a Mario Williams covering a WR in any scheme! Rex is the biggest jug of cyanide laced Kool-Aid the Bills have had since the SB years. Not firing Rex just doubles down on the colossal blunder the Pegulas made to begin with. I give Mario the pass, not Rex.

You give a professional athlete, who makes 10plus million dollars a year, a pass for not trying? I wish I worked for you. You'd fire my boss and excuse my lack of production. Hell, you'd probably give me a raise too

[FireChan]

 

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-gameday/0ap3000000443807/Week-15-Packers-vs-Bills-highlights

 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

it doesn't have to be excused to be understood.

 

this guy is a professional football player. we are professionals and would likely behave the same way if our boss expected such ridiculous things from us. except we could quit/resign. mario cannot. otherwise, i'm sure he would to save face.

 

so would you rather have mario go to rex ryan and say bench me, i'm done?

or do you not think rex should have recognized his supposed lack of effort and benched him?

 

i'm with the latter, as it is the responsibility of the coach and ryan has shown to be a kitty with such business decisions.

He won't be active Sunday. Nor should he be. That will be telling

[Big Hurt]

There are many things wrong with this news. 1) If you don't know how to use Mario, then you suck as a defensive coordinator. 2) If you are thinking about letting Mario go because of salary, leaking the news practically killed all the possibility of getting any offer for trades. Who is going to trade for him? We traded for McCoy, didn't we?

[boyst]

He won't be active Sunday. Nor should he be. That will be telling

... I made this big because it's a big deal.

 

its telling about Rex Ryan.

 

Rex Ryan waits until the last game to bench a player?

 

telling.

[dave mcbride]

There are many things wrong with this news. 1) If you don't know how to use Mario, then you suck as a defensive coordinator. 2) If you are thinking about letting Mario go because of salary, leaking the news practically killed all the possibility of getting any offer for trades. Who is going to trade for him? We traded for McCoy, didn't we?

If you read the thread, it seems that many here that the leak source isn't the team but the player's agent. Which makes sense.

[boyst]

There are many things wrong with this news. 1) If you don't know how to use Mario, then you suck as a defensive coordinator. 2) If you are thinking about letting Mario go because of salary, leaking the news practically killed all the possibility of getting any offer for trades. Who is going to trade for him? We traded for McCoy, didn't we?

it probably wasn't the team or organization leaking this. it was shirley Marios camp.

 

in leaking this it takes the Bills power plays in trading him or sending him to the highest bidder away. though, the bills could tell him find a trading partner, work out a deal and they'll trade him.