Buffalo Bills: Clock Ticking Towards Midnight for Rex Ryan
By Paul Taylor
With more information emerging in relation to the firing of Greg Roman, Rex Ryan’s grip as Buffalo Bills head coach is becoming increasingly tenuous.
Ever since Rex Ryan took over as Buffalo Bills head coach, his regime has had a certain element of reality TV to it. In fact, it’s been a damn sight more intriguing than watching Big Brother, the Kardashians or whatever else passes for entertainment these days. (Old man rant over.)
In truth, a lot of people were hoping Ryan would fail after he put the pressure on himself from day one, by predicting a playoff appearance for the Bills last season. However, no one could have envisioned the amount of things that have gone wrong for him since coming to Western New York.
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In that respect, the fallout from the decision to fire Greg Roman keeps in line with what has been a disastrous 20 months. In particular, it seems that Roman was not exactly the biggest fan of his head coach.
According to Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News, the offensive coordinator privately told at least one person after last season, that he thought Ryan was a buffoon. In addition, he apparently felt being affiliated with the former New York Jets head coach wasn’t good for his career.
While this makes for interesting speculation, it does lead to one natural question – why did Roman stick around after the 2015 season if this is really how he felt?
Similarly, if Ryan’s comments during his press conference on Friday are anything to go by, they make you wonder why he waited until two games into this season to get rid of Roman: “I think we needed the change.
“I think we have a lot of talent on offense. I believe we’re going to do what we can to put the ball in our play-makers’ hands.”
Ryan did at least acknowledge the questions surrounding the timing of the decision: “I recognize this isn’t an ideal situation to make a change.
“(However), we do actually have a couple of extra days and I thought it’s better than doing it maybe on a Sunday game. So that’s why I went with the decision (Friday).”
While we can’t know for sure, all indications point towards the decision coming from above, to get rid of Roman. However, while the offense has not been without its issues, it’s the defense that has been the bigger disappointment during Ryan’s time in Buffalo.
It’s been well documented how the 53-year old took the fourth-best defense in the league and implemented his own system. However, the defensive guru has not seen the desired results up to this point, with the unit regressing badly from its previous lofty position.
Unfortunately for Ryan, with Roman now gone, he’s running out of scapegoats to pin the blame on for the Bills’ performances. In theory, he should be given the rest of the season to get it right, but if the team lose their next two games against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, all bets are off.
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What’s your position on Rex Ryan? Would you like to see him given the rest of the season to get it right, or have you already had enough? Let us know in the comments section below.