Did you know this about Jauron?

[patmoran2006]

So I've been doing some research for an upcoming story on Mr. Richard Jauron. I found something that I didn't have any idea about.

The "myth" about Jauron is that he is constantly losing close games as head coach. THese sentiments were echoed on WGR today by Mike Schoop, when he said the biggest problem he sees with the Bills is Jauron's inability to win close games.

Well we all or most of anyway know that Jauron is 17 games under .500 for his coaching career (50-67). We all know that Jauron has had only one winning season (2001- Chicago) in his seven full seasons as head coac (I don't count his 1-4 at the end of the Detroit season as a losing season on him)

But here is something I found in my research that surprised me.

In his career, Jauron actually has a winning record in games that are decided by four or fewer points. He's 22-19 for his career in "close" games (Though he's just 4-7 during his two Bills campaigns to date.)

For his career he is:
22-19 in games decided by 4 points or less
28-48 in games decided by 4 or more points

So that should tell us two things
1) He's largely had teams that have been outgunned in talent.
2) Contrary to popular opinion, the record shows he wins more close games than he loses.

IN addition, if you go by the Jauron history, here is another set of numbers that are NOT good news for our offense.

Only once in his full seven years as a head coach have one of his offenses been ranked in the top 22 in the NFL in scoring. That was in 2001 with Chicago. His offenses the other six seasons have ranked 25th, 28th, 27th, 23rd, 23rd and 30th respectively.

Going by these numbers, the conclusion certainly isn't ground-breaking. Jauron is a very conservative coach who likes to keep the game close to his vest, keep his team in the game late and then rely on a big play or two in the late stages to get his victories.

It's safe to say we'll probably be the same this year.. Hopefully we can make a few plays late in games to seal close wins.

But again, the one stat I didn't expect was him having a winning record in games by four points or less, considering he's 17 games under .500 for his career.

[Dr. Lecter]

Nice work Pat.

I would recommend sending it into Schopp, but doubt it would get acknowledged.

[Thurmal]

His winning record in close games probably stems from his "Angels in the Outfield" season in Chicago in 2001 where the Bears won a ton of games on miracle plays late in the 4th quarter/overtime. Luckiest season I have ever seen by a team in my life.

[yordad]

Nice find, but I question your interpretation

"1) He's largely had teams that have been outgunned in talent."

How did you arrive at that?

[madness]

His winning record in close games probably stems from his "Angels in the Outfield" season in Chicago in 2001 where the Bears won a ton of games on miracle plays late in the 4th quarter/overtime. Luckiest season I have ever seen by a team in my life.

... and that's the most talented team he's ever worked with next to this year's team.

[patmoran2006]

His winning record in close games probably stems from his "Angels in the Outfield" season in Chicago in 2001 where the Bears won a ton of games on miracle plays late in the 4th quarter/overtime. Luckiest season I have ever seen by a team in my life.
Not quite sure where you came to that conclusion. In 2003 (the 13-3 season) <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> only played in two games that were decided by four points or less (they won both of them)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

[OpIv37]

what happens to those numbers if you define "close" as a touchdown or less instead of 4 points or less? 4 seems like a pretty arbitrary number, particularly since there's no 4 point play in football.

Also, the 28-48 in games that aren't close isn't too encouraging. It means he's lost big 20 more times than he's won big.

[Philagape]

It shows that not only does he have a dismal career record, but almost half the games he has won have been barely. :ill:

[Dr. Lecter]

It shows that not only does he have a dismal career record, but almost half the games he has won have been barely. :ill:

Winning barely is a good as winning big....

[bigbub2352]

DJ will be the reason we dont make the playoffs, statistics or not, just watch the games, he regularly gets outcoached, and his coaching staff picks in my opinion are suspect as well, Perry Fewell would have been fired by any other organization by now and Steve Fairchild was awful and DJ never over rided him

We will be out coached all day by the big name coaches in this league and unfortunaly that wont change cause our Owner wont spend money on coaches, he goes bargain for them and then we reap the results

Sticking up for DJ only means you are satisfied with medicracy

[Philagape]

but they're not good on the blood pressure :passout:

[Dr. Lecter]

Sticking up for DJ only means you are satisfied with medicracy


This statement is idiotic, moronic and disrepects other Bills fans just because they don't agree with you.

[trapezeus]

Just like last year was JP's year to make that step, this year is DJ's turn to prove why he needs to be the coach of this team. it was clearly laid out during his time of hire that he has 3 years to cut the dead weight, add new talent, and get us to the playoffs. this is year 3. I'm willing to see what he has to be fair to the bills and DJ. If he fails miserably or there is no improvement, we need to move on.

If we miss the playoffs but have a 10-6 record, then the bills have a tough decision.

To the guy who said perry fewell would have been fired by now, i don't think that's true at all. Fewell was widely respected for how the defense played last year with no one on it. yes, he blew that cowboys 2 minute drill. but he came out after the game and said, i did that wrong. i think he's a real talent and hope that this year proves that he knows what he is doing.

[bigbub2352]

This statement is idiotic, moronic and disrepects other Bills fans just because they don't agree with you.

How so, cause ur a Dr, or what? Sorry but if u stick up for anything about DJ or the last coaches since Wade Phillops u are satisfied with medicrocy any way you look at it the FO has made one bad decision after the other

Oh i am sorry i forgot that must hurt feelings to say that i guess the money i spend on season tickets and go to one away game every year, as well as 2 practices isnt good enough for me to state my opinion

Learn the game if you are gonna make stupid comments

[bigbub2352]

Just like last year was JP's year to make that step, this year is DJ's turn to prove why he needs to be the coach of this team. it was clearly laid out during his time of hire that he has 3 years to cut the dead weight, add new talent, and get us to the playoffs. this is year 3. I'm willing to see what he has to be fair to the bills and DJ. If he fails miserably or there is no improvement, we need to move on.

If we miss the playoffs but have a 10-6 record, then the bills have a tough decision.

To the guy who said perry fewell would have been fired by now, i don't think that's true at all. Fewell was widely respected for how the defense played last year with no one on it. yes, he blew that cowboys 2 minute drill. but he came out after the game and said, i did that wrong. i think he's a real talent and hope that this year proves that he knows what he is doing.

So a Defensive cordinator that allows offense to drive down the feild and take time off the clock and keep our offense off the feild is ok, someone who has commanded the 30th and 31st ranked defense in the league is doin a good job cause we had injurys?

Dont forget Fewell has a say on the players brought in like Larry Tripplett and contributed to most teams being able to get 1st downs at will

Sorry but we were 7-9 two seasons in a row, so if injuries was the excuse last year what was the year before?
Why do we have no pass rush?
Why do we give up long time consuming drives ?
why do teams get 1st down at will?
why do we lose most our close games?
why do we have poor coverage schemes until the other team is on our 20?
why on 3rd and 15 do our CBs give a 20 yrd cushion?
Why do our Dlineman have 5 yard gaps between them so RBs can run right thru them on certain plays?

i guess Fewell is ok thou

[Dr. Lecter]

How so, cause <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">ur</st1:place></st1:City> a Dr, or what? Sorry but if u stick up for anything about DJ or the last coaches since Wade Phillops u are satisfied with medicrocy any way you look at it the FO has made one bad decision after the other <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Oh i am sorry i forgot that must hurt feelings to say that i guess the money i spend on season tickets and go to one away game every year, as well as 2 practices isnt good enough for me to state my opinion<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Learn the game if you are gonna make stupid comments<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Learn the game?? :rofl: Because I am not falling into your robotic line of thinking? <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Believe me, anything you say really will not hurt my feelings or cause me any type of anguish or second thought. And no, you have every right to an opinion just as much I or anybody else does. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
But the fact is nobody is satisfied with mediocrity. That line has been used before and was stupid then and is stupid now. You might disagree with a person, but attempts to marginalize their opinions with blanket statements is off-base.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Jauron has faults. But he did take a team with 17 injuries and a player almost dieing on the field to a 7-9 record. He is not perfect, but liking the progress the team made since TD left is not being satisfied with mediocrity. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>

[bigbub2352]

<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Learn the game?? :rofl: Because I am not falling into your robotic line of thinking? <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Believe me, anything you say really will not hurt my feelings or cause me any type of anguish or second thought. And no, you have every right to an opinion just as much I or anybody else does. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
But the fact is nobody is satisfied with mediocrity. That line has been used before and was stupid then and is stupid now. You might disagree with a person, but attempts to marginalize their opinions with blanket statements is off-base.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Jauron has faults. But he did take a team with 17 injuries and a player almost dieing on the field to a 7-9 record. He is not perfect, but liking the progress the team made since TD left is not being satisfied with mediocrity. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>

how many of those 17 players were on offense? how many were starters?
DJ was a mistake signing from the beginning, any HC that would allow his DC to have the scheme they had and any HC that would allow his OC to run the scheme he had is pretty bad, all i said is that DJ is mediocre and has been and will continue to be outcoached

I like what he did keeping the team together too, but if you are an NFL HC u should be able to do that, it is what you are being paid for

I wasnt trying to hurt your feelings just sayin that DJ is not the answer to get us to the promise land and for what i have seen i dont think that will change
I am a huge supporter of this franchise as i am sure you are but sorry we have sucked pretty bad and i would have liked to see coaching changes at least not promote form within

[gr8slayer]

Winning barely is a good as winning big....
I wish we had beat the Giants in the Super Bowl by one. I'd have a different outlook on the organization as a whole.

[gr8slayer]

DJ will be the reason we dont make the playoffs, statistics or not, just watch the games, he regularly gets outcoached, and his coaching staff picks in my opinion are suspect as well, Perry Fewell would have been fired by any other organization by now and Steve Fairchild was awful and DJ never over rided him

We will be out coached all day by the big name coaches in this league and unfortunaly that wont change cause our Owner wont spend money on coaches, he goes bargain for them and then we reap the results

Sticking up for DJ only means you are satisfied with medicracy
Quit stealing my line ass; I'm the only one allowed to tell Lecter that he's satisfied with mediocrity. :mad:

[Dr. Lecter]

how many of those 17 players were on offense? how many were starters?
DJ was a mistake signing from the beginning, any HC that would allow his DC to have the scheme they had and any HC that would allow his OC to run the scheme he had is pretty bad, all i said is that DJ is mediocre and has been and will continue to be outcoached

I like what he did keeping the team together too, but if you are an NFL HC u should be able to do that, it is what you are being paid for

I wasnt trying to hurt your feelings just sayin that DJ is not the answer to get us to the promise land and for what i have seen i dont think that will change
I am a huge supporter of this franchise as i am sure you are but sorry we have sucked pretty bad and i would have liked to see coaching changes at least not promote form within

What is the problem with the defense? It held most teams to scoring less points than they averaged scoring last year. THat is, imo, more important than points.

As for the injured starters there were starters and other contributors (i.e. Denney) that were out. Fact is 17 injuries means that there are 17 players pressed into action that are of lesser ability.

[gr8slayer]

<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Learn the game?? :rofl: Because I am not falling into your robotic line of thinking? <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Believe me, anything you say really will not hurt my feelings or cause me any type of anguish or second thought. And no, you have every right to an opinion just as much I or anybody else does. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
But the fact is nobody is satisfied with mediocrity. That line has been used before and was stupid then and is stupid now. You might disagree with a person, but attempts to marginalize their opinions with blanket statements is off-base.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Jauron has faults. But he did take a team with 17 injuries and a player almost dieing on the field to a 7-9 record. He is not perfect, but liking the progress the team made since TD left is not being satisfied with mediocrity. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
I don't know man, sometimes I wonder. I get the feeling from some Buffalonians that it doesn't matter if the team never wins anything as long as no one takes the team from them. Maybe I'm just used to the way it is here and we're the weird ones but in Dallas if the Cowboys don't win the Super Bowl the year is considered a complete failure. We always seems fine with winning six, seven, or eight games.

[gr8slayer]

What is the problem with the defense? It held most teams to scoring less points than they averaged scoring last year. THat is, imo, more important than points.

As for the injured starters there were starters and other contributors (i.e. Denney) that were out. Fact is 17 injuries means that there are 17 players pressed into action that are of lesser ability.
Yeah, I think Jauron bought himself another year last year. Linehan in had the same number of injuries and the Rams just fell apart while Jauron kept the ship above water. I'm going into this year expecting a lot from Jauron but I feel a lot better about him going into this year than I did in 2007.

[Tatonka]

Not quite sure where you came to that conclusion. In 2003 (the 13-3 season) <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> only played in two games that were decided by four points or less (they won both of them)<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

yeah, 4 or fewer points, but they won 2 or 3 games in overtime due to interception returns, so they won by 6 points.. same difference though i think.

[gr8slayer]

yeah, 4 or fewer points, but they won 2 or 3 games in overtime due to interception returns, so they won by 6 points.. same difference though i think.
That was an exciting team that year, Mike Brown was a beast.

[bigbub2352]

What is the problem with the defense? It held most teams to scoring less points than they averaged scoring last year. THat is, imo, more important than points.

As for the injured starters there were starters and other contributors (i.e. Denney) that were out. Fact is 17 injuries means that there are 17 players pressed into action that are of lesser ability.

but because of those 17 injuries we found players like Bryan Scott, and Dustin Fox, Blake Costanzo, and Michael Gaines, Copeland Bryan

We lost guys like Kevin Harrison, Al Wallace, Kevin Everett, Peerless Price, Matt Murphy, etc
So i look at some of those as an upgrade anyway

The problem with the defense mainly is they are on the feild way to long, and that is a direct reflection of the schemes being called and DJ who is suppossed to be a defensive minded coach failed to change that all year
as well as look at what his offensive cordianter was doing and he failed to change that all year as well
Sorry tuff to argue that DJ is just to laid back to be a passionate NFL coach
He is satidfied with just getting by

[raphael120]

It's really really sad we have to dig that deep to try feel confident about our head coach. And even the "good news" is in it's own little vacuum. Thats like saying "On days Jauron wears a khaki colored Bills hat, we win by 4 points 60% of the time."

I'd like to think that just having a winning coaching record is the real judge of how good a coach is, but maybe I'm wrong here. Sometimes people overthink why certain things about our team have sucked when it's totally obvious. And I think if we are bad again this year, I think the fingers should logically be pointed at Jauron and his staff for "rebuilding" and rebuilding wrong. At that point, this regime is no better than Donahoe because where has either approach gotten us?

And Sex Panther works 60% of the time, all the time.

[Oaf]

His winning record in close games probably stems from his "Angels in the Outfield" season in Chicago in 2001 where the Bears won a ton of games on miracle plays late in the 4th quarter/overtime. Luckiest season I have ever seen by a team in my life.
I actually remember that too. Worst 13-3 team I could remember.

[gr8slayer]

I actually remember that too. Worst 13-3 team I could remember.I wish we were a bad 13-3 team :ill:

[trapezeus]

bigbub, i'm not against saying DJ and co suck, but i want to see how it all fits together. even though i hated the hire at the time, i think the first year he was stuck with some bad players and trying to get his scheme to fit the current roster. last year was a good turn of new players, and this year is his year to prove himself. if he shows he's capable of getting us a winner, then let it ride. obviously changing coaches every other year isn't working either.

fewell, i think put a d together that would keep points off the board. he didn't have the players to be dominant.most of the games last year we were in the game until the end. if the offense scored more points, perhaps he'd have the liberty to blitz and play tight man. but he also knew he wasn't getting any push on the line and the DB's were out there for 4-5 seconds every play. the cushions helped keep the team fresh to a degree.

The whole coaching staff has to bring it this year to keep their jobs. i am hoping and optimistic that they can get it done.

[justasportsfan]

Just like last year was JP's year to make that step, this year is DJ's turn to prove why he needs to be the coach of this team. .

Comparing JP to Dick? lol.

Dick had the complete backing of the GM . JP was ruined by a GM.

[trapezeus]

Comparing JP to Dick? lol.

Dick had the complete backing of the GM . JP was ruined by a GM.

your pathetic. it actually is similar from a fans perspective. we were all hoping JP made the jump last year and he didn't. Hence why a lot of people lost faith in him.

Same thing with Jauron. We hope he makes that jump this year. if he turns in a dud of a season, most of this board will eat him alive. And there will be a handful of people who'll want to make excuses for him and his failure.

i'm putting my faith in jauron because i want this team to be meaningful on a national level again. i think having to restart is going to be really slow and take more time. it's imperative that the bills show signs of being a good football team or else it's another couple years of rebuilding and debating about each and every micro decision.

[justasportsfan]

your pathetic. it actually is similar from a fans perspective. we were all hoping JP made the jump last year and he didn't. Hence why a lot of people lost faith in him.

.
First of all it's "you're" . 2nd whats pathetic is YOU dragging in JP's name into a Dick thread . Your hate is eating you up . 3rd it's apples and oranges . Dick chose Fairchild who ruined the O. The qb does not choose the OC and if it set back the team, the HC who picked the OC is to blame. Not the qb.

Now back to your JP bashing.

[gr8slayer]

The word "Losman" is stuck in my head for the rest of my life because of this board and the people who won't let it go.

[bigbub2352]

bigbub, i'm not against saying DJ and co suck, but i want to see how it all fits together. even though i hated the hire at the time, i think the first year he was stuck with some bad players and trying to get his scheme to fit the current roster. last year was a good turn of new players, and this year is his year to prove himself. if he shows he's capable of getting us a winner, then let it ride. obviously changing coaches every other year isn't working either.

fewell, i think put a d together that would keep points off the board. he didn't have the players to be dominant.most of the games last year we were in the game until the end. if the offense scored more points, perhaps he'd have the liberty to blitz and play tight man. but he also knew he wasn't getting any push on the line and the DB's were out there for 4-5 seconds every play. the cushions helped keep the team fresh to a degree.

The whole coaching staff has to bring it this year to keep their jobs. i am hoping and optimistic that they can get it done.

Nice Post, i agree with some of what you are saying, but if we would have hired the right personel in the first place back when we hired TD and GW, then DJ wouldnt probably be here maybe as a DC, i think his hiring and the hiring of his staff was piss poor form the beginning, i understand it is a process but that is all we ever go thru is rebuilding

My point is simple hire the right people in the first place, also spend some money on your coaches like the rest of the winning franchises do, and make the right personnel decisions
Simple
DJ no playoffs fired!

[gr8slayer]

Nice Post, i agree with some of what you are saying, but if we would have hired the right personel in the first place back when we hired TD and GW, then DJ wouldnt probably be here maybe as a DC, i think his hiring and the hiring of his staff was piss poor form the beginning, i understand it is a process but that is all we ever go thru is rebuilding

My point is simple hire the right people in the first place, also spend some money on your coaches like the rest of the winning franchises do, and make the right personnel decisions
Simple
DJ no playoffs fired!
This is one area where I still think Ralph is as cheap as they come. I often wonder if he picks coaches based on who wants less money.

[raphael120]

JAURON WEARY OF BEING SECOND-GUESSED -- Coach Dick Jauron of the Chicago Bears is being second-guessed for his strategy in the last two minutes of the Tampa Bay game.
The Bears took over on the Bucs' 26-yard line with a 27-24 lead, but a handoff from Jim Miller to Anthony Thomas was fumbled. Thomas recovered, but after Tampa used its last timeout with 1:47 left, Jauron, a former Jaguars defensive coordinator, decided to kneel down three times.
That gave the Bucs the ball back with 18 seconds left. Two passes and a 15-yard penalty on R.W. McQuarters gave Martin Gramatica a chance to tie the game with a 48-yard field goal. But he hit the upright -- his first miss from under 50 yards this year -- and Chicago escaped with the victory.
If Gramatica had made it and the Bears had lost in overtime, Jauron would have gotten a lot of flak.
"It was my call and I'll certainly live with it," said Jauron, who thought his defense could hold the Bucs.
He's also tired of being second-guessed in the media. "I'm glad that [the media] has work," Jauron said sarcastically. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure that's a good thing. It's good for everybody."

Sound familiar?

[patmoran2006]

This is one area where I still think Ralph is as cheap as they come. I often wonder if he picks coaches based on who wants less money.
I have very little doubt that's the case.

[madness]

:rofl: Talk about a reach. Player miscues lead to blaming Jauron? "IF he didn't miss the FG Jauron would have questioned"... please. IF Thomas didn't fumble and IF the defense didn't give a 15 yard penalty it still would have been the right call.

I have no problem with a coach who has to deal with a major overhaul of almost an entire roster and still manages to get to 7-9 the first two years. Anybody been watching the Dolphins lately?

I'm holding my opinion of Jauron until after this season.

[raphael120]

I'm holding my opinion of Jauron until after this season.

As am I. But I really think my mind will be made up before the BYE week. Slow start again = same ol' doo doo caa caa.

[gr8slayer]

As am I. But I really think my mind will be made up before the BYE week. Slow start again = same ol' doo doo caa caa.
Yeah, it's a lot harder to dig yourself out of a three or four game hole.

[acehole]

Stats dont mean anything...it is wins and losses...


Remember...NO CRITICAL THINKING!
Dont dig deeper for truths...

quote=patmoran2006]So I've been doing some research for an upcoming story on Mr. Richard Jauron. I found something that I didn't have any idea about.

The "myth" about Jauron is that he is constantly losing close games as head coach. THese sentiments were echoed on WGR today by Mike Schoop, when he said the biggest problem he sees with the Bills is Jauron's inability to win close games.

Well we all or most of anyway know that Jauron is 17 games under .500 for his coaching career (50-67). We all know that Jauron has had only one winning season (2001- Chicago) in his seven full seasons as head coac (I don't count his 1-4 at the end of the Detroit season as a losing season on him)

But here is something I found in my research that surprised me.

In his career, Jauron actually has a winning record in games that are decided by four or fewer points. He's 22-19 for his career in "close" games (Though he's just 4-7 during his two Bills campaigns to date.)

For his career he is:
22-19 in games decided by 4 points or less
28-48 in games decided by 4 or more points

So that should tell us two things
1) He's largely had teams that have been outgunned in talent.
2) Contrary to popular opinion, the record shows he wins more close games than he loses.

IN addition, if you go by the Jauron history, here is another set of numbers that are NOT good news for our offense.

Only once in his full seven years as a head coach have one of his offenses been ranked in the top 22 in the NFL in scoring. That was in 2001 with Chicago. His offenses the other six seasons have ranked 25th, 28th, 27th, 23rd, 23rd and 30th respectively.

Going by these numbers, the conclusion certainly isn't ground-breaking. Jauron is a very conservative coach who likes to keep the game close to his vest, keep his team in the game late and then rely on a big play or two in the late stages to get his victories.

It's safe to say we'll probably be the same this year.. Hopefully we can make a few plays late in games to seal close wins.

But again, the one stat I didn't expect was him having a winning record in games by four points or less, considering he's 17 games under .500 for his career.[/quote]

[acehole]

I actually remember that too. Worst 13-3 team I could remember.

What a great deffense though.

Funny how that works.

Keep the other team from scoring more points then you is a novel idea.

[Oaf]

I wish we were a bad 13-3 team :ill:
That got manhandled by their division rival twice, then AGAIN in their first playoff game? No thanks. Well, then again, since we're already getting manhandled...

[Saratoga Slim]

Sticking up for DJ only means you are satisfied with medicracy

C'mon, you're a better poster than this. Nobody's satisfied with "mediocrity", everyone here wants to win more than anything. This thread isn't arguing that Jauron's the new Belicheck, Pat was just making the point that while Jauron doesn't have a good record overall, contrary to popular opinion he's done surprisingly well in close games. Looking at that stat over a long career DOES have some meaning. It suggests that, while he's still finding a way to lose overall, it's not necessarily because he gets outcoached in close games. Again--not saying he's a good coach, just offering some evidence that while he's losing more than winning, there's little evidence that it's because he does poorly in tight situations.

That's not defending Jauron--it's just taking a reasoned step towards evaluating what he is and is not good at.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

....Sticking up for DJ only means you are satisfied with medicracy

Just because I've been around long enough to be able to realistically evaluate whether a team has enough talent to be a serious, consistent playoff contender or not it does not mean that I am satisfied with mediocrity.

And, just because I am going to defend Jauron here to a certain extent, that does not necessarily mean that I am convinced that he is a good enough game-day coach to win a Super Bowl (something that I have already stated some doubts about).


what happens to those numbers if you define "close" as a touchdown or less instead of 4 points or less? 4 seems like a pretty arbitrary number, particularly since there's no 4 point play in football.

Also, the 28-48 in games that aren't close isn't too encouraging. It means he's lost big 20 more times than he's won big.

In assessing Jauron's won-lost record, has anyone here bothered to take into consideration the starting QBs that he has had to work with?

With very few exceptions--and only in instance when a team has had an absolutely dominant defense--a team has to have at least an above-average starting QB to win a Super Bowl and, more often than not, a top-tier QB to be a consistent championship contender.

Jauron's starting QBs have been: Chris Chandler, Shane Matthews, Jim Miller, Cade McNown, Cordell Stewart, Rex Grossman Joey Harrington, JP Losman and Trent Edwards. With McNown, Grossman and Edwards both beginning as rookies under Jauron--and suffering the same problems with consistency that rookie QBs usually do--Chandler is the only one who, when healthy--which he hardly ever was--could be considered even an "average" QB at the time when he played for Jauron (Stewart, maybe).

Without consistent, quality play at the QB position it is going to be difficult to win in the NFL, regardless who the HC is.

Moreover, it should be noted that, in addition to last season's injury-ravaged season with the Bills, Jauron also coached the Bears in a season when the team played its "home" games at the U. of Illinois' field while Soldier Field in Chicago was being renovated, bussing to games in Champaign-Urbana (hardly the standard preparation for a NFL team playing at "home"). If you saw any Illini games at the time, the Illinois field was horrid and that team was ravaged by injuries (including losing its defensive sparkplug, M.Brown).

Yes, Jauron's won-lost record is not good. But, it should be fairly noted that, with the Bears, he took over a team that had finished 4-12 the previous year under Dave Wannstedt and was being rebuilt from scratch. As has already been noted, they were definitely an under-talented team: C.Ennis and E.Bennett were the starting RBs, while Matthews, Miller and the rookie McNown replaced T.Kramer and S.Stenstrom at QB that year. Bobby Engram was their leading WR. Walt Harris was the best player on the defense.
http://assets.chicagobears.com/assets/tradition/AllTimeResults2006.pdf

The Lions team that he coached was perfectly awful.

And, need I remind everyone that the Bills team that he took over was coming off of a 5-11 campaign during which a number of vets quit on their teammates and there was a lockerroom revolt that led Marv Levy to clean out the lockerroom and rebuild the team from scratch. Many of the free agents who were brought in during Jauron's first season with the Bills were "position-fillers": players who had either had mixed results or under-performed to that point who had the potential to become better players or continue to under-perform, but who could fill a spot in the lineup or on the roster until more suitable replacements could be brought in to replace them should they under-perform (rebuilding teams often bring in "position-fillers" during the first couple of years of the rebuilding process). Realistically, Jauron's first Bills' team simply did not have enough talent to be expected to win much and it was a surprise that they finished with 7 wins. After losing 17 players to IR and having several others play significant parts of the season with injuries as well, it would be difficult to argue that Jauron's second Bills team, last year, was not under-talented--or at least short-handed.

Given the lack of talent that he has had at the QB position, the fact that four of his QBs have either been rookies or very inexperienced, and the overall lack of talent on most of the teams that he has coached, it is hardly surprising that Jauron's offenses have been very conservative or that he has tried to play games "close to the vest"--or that his teams have lost a large number of games by a considerable margin. That is what a lot of HC's in the NFL do when they don't have a QB or a very good team (even the "great" Bill Parcells when he started with the Giants): you try to keep the game close and hope that you can steal a win at the end, even though, more often than not, you end up getting beat badly.

To his credit as well is the fact that he did not allow his Bills team to collapse with all of the injuries that they had last season. A lot of teams--some under some big name coaches--have fallen apart in the face of such adversity in the past. Instead, his Bills teams have played very hard for him--something that observers and even some of their opponents have noted. Perhaps that is a sign that Jauron learned something from what happened to his Bears team the year that they played in Champaign. If so, perhaps it is also a sign that he can learn to improve in some of the other areas where he hasn't always been as good as some of the better HCs in the league.

Now, again, I do not know if Jauron is a good enough HC to win a SB--I have some serious doubts about that:

1.) He has made some very bad decisions in picking his OCs--both in Chicago and with the Bills--and he has shown that he really does not like to over-ride the calls that his coordinators make during a game, letting them make the calls that they want to make without interfering when, perhaps, he really should impose his views on them more.

2.) He pretty much admitted in a recent interview that he doesn't know much about offense when he stated that he doesn't care how the team scores, just so long as offense scores. While Parcells is also a HC who also has admitted that he has limited knowledge of the offense, one would like to think that, with all of his years in the league as a player and coach, Jauron would have a bit more understanding of what should or should not work on offense against a particular defense and could transmit that to his OC.

3.) While not as bad as Herm Edwards (who actually hired a coach specifically to assist him in this area during games when he was with the Jets) at clock-management, Jauron has not been very good at clock-management, particularly for someone who played the game. While some of this may be due to the fact that he has had inexperienced QBs and a young team with the Bills, this is an area where he needs to be better, even if it means being more assertive with his coordinators, to match wits with the kind of coaches that the team must beat and will meet in the playoffs.

4.) And, as has been noted, Jauron has made (or allowed his coordinators to make) some very strange in-game decisions that have hurt his team. Even though some of those decisions could perhaps be explained away by the fact that he has not had the best talent to work with most of the time and may have been trying to compensate for that, the fact remains that one could expect more concise and astute decision-making from someone intelligent enough to get into and graduate from Yale.

Given the youth of the team, the inexperience of the starting QB, and the remaining holes in the roster (especially if Peters does not report by opening day or is limited early in the season), I do not believe that Jauron necessarily has to make the playoffs this season in order to keep his job, but the team and record must be better than it was last season for him to do so. A lot will depend on the outcome of the Peters situation and injuries, but, if Peters reports and plays and the team only suffers the normal amount of injuries, I think that it may take a 10-6 record this season to convince R.Wilson to retain Jauron (although it is possible that Wilson will feel that Jauron should get a 4th season to complete the rebuilding process that he has done, if the team finishes 8-8 or 9-7).

Can Jauron take the Bills to a Super Bowl? I don't know. But, for all of his mistakes and strange decisions, I don't think that he is as bad as some of his critics here make him out to be (remember it was a HOF HC, Joe Gibbs, who called two consecutive timeouts last season and turned a long FG into a relative chip shot when the Bills played the 'Skins). Nor am I convinced that he is good enough to take a good team to the next level. Let's see how he performs this season with a team that has as much or more talent than any of the teams that he has ever coached: perhaps having more talent to work with on his team will be reflected in the coaching decisions that he makes as this season progresses. We won't know if it will or not until we see the team play its games.

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I actually like the way DJ manages late games. I know a lot of people want him to air it out when we are leading and are saying he plays not to lose...but the biggest problem with our team the last couple years was we just didn't have the run game to get a few yards when required and get first downs. This has killed us late in games and given teams opportunities to come back...and then the defense is tired and they get taken advantage of. I hope we can get some of those first downs this year and close games. Things won't look as bad.