In Defense of Rex Ryan

[BillsImpossible]

He went 8-8 in his first season with the Bills, and was 4-2 in the AFC East.

I don't think it's fair to cast judgement on any head coach after 1 year, unless your name is Tom Cable, Gregg Williams, Romeo Crennel, Raheem Morris, Marty Mornhinweg, Lane Kiffin, Bobby Petrino, Rich Kotite, or Rod Marinelli.

Did the Bills defense fail last season because of Rex, or because Mario Williams took the year off, Preston Brown had a hard time learning the new system, Kyle Williams got injured, and Nigel Bradham missed too many tackles?

Mario Williams quit on the Bills last year. The team never quit on Rex. After losing to the Eagles and Redskins, the Bills didn't quit on their coach.

At the end of the season, the Bills defense was playing better, even with backup talent like AJ Tarpley, Mario Butler, Duke Williams, and Kevin Reddick.

EJ Manuel lost two critical back to back games against the Bengals and Jaguars in the middle of the season. A healthy Tyrod Taylor would have made a huge difference.

Tyrod Taylor is the best Bills quarterback fans have seen in a long time. He's not a gimmick QB, and has proven that he's a lot more than a running quarterback with his arm strength, accuracy, and toughness.

The only reason why Tyrod Taylor is a Buffalo Bill today is because of Rex Ryan.

The only reason why Greg Roman is the Bills OC is because of Rex Ryan.

If Rex Ryan was the main reason why the defense regressed in 2015, he at least deserves credit for the Bills offensive progression.

The offense wasn't playing as a healthy unit up until week 9, after the bye.

The Bills have the best running game in the NFL with an offensive line that needs improvement.

The Bills ranked 13th in overall offense in 2015, their best ranking since the 2002 season.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&role=TM&offensiveStatisticCategory=GAME_STATS&defensiveStatisticCategory=null&season=2015&seasonType=REG&tabSeq=2&qualified=false&Submit=Go

Rex is all in on Buffalo, and I'm with him because he's not a fake. He's not Fool's Gold, and I give him the benefit of the doubt.

It's not like he intentionally tried to F up the defense. He tried to make it better and that failed, but I don't think he deserves all of the blame when the Bills highest paid player quit on him and the team.

[Joe Fo Sho]

But he yaps.

[cookie G]

It was John Izdik's fault

[Albany,n.y.]

Belichick took an 8-8 team & turned it into a 5-11 team his 1st season in NE.

All the Rex critics would have wanted to run him out of town if they were Patriots fans in 2000.

Many successful coaches over the years who have turned around teams had a mediocre or worst 1st season. Contrary to the whiners around here, I expect Rex to get this team turned around, starting with this season.

[BillsImpossible]

It was John Izdik's fault

Rex wanted Taylor when he was with the Jets.

Idzik said no.

The Jets had the 4th best defense last year. Their offense ranked 10th with Fitz.

Rex's Bills beat them, twice, and knocked the Jets out of the playoffs.

If Idzik said yes to Taylor, Rex Ryan would still be with the Jets today, and they more than likely would have been in the playoffs in 2015.

[BillsImpossible]

Belichick took an 8-8 team & turned it into a 5-11 team his 1st season in NE.

All the Rex critics would have wanted to run him out of town if they were Patriots fans in 2000.

Many successful coaches over the years who have turned around teams had a mediocre or worst 1st season. Contrary to the whiners around here, I expect Rex to get this team turned around, starting with this season.

Me too. The defense is going to be a lot better now that Rex and Rob are pregnant with twins.

Future Hall of Famer, Ed Reed will fill the void of Donnie Henderson and hopefully be as good of a teacher as he was a player.

Ed Reed specializes in film study. He's a football nerd.

Reed is another guy that gets no love from Bills fans hell bent on burning Rex at the stake after his first year.

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

honestly BImp, I can live with the fact that we didn't make the playoffs. I can live with the fact that we went 8-8. I can ALMOST even live with the fact that our defense regressed so much last year.

What I can't live with is the constant yapping without results. If we start winning, I'll be happy to listen to Rex yap all day and all night.

[cookie G]

Rex wanted Taylor when he was with the Jets.

Idzik said no.

The Jets had the 4th best defense last year. Their offense ranked 10th with Fitz.

Rex's Bills beat them, twice, and knocked the Jets out of the playoffs.

If Idzik said yes to Taylor, Rex Ryan would still be with the Jets today, and they more than likely would have been in the playoffs in 2015.

Rex burned through 2 GMs and a small gang of offensive coordinators in his stay in NY.

Despite giving into him and making D the priority in the draft every year, his defense ended up around 20th in the league his past 4 seasons.

With a new team ...he took a top 5 defense to below average.
And now people are talking about getting a bunch of new defensive players.

The team he left improved dramatically on both sides of the ball without him.

Its always Its always the fault of someone else with him.

[BillsImpossible]

Rex burned through 2 GMs and a small gang of offensive coordinators in his stay in NY.

Despite giving into him and making D the priority in the draft every year, his defense ended up around 20th in the league his past 4 seasons.

With a new team ...he took a top 5 defense to below average.
And now people are talking about getting a bunch of new defensive players.

The team he left improved dramatically on both sides of the ball without him.

Its always Its always the fault of someone else with him.

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[BillsImpossible]

Does anyone here think that Rex Ryan wanted to draft Geno Smith?

[SpikedLemonade]

The truth is that the game has passed by Rex.

This upcoming year will be further evidence of that.

[YardRat]

After what transpired this last year, there is no defense for Wrecks...just excuses.

[feldspar]

Despite giving into him and making D the priority in the draft every year, his defense ended up around 20th in the league his past 4 seasons.

No they didn't...not even close.

Explain...

[mdcas22]

a good coach takes over a team and dissects each individual player on the team, he run's what best fits that player, thats the difference between a good coach and a sub 500 coach as Rex is. Rex is a scheme guy stickily running his system no matter, Wade Phillips took a great defense and made it better by doing what I just said. all the great coachs run what best fits there players, the perfect example was Don Shula who loved to run the ball with Larry Czonka and Jim Kick, then come's Marino and they hardly ran the ball, thats how you coach football, Rex is a bu s hit artist.

[Mace]

Ryan is a yapping snake oil salesman who sells only old snake oil.

That said, if they can't set him up with Ryan players this Ryan player looking draft and implement his Ryan defense with some success this year with a tougher schedule, I will personally become more displeased and meaner to him in my assessment on message boards and in appropriate conversations, because I'm near sure he'll get a year 3 to dork it up worse regardless.

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But he yaps.

Good to see you finally came around.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

No they didn't...not even close.

Explain...

By scoring, they were 20th in 2011, 20th in 2012, 19th in 2013, 24th in 2014.

[feldspar]

By scoring, they were 20th in 2011, 20th in 2012, 19th in 2013, 24th in 2014.

I figured.

But when you say so-and-so was ranked this-or-that in defense, you are talking about total yards allowed unless you qualify that somehow.

Because, by yards allowed, they were 5th in 2011, 8th in 2012, 11th in 2013, and 6th in 2014 even though they had no secondary.

What does the disparity between the yards-allowed stats and the points-allowed stats tell you?

Also, keep in mind that the "points allowed" stats aren't completely on the defense in this case...pick-sixes, fumbles returned for TDs (including the butt-fumble)' and special teams TDs are included in the points teams give up here. Those numbers are inflated. Rex had Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith, for crying out loud.

Call me crazy for not being a crybaby after what happened this year, but I still think that Ryan is a very good defensive mind.lets not blame anything on Dennis Thurman though, right? Now, with Rob Ryan, we have the trifecta...although it's STILL all Rex to point the finger at, right? I think we'll vastly improve on defense next year, especially if we can stay relatively healthy. I'm encouraged by our offensive performance, which exceeded expectations.

[Topas]

... Now, with Rob Ryan, we have the trifecta...although it's STILL all Rex to point the finger at, right? I think we'll vastly improve on defense next year, especially if we can stay relatively healthy. I'm encouraged by our offensive performance, which exceeded expectations.

I dont know. We brought in a coach he has a proven track record of getting the worst out of decent Def units. I mean with NO, you have Brees and you need only to field something that remotely looks like a defense to get into the playoffs, and he could not even do that.
If they are aiming for the first overall pick, that strategy makes sense. But unfortunately Taylor and Roman are screwing up that strategy.

[feldspar]

I dont know. We brought in a coach he has a proven track record of getting the worst out of decent Def units. I mean with NO, you have Brees and you need only to field something that remotely looks like a defense to get into the playoffs, and he could not even do that.
If they are aiming for the first overall pick, that strategy makes sense. But unfortunately Taylor and Roman are screwing up that strategy.

Rob Ryan has turned around a defense in his first year as coordinator before...and he isn't even the coordinator here. It may have fell to **** later, but he's had some success out of the gate before.

We're only talking about one year where Rob is around, I hope. He's probably auditioning for another job, which tends to motivate competitive people...

[Albany,n.y.]

The truth is that the game has passed by Vermeil.
This upcoming year will be further evidence of that.

Said by 90% of Rams fans the offseason before they won the Super Bowl.

I think the game has passed by too many of the Rex haters.

[justasportsfan]

He went 8-8 in his first season with the Bills, and was 4-2 in the AFC East.


there is no defending Rex when he didn't make playoffs. He ruined the D , his specialty.

I'll give him credit for picking Roman and Roman putting a better O than Marrone did. But thanking Ryan for Roman would be like thanking Marrone for Schwartz and the D he put up.

[Victor7]

There's 2 ways of looking at that 4-2 record vs East.

What if the Fins or Jets improve ?? Where are our wins gonna come from ? We weren't very good vs the rest of the field.

We played 2 of the weakest divisions last year in the AFC South and the NFC East and came out 4-4 there. Easily 3-5 had Tony Romo been healthy.

[Joe Fo Sho]

There's 2 ways of looking at that 4-2 record vs East.

What if the Fins or Jets improve ?? Where are our wins gonna come from ? We weren't very good vs the rest of the field.

We played 2 of the weakest divisions last year in the AFC South and the NFC East and came out 4-4 there. Easily 3-5 had Tony Romo been healthy.

5-3 had Tyrod been healthy.

[Victor7]

5-3 had Tyrod been healthy.

The Jax game for sure. But what other ? I don't think we beat Dallas.

[Joe Fo Sho]

The Jax game for sure. But what other ? I don't think we beat Dallas.

Well in my scenario I get to count Tyrod as healthy but Romo as still injured because it's my scenario and there's nothing you can do about it!

The only reason I did that was because you counted Romo as healthy but Tyrod as still injured. I don't think we could have beat Cincy this year even with a healthy Tyrod unless we met them in the playoffs. This year it would all even out at 4-4, assuming everything else equal. This is why I hate hypothetical situations.

[Bill Cody]

Taylor is likely to miss games every year, he's small and he runs. Whoever the backup QB is may not be any better than EJ, that's why they're backups. My beef with Rex is the D. He ruined it. And now he looks to be trying to pass that off that his players didn't give him a memo that they hated it. Give me a break. We were decent coaching away last year from 10-6. That's on Rex.

[Mace]

Said by 90% of Rams fans the offseason before they won the Super Bowl.

I think the game has passed by too many of the Rex haters.

I think the game has passed by the Ryan defense. Like I've said before, the 4 Ryan defensive variations finished ranked 7th (KC), 19th (Buffalo), 27th (Cleveland) and 31st (NO) in the league in 2015. KC is Ryan in theory only, not scheme.

It's not even a matter of being a Rex hater (for me anyway), it's a matter of adapting to what isn't working if you're supposed to be a defensive guru. Reminds me of Wannstedt who proved helpless as the game passed him by. I could tolerate his yapping (sorry Joe Fo Sho, had to throw it in there) if he was adapting successfully on the fly, I could tolerate his persona and personality issues if they had helped anything, and I could tolerate the teams lack of success if we didn't now have to rebuild something that didn't need it and they looked like they could play with the big boys when they faced them.

To me it comes down to them restocking and remaking with Ryan guys this year. If it works, well shame on me I'm an idiot. If it doesn't work, as I expect it won't, I saw it coming and said so.

[BillsImpossible]

After what transpired this last year, there is no defense for Wrecks...just excuses.

Excuses? Mario Williams publicly said before the season started that he wanted to play Will Linebacker, which involves covering players downfield.

"I look forward to it," he said. "So hopefully if (Ryan) hears this, this is my call-in: Will Linebacker. So hopefully it works out."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000462634/article/mario-williams-excited-to-move-back-to-linebacker

Who's making excuses now? Mario got what he wished for and blew it. Of course, it wasn't his fault.

I'm surprised that people blame Rex for the defensive downfall instead of laying blame squarely at the feet of Mario Williams

There's no excuse for him taking the year off. Do your job, earn your paycheck.

Mario Williams tanked the 2015 season on purpose. He wasn't giving 100% effort and everyone knew it.

Media reporters, fans, and this entire board knows Mario mailed it in last year. He wasn't Super Mario, he was the mailman.

Is that Rex's fault?

I think that is the biggest reason why the Bills defense wasn't successful in 2015. Mario Williams quit, not Rex.

Other players on defense may have disagreed with Rex, but they didn't quit and earned their paychecks.

[YardRat]

If you truly believe the precipitous drop in defensive performance from one season to the next lay on the shoulders of a single player, I can't help you. I suppose the credit for the vast improvement from Pettine to Schwartz in back-to-back years should go solely to Mario too, then?

[BillsImpossible]

there is no defending Rex when he didn't make playoffs. He ruined the D , his specialty.

I'll give him credit for picking Roman and Roman putting a better O than Marrone did. But thanking Ryan for Roman would be like thanking Marrone for Schwartz and the D he put up.

Marrone was a douche bag, but he does deserve credit for hiring Schwartz.

You give Rex credit for hiring Roman, but what about Tyrod Taylor?

Rex deserves a lot of credit for recruiting and signing the best starting quarterback the Bills since too long to mention.

Rex didn't ruin the D, Mario Williams did.

[Mace]

Excuses? Mario Williams publicly said before the season started that he wanted to play Will Linebacker, which involves covering players downfield.

"I look forward to it," he said. "So hopefully if (Ryan) hears this, this is my call-in: Will Linebacker. So hopefully it works out."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000462634/article/mario-williams-excited-to-move-back-to-linebacker

Who's making excuses now? Mario got what he wished for and blew it. Of course, it wasn't his fault.

I'm surprised that people blame Rex for the defensive downfall instead of laying blame squarely at the feet of Mario Williams

There's no excuse for him taking the year off. Do your job, earn your paycheck.

Mario Williams tanked the 2015 season on purpose. He wasn't giving 100% effort and everyone knew it.

Media reporters, fans, and this entire board knows Mario mailed it in last year. He wasn't Super Mario, he was the mailman.

Is that Rex's fault?

I think that is the biggest reason why the Bills defense wasn't successful in 2015. Mario Williams quit, not Rex.

Other players on defense may have disagreed with Rex, but they didn't quit and earned their paychecks.

More players than Mario on the defense. You're making excuses for Wrecks !

[BillsImpossible]

If you truly believe the precipitous drop in defensive performance from one season to the next lay on the shoulders of a single player, I can't help you. I suppose the credit for the vast improvement from Pettine to Schwartz in back-to-back years should go solely to Mario too, then?

Mario Williams had his 3 best years statistically in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was the most dominating defensive player for the Bills two years in a row and was the main reason why the Bills defense was successful under Pettine and Schwartz.

I honestly think that Mario hit his peak as an NFL player in 2014, lost his edge last year and blamed it on Rex Ryan.

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More players than Mario on the defense. You're making excuses for Wrecks !

They didn't quit. Mario did.

[BillsImpossible]

Anyone here think that Mario Williams didn't mail it in last year?

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[Mace]

Mario Williams had his 3 best years statistically in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was the most dominating defensive player for the Bills two years in a row and was the main reason why the Bills defense was successful under Pettine and Schwartz.

I honestly think that Mario hit his peak as an NFL player in 2014, lost his edge last year and blamed it on Rex Ryan.

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They didn't quit. Mario did.

Wasn't that they quit they were just utterly unsuitable for the scheme, and the coach was utterly unsuitable to scheme them.

Anyway, Paxton is up to 244 lbs, I withdraw my stringbean argument. We won't get him anyway but he's a robust trebuchet these days.

[BillsImpossible]

Wasn't that they quit they were just utterly unsuitable for the scheme, and the coach was utterly unsuitable to scheme them.

Anyway, Paxton is up to 244 lbs, I withdraw my stringbean argument. We won't get him anyway but he's a robust trebuchet these days.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ysye3RTUSio" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[BillsImpossible]

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[justasportsfan]

Marrone was a douche bag, but he does deserve credit for hiring Schwartz.

You give Rex credit for hiring Roman, but what about Tyrod Taylor?

Rex deserves a lot of credit for recruiting and signing the best starting quarterback the Bills since too long to mention.

Rex didn't ruin the D, Mario Williams did.

Hiring Tyrod means nothing when the reason you did not make playoffs is because you destroyed the defense. In other words the good he did like hiring Tyrod was good enough his destroying the D.

[BillsImpossible]

Hiring Tyrod means nothing when the reason you did not make playoffs is because you destroyed the defense. In other words the good he did like hiring Tyrod was good enough his destroying the D.

Congrats on mangling the English language to death.

[justasportsfan]

Congrats on mangling the English language to death.
Sorry , I meant it wasn't good enough to overcome the bad
. Dumb enough for you? I'm still right

[Mace]

Congrats on mangling the English language to death.

To death even ! I'd better learn Spanish faster.

Success for Rex Ryan :


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uReGn1l4ir8

[bleve]

Excuses? Mario Williams publicly said before the season started that he wanted to play Will Linebacker, which involves covering players downfield.

"I look forward to it," he said. "So hopefully if (Ryan) hears this, this is my call-in: Will Linebacker. So hopefully it works out."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000462634/article/mario-williams-excited-to-move-back-to-linebacker

Who's making excuses now? Mario got what he wished for and blew it. Of course, it wasn't his fault.

I'm surprised that people blame Rex for the defensive downfall instead of laying blame squarely at the feet of Mario Williams

There's no excuse for him taking the year off. Do your job, earn your paycheck.

Mario Williams tanked the 2015 season on purpose. He wasn't giving 100% effort and everyone knew it.

Media reporters, fans, and this entire board knows Mario mailed it in last year. He wasn't Super Mario, he was the mailman.

Is that Rex's fault?

I think that is the biggest reason why the Bills defense wasn't successful in 2015. Mario Williams quit, not Rex.

Other players on defense may have disagreed with Rex, but they didn't quit and earned their paychecks.

If indeed Mario was able to play an entire season "mailing it in" as you suggest, then yes. 100% it's Wreck's fault.

[Turf]

Rex STILL hasn't figured out what every team that was succesfull against us did. They ran a hurry up offense. The teams we beat ran a conventional offense. Every team in the no huddle smoked our defense. How hard is that to figure out for a 5 million dollar a year coach.