Dennis Thurman and Ed Reed Out, Mike Pettine and Donnie Henderson In?

[BillsImpossible]

Dennis Thurman will not be the Bills DC next year. He's got to go. He called the plays this year, not Rex.

Replacing Thurman with Mike Pettine is intriguing. Pettine took the year off, so coming back to Buffalo and reuniting with Rex would make sense.

Ed Reed was a HoF player, but as a defensive backs coach he stinks.

Wayne Gretzky was a great player, but not a good coach. Henderson took the year off too. The Bills secondary has regressed ever since DH left OBD.

Many people think Rex Ryan needs to go too, but he didn't blow two obvious pass interference calls (one in the endzone) or fail to give the Bills a timeout before the Dolphins kicked a 55 yard field goal to tie the game.

With good officiating, the Bills would be 8-7 heading in to week 17, or even 9-6 if the refs didn't admittedly royally screw up in Seattle.

10 men on the field? Is that Dennis Thurman's fault, or Rex Ryan's?

Poor tackling by Gilmore? Is that Ed Reed's fault, or Rex Ryan's?

Punting with over 4 minutes left in OT? The Dolphins tied the game with 1 minute and 20 seconds left on the clock with zero timeouts.

I can understand the logic - pin them back deep in their own territory, force them to go 3 and out, punt, and the Bills have excellent field position with over 2 minutes left to drive 20 yards for the game winning field goal.

With a better defensive coordinator, a better defensive backs coach, and better officiating, the Bills would be in the playoffs.

This team is so close to ending the playoff drought.

Blowing the whole thing up will only set them back another 5 years.

[Turf]

You can't be serious.

[Ginger Vitis]

why would Ryan or you think the dolphins were going to go 3 and out after the bills punted in OT when the defense was being gouged through the ground and air.. Youre probably the only one defending that decision to punt..

[jlgarsh]

I'd love Donnie Henderson to come back, but not with Rex Ryan as coach

[BillsImpossible]

why would Ryan or you think the dolphins were going to go 3 and out after the bills punted in OT when the defense was being gouged through the ground and air.. Youre probably the only one defending that decision to punt..

If the Bills went for it on 4th down and failed to convert, the fish get the ball back on the 40 yard line and win. People would be calling for Rex's head on a stick for not punting.

[Mace]

You can't be serious.

He never is, you have to know this by now.

[Mace]

If the Bills went for it on 4th down and failed to convert, the fish get the ball back on the 40 yard line and win. People would be calling for Rex's head on a stick for not punting.

Perfect time for Manuel and the hardcount.

[BillsImpossible]

You can't be serious.

Repeating the past 17 years of wash, rinse and repeat is not working....obviously.

Why not take a new approach and give the team a chance to grow into what we all so desperately want?

Firing everyone and blowing it all up again after 2 seasons is going to result in the same outcome.

It took Marvin Lewis how long to make the playoffs?

It took Jason Garrett how long to make the playoffs?

Yes, we all live in an instant gratification world, but the NFL is not a world in which a new coach gets hired and everything instantly turns roses.

It takes time to build a winning team.

[justasportsfan]

Die thread, die

[BillsImpossible]

There is such a thing called "Growing Pains," in the NFL.

In order to grow, one has to suffer more than a few setbacks.

That's the only way a team, or the average person learns.

The best lessons in life and football are your own mistakes.

Tyrod Taylor had his best game as a Buffalo Bill today, but he made mistakes.

Tom Brady is great today because he constantly learns from his own mistakes.

Half or more of being great is seeing your own faults, admitting them, learning from them, and making wins out of lemons.

Few people ever thought Drew Brees would ever amount to anything but another bust in the NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/player/drewbrees/2504775/careerstats

In his first year as a starter, Brees went 8-8 after winning his first 4 games.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BreeDr00/gamelog/

In his second year, Drew Brees started 0-5 with the Chargers, played 11 games and won only 2.

In his third year, Brees finished 11-4 in the 2004 season.

In his fourth year, Brees finished 9-7.

4 years after that, he won the Super Bowl.

What's my point?

It takes time, and time is mean ***** in the NFL.

[Ginger Vitis]

There is such a thing called "Growing Pains," in the NFL.

In order to grow, one has to suffer more than a few setbacks.

That's the only way a team, or the average person learns.

The best lessons in life and football are your own mistakes.

Tyrod Taylor had his best game as a Buffalo Bill today, but he made mistakes.

Tom Brady is great today because he constantly learns from his own mistakes.

Half or more of being great is seeing your own faults, admitting them, learning from them, and making wins out of lemons.

Few people ever thought Drew Brees would ever amount to anything but another bust in the NFL.

http://www.nfl.com/player/drewbrees/2504775/careerstats

In his first year as a starter, Brees went 8-8 after winning his first 4 games.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BreeDr00/gamelog/

In his second year, Drew Brees started 0-5 with the Chargers, played 11 games and won only 2.

In his third year, Brees finished 11-4 in the 2004 season.

In his fourth year, Brees finished 9-7.

4 years after that, he won the Super Bowl.

What's my point?

It takes time, and time is mean ***** in the NFL.

1. Rex Ryan is making the same mistakes he made when he was the jets coach. He has not shown any improvement and is not learning from his past mistakes at all

2. It doesn't always have to be a 4 or 5 year rebuild when going from one head coach to another... Turnarounds in the NFL can be quick and fast... See the 2006 New Orleans Saints... 2008 Baltimore Ravens... 2008 Atlanta Falcons.. 2011 San Francisco 49ers...

[sudzy]

The only way I would be open to keeping Rex is if he got rid of his defensive staff, including his brother. Which is not going to happen. Rex sealed his fate the day he hired on one of the WORST defensive minds in football just because he was his brother. And this is on Terry because he let him.

[Historian]

I have a theory on that Sudz.

Given the disunity and downright disdain between the coach and GM, there probably wasn't a lot of people in the organization he could trust.

So he brought in his brother.

He should have put him in a less visible role, IMO.

[YardRat]

I would take Henderson back in a second.

I want nothing to do with Pettine, he's nothing more than Wrecks-Lite. I think some people forget how horrid the run defense was under Pettine.

[Historian]

I think had he won the last three, you could make a couple of those arguments, BI.

Unfortunately that did not happen.

I think the Pegulas (who will be on the hook for 16 mil if they ****-can him) need to look at the whole picture.

Make a list of the pros and cons of Rex.

For me it starts with taking the #4 defense and turning it into a sieve.

They may not be that far off at 8-8 or 7-9, but do you really think that the D improves somehow? Even with Ragland?

I don't.

The horrid clock management, botched timeouts and challenges, not knowing who is traveling to the west coast and who isn't...sorry that just reeks of disorganization to me.

That's not going to change, even if you give him another three years.

One of the things I always miss about Marv was his attention to the details.

All Rex cares about, is when the next Sabre game is.

[Yasgur's Farm]

Bubbye Rex

[Oaf]

I'm with BI here. Continuity for a year 3 would be appreciated if we can fire some defensive staff, bring TT on a team-friendly contract (or let him walk and start Cardale).

[sudzy]

If the defense was playing well and the offense sucked, then an argument could be made to keep Rex and find the right OC to go with him. But, when your coach is known as a "defensive guru" and has a reputation as being "hands off" on offense and his defense is this bad. Even with more then it's share of the teams resources being throw at it? I'm not sure if there is anywhere to go with that.

[HHURRICANE]

The thread has some valid points. I would have liked to seen Rex go for it on 4th and 3 in OT. However if they hadn't made it there would have been a thousand articles on he didn't trust his defense....blah, blah, blah

I agree Reed was a joke and directly related to our secondary being the worst I've seen in years!

[YardRat]

I'm with BI here. Continuity for a year 3 would be appreciated if we can fire some defensive staff, bring TT on a team-friendly contract (or let him walk and start Cardale).

You want continuity? Wrecks has been a head coach for eight seasons now, and six of those he didn't improve on the team's previous season's won-loss record. He's coached a team to a better than .500 record in only two seasons and both of those were immediately after taking over a Jets team that already posted 9-7 prior. His hallmark is mediocrity and under-achieving, which we've had for 17 seasons straight. I can do without that kind of continuity.