Last night's game was generally quite infuriating to watch. Not only because the Bills offense sputtered with quarterback Tyrod Taylor having a poor night throwing the ball but because the game, which wasn't officially over until its last minute, went WAY past my usual bedtime. This was due obviously to an 8.30pm kick-off but also because of delays from numerous injuries on both sides and several officials' on-field conferences where strange calls were discussed and confirmed. Overall, it was just another loss to New England. Not including last season's week 17 win against the Patriots third stringers, the Bills have beaten the Patriots only once since the opening game of 2003 - a week 3 win in Buffalo in September of 2011.
The week 17 win in Foxboro last season was the one which secured a winning season for Buffalo at 9-7, their first one since 2004 when their record was also 9-7. Of note is that each of the two coaches who guided the team to those 9-7 winning seasons, namely Mike Mularkey (now serving a sentence as the Titans interim head coach) and Doug Marrone, both resigned their positions as head coach of the Bills. Mularkey resigned following the 2005 season after Ralph Wilson brought back Marv Levy to serve as the team's general manager. Mularkey foresaw his own firing, presumably, and Levy then hired Dick Jauron who claimed (and proved) that it is indeed hard to win in the NFL. Marrone's resignation was more mysterious as he bailed out last New Year's Eve after rumours circulated that the team was considering bringing back Bill Polian as general manager (which did not happen). Marrone won the jackpot anyway, landing a job as the offensive line coach for the Jaguars. If coaching football is your chosen career path and you find yourself holding one of the 32 jobs which represent the pinnacle of your profession, would you not hold that job for as long possible regardless of who your team may or may not bring in to be your boss? The Bills could easily finish this season at 9-7, after which Rex Ryan will likely resign. Just to follow the pattern.
If Rex doesn't resign after this season (if the Bills finish 8-8, for example), then he will have two more chances next year to beat the Patriots (and state several more times as those games approach that he has no desire to kiss Belichick's rings) with Brady and Belichick but maybe not many more than that as these two will have to retire at some point. Their schedule is quite favourable the rest of the way and they have a great chance to post another 16-0 season, like they did in 2007. At this point, I'm hoping they are able to do that, not only because the Bills are finished with them this season but because they're just so impressive.
The AFC playoff picture is cloudy now but next week's game will clear things up a little as the 5-5 Bills travel to Kansas City to face the 5-5 Chiefs, who are playing as well as any team in the league now. Then the schedule gets considerably easier with a home game against Houston, followed by 3 straight against NFC East teams before closing out the schedule at home to the Jets. The playoffs are still well within reach for this team. If they can make it and break the 16 year drought, Rex Ryan will need to think long and hard about whether or not to resign.
No comments:
Post a Comment