When Rex Ryan became the head coach of the New York Jets in 2009, he unleashed a brash bravado that stuck out more than that of his father Buddy. Buddy Ryan was the former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals as his teams were always known for their physical style of play. The elder Ryan also clashed with authority figures during his time as a defensive coordinator in the National Football League. As a defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears during the 1980’s, Ryan clashed with head coach Mike Ditka, while during his time as the defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers in 1993, he delivered a punch to offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride during a game. In taking over the Jets, the younger Ryan let it be known from his first day on the job that he wasn’t there to kiss the rings of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick who has dominated the AFC East during his tenure. In Ryan’s first two years with the Jets, he went 3-2 against the Patriots including a playoff victory. But things have changed drastically for Ryan since then.
In Ryan’s last four years as the Jets head coach, New York never had a winning record and they were 1-7 against the Patriots. This past January, Ryan was fired as the Jets coach, but he quickly landed on his feet when he was hired to be the new head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Ryan’s name alone brought excitement to the Bills, but it is still the same old story for him as a head coach because Buffalo remains a mediocre team.
Rex Ryan
Make no mistake about it that Ryan is a tremendous salesman as he could sell water to a whale if he needed to. Ryan is a player’s coach and his guys will run through a wall for him. Ryan’s brash bravado nearly got the Jets to the Super Bowl in his first two years in New York before the nostalgia wore off. But as Ryan has always been at the forefront of giving solid pep talks to his team, he was never able to do a good job of drafting and developing talent as he never became a good X’s and O’s guy on the offensive side of he football. And Ryan has picked up right where he left off with the Bills.
Through 10 games this season, the Bills are 5-5 as they’ve been the epitome of an inconsistent team. The Bills are 22nd in total offense, 17th in total defense, and they are also the second most penalized team in the National Football League this season. And typically when a team commits a slew of penalties, it falls on the notion that they are undisciplined bunch which the Bills are as that falls into the lap of Ryan.
In Week 2 against the Patriots, the Bills were penalized 14 times for 140 yards as they lost 40-32. In Week 4 against the New York Giants, the Bills committed 17 penalties for a grand total of 135 yards. Of those penalties, seven resulted in first downs for the Giants with five of them being of the personal foul or unsportsmanlike conduct variety. But in Ryan’s post game press conference, he shot down the notion of the Bills numerous penalties and instead opted to praise Buffalo for their fight. Ryan has also been hell bent on getting the best of Belichick and the Patriots. But for the Patriots, they operate in a different fashion as whichever team that is coached by Ryan is just another team on their schedule which makes it no surprise that New England typically leaves the field victorious against him.
The Bills are coming off of losing to the Patriots again this past Monday night by a score of 20-13. The Bills did play a physical brand of football as they were always within striking distance of the Patriots, but playing good enough to win and winning are two different things in the National Football League. In Ryan’s career as a head coach, he is now 1-9 in his last 10 games against the Patriots as New England is way out his league due to the fact that they worry about the X’s and O’s of football, while he worries about winning the battle at the podium in front of the media every week.
If this were college basketball, Ryan’s teams would always be on the bubble for the postseason. At 5-5, the Bills find themselves in a four-way tie for the final playoff spot in the AFC with a critical road game coming up this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs who have won four games in a row. And this is the time of year where the disciplined teams that have focused on fundamentals tend to have the most success.
To me Ryan should have taken at least one year away from the National Football League to sit back, reflect, and analyze what went wrong for him the first time around with the Jets. But due to Ryan’s name having some clout, he was in demand last off-season and he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to remain in the AFC East to face the Jets and Patriots each twice a year. Ryan’s Bills were motivated in Week 10 when they went on the road to face the Jets as they won 22-17. But with just a combined four games against the Pats and Jets, Buffalo has to find a way to play with that same intensity and passion in the other 12 contests during the regular season.
However if we as people do not learn from our past mistakes, we are indeed destined to repeat them. Ryan’s mouth put him on the back page of the tabloid papers in New York City, but you also must walk the walk in Gotham. And as Ryan hasn’t adjusted his coaching style which is to be boastful and give pep talks, the Bills shouldn’t expect that much of an increase in the win column anytime soon.
Leave A Comment