Rex Ryan is all too aware that his Buffalo Bills had an incredibly disappointing 2015 season. Speaking to ESPN’s Mike & Mike, Ryan was rather up front about his mistakes.
“It was unusual for us. We really thought we’d bring it together. I probably did some things that, when I go back and look at things, we’re going to do things much differently next year, and we’re going to be better because of it.”
He got specific in detailing some of his own failings, before turning his focus towards the 2016 season.
“In a way, I tried to merge a couple of things, two systems and things like that, and quite honestly it didn’t work,” Ryan admitted. “We’re going to be all in, and we’re going to play Buffalo Bill defense, and we’re not going to be fun to play.”
While Ryan’s teams have missed the playoffs in five consecutive seasons, his teams have a track record of being very difficult to play, as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would surely attest to.
The fact that Rex Ryan is acknowledging his mistakes is a good sign for the Bills and their fans. He knows what the mistakes were and is willing to say that the mistakes were his own.
Better yet, if he’s to be believed, those mistakes won’t be repeated in 2016. That’s vital, as the Bills do have a lot of good players on defense so if they’re buying into one system, there’s no reason to think that they can’t be an elite defense again.
Whether the Bills will finally return to the playoffs or not in 2016 or not remains to be seen, but these words give an encouraging look towards the 2016 season.