Rex Ryan guaranteed the Buffalo Bills would make the playoffs this year and even said he “was getting ready to be” a Super Bowl winning coach. Neither prediction came true for Ryan and his Bills, who missed the playoffs for the 16th straight season.
In hindsight, the loud-talking head coach who has been fueled by bluster his entire career now admits he put the cart in front of the horse.
“We just didn’t produce the wins I thought we would,” Ryan told WGR 550 radio, via the New York Daily News. “The thing that kind of gives this team a black eye when we’re looking at it, is that I let my mouth get ahead of everything. And I think if I would have come in there and just said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna compete’ and do all that stuff, maybe we wouldn’t have such a bad feeling about this team.”
Perhaps another huge disappointment to Ryan personally was the tepid play of his defense. Buffalo currently owns the league’s No. 20-ranked defense in terms of yards allowed and are right in the middle at No. 16 in terms of scoring defense.
Furthermore, he’s been the subject of criticism from some of the team’s most talented defenders — most notably Mario Williams.
Additionally, the offensive coordinator Ryan brought with him to Buffalo, Greg Norman, is reportedly in general manager Doug Whaley’s doghouse and could potentially be fired.
The season has been an abject disaster for Ryan’s Bills, no matter how you slice it. Heading into Week 17 the team has a record of 7-8, is third place in the AFC East and will be watching the playoffs from home.
Perhaps Ryan will finally learn his lesson about making bold claims he can’t back up, but we won’t be holding our breaths over here.