Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan is likely on his way out, but a new report suggests he won’t be getting his walking papers until after the season has ended.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported Sunday morning that Ryan could be fired as early as Monday, with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn stepping in on an interim basis. But owner Terry Pagula reportedly has no interest in such an arrangement.
“NFL sources said Bills owner Terry Pegula was opposed to the idea of making an in-season coaching change,” writes Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News. “However, they added, they wouldn’t be surprised if Ryan was out after the Jan. 1 regular-season finale against the New York Jets.”
Carucci also shared that his sources say the Bills owner is unhappy with the “incompetence” that has been on display under Ryan. Pagula is reportedly “particularly frustrated by what has transpired in losses the past two weeks.”
The Bills took an early lead on the road against the Oakland Raiders in Week 13, going up 24-9 before being outscored 29-0 to close out the game with a miserable loss.
Then Buffalo was a train wreck on Sunday at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The offense managed just 14 first downs, the running game was shut down and didn’t really wake up at all until garbage time in the fourth quarter after going down 24-7.
Defensively, the Bills were helpless to stop Le’Veon Bell from posting video game numbers the like we haven’t seen in a while (more on that here).
Ryan’s specialty is on the defensive side of the ball. And now for the second year in a row Buffalo is struggling on that side of the ball. A coach who started the season on the hot seat, it’s a blazing inferno at this point. The smart move might be to go ahead and let Ryan go and see what Lynn can do with this team the final three weeks of the season.
But that isn’t what appears to be in the cards for the Bills, who are about to miss the playoffs for the 17th straight year.