Just watching the Bills in the preseason, it has to make you wonder why he would choose to go to a team like this. Yes, his forte is defense, we all know that. But why does it look like he's trying to fix something that's already a well oiled machine? They have three potential double digit sack rushing 4-3 defensive lineman, and an elite nose tackle in Kyle Williams. He's calling tons of overload blitzes and moving his best players around and seemingly confusing them. They can like his bravado as much as they want, but how long does it take for these players to realize he's putting them in a bad position to succeed. This should be a base cover 2 defense, and he's coming to them and trying to turn it into a scheme that would be best suited for a team that has no elite pass rushers. Not to mention the exotic overload blitzes where the defensive backs rush from 5 yards off the line doesn't work. It takes too long to get there especially when teams know that it's coming after he's been using the same scheme for six years. I was excited to see him potentially go to the Falcons and not have to touch the offense and try to turn a defense around. The Bills are going to be in a lot of of 17-14 games where they can't stop third down conversions because he's too stubborn with his blitzes. We'll see what it materializes into in the regular season, but after watching this game it seems like it's going to be the same old Rex.
Why? Two reasons: A) $27.5 million dollars (a lot more than I thought he'd get) B) The ability to 'get back' at the Jets by being in the same division B's only semi-facetious...but A's the real reason. You're right in that his best career move would have been Atlanta but who knows if they really wanted him. Supposedly the owner did but his football people didn't.
I mean, obviously a coach is going to take an offer if it's out there. That's not exactly the point of the thread. The point is how he seems to be completely remolding the defense when he doesn't really need to. Maybe for those reasons, you have to wonder why Buffalo didn't bring in someone to develop a quarterback. With a front four like that, you could really not touch that defense and you wouldn't have a problem. Now he's going to consistently leave young corners on an island in third and longs and get burned when the quarterback hot routes into the man the blitzers are supposed to be covering.
They won the game.....It was a very competetive one for a pre season game...the 4th qtr got intresting with Manziel and EJs big TD drives.But with that said its the pre season what you see isn't always what you get and I expect the Bills defense to be seriously dominant
Good Post Vilma, I agree completely. They already have dominant pass rushers... they don't even need to blitz. In 2013 when Pettine ran Rex's style D there they were good and got a lot of sacks but they also had a weakness on 3rd down passes in the slot as well as in the running game. When Schwartz came in last year he played the strict 4-3, less blitzing with a mix of man and zone at the back end they were truly dominant. but Rex and Schwartz don't mix so they let him go. that was dumb. Buffalo needed a guy who could squeeze something out of that offense. As we all know, Rex aint that guy. Rex was a better fit in Atlanta and Buffalo would've been much better off getting an offensive mind and keeping that D/system they had last year in tact. Had they brought Kubiak in, just for example, with Schwartz's D, and Kubiak's proven ability to create a great running game, protecting his QBs.... they would've reached their potential IMO
Great call on Kubiak. That team would be downright scary with a good offensive-minded HC like Kubiak.
I'm sure I'll get flack for this but the last 3 years Rex was here I started seeing things with him that made me feel he was extremely overhyped as the defensive "genius" everyone made him out to be. Great coaches pull the most potential out of players as possible and are smart enough to know what their strengths are thus putting them in a position to succeed. Coaches that don't have a clue feel their system is the be all end all and a too short sided to make adjustments to the players they have and force them to do things that don't bring out the best that they can be. IMO Rex is the latter. I always thought the thing that made Rex "great" was the fact that he told you he was. He is more of a personality then a HC or a defensive guru, he's reality TV and he brings your club attention thus selling tickets and lining the owners pockets, which obviously appeals to those owners. The real clubs that actually have a clue what it takes to build a winner wouldn't touch Rex with a 10ft poll. I think Rex will have sort of the same run with Buffalo that he did with us, maybe short of the AFCC appearances, but surely he'll get them competing for a playoff spot. He'll keep fans interested and generate the excitement that franchise has been desperate for since their QB was named Kelly. He'll also peter out and frustrate the fan base the same way he did his last few seasons here. This is just my opinion and I will admit I'm a Rex hater but I really feel that the game has passed his defensive schemes by and his teams will never have any of the success his mouth professes. His only saving grace may be if one of their QBs just catches lightning in a bottle and Roman runs a better offense then any of the clowns we employed did. I still see Rex' not making in game adjustments and his defenses choking down the stretch when big stops are needed just as he did with us. Buffalo had a great defense, they should have hired an offensive guy to right the ship. I for one can't wait to see the wheels fall of that big ugly pickup he's driving around NFL Siberia in.
If he went to the Falcons we would probably have Quinn and be better off on two fronts. (of course time will tell)
It's no secret that Rex's schemes were somewhat innovative at the time, but it's nothing the Steelers hadn't been doing for a decade at that point. His scheme was accelerated by one of the best coverage seasons ever by a corner in this league. We saw what his scheme turned into and how unwilling he was the adjust his scheme to the players he had. "Well we have a strong front 4 and a bad secondary but by God I'm still sending 2 or 3 defensive backs from the same side on 3rd and 13." I don't like to take away from what Rex did because I truly do appreciate his tenure and forcing this team to stand up to the Patriots. The 2010 playoff win over them is probably the best win anyone born after 1975 has seen. It's just a shame that the proper adjustments weren't made in the Championship games to get us to win, especially that Steelers game when we came put looking as flat as a pee wee team. His scheme is stale. He can certainly coach defensive lineman with the best of them, but he's not putting them in the best position to succeed when he was dropping Sheldon Richardson into coverage. That stuff was cool and creative and shock and awe when the Steelers first did it. Now it just directs quarterbacks to get the ball to their area so it can make them miss.
I have some free advice for Bowles/Gailey. When the Bills get us in 3rd and long chuck that sucker downfield against Rex's bring the house blitz/man-to-man coverage.
It's easy to say that about any team that fired a defensive head coach. Doesn't mean a damn thing. List all of the dominant defensive teams that got an offensive minded coach and started beating the world. I'll go ahead and list the obvious: the early 2000s Buccaneers. Who else?
