CURTIS HENRY
Sports Editor
Only three weeks removed from being on the hot seat, Rex Ryan is fast becoming one of the mid-season favorites to win the NFL’s coach of the year award. This may be a slight exaggeration, given the fickle nature of football and how many games remain to be played, but the argument can be made for Ryan.
After a 0-2 start against the Jets and Ravens — teams with a combined 4-6 record to this point on the season — the rally cries were out to fire Ryan. Why wouldn’t they be?
Here we had a high-profile coach with multiple factors working in his favor. He had the most talented Bills roster of the century at his disposal. He had a full year’s worth of games to have implemented his system. He had a favorable schedule and a chance to end the longest playoff drought in all of professional sports.
Ryan’s world proceeded fell apart. A myriad of bad coaching decisions, injuries and further question marks began dominating all discussion regarding Ryan. People wanted him gone after a futile effort during his team’s first two games.
Three weeks ago now seems like a lifetime. Ryan is the savior of the Bills, who now sit at 3-2, after underdog victories against each the Cardinals, Patriots and Rams. He’s getting high praise for the Bills recent performances, as he should.
Every decision that Ryan has made in the last three weeks has worked. In the wake of firing Greg Roman, the offense has woken up. The defensive adjustments that he has made have worked, stymying opponents to an average of 12 points allowed per contest over the last three contests. LeSean McCoy looks like the running back that dominated the league from 2012 to 2014.
Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that Ryan is working without his best player on each side of the ball. There’s a chance Sammy Watkins doesn’t suit up again this season due to a lingering foot injury, and Marcell Dareus missed his fifth consecutive game after injuring his hamstring in practice last week in what was slated to be his return after a four game suspension.
Despite the absence of their two stars, the Bills have found stars elsewhere on the roster. The play of McCoy has been somewhat expected. However, the outstanding play of players like Lorenzo Alexander, who leads the league with seven sacks, Zach Brown, who is top five in the league in total tackles, and Mike Gillislee, who has been a valuable spell running back to McCoy, has gone under the radar.
The Rex Ryan renaissance is in full effect and the Bills have two games in the next two weeks that most fans feel they should win. If all goes well in Buffalo, the Bills could have their most important game in more than a decade when the Patriots come to town in Week 8.
The idea of a 6-1 Patriots team vs a 5-2 Bills team with first place in the AFC East would be more than enough reason for Orchard Park to get rowdy. For the time being, this is all speculation.
With regard to the immediate future, it’s on to San Francisco for a Bills team that is currently one of the hottest in football.