So, the Buffalo Bills have failed to break their post-season drought again. Next September they'll enter the season knowing failure will complete a decade of despair for upstate New Yorkers, desperate for some success. Desperate even for a winning season for the first time since 2004, the hot topic in Buffalo is whether Dick Jauron should remain as Head Coach.
Let's make it clear off the bat - Bills fans are a little different to your average fan. They've already got to deal with a mad pre-disposition for supporting the team in the first place, but history and events continue to crap on them time and again. Even in this, the 2008 season, the Bills have lost on Monday Night Football due to a last second kick for the second season in a row, and chucked away a late lead at home to the New York Jets to lose to a fumbled football. A 4-0 start disintegrated with 8 defeats in the next 11 outings, and it looks likely Jauron will record his third 7-9 season in a row. So should he continue as Head Coach, and does he deserve the much-rumoured three-year extension to his current deal?
It's easy to look at statistics and make your mind up. Many a detractor will point out that the Bills sit 25th in overall offense and 20th in total defense, neither unit showing enough to be a credible player in the league. Only three teams have put up fewer sacks than the anaemic Bills pass rush and only four have intercepted fewer balls than a secondary which just a few years ago was one of the outstanding units in the league in takeaways, with many of the personnel remaining.
Sometimes it's not as simple as numbers though. Jauron has landed a young roster, one of the youngest in the NFL. A roster that was tested in 2007 by thirteen season-ending injuries, and yet the Bills ran the playoff chase far closer than they should have. Sports writers across the nation called Jauron's name for Coach of the Year consideration. So what's changed a year later?
For a multitude of reasons, after starting 4-0 the Bills have lost their way. Maybe it's that the teams they beat en route to their best start in a decade and a half are now a combined 15-45. Maybe it was when Trent Edwards came crashing down to Earth in Arizona and missed two weeks with a concussion. It's more than certainly attributable in some manner to poor play-calling and poor execution, but how much can you level at Jauron himself? Does the buck stop with the Head Coach because of the failures of the staff he employs or the players to whom he's been entrusted?
He certainly took the fall for the abominable defeat to the Jets in Week 15, claiming it was his call to run a passing play instead of a run when common sense and logic suggested the hand-off to Marshawn Lynch was the play of choice. And yet, the aftermath of another painful defeat perhaps showed the overwhelming reasons Jauron should stick around.
Lynch, Chris Kelsay, and Josh Reed, amongst others, gave emotional post-game interviews or wore their feelings very much on their sleeves on the sidelines. They couldn't believe they'd lost so cruelly once again, but perhaps they also feared for the fate of a Head Coach they LOVE playing for. Not just like, love. They would run through walls for Jauron, so we're led to believe, and this goes back to the injury riddled 2007 season where the young Bills rallied around the quiet but affable leader, trusting his every word.
The problem is, whilst most players may want to play for their coach, there were some desperately disappointing comments from others when the Bills played their first regular season game outside of New York, in Toronto. Defensive Tackle Marcus Stroud told the media that he would guarantee the Buffalo locker room would prefer playing in warmer climes indoors than the frosty cold of Eric County in December. Guard Langston Walker backed those comments up, which leaves many Bills fans asking exactly what Jerry Sullivan of the Buffalo News did:
"Darryl Talley, Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly relished the brutal conditions. What must Marv Levy be thinking? Whatever happened to, “Where would you rather be than right here, right now?” Or, “When it’s too tough for them, it’s just right for us.”"
The mental approach of individuals needs to change. Sure, the Coach can play a part in directing that, but at least Jauron has never looked cold on the sidelines. While several of his key players are content to give up one of the stronger home field advantages in the league for warmer temperatures (even if the decision to play in Toronto was a front office call), things will continue to struggle.
Ralph Wilson wants to see the Bills win before he dies. He turned 90 this year, so he probably doesn't have long left. Ask your average, not-so-well informed Buffalo fan how they'd turn this franchise into a winner, and you'd hear one of two pairings of words - Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer. But Wilson appears loyal to this staff, perhaps wary that another upheaval in a team which has had four Head Coaches in eight years and even more co-ordinators will mean another two to three years of rebuilding to take a shot at the Super Bowl.
Buffalo has the pieces to become a player in the AFC East, which has to be their first step as it's probably the most competitive division in football. They must improve not only in personnel in one or two key positions, but simply in execution on the field. A converted field goal here, a non-fumble there, a semblance of offensive ability in another couple of games against teams they really should be beating and suddenly the 7-8 Bills are 11-4. It was the same story last year and it's the same this time around. Maybe it'll come through experience and learning the hard way.
The Bills are closer than it might appear to making waves in the post-season. Removing Jauron, contract extension or not, would cause more short-term problems than solutions.
