Silverman: Overbearing Rex Ryan Still Has No Clue About The Big Picture
By Steve Silverman
» More Columns
Rex Ryan won the battle Thursday night, and then he showed everyone why the Jets made the right decision in letting him go.
Amazingly, Ryan got to the AFC Championship game in his first two seasons as head coach of the Jets. He is never going to get that far again.
He celebrated the Bills' victory over the Jets Thursday night as if the Bills had clinched a spot in the playoffs or actually won a playoff game. His team nearly blew a 19-point second-half lead, but there was Ryan, fist-pumping, shouting, gesticulating and acting like a teenager instead of the leader of a professional football team with nearly half of the regular season left in front of him.
What kind of message does it send his team when a coach starts jumping up and down over a victory in the middle of the regular season? The Bills didn't even play that well, as they had no offense to speak of after they had gotten a few breaks that allowed them to take a 22-3 lead midway through the third quarter.
At that point, Ryan and the Bills' offense went completely conservative with the fear that they would start turning the ball over like the Jets had done. Ryan, who is supposed to be so gutsy, was afraid of the Jets' defense.
The Bills had given away nearly all of the lead when Ryan's worst fears came through and punter Colton Schmidt couldn't hold on to a snap from center and was tackled deep in his own territory with just over five minutes left on the clock.
When Chris Ivory ran for eight hard yards to the Bills' five-yard line on first down, it seemed that the Jets would score the go-ahead touchdown. But that's when the Bills' defense stiffened, and when Todd Bowles decided to go for the TD on fourth down instead of a field goal, the Bills took advantage of that decision and went on to win the game thanks to the late-game running of LeSean McCoy.
When the Bills closed out the game with a Bacarri Rambo interception -- what a tremendous game he had with two forced fumbles in addition to the pick -- Ryan started to act as if he had won the Super Bowl and was elected to the Hall of Fame at the same moment.
I guess he's taking his cues from Bill Belichick, who celebrates like a wild man every time the Patriots win a midseason game. Yeah, right. Belichick barely cracks a smile when the Patriots win the AFC Championship game. He smiles for about 10 minutes after a Super Bowl win, and then starts preparing for free agency and the draft.
Ryan feels vindicated because he beat his former employer. He equated it to a former girlfriend dumping him, and then calling him back after the deed was done.
Such insightful and deep analysis from the Bills' head coach. Football is a business, and the most successful coaches treat it as such. There is a place for emotion, but it shouldn't overwhelm the leader of a team that has legitimate playoff aspirations.
While Bills players were thrilled to win two games in a row for the first time this season, they have to wonder about a head coach who goes completely berserk on the sidelines and has such a limited perspective.
They understand that the season did not end Thursday night, and the Bills have a difficult game at New England next week followed by a third straight road game at Kansas City.
Bowles is still learning on the job, and if he had not forsaken fourth-down field goals, the Jets might have been able to come through with the win. Then again, placekicker Randy Bullock is not exactly a clone of Morten Andersen or Stephen Gostkowski.
Bowles has a better understanding of how an NFL season works, and he knows how to prepare his team and keep it going each week.
Ryan knows how to celebrate midseason victories. We'll see where his team is at the end of the year when the Bills host the Jets in the regular-season finale. A playoff berth may be on the line in that game, and Ryan may not be quite as celebratory when that game comes to an end.
