Week 3 Coaches (and GM) on the hot seat: Rex Ryan needs to stop talking, start winning

On Monday, Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan stood before the media and said, “If you’re going to pin one person being responsible for this 0-2 start, it’s on me. I certainly accept it. I’m not happy with it.”

One problem: Ryan and the Bills had already canned offensive coordinator Greg Roman three days earlier, making him the de facto scapegoat for the team’s 0-2 start.

Oh, and let’s not forget, the offense wasn’t really the problem anyway. In the Bills’ Week 2 Thursday night loss to the New York Jets, it was the defense that gave up nearly 500 yards and 28 first downs to Ryan FItzpatrick & Co., and allowing three scores over the third and fourth quarters that took Buffalo from a 24-20 lead into a 37-24 hole. Buffalo lost, 37-31.

You know how many times a team scored at least 31 points in a game in 2015 and still lost? Fourteen. Out of 256 regular-season games. Oddly enough, the Bills counted for two of those 14 – doesn’t that mean either Ryan, who has been considered a terrific defensive coach, or his coordinator, Dennis Thurman, deserve more blame than Greg Roman? But, alas.

Bills legend Jim Kelly said in the offseason that another playoff-less year in Buffalo might lead to Ryan being replaced, which seemed a bit hasty given that this is only Ryan’s second year in charge of the Bills. But there’s a possibility Buffalo could start 0-4 – it hosts the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday, then play at New England in Week 4, and the fan base is already impatient.

Time to stop talking, Rex, and start winning actual games, not just the offseason.

On the Hot Seat

Rex Ryan, Buffalo Bills: Ryan said this week that the Cardinals, one of the preseason favorites in the NFC, “might be the exact team we need to play.” Arizona is coming off a 40-7 beatdown of Tampa Bay in Week 2; be careful what you wish for.

Ryan Grigson, Indianapolis Colts: This year we’re putting general managers on the hot seat too, and it says here no GM’s seat should be hotter than Grigson’s. The Colts didn’t sign any impact players in free agency, cut trusted backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, and while he did draft three offensive linemen (first-round pick Ryan Kelly is starting at center), $140 million man Andrew Luck has already been sacked seven times in two games.

Gus Bradley, Jacksonville Jaguars: No one outspent the Jaguars in free agency this year, as Shad Khan opened up his wallet to the tune of nearly $228 million, shoring up the defense with Malik Jackson, Prince Amukamara and Tashaun Gipson. And still, for the third time in Bradley’s relatively brief tenure, the Jaguars have started the season 0-2.

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Getting Warmer

Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts: Yes, we still maintain that it should be Grigson that takes the fall before Pagano – he can only coach the players he’s given to work with, and as a defensive coach there’s not a ton there – but after their Kumbaya meeting at the end of last year that led to owner Jim Irsay keeping both men, they’re linked.

Jay Gruden, Washington: Washington’s first two games were at home, against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers blew out their hosts, 38-16, and Washington held a 23-20 lead over the Cowboys going into the fourth quarter. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, Gruden’s guy, threw a pick on the first possession of the fourth, the offense couldn’t convert a third-and-1 to keep the second drive going, and the last-gasp possession to end the game was set back by a costly false-start penalty that also took 10 seconds off the clock because Washington was out of timeouts. Not a great start for the defending NFC East champs.

Podcast: Who can beat the Patriots? Plus: Week 3 preview

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