Just minutes earlier, another long, exasperating Bills season had come to a merciful conclusion with a 13-0 loss to the Patriots. Dick Jauron, the embattled head coach, stepped up to the microphone and these were the first words out of his mouth:
"Obviously, a really interesting day weather-wise," he said.
Boy, that Jauron, he sure knows how to work a room. Interesting weather, indeed. I'm sure all the Bills fans out there were glued to their television sets, mesmerized by their team's latest embarrassment at the hands of Bill Belichick and the hated Patriots.
Oh, yes. It was interesting to watch a team start out 5-1 and proceed to lose eight of its last 10. It's interesting, how Jauron's team managed to go 0-6 in the AFC East, in a year when Tom Brady went down in the opener and the division was suddenly up for the taking.
The most interesting thing of all? That Jauron, already on the hot seat for his game-day coaching, could put a big, fat cherry on the season's final Sunday, a classic failure of clock management and uninspired leadership that just might get him fired.
Sorry if this sounds redundant. Chances are, many of you had already turned the page on Jauron, long before Sunday's gem. But a quick review of the play is in order:
The Bills were down, 3-0, just before halftime in a howling windstorm at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It was third-and-5 from the Pats' 12-yard line. As the play clock wound down under 15 seconds, Trent Edwards ran toward the sideline, unsure of the play call. Then he hurried back and barely got the play off, sending Fred Jackson into the middle for 3 yards.
Confusion ensued. Center Duke Preston was in a scuffle with a couple of Patriots downfield. The Bills' field goal team was frantically trying to get onto the field. By the time Preston got to the line, it was too late. The Bills were out of timeouts. The clock ran out. No field goal attempt. No points.
Jauron and his team gathered around the officials near the goal line, arguing that time should be put back on the clock. The officials didn't budge. They said the Bills had enough time to set up for the field goal. Jauron argued otherwise. He said the officials should have stopped the clock and given them time to set up for the field goal. He objected when someone suggested the play had come in late.
"It wasn't late," Jauron said. "We work on that every single week. We work on it and give ourselves 14 seconds on Fridays. Run the ball. If you get the first down, you kill it. If you don't get the first down, you run your field goal team on and kick it."
OK, so it works on Fridays. Everything works well in practice. This wasn't Friday. It was game day, in a virtual hurricane, against one of the best football coaches ever to put on a headset. But in typical fashion, Jauron didn't react to the circumstances at hand. He choked.
Once again, he put his players in a position to fail. I'm sure the J.P. Losman rollout pass works like a charm on Friday, too. That didn't make it the right call against the Jets. Two weeks later, astounding as it sounds, he did it again. He coached his team into a crisis.
"I think the whole game is kind of a crisis," Jauron said.
Now we're getting somewhere. At last, the man opens his mouth and truth spills out. Yes, with Jauron in charge, every game is a crisis — a crisis of command, a crisis of confidence, and a coaching staff's continuing inability to respond in a clear and effective manner.
How many times does Belichick have to coach Jauron's socks off for Ralph Wilson and his "inner circle" to understand that Jauron isn't good enough? The punting game alone was a ringing testament to the fact that Jauron is over his head against the hooded genius.
Belichick had his quarterback, Matt Cassel, quick kick with the wind on a third down. The punt went 57 yards to the Bills' 2. Earlier, with the Pats facing fourth down deep in their own territory, Belichick left his offensive unit on the field. The Bills had to call timeout. They had, oh, about 44 guys on the field.
But getting back to the fiasco before halftime: Reading back through Jauron's explanation, I was struck by one basic fact. He was playing for the field goal. Look at the quote. In Jauron's mind, the most favorable outcome was to get the first down and kill the clock.
With no timeouts, do you really think he would have taken one shot at the end zone and then kicked? They didn't throw into the end zone once all day. As it turned out, that was the Bills' only trip inside the Pats' 25. But Jauron was content to go to halftime with a 3-3 tie.
That's the most troubling thing, even more than the brutal clock management or the poor communication. In the final game of the season, with nothing to lose, with a chance to let it all hang out, Jauron wasn't thinking touchdown. He was reaching for the low standard, just like his owner.
Every game is a crisis? Try every season. This makes nine years without playoffs and counting. For Jauron, it's three consecutive seasons of 7-9. That's 21-27, which is actually a slightly higher winning percentage than his career mark.
In the end, the Pats were vulnerable. They lost Brady for the season, went 11-5 and still missed the playoffs. The Dolphins, one year after finishing 1-15, won 11 games and the division title. With a rookie coach, a castoff quarterback, and an entirely revamped organization.
Amazing what can happen in one season, when you aspire to a higher standard and spend money on competent football people. This week, Wilson will huddle with the men from his inner circle and try to convince himself that three 7-9s is adequate, and that keeping Jauron will represent continuity.
They have a coach who talks about his team's execution on Fridays, in practice. What the Bills should be interested in is a coach who gets it right on Sunday, who doesn't turn every game into a crisis.
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Too bad Ralph doesn't give a shit. Until he dies or sells the team we will suck.
Originally Posted by JMNY83
