Thursday night wasn't pretty for the Buffalo Bills, as the team lost an ugly game to the Jets, getting beat 37-31 and falling to 0-2. The offense put up some points but for the second-straight week it didn't look particularly effective. The Bills are in big trouble moving forward, so cue the scapegoating.
It began on Thursday afternoon when Rex Ryan and the Bills dumped offensive coordinator Greg Roman, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms.
The Bills will replace Roman with Anthony Lynn, La Canfora reports.
Bills have opted to make Anthony Lynn the new OC. Chris Palmer remains on staff but not elevated to coordinator role, sources say
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) September 16, 2016
Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported the news of Roman's firing.
This is as about as short-sighted and transparent as you can get in the NFL: a team with a coach on the hot seat and high expectations starts the season 0-2, looks completely lost on both sides of the ball and fires the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the league.
Buffalo looked terrible on offense in Week 1, generating just 160 yards total against the Ravens. They were more productive against the Jets on Thursday night, but most of it was on big plays. They converted two third downs into 70-yard touchdowns, which absolutely qualifies as a fluky play.
But part of the problem is the Sammy Watkins injury. Watkins is a potential superstar wide receiver, but he's dealing with a Jones fracture in his foot. Even the best wideouts in the league can't fight through that. It's not about pain management -- it's about roster management and having enough depth to at least try and make up for the loss of Watkins.
The Bills don't have it, and they don't have much talent on defense thanks to injuries to rookies Reggie Ragland and Shaq Lawson, plus a suspension to superstar defensive tackle Marcell Dareus. The talent they have isn't executing, with Ronald Darby and Stephon Gilmore struggling in coverage against the Jets on Thursday.
As a friendly reminder, the Bills season began on Sunday, Sept. 11. So Roman made it a full six days into the year.
It's going to be a long season in Buffalo at this pace. Will Rex look into the mirror at any point? And can the finger get pointed towards brother Rob? Don't turn that dial.
