Rex Ryan: The 'Emperor' has no clothes

Early in the season as it is, it perhaps should not be so surprising that the Bills are already showing signs of panic. Two sloppy losses, after all, are hardly a satisfying start for a long-suffering franchise promised change (see: victory) in its second year of the Rex Ryan reign. But it should be surprising that this panic is manifesting itself as it is — a sign that the Bills are looking not for someone to solve their problems, but someone to blame them on.

Less than 24 hours after Thursday's 37-31 loss to the Jets, the Bills announced that offensive coordinator Greg Roman had been "relieved of his duties" and would be replaced by assistant coach Anthony Lynn. At a glance, there's something valid and perhaps even somewhat encouraging in this move — an immediate action signaling that Buffalo doesn't want to wait, that it wants to change direction now, that it isn't content just yet to let this year become another wait till next year. All things considered, it's a fine sentiment. But firing Roman is entirely the wrong vehicle to carry it.

The Bills' problem isn't offense; it's defense. There are any number of statistical lenses through which to view this, but the numbers crystallized themselves pretty well just in the small sample size of last night's game. Buffalo's offense was responsible for 24 of those 31 points, no joke against one of the NFL's better defenses, while the 37 given up by the defense came from play that was generally clumsy and inefficient.

Head coach Rex Ryan admitted as much after Thursday's loss: "Their offense against our defense looked like a mismatch today. I was afraid to pressure because we weren't holding up in man coverage. To their credit, it never mattered what we played."

Yet Friday brought no change to the defensive coaching staff (which includes, of course, Rex's twin brother Rob as an assistant). With this as context, Roman's firing looks motivated not so much by a desire to win as by a desire to blame someone — seemingly, anyone — for losing. It's not a logical way of addressing the team's shortcomings, but instead a scapegoat of buying time for Ryan as his seat gets hotter. There's little here that seems to point toward reason, patience or capacity for winning.

Which means, in turn, that there's an awful lot that points toward it being classically Bills.