I have had a chance to reflect on this decision to keep Jauron a day after the worst moment in my life as a Bills fan and I am still in shock and disbelief. Ralph Wilson completely disregarded the public sentiment with this decision. 90 percent of people in a recent poll said to get rid of Jauron. The Broncos canned Shanahan in a move that would cost them $20 million. Our owner can't give up $5 million to get rid of a failure of a coach. What else can be said but Ralph Wilson completely doesn't care about the fans, about winning or about anything else really. He doesn't care about keeping this team in Buffalo. The countdown is on till his death and the movement of the team out of Buffalo. He is the number one problem. He failed by hiring Levy, a guy with zero experience as a general manager. That is what started this entire thing. Levy hired Jauron, a guy he was familar with and someone he thought reminded him of himself. Jauron is a collassal failure as a head coach, we all know that. Who is ultimately to blame? Ralph Wilson himself.
We have had some of the best personnel people in the business working for this team over the years. Arguably the best GM in the league, Bill Polian, was fired by Ralph. Polian does nothing but win. Ralph didn't like him or they didn't see eye to eye, so he got canned. AJ Smith was on staff, but we didn't offer him the GM job when Butler left. Smith left with Butler and has had nothing but success in San Diego. Instead, we hire Tom Donahoe who was a failure. Marv Levy was a failure, and Russ Brandon, who had his big shot to make a splash and fire Jauron, is a failure as well. You had to expect that though, Brandon is not a football guy, he is a marketing guy.
Wilson's statement is like a slap in the face. He talks about understanding the fans fustrations, but he says he wants to keep continuity in tact. He doesn't understand the fans fustrations, trust me. Every single person I know was borderline suicidal when we got the news that he was coming back. I was in complete shock. I want to take this opportunity to reflect on the past three years with Jauron.
In 2006, the Bills went 7-9. The Bills choked away the first game Dick Jauron coached vs. New England as a sign of things to come. Jauron is a wimpy coach, he always will be. He punted against Houston with 2:25 left down by 4 (yeah, just because he got lucky because Houston sucks, it doesn't mean it wasn't a terrible move). Everyone remembers the infamous Chargers game. At the end of the first half, the Bills punted with 1:04 left. So what? Well, there was 25 seconds left on the play clock. San Diego scored with 29 seconds left. Then, early in the 4th Jauron lost me completely forever. With 13:19 to go, down 3, the Bills used their first timeout. Then this: The Bills challenged an incomplete pass call with 11:56 to go. They called a timeout before the challenge and then proceeded to lose the challenge. Please fine one other time this has ever happened in NFL history. 3 timeouts in the first 3 minutes of the 4th quarter in a 3 point football game. The Chargers went on an 8:01 drive to cement the game on their next drive. Then there was the Titans game. Complete lack of game management on full display. You need to know without hesitation what yard line you need to get to in order to attempt a field goal at the end of the game. We had no clue at all.
Things didn't improve in 2007. The Bills once again choked away an opening day conference game against Denver. Obviously everyone remembers the Dallas game. I think it was the Dallas game which brought to light how bad Jauron really was for many people. I knew after the Chargers game in 2006 I was done with Jauron, but for many people, this was the moment. Not covering the sideline at the end of the game is a fireable offense in itself. Then of course the 56-10 drubbing on national TV against New England. The Pats outscored the BIlls 94-17 in two games. Finally, the shutout loss at Cleveland. On a day when passing was nearly impossible, the Bills went for a 4th and 10 plus in the first half from the 23 yard line. The play had no chance. Later, on the same side of the field, Phil Dawson drilled a 49 yard field goal.
2008 really needs to discussion...everyone watched the games and knows how pathetic he was. The Bills had a complete lack of enthusiasm and zero confidence once the losing streak began. This can be attributed to the coach. The New England game was absolutely pathetic. The end of the Browns game was inexcusable. Scoring 3 points at home against the 49ers and Dolphins, again is inexcusable. Getting shut out at home vs. New England...again, 6 points in three home games. The list is infinite.
Everyone knows my opinion, so let's just look at the simple facts. The most important football games are played in December. The Bills in three years under Jauron are 5-9 in December. They lost their final 2 games in 2006, their final 3 in 2007 and 4 of their final 5 in 2008. The Bills did not perform when it mattered most, not even close.
The Bills have only beaten 2 teams that finished a season with a winning record. One was the obviously overrated Jets in 2006 who won 10 games because of an easy schedule. The other was Washington in 2007, 4 days after the passing of Sean Taylor. The combined record of all the teams the Bills have beaten in Jaurons tenure is a staggering 115-221. This is a winning percentage of .342.
Obviously, in order to win the division, you need to go through New England. Ever since that opening day collapse in 2006, Jauron hasn't even come close in going 0-6.
I could go on forever, but if you think about it, Dick Jauron has zero good qualities. The fact that the players like him is embarrassing. Jauron is an easy coach. He has easy training camps. The team practices inside in the winter. The team probably doesn't wear pads in practice as much as other teams. God it makes me sick. Our only hope is he receives enough hate mail and death threats to cause him to quit and move away.
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