Bills Owner Terry Pegula Says, Acknowledges Failed Fan Expectations

Mike Florio -The Bills had a bad season. But not bad enough to make big changes.
That’s the meaning of the message conveyed in a statement issued Wednesday afternoon by owner Terry Pegula.
“As our first full season as owners of the Buffalo Bills draws to a close, management, coaches, players, and fans all feel that our expectations were not met,” Pegula said. “Kim [Pegula], Russ [Brandon] and I look forward to working and collaborating with Doug Whaley and Rex Ryan in forming a winning future for the organization.  Our management team and coaching staff are very capable and work well together.  This stable foundation is necessary to achieve long-term success in the NFL.”
Pegula is right about the importance of stability. He’s possibly not right about Whaley and Ryan working well together. Someone (presumably from the coaching staff) leaked that Whaley “went rogue” when abruptly cutting running back Fred Jackson in late August. Also, the carousel at backup quarterback was odd at times, with 2013 first-round quarterback (and Whaley selection) EJ Manuel getting more favorable treatment than Ryan-era arrival Matt Cassel.
At one point this year, it seemed as if Ryan would be inclined to make a power play aimed at getting control of the football operations. Ultimately, however, he didn’t win enough games to give him the juice necessary to take charge. And if Whaley were to be run off in the aftermath of a disappointing season, Ryan could have found himself in another John Idzik scenario, with a new G.M. more intent on hiring his own coach than making it work with the one he inherited.
So Whaley and Ryan will continue to work together. They’ll truly work well together if Pegula’s public message was accompanied with a private message informing them that, if one is ever fired, both will be fired.

Buffalo Bills Players Are Asking For Gifts From The Steelers

While Mike Tomlin said he won't talk to Rex Ryan this week, there's plenty of dialect taking place this week between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills' players.
At 9-6 and just outside of the AFC playoff picture, the Steelers need a win over the Browns and a Bills' victory over the Jets to have a chance at making the playoffs for the second straight year. Buffalo is aware of they will have extra support from the Black and Gold this weekend, as Pittsburgh linebacker Vince Williams has recently spoken with his brother, Bills running back Karlos Williams.
Speaking in a playful tone, Vince Wiliams said that his brother and the rest of his Buffalo teammates are asking for bribes from the Steelers this week, as Pittsburgh's players may look to give the Bills an added incentive to win Sunday's game in Buffalo. Steelers fans will surely be paying close attention to both games, which both start at 1:00p.m. ET.
While Buffalo's players are having fun with the Steelers, don't expect their coach to be in a playful mood this week. Ryan, who was fired by the Jets at the conclusion of the 2014, would surely love nothing more than to knock his former team out of the playoffs during the final game of the regular season

Tyrod Taylor Future With The Buffalo Bills

Orchard Park, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills are hopeful that they have their quarterback of the future in Tyrod Taylor.
At least that's what general manager Doug Whlaey said on WGR 550 Tuesday morning when discussing the disappointment of the 2015 season.
"If you strip the 16 seasons away and the logo off the helmet, you have a team with the possibility and I stress possibility of the quarterback in the future."
Rex Ryan has called Taylor "legit" while wide receiver Sammy Watkins has continually expressed confidence in his quarterback. Whaley has been encouraged by what he's seen but is ready to see him take the next step.
"The next step he has to do, is we have to open things up where we design some things for him to have those inside-the-numbers throws," Whaley said. "But the biggest thing for him is he has to take that next step and that next step is the end-of-the-game situations where we can count on him like he did in Tennessee. To get that consistency in the end of game situations where we can depend on him and basically throw the game on his back and have him come through and deliver."
In order to do that, Whaley said Taylor needs to attack the middle of the field more often. That's something he expects to happen more when defenses start playing Taylor differently.
"That's how you're going to defend a young, athletic quarterback. You're going to take away those easy throws and you're going to clog up the middle of the field if he runs. I look at it as a positive because the harder throws are the throws outside the hash. If he can make those throws consistently as well as those throws down the field, those slants, those curls, those hitches, those are the things that are easy. So when the defenses start loosening up and try to defend the outside-the-number throws — because they didn't think he could make it — then it's going to open up the inside of the field. But there's always going to spies there so the middle of the field is going to be cluttered at times because of his ability to scramble and make plays with his feet."
While the Bills are trying to determine what exactly they have in Taylor, he's shown plenty of promise in his first season starting in the NFL. He's thrown 20 touchdowns to just six interceptions and rushed for a single-season franchise record 517 yards this season. He also has three rushing touchdowns and is averaging over eight yards per passing attempt.
Taylor has already triggered a contract incentive in which he voids the third season of his contract by playing 50 percent of snaps for the Bills this season. He's on track to play 80 percent of the team's snaps and will earn a $1 million bonus for that, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
The bigger question, though, is whether the Bills will extend his contract this offseason or let him play the final season of his deal in 2016. The answer to that question hinges on how much development the Bills expect from Taylor.
"I think it can be done," Whaley said. "I think it's going to be a maturation process where he starts moving around, as we say 'pocket presence,' to move around in the pocket and find those open throwing lanes because there are throwing lanes. A lot of times with those younger quarterbacks, they have that flight feel. Instead of moving around the pocket and buying time, they want to fly out of the pocket. So I think that'll come with more reps and more game experience."
Rex Ryan and center Eric Wood have both mentioned that they would like Taylor to protect himself a bit more when he runs. If he's going to be the Bills' franchise quarterback, they need him healthy more than anything.
While there are still questions, those at One Bills Drive have plenty of faith in Taylor. The real show of faith will come with a new contract, and if he cleans up the areas Whaley mentioned, that will be a top priority for Buffalo.

Rex Ryan Regrets Opening His Big Mouth With The Buffalo Bills

Rex Ryan, humbled? Say it ain't so!
With Ryan's Bills 7-8 and out of the playoff race, and with the team he had coached for the previous six seasons—Your New York Jets—rolling into Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday with a chance to clinch a postseason berth, Ryan is eating crow.
Somebody get the guy a bib. This is remarkable stuff.
"I think we got a great thing going here," Ryan told WGR radio in Buffalo on Monday, via ESPN.com's Mike Rodak. "We just didn't produce the wins I thought we would.
"The thing that kind of gives this team a black eye when we're looking at it is that I let my mouth get ahead of everything. And I think if I would have come in there and just said, 'Hey, we're gonna compete,' and do all that stuff, maybe we wouldn't have such a bad feeling about this team.
"This team doesn't deserve that. This team has fought, and they've played extremely hard. We've had a lot of things happen this year where we've felt, where we've came up short. There's no question about it. But I think I could have handled it differently."
ALSO: Bowles says there's 'no pressure' on Jets
Ryan had missed the playoffs in his last four seasons with the Jets, but he came sweeping into Buffalo this year much the way he did with the Jets in 2009: By making bold promises. At his introductory press conference back in January, Ryan declared, in no uncertain terms, that the Bills would go back to the playoffs this year for the first time since 1999.
In a scene had to look familiar to Jets fans, Ryan's bluster had the entire Western New York region eating out of the palm of his hand this offseason. But where Ryan once had the credibility of two AFC Championship Game runs in his first two seasons with the Jets, he had no such track record in his second act with the Bills. And after Ryan failed to deliver this year—with a team that went 9-7 and had a terrific defense last season—the fans and the media there began to turn on him.

MORE: Jets playoff scenarios heading into Week 17

And now Ryan might have to stand there and watch the franchise that fired him one year ago this week wrap up its first playoff spot in five seasons—in his own house, no less. Has to hurt. You better believe it. And things.

Evander Kane Legal Team Doing There Own Investigation

BUFFALO - Evander Kane is busy doing his job, playing hockey for the Buffalo Sabres. The young forward was back on the ice this morning for a team practice at the First Niagara Center.
And Kane's legal team, led by noted Buffalo defense attorney Paul Cambria is doing their job. That is, doing an independent investigation of sexual assault allegation against Kane.
Cambria disclosed the existence of the investigation in a brief e-mail to Channel 2.
The e-mail reads in part, "We are doing our own investigation. We employ top notch investigators including former federal agents."
This means there are parallel teams of investigators working this case. One for Kane's defense team. The other is by Buffalo Police detectives.
The accusation against Kane surfaced Sunday. The Buffalo News reported today that Kane has said that a sexual encounter with a 20-year-old woman at the Harbor Center Marriott was consensual. The Buffalo Police department has not public corroborated that.

Paul Cambria says his firm will do its own investigation into the accusation against his client, Evander kane. (Photo: WGRZ)

Cambria declined to comment on that point saying, "I do not comment on the merits of a case."