One of the more interesting reads I came across Tuesday afternoon, even if I don’t necessarily agree come from NFL.com’s Adam Schein. The columnist listed nine bold predictions at the midpoint of the 2012 NFL season and the Buffalo Bills are among those forecasted.
In Schein’s opinion, Ryan Fitzpatrick will get benched and both Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix will be out of the job at season’s end. He writes:
“Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix recently said he wants to give Buffalo the franchise quarterback it deserves. This is coming from the man who signed Ryan Fitzpatrick to a contract a year ago, ostensibly to be that franchise quarterback. This is also the same Buddy Nix who told ESPN.com that he would be asleep at midnight when the free-agency period started this past March.
I whiffed badly with my preseason prediction for the Bills. Their situation is worse than I could ever have imagined. Fitz keeps throwing picks, and he will be benched. Gailey is an offensive “guru” who can’t call plays or remember he employs running back C.J. Spiller. Nix signed Mario Williams and put together this mix. Bag it, Buffalo.”
On the surface everything Schein writes is logical. Fitzpatrick has stunk as a starter, Nix has fumbled far too many premium draft picks and free agent signings in three years and it’s almost impossible to defend Gailey when he has a 12-27 record as head coach in Buffalo.
I still don’t buy any of the above happening.
Who are the Bills going to replace Fitzpatrick with.. Tyler Thigpen? Please don’t say Tarvaris Jackson when the guy hasn’t even been active yet in eight games. Not only do Gailey and Nix continue to make excuses galore for Fitz, they don’t have a better option. Nix has admitted to never being the smartest guy in a room, but don’t think he knows there isn’t at least a distinct possibility of a major housecleaning coming via Ralph Wilson at season’s end. For now as sad as it may be, Fitzpatrick gives Buffalo the best chance to win and I can assure you, neither Nix nor Gailey are thinking more losses equates to a higher draft pick next season.
As for Nix, Doug Whaley could in fact be waiting in the wings. However, short of eight straight blowout losses to end the season I simply don’t believe Ralph Wilson is ready to throw in the towel on this latest regime, deserved or not. If Nix stays, you can bet he stands by Gailey to coach a fourth year.
Schein might be on to something. He is usually dialled in with Bills news, and could be reading into Ralph being very upset with his club right now. Although I strongly think this could be him just being an analyst who thinks that Buffalo is a disaster and should be blown up, he could be thinking that Ralph may wish to relieve Buddy and promote Doug Whaley and let him pick a new staff.
There is nothing worse than being a 3-5 team with no quarterback and having your GM endorse your coach who has a TERRIBLE record in the NFL. Ralph might be old and out of touch, but he is smart enough to realize that this predicts record lows for season tickets next year.